Well it's been a hunkering-down-for-winter sort of weekend. Saturday was Bonfire Night, of course*:- (*For the benefit of non-UK readers, this is when we commemorate the attempt in 1605 by an enterprising but treasonous chap called Guy Fawkes and several of his bezzies to blow up the Houses Of Parliament using barrel-loads of gunpowder. The plot was foiled, and poor Guy Fawkes got a proper telling-off (and executed). We mark this occasion annually by lighting fireworks and by setting fire to Continue Reading
How To De-Pill Your Knits
Do your knits ever pill? Would you like a quick tip for getting rid of those annoying, tiny balls of yuck? Yes I know you can buy de-pilling gadgets, but you really don't need to. Just fetch a razor and give 'em a shave. Seriously. And be a little brutal about it, too. I wish I'd thought to take a 'before' picture to show you how pilly my camera strap had become, but here's some of the fluff that I shaved from its surface:- I also gave it a wash in Eucalan, and it's now once again a much Continue Reading
In Which Life Conspires Against Knitting
My first thought when I woke up this morning was... "Ow." My second thought was, "Owwwwwwwwww. Ow." The over-ambitious design-and-knit-a-stranded-skirt-in-10-days insanity plan just got even more unfeasible. Lately I've been having problems with the knuckles of my right hand two littlest fingers hurting if I, (i) knit/crochet too much, and (ii) surf the net on the iPad continuously and insomniacly from 2am to 5am, and (iii) spend too many nocturnal hours indulging the Toddler Twinnage's wish Continue Reading
To Oxford, For Extravagant Yarn And A Haircut
Though I live in rural Oxfordshire, I rarely go into the city of Oxford these days, except for my twice-yearly haircut. But a chunk of my shrivelled old heart is forever in that city where I lived, partied, loved, worked, and studied for my first degree and doctorate. I bought my first home there too, in which I spent seven happy years living alone but socialising manically, before I met the Stoic Spouse and morphed into a Semi-Sensible Grown-Up. Ah, those were the days. Anyway, today was Continue Reading