Sitting down to write this post with knitting and wine beside me is the most normal thing that I've done for a while. I hate the word 'normal', along with the word 'should' - as my patients rapidly discover when I ban both abominations from their vocabularies. But whatever on earth normal is, these past few weeks have not been it. (This whole year hasn't been normal, of course, but you've doubtless noticed that. And if you haven't, then I really don't want to be the one to burst your Continue Reading
Want To Win Some Loveliness?
GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED. THANKS FOR ALL YOUR ENTRIES. WINNERS WILL BE NOTIFIED VERY SHORTLY. Lately I've been thinking, there's not enough yarn in your life... or yarn-related paraphernalia for that matter. Please forgive me for pointing this out so bluntly but you really need more yarn. I mentioned this fact to the marvellous Suzie at It's A Stitch Up, because she knows a thing or two about yarn if anyone does, and she was horrified. "Not enough yarn?! But, but, but, that's terrible!" What's Continue Reading
Nålbinding
I've been learning nålbinding. (Other spellings are available.) Not familiar with the technique? You're not alone. It's what people did at 'Stitch-And-Bitch' nights thousands of years ago, before they got round to inventing knitting and crochet. (And it's still practiced today in some regions, in addition to enjoying a revival amongst historical re-enactment folk.) But I'll save the history and possibilities of nålbinding for another post. It's been a while since I learned a new Continue Reading
Yarn Shop Day
Writing funny blog posts is tricky when things go well. It's easier when your day turns belly-up and you leave your dignity somewhere up a tree in the supermarket car park, but there's nothing hilarious about things working out as intended. That's why I'm finding it hard to write this post about Saturday's Yarn Shop Day event. I can just about work a World War Two air raid shelter and a Victorian actress's underwear into the story without stretching the truth, but beyond that, I got Continue Reading
To The Mill, Again.
Twice a year, the Stylecraft Blogstars meet at Stylecraft's beautiful old mill in West Yorkshire for a weekend of yarn, chatter, food, wine, friendship, scenery, and news. Yeah, the experience really is exactly as gruelling as it sounds. Our scheduled meetup in February was postponed due to snow. (PLEASE STOP LAUGHING, Canadian/Scandinavian readers - our eccentric little country is ill-equipped to cope with frozen water.) Instead, we met in March. I took my camera so that you could come Continue Reading
The Revenge Of The Metallic Gold Yarn
That demonically-possessed gold metallic yarn I told you about? It ran out, a couple of words before I'd finished the back cover of Mary's book. I swear I could hear the stuff sniggering as I tried to eek out the last few centimetres of fibre. So I ordered more, and sat waiting and waiting for it to arrive. By the time this thing is done, Mary's recovery will have progressed so far that she'll have forgotten that she was ever ill. I am a well-meaning but inefficient friend. Fortunately, Mary is Continue Reading
Rowan: 40 Years. A Book Review.
We haven't had a book review for a while, have we? Let's rectify that:- Knitting and crochet often get a bad rap. Both crafts are regarded by some as the fast route to frumpy, style-less, doom*. And yeah, there are some... interesting patterns out there. But hey, it's not as though all the ready-made clothes that you can buy are super-stylish, either. Fortunately there are plenty of designers who do understand how to breathe elegance into their work, and a fair few of those people have Continue Reading
What They Don’t Tell You About Blogging
Today is the five-year blogiversary of The Twisted Yarn. I can hardly believe it! If this were a child, they'd be out of nappies and into school. (Heaven help this blog once it's legally old enough to drink.) As always on 23rd October, I'm wheeling out a picture of the cake with which the Stoic Spouse surprised me on my first blogiversary because, well because it was just perfect and wonderful and delicious and, other than the cake via which he proposed marriage way back in 2007, this was Continue Reading
Stylecraft Blogtour 2018
As summer clutches its hand to its forehead (a touch melodramatically, in my opinion) and breathes its last, it must be time for the annual phenomenon that is the... A quick overview, in case you're new around here. For roughly a fortnight each year, the Stylecraft Blogtour Tour Bus trundles its way across the country - nay, the world - stopping for a day at the home of each of the Stylecraft Blogstars. Each of us produces a knitting and/or crochet pattern for the occasion, which we offer Continue Reading
Cardigan Design
When normal people - whoever they are - want a new cardigan, they probably go to a shop and choose one to buy. I dunno, but I'm guessing that's approximately how it works. Some people knit or hook their own, of course, and those folk will definitely have the upper hand come the apocalypse. I decided to go one step further. (I always decide to go one step further - even if it's over the edge of a cliff.) Having rejected every extant cardigan known to humankind, I decided to write my own Continue Reading