This book review is part of a blog tour* to celebrate the publication of Edie Eckman's new book: Every Which Way Crochet Borders. Waaaaaaaay across the Atlantic in the US, is a woman who likes to live life on the edge. She's based in Virginia** (which is on the edge of the US, you'll note. Coincidence? I THINK NOT.) And this month, she's brought out her second book about ornamental crochet borders. Y'see? Life on the edge. This woman adores borders. Can you imagine living in her house? Borders. Continue Reading
Prym Ergonomics Review
Sometimes an opportunity comes along at just the right moment. Having posted the other day about visiting the Knitting and Crochet Guild archive, I was thinking a lot about the historical changes – or rather, lack of changes – in the tools that we use to work our yarn. And right when I was pondering the matter, the German company Prym contacted me to say, “S’cuse me Twisted, we’ve just revolutionized the design of the knitting needle. Would you care to take a nosey?” Obviously, I said Continue Reading
‘Head Over Heels’ Sock Yarn Review
See these? These are happy feet. If it weren't for the fact that they're pointing skywards, then they'd probably be dancing. Badly. So be glad that they're safely away from the ground. The reason for their joy is no doubt obvious. It involves some splendidly colourful new sock yarn. You may have heard already, but a few months ago, Stylecraft launched a range of 4-ply sock yarn called Head Over Heels. It's 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon, and it comes in six different marvellously Continue Reading
The Mindfulness In Knitting, A Book Review
It's fairly rare for my day job (clinical psychologist) to collide with the knitting thing, but today a new book is published that spans both of these worlds, and I've been given the chance to review a copy. "Well if you absolutely insist," I said. Actually, that last bit is a lie: I jumped at the chance. Allow me to introduce you to The Mindfulness In Knitting by Rachael Matthews, published TODAY by Leaping Hare Press. It's rather a beauty, don't you think? Not that I'm superficial enough to Continue Reading
Getting Cosy
Our letterbox is a mean and fearsome beast. Unusually narrow but psychopathic of nature, I swear that I’ve heard it growl on occasion. Postal staff approach with dread, and if you saw the state of the few letters that make it as far as the doormat, you’d be forgiven for assuming that we owned a very large and ill-tempered dog. So when I was contacted about a company that claims to deliver vacuum-packed, letterbox-friendly yarn, I said, “Yeah, right. Charming idea, but you haven’t met our Continue Reading
Giveaway Review: Edward’s Crochet Imaginarium
And another review with a giveaway! Wa-hey! (This is part of a blog tour organized by Pavilion Books - more on that at the bottom of this post.) So I'm guessing you've noticed that there are lots of knitting and crochet books around these days. Like, loads. If you're as untidy as I am, you probably trip over a pile of them every single time you stand up to water the cat. (See those bruises on my shins? They're knit-book-related injuries. Life is tough.) Some of these publications are more Continue Reading
Want To Win A Set Of Gorgeous Knitting Needles?
Time for a review and another giveaway, I think*. Let's talk about knitting needles. KnitPro (that's Knitter's Pride in North America) are busy expanding their range even further. They sent me samples of two of the new products to review: small (2.25mm) short-length fixed circular Symfonies for socks or sleeves, and this splendid set of Royale interchangeable circulars:- But let's begin with the Symfonies. Many of you will have knitted (or crocheted) with Symfonie needles or hooks at some Continue Reading
Stylecraft Batik Yarn Review
It's about time I published a review of Batik, Stylecraft's brand new yarn. (Disclaimer: I didn't pay for the yarn, so clearly my fickle head has been turned by this freebie and not a single word of the following is to be trusted.) I wanted to thoroughly road-test the yarn before I wrote this, so I got the knitting needles out and started designing something that incorporated all sixteen shades:- You know what you need in the heat of August? A nice warm, fluffy cowl, that's what. So I Continue Reading
Giveaway? Giveaway!
Shall we have a giveaway? Wa-hey, let's have a giveaway! Start sharpening those typing fingers in order to enter, because details are coming later in this post. This is the third and final part of my triptych* of posts about the exciting Yorkshire/Stylecraft/Blogstars shenanigans. (Previous parts: the mill tour, and the first evening.) But it's very hard to produce an even mildly amusing post when absolutely nothing about the experience was catastrophically disastrous or weird. The closest I Continue Reading
Ooh Look, A Shiny New Knitting Magazine!
And now for a review. I don't know whether there's any truth in the old adage that there's somebody out there for everyone. Could be tricky if your particular someone is working the oil rigs off the Norwegian coast whilst you're herding llamas in Chile. However I do think that these days, there's probably a knitting/crochet magazine out there for every knitter/hooker: it's just a matter of trying a few until you hit the right one. Hence this post. The folks at De Agostini sent their carrier Continue Reading