You've Reached Uncle Stashley's Knitting (and rarely but sometimes Crochet) Blog

Uncle Stashley is back from New York City, and he's learned some valuable lessons (and seen a lot of a shows): Sometimes the yarn shops listed in Yelp are closed. Do more research before walking two hours in the blazing hot sun to get to a disappointing, empty store. When staying in a room with a shared bathroom, and not being able to get into the bathroom, recognize that you would pay almost any amount of money to be able to use the bathroom, and vow next time to pony up en

As I sat in knitting group last week, monotonously turning out 132 stitches of green green green white, green green green white, I inadvertently paid attention to a neighbour's conversation, and all I can say is Thank Goodness I was sitting. For she was knitting socks, and she intended to give them away as a hostess present*. I may have gasped. I likely said "Oh, surely not," while reaching for pearls (of course, I had none to clutch. I never do.) Fortunately it turned out

New York, New York, it's a wonderful town! Yes, I'm back in the Big Apple, here to cram in as many Broadway Shows as I can, and knit or crochet during any spare time. Visiting yarn stores is also on the agenda. With luck (I haven't checked yet) one of the 300 museums in town will be having a fiber-related event, and then I can attend in good conscience. My first night I stayed at the Freehand Hotel (I like to move around a lot, because lugging luggage across sidewalks and t

Some people are scared of colour. Not to the extent that they wake in the morning, brush their teeth, then don their transparent outfits and embark on their day (although wouldn't that be something!) No, they manage to dress themselves, but when it comes to a redesign of their living room, or an approval of a new logo, or even selecting the right yarn for their latest project, it's all hemming and hawing and umms and requests for approval and eventual disappointment. So isn

We've all been there: it's a sunny August afternoon, and you're in the kitchen, busily creating clarified lime juice with your home centrifuge, when you get a phone call. It's the palace! An important birthday is coming up, and they hope you can knit a little something for the occasion. But what to create? The choices are endless! Well, not really. When knitting for royalty, you really should take various factors into account, some of which may even be useful for non-royal

Knitting, what is it? I've often wondered. So I sat down and took a good look at what I was doing, and turns out it's using pointy sticks to pull loops of yarn through other loops of yarn. Amazing! So I did a little more research, and I figure I can explain pretty much everything (so long as I stop and think about it first). So here you have it: everything there is to know about knitting, in parts. Some Simple Things Explained First Knitting: Using pointy sticks to pull lo

Have you ever felt, while stirring your daily dinner gruel, that if only you owned a self-stirring gruel pot you could be spending that precious time knitting instead? Uncle Stashley feels like that all the time. So today he attempted to incorporate knitting into his entire day. 9:00 am: Knitting Podcast It's the Annual Fair at my nephew's school today, and I need a wake-up coffee if I'm at all to survive awakening prior to 11:00 on a weekend. I'm going to drive to the adj

As you venture into the wilds of the Kingdom of Fibre Arts, you will encounter many beasts. Knitters of all types descend upon Lake Local Yarn Shop to drink their fill. On the crags of Knit Night are various types, clustering together for warmth. Down in the Vale of Fibre Festival all sorts of creatures are frolicking, perhaps even spinning. But how do you identify these fantastic knitters? For rest assured, they mainly come in only a few varieties. (I've been to Madrona F