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
Crocheting With Seaweed
Friends are great, aren't they? You can laugh with them, you can knit/crochet with them, you can share life's ups and downs, and you can provide each other with alibis when needed. (Just for the record, my friend Alice was definitely here at my house knitting at 3.30am on Saturday night. She would be aghast at the merest suggestion that she was anywhere near the yarn heist that went down that night.) The other good thing about friends is that you can shamelessly mine their lives for material to Continue Reading
Back To The Mill
Twice a year, the Stylecraft Blogstars gather at the mill in Yorkshire for a weekend of yarnery, laughter, samples of the yarns of the future, fine food, deepening friendship, yarn industry news, stunning scenery, a trip out somewhere interesting, a workshop, wine, and luxurious hotel rooms where absolutely nobody tiptoes in at 2am to ask, "Mummy, how long do kestrel eggs take to hatch?" Or at least if they do, you can say, "Sorry kid, that's an excellent question but I'm not your mummy; I think Continue Reading
Crocheting With Garden Twine
My fine fibrous friends, I have some crochet to show you. And if my tone of voice sounds defensive, please accept my apologies. I admit that the rate of yarnery around here has been way less than usual of late, thanks to marathon-training and garden-redesign. Mostly the garden-redesign. To give you an idea of quite how much I've been toiling away in the soil, the fingerprint-thingummy on my phone no longer recognizes my fingerprints. I'm not even sure that I still have fingerprints. (Memo to 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
Linen Drape, A Mini-Review
Well goodness me! Based on your reactions, anyone would think my last post was a joke, instead of the Terribly Serious Piece Of Journalism that it actually was. But thank you for all the acryla-love. Maisie says hi. (It turns out that acrylas can get addictive. You know that phenomenon where people tell a lie so consistently that they start to believe it themselves? Meanwhile, thank you again to Jo Ray for making this gorgeous beast.) Anyway, enough about the serious matter of Continue Reading
Ever Wondered About That Acrylic Yarn In Your Stash?
Well good morning, and welcome to April. How much do you know about acrylic yarn? Personally, I know lots about wool, alpaca, cotton, and even qiviut, but other than a vague awareness that acrylic fibre has some connection to plastic, I’m a bit clueless… or at least, I was. So for this blog post – and I warn you, it’s a long'un – I set out to learn more about the production of acrylic, to interview those involved, and to photograph the experience along the way. Want to come along for the ride? Continue Reading
Labels For Your Yarnery: A Review And A Discount
For those who've never tried it, I have to tell you: blogging is mostly fun. The very best thing about it is that you get to chatter online with likeminded folk. A smaller benefit is that sometimes, you're offered free things to review. Mostly this is stuff that's relevant to your readership but you do occasionally have to write emails saying, "Thank you, but I'm not sure your drain clearance products would be of very much interest to readers of my knitting and crochet blog". (It irks the Stoic 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