There is knitting in this post I promise, but there's also lots of winter colour because if you're anything like me, you find the natural world and the landscape endlessly fascinating and inspiring. (And if you're not anything like me, then congratulations on being such a well-adjusted member of society.) Those eleventy hundred bulbs I planted in the autumn are beginning to reveal themselves and I can't resist showing you a few:- Judging by the green fronds poking up all over the Continue Reading
Winter. With Yarn.
Hello, dear knitters and crocheters, and runners, and my mum, and people who inexplicably landed here whilst searching for a blog about oxyacetylene welding. Come and sit with me beside the fire, because it's way too cold out there. Walking to school to collect the twinnage this afternoon, it looked as though somebody had combed the sky. I hope you've brought your yarn. (No, please don't start oxyacetylene welding in my sitting room. The blog you're looking for is that way. --> Continue Reading
Friday News
Ahhh, it's Friday. I've been at work seeing patients, and then later I was at home, reading bedtime stories to the twinnage, and now, still home, I'm on the sofa with yarn, wine, and very little intention of moving. It's been gloriously warm and sunny here these past few days... ...which feels slightly surreal, because exactly one month ago today, I took this photo whilst I was out on a run:- Meanwhile, the Stoic Spouse has been perfecting his patisserie skills, and each weekend lately, Continue Reading
Getting To The Bottom Of The Matter
Are we all here? Yes? Well good evening, and thank you for coming at such short notice. I just thought it would be a good idea to have a blog post updating you on various bits and pieces that I've mentioned recently. It's a pretty full agenda, so assuming you're all settled with your knitting or crochet, let's get going. First on the agenda is the naming of the spinning wheel. A big thank you to all 247 people who voted. And as per the outcome, may I proudly present Monsieur Algernon Spinburne, Continue Reading
Blogstars Weekend, Part Two.
PREVIOUSLY, ON THE TWISTED YARN... the Stylecraft Blogstars began their twice-yearly meetup in West Yorkshire with a visit to the textiles department at Huddersfield University. Afterwards, we headed to our hotel. Everyone else was probably thinking terribly sensible, grown-up thoughts, but my mind was full of SNOW! SNOW! SQUEEE! Granted, it wasn't much, but the following morning it snowed a little more, and the needle on my over-excitement dial spun so far out of control that centrifugal Continue Reading
The Hat
Some time ago, Mother Twisted (my mum) asked me to knit her a hat for Christmas. If you type the word 'hat' into the knit part of the Ravelry pattern database, you'll get 68 624 alternatives. Yes, that is the real number. You might think that's a lot, but we Twisteds are fussy blighters, and I wasn't very optimistic that we'd find the right pattern amongst such a small collection. My pessimism was justified, and all 68 624 were rejected, lovely though most of them were. So I realized that I'd Continue Reading
Autumning
Round here, nature is at last doing autumn properly, instead of lazily slinging a cloudful of water our way and calling it a season. Suddenly, it's cold. Whatever time of day or evening you venture out, you can smell the wood-smoke from people’s log fires, and see ambitiously-stacked spider sanctuaries log-piles leaning against the walls of thatched cottages. In the evening, I pour a glass of red wine and sit down beside our own fire. Then, – more often than not – I immediately shriek and Continue Reading
This Really Is Terribly Important
So I'm busy writing an extremely important letter to the Met Office on the subject of SNOW. (For non-UK readers, the Met(eorological) Office is our publically-funded national weather forecasting/monitoring service.) Feel free to knit and crochet whilst I talk. Oh, and help yourself to some of that wine. So what do you think of what I've drafted so far? Dear Sirs/Madams (Madams? That sounds dodgy.) I am writing to respectfully request that you cease your current practice of knowingly and Continue Reading
Giraffe In A Scarf
You may not have realized it, but what your Saturday night really needs more than anything is a giraffe in a scarf. Actually, a giraffe in two scarves. I know, I know, never photograph by artificial light. So sue me. Actually, please don't. This snap won't win any photographic awards, but it does show off the scarves I crocheted for the Toddler Twinnage. They're loosely based on this pattern, which I confess that I chose for its simplicity and speed. Yes, I should've lovingly knitted Continue Reading
Why I’m No Longer On Speaking Terms With Winter
So anyway, I said to the weather gods, "You're not having me on again this time, are you? It's absolutely definitely going to snow in Oxfordshire on Tuesday night?" And they said - through the medium of their high priests the weather forecasters - "Yup, you better believe it, Twisted." And I said, "Because you know, I haven't glimpsed snow in two long years and I'm getting twitchy." And they said, "Well you will tonight. Heaps of the stuff. Enough for a really joyful, photo-heavy blog post." So Continue Reading