Dear blog, I've neglected your regular silliness business, what with all those giveaways and other stuff. So I thought it was high time to drop in on a project that's been slowly (very slowly) progressing in the background whilst I've been on here chattering about other things. Yes, if you've been reading here a'while: you'll know the one. The over-ambitious furniture-related one that began with a house, and which is now slowly (oh-so-slowly) acquiring a garden. It's so close to the Continue Reading
And Now For Something Completely Different
Ahem. (By the way, do remember that there's still time to enter the Edward's Crochet Imaginarium giveaway.) I've been thinking for a while that I'd like to do something helpful via this blog, something for charity. The idea hadn't progressed very far when a plan came along of its own accord and plonked itself in my lap. It's a ludicrous idea, and the friend who suggested it wisely did so after I'd had a couple of glasses of wine, in which state I can be talked into pretty much any kind of Continue Reading
Foraging
What’s a girl to do on the hottest day of the year? Well, besides writing up the pattern for a nice warm, fluffy cowl, I celebrated the road-melting heat on Wednesday by putting on the oven to bake courgette cake and beer bread, before going for a 9-mile (that’s 14.5km) run in the blazing midday sunshine. Stupid? Possibly. But the really stupid thing was being so obsessed with drinking lots of water in the hours pre-run that I forgot to eat. “Oops,” I thought, forced to stop as I waited to Continue Reading
Trying Hard Not To Get Shot
I hate getting caught in the middle of a shoot-out when I'm half-way through my run. (Or, indeed, at pretty much any stage of my run.) Hang on, just let me do a bit more work on the giant crochet house/garden project (that REALLY is nearly finished). Gotta steady my nerves. Is it me, or do these attempts at daisies on the lawn resemble fried eggs? Sigh. Back to the drawing board. We live in the countryside, so like it or not, people shoot things and then eat them. (Sometimes they even cook Continue Reading
Let Them Eat Cake. (And Chocolate).
Chocolaty felicitations to those amongst you of an Eastery inclination. And even if Easter isn't your thing, I hope you have some cocoa solids handy anyway. Because, well, chocolate. Given the ongoing grey/damp outside, I've been creating colour in the indoor flowerbeds. This. Project. Is. Going. To. Be. Finished. Very. Soon. Or. I. Will. Scream. The plants/foliage are aggressively crocheted, and then I'm embroidering on the flowers. But never mind that, it's Easter. Despite the fact that Continue Reading
Begonias And Barn Owls.
Sometimes, I think that barn owls must have been designed by a six-year-old. (There is crochet coming later in this post, but I just need to get the barn owls off my chest, so to speak.) Don't get me wrong: they're beautiful and magnificent birds of prey, but they do have some odd design elements. I'm writing this because I saw one up-close at dusk the other day. It flew alongside my car for a moment, just as I topped the Berkshire Downs ready to descend into Oxfordshire. There I was, Continue Reading
Ridge And Furrow, Gone Tomorrow
Whilst we knit/hook, shall we indulge in a little ancient history? So on a scale from 'bewildered' to 'undisputed world authority', how au fait are you with the concept of ridge and furrow? I have to ask, because I tend to assume that if even I know something, then it really must be painfully obvious to everyone else. Long car journeys of my childhood often involved spotting examples of ridge and furrow in fields beside the motorway: it's pretty distinctive once you know what you're looking Continue Reading
Oops.
Oops. No really, oops. I could tell you about my latest idiocy, or I could show you my shiny new hat. Err..... let's go with the hat. OK it's not shiny but it is a new hat and I've finished knitting it. Here's a side view:- A very easy knit, by the way, although I won't miss the endless rounds of k1p2. Pattern: Yvette. Yarn: James C. Brett Marble Chunky, a gift from a friend. Oh all right, I'll tell you about what a dork I've been. Once again, it involved running. This emerging Continue Reading
In Which You All Get To Laugh At Me.
Smugness comes before a fall. Every time. I really should have learned that life-lesson by now. It never ends well when I start getting smug about anything at all. As soon as I do, life smirks to itself and throws a slippery banana skin in my path. Anyway, I mention this now because of running. I still dislike running. It still hurts. But I grudgingly admit that it's brought health/energy benefits and I'm definitely getting faster. I can even run up hills without concerned bystanders offering 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