So I was contacted by Adagio Teas, who sell all sorts of luscious tea-based loveliness in various parts of the world, plus the equipment with which to make it. "Help!" they said. "Quickly, please!" I was puzzled. "Huh? I'm a knitting/crochet blogger - I'm not sure how I can help you..." "But it's an emergency!" they insisted. "The weather has turned freezing, and..." "Yeah, tell me about it: you should try living in this house." (Here, for the record, is what this house looks like at the Continue Reading
Nice Day For A Giveaway
GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED. Thank you for all your entries. Results are on their way... So... what shall we do today? How about a book review with a giveaway? Does that sound OK? Introducing A Stash Of One's Own, an anthology of musings about yarn collections, edited by Clara Parkes. At first I thought I was the wrong person to write this review, because for all that I love yarn, and knitting, and crochet, I have near-zero desire for stash. (Sorry. I do realize that this makes me a Continue Reading
What A Week
This year's Stylecraft Blog Tour has been fun so far. If you've been following along, you'll have seen all sorts of pretty knits and hookings, each one designed by one of the Stylecraft Blogstars, and each reflecting its designer's style and personality. Clearly my own personality is 'Woman who likes looking at dead stuff that drops off trees in autumn'. Thank you for your comments about the pattern (available for free, here). For those of you who asked, I'm going to produce it as a pdf so Continue Reading
The ‘October’ Cushion Pattern And The Stylecraft Blog Tour Yarn Giveaway: Hurrah!
Good morning all, especially to those of you who are here for the first time because you're following along with the 2017 Stylecraft Blog Tour. Welcome! Feel free to stay awhile, have a poke around, and make yourself at home. (You may even sit on The Chair.) And yes, this post will include both a brand new free pattern, and the chance to win oodles of yarn, regardless of where in the world you call home. GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED. So. Very, very, late last night, the Stylecraft Blog Tour Bus pulled Continue Reading
Prizes, Prizes, And A Moment Of Seriousness
Gosh, that was over quickly: the giveaway, I mean. (In case you didn't see, the Knitting And Stitching Show has very kindly donated five pairs of tickets to be won by you lovely lot.) I'll announce the winners later in this post but first, whilst I've got your attention, may I be serious for a rare minute please? Please? It's not even yarn-related, but it involves punching cancer squarely on the nose, a subject close to the hearts of far too many of us, unfortunately. OK, listen up:- Last year Continue Reading
It’s The Knitting And Stitching Show Giveaway!
Would you like to win free tickets to the Knitting And Stitching Show? And even if you don't win, would you like a nice chunky discount on your ticket price? (Clue: the answer to both of those questions is a big fluffy YES!) I know, I know: a fair few of you would need to zoom through the sky inside a long metal tube in order to attend. (It'd be totally worth the trip, though.) But for anyone who can get to London, the show will be on at Ally Pally from 11th-15th October, and I have in my hand Continue Reading
Knitting: It’s A Marathon, Not A Sprint
(We have a giveaway winner: more on that in just a moment.) Hello from a splendid hotel in West Yorkshire! I'm 200 miles from home, attending the twice-yearly gathering of the Stylecraft Blogstars at the Stylecraft woollen mill in Slaithwaite. But I'll tell you about that properly in my next post, because there is so very much exciting loveliness to show you. I love these weekends. (In case you're newish to these 'ere parts, I've written before about jollies such as touring the mill, and Continue Reading
Want To Win A Marvellous Noro Book? Yes?
Have you ever knitted (or hooked) with Noro yarn? If not, then this unique Japanese producer should be on your fibrous bucket list. You might love Noro, you might hate it, but you're unlikely to be indifferent. A quickish guide for the uninitiated: Noro produces s-l-o-w-l-y colour-shifting self-striping yarns in various combinations of wool, silk, cotton, and alpaca. Here's a very old and dodgy photo from my little-more-sophisticated-than-a-chap-sitting-inside-my-phone-drawing-a-sketch phone Continue Reading
SereKNITy: A Review And A Giveaway
Morning, all. Shall we have another giveaway-review whilst I put the finishing touches to the cowl pattern? Yes? There’s a new book that may well be right up your street. Or it might not. Hopefully after this review, you’ll know either way.* Introducing the quirkily-monikered Sereknity, by Nikki Van De Car, published just this week by Running Press. And if you’re thinking, ‘Hang on, I definitely know that name from somewhere’, I’ll save you the brow-furrowing by reminding you that Van De Continue Reading
Painting By Numbers. Also, A Giveaway Winner!
Hello blog, my fine friend. I've been working on the crochet version of the Hiking Reindeer Cowl. No longer are the trees listing drunkenly to the right. But something in the switch from knitting to crochet appears to have translated the reindeer into a moose. I'm not sure what a moose is doing in the southern English countryside on which the scene is based: it must have been hiking for some time. But the pattern will be done fairly soon, at which point I'll publish it on this site for Continue Reading