OK, people. You asked - well, some of you asked - for the crochet version of The Hiking Reindeer cowl pattern. So I hooked, and I made wonky trees, and I engaged in complicated de-wonking calculations, and now I can at last present to you... The Hiking Moose, a free pattern for the colourfully-inclined hooker. You wouldn't expect to bump into a moose within three thousand miles of where this picture-in-yarn was taken, so Mr Moose here has been on a really long hike. The final pattern that I'm Continue Reading
Keep On Hookin’
I’m still working on the crochet version of The Hiking Reindeer cowl. It’s slow, because slow is what tends to happen when you work 4-ply (US: fingering) black yarn in a gloomy room when your previously-stupendous eyesight has suddenly remembered that you're not young any more and has gone all blurry. When the cowl is done, I’ll post the pattern here... if I can still see well enough to find my computer. Meanwhile, do please have a seat. Yes, you may indeed sit on the chair, although you may Continue Reading
Free Pattern Alert! The Cowl Is Done!
I've been in a bit of a frenzy to finish designing and making the fiery sunset cowl, since so many of you said such kind things about it. I knitted round, and round, and round, so very fast that I was almost flung backwards across the room by the centrifugal forces. Anyway. It's done. And I've typed up the pattern for you. But first, a message. Mother Twisted was enormously touched by all your lovely comments about her cathedral window quilting, and she sends you heartfelt thanks. I think Continue Reading
Knitting A Fiery Sky
Hello. There's a stretch of motorway that I drive often. If it's dusk and there's a half-decent sunset, the view is stunning, with sharp conifers and rolling hills silhouetted against the sky. Often, I see deer. I've long wanted to show you this view because I know you like colour, but stopping on a motorway to whip out my camera would be both illegal and stupid, so it hasn't been possible. But then something happened that meant I could at last show you... in knitting! Because look what Continue Reading
Fancy Another Free Pattern?
Fancy another free pattern? Yes? OK, but before I reveal all, may I just thank you from the very bottom left corner of my heart for the generous comments that you left regarding the chair. However, I am deeply aggrieved that you've all sided with Stoic Spouse about whether or not anyone should sit in the thing. The twinnage certainly can't be kept away. Here's one young man and his car park:- In all the excitement of the chair, I didn't get a chance to tell you about another project - one Continue Reading
All Aboard The Stylecraft Blog Tour Bus For A Giveaway And A Free Pattern!
Have you been following this year’s Stylecraft Blog Tour? Yesterday, designer/author Sue Pinner showed us her marvellous Spinning Top crochet blanket pattern. Six new shades have been added to the aran and the chunky Stylecraft Special acrylic ranges, and the fine fibrous folk at Stylecraft have mixed these up with some of the existing shades to make a couple of different ten-ball colour packs that they'll be selling for a while. Over the summer, they kindly gave a few of us yarniacs a pack to Continue Reading
The Mandala Picture: A Free Knitting Pattern
Another free pattern? Really? Well, yes. Aeons ago, I designed and knitted this large piece of craziness:- I wanted to play with the idea of the mandala, subvert the medium a wee bit, so I knitted a picture of a mandala. The idea of writing up this monster as a pattern was then filed away in Volume XII of the Great To-Do List in the bottom left corner of my brain**, between ‘learn to speak Finnish’ and ‘organize my sock drawer’. But then a nudging comment on a recent post prompted me to Continue Reading
Free Colourful Cowl Pattern!
OK, would you like the free pattern for this fairisle cowl that I designed? You would? Well there's a link to the pattern near the bottom of this post. Enjoy! It's a fairly generous one size, that would fit an adult or teen. The version in the pictures was made using all 16 shades of Stylecraft Batik, but of course you could use fewer colours, or indeed a different DK/light-worsted yarn entirely. The cowl is worked in the round, so although you'll have a fair few ends to weave in, there's Continue Reading
The Moo-Cowl Pattern. AKA Simon The Cowl.
Before we knuckle down to the knitting, allow me to remind you that the absurdly overgenerous Wool And The Gang (WATG) giveaway touted in my previous post is still very much w-i-d-e open for business. Can I just say how much I've loved reading your warm, witty, woolly comments on that thread? Do pop over and enter (but only if you fancy a stonk-load of soft, fluffsome, chunky, Peruvian, pure wool in shades of your choice – no pressure). Oh and whilst you’re entering, I’d be most eternally Continue Reading
You Know That Thing I Said? It Might Not QUITE Be True…
The Stylecraft Blog Tour seems to have got off to a decent start, with plenty of colourful patterns and daily chances to win a whole hairy heap of yarn. For those who asked a few posts ago, may I just say YES, the competition is indeed open worldwide. Hurrah! Today, it's the turn of Crafternoon Treats. Tomorrow (Tuesday) it's the turn of this very blog, so there'll be another free pattern and another chance to win a limited edition pack of yarn right here. So set your alarm clock for Continue Reading