On a personal level, this has been an amazing year for me - and although it may not look like it on the outside, I feel like a completely different person to the one who was sitting here a year ago. With 2017 almost over, I've been focusing on bringing closure to various things, ready for 2018. I'm intentionally doing this on both a physical and mental level, and unintentionally other things are also popping up as part of the process.   This is one project I am planning on finishing - for fun! On the physical level, I've been clearing things out - sorting my shelves, box ..read more

There's nothing quite like the first weekend in December! The Elves have returned, the Christmas Tree is up and the house suddenly feels so much more magical - the children are even being lovely to one another. It's fabulous! We have grown our collection of decorations since we were first married, so pulling them out of the box feels a bit like greeting old friends. We have reminders of our first home together, of the kids' first christmases and things that have been made at school or posted on this blog.  So they may not be colour co-ordinated and perfect looking (I even let the kids dec ..read more

The cold weather always brings with it the desire to cast on new projects. When the urge struck me at the weekend, I looked at the unfinished projects already on the shelf and decided whatever I started would have to be finished in one sitting. There was only one thing for it. Big needles, chunky yarn and something incredibly simple! In fact, I had it finished and on my head within a couple of hours. After raiding my stash, I decided on Lana Grossa Lala Softness in colour 006 - from LoveKnitting (affiliate). It's a blend of 40% Polyamide, 40% Virgin Wool and 20% Mohair and has a hollow ..read more

This post is not related to crafting, but as Crafts from the Cwtch has been the place I've shared about my life journey as well as my explorations in yarn craft, it feels like it belongs here. It was originally published on my other blog, but it's really a follow up to this post, THIS ONE, this one, this one, and this. Since the post went live, I've had the nagging feeling that it needed to be published here too and that posting it might even help with the particular 'ouch' I've written about below. If there's one thing I've learned this year, it's to follow my intuition, so he ..read more

When Sara Millis told me her new book was about starting a Craft Business*, I intended to post a review - I know lots of readers are considering this, or already running small businesses, and considered it might be useful. While reading the book, however, I invited Sara to join me for a conversation about her background and how she built her own business with just a £100 investment. I hope you will enjoy the interview and Sara's tips. At the end of the post, you'll find a link to receive a sample chapter from her new book.    Hi Sara and welcome! For those who haven't ..read more

After not very much knitting at all, there has been knitting! Hoorah! I have been (past tense) making great progress with a new project which combines Scheepjes Stone Washed XL with their new River Washed XL (the same content as Stone Washed, but with a coloured central fibre and coloured outer layer). It's smooshy, made up of relaxing knits and purls and is in my favourite colours - project perfection. I'm planning to publish it as a beginner-friendly pattern pretty soon. By which I mean 'whenever it's finished'.  The sample-knitting might have been finished already had The Book ..read more

Following the success of her (gorgeous) mix-and-match monster book, Kerry Lord's latest offering is a beautiful collection of doll patterns, in the form of Edward's Crochet Doll Emporium*. Available from today, you will have plenty of time to 'get your crochet on' for the festive season and I suspect that once you start making these gorgeous characters, you won't want to stop.    All photos by Kirsty Noble, used with permission of Pavilion Books The patterns are based around two standard templates - one for complete beginners and one for more advanced crafte ..read more

The Long-Tail Cast On is one of my preferred methods, and when only a few stitches are needed, it's pretty easy to 'guestimate' how long the tail should be, plus it doesn't really matter if it's a bit too long as you can always cut it when sewing in the ends. However, there is a little 'trick' I was taught by a friend when I first started to knit. She advised me to estimate the tail length when I need to cast on a lot of stitches, because it's really frustrating to cast on a few hundred stitches before you realise you don't have enough!   Wrap the required yarn around the needles ..read more

As a big fan of meditative knits, I often find myself zoning out while I'm knitting. Usually it works out fine, because I favour simple projects, but as I was reminded last week (while swatching), it can be easy to lose track of the pattern repeats when you're not really paying attention and knitting in the round. Prior to starting the real project, I'll be sure to make 'Pattern-Repeat' Stitch Marker - they are so easy and take a few seconds to prepare but can save a lot of frustration! It doesn't look like I've ever shared this tip before, so here goes...  Click the image to enlar ..read more

There comes a point when it's been so long since you've written anything, you're not quite sure where to start. This is the position I've found myself in, and it seems as though there is now too much to catch up on, so I'm just going to dive right in. Contrary to the evidence, neither this blog or the blogger have expired yet, but the reason for the provocative title will become apparent. Portuguese tomatoes, as seen on Instagram I can't believe it's already heading towards the end of September and the Autumn equinox*. The kids have settled quickly into the new term and routine, inc ..read more