The ‘You Make My Day’ blog award has been doing the rounds in loads of blogs that I read; Kirsty, Lara, Alice and Needled have all mentioned either the Bluestockings blogs or Knitaluscious and I was delighted to be included. Thanks! I have enjoyed very much reading people’s lists and it has made me think that perhaps I should widen my horizons. I tend to concentrate on the following blogs, which mainly belong to people I know in person. Since moving to Reading the Bluestockings blogs are a good way for me to touch base – albeit virtually – with these fabulous women. I have bucked the trend to mention the Oxford Bluestockings’ blogs as one, and have itemised them here instead, as I find them all very different from each other. The 10 bloggers who make my day are in no particular order:

1. Practical Polly – I love to read Kirsty’s blog. It is always fantastic to hear from Kirsty about what she is making/up to/reading, and I admired immensely her blogospheric rise to fame by launching Practical Polly with the Wonder Woman Jumper – an infamous knitting triumph. Like Alice I enjoy the complexity of knowing both an online and a real-life version of Kirsty. The same is true for
2. Thomasina Knits – whose blog is endlessly informative. Liz works for Oxford University Press and it shows. She writes with real skill and humour and I yearn to one day possess her editing prowess and dexterity with language. I also really enjoy her periodic posts on running, as she writes a lot of what I feel about running but am somehow unable to personally express; it is also encouraging that she runs whole marathons, while I am working towards eventually running a half-marathon! It is also amazing to bear witness (as something of a novice knitter) to the trials and triumphs of projects like the peacock shawl, which Liz undertook and blogged (and pulled off to a tight deadline!) with pragmatism and confidence. Reading about such things from a friend inspires me to take on more challenging projects than I may otherwise be inclined towards. For similar reasons, I also enjoy the blog of another Bluestocking who works for OUP –
3. Mootthings. I particularly enjoy the mischief with which Aliki writes. This post in particular had me actually crying with laughter for some of its comments regarding ‘The American Family Knitting Machine.’ I also find her projects and her posts equally carefully and brilliant. I love the consistency with which she makes and posts beautifully crafted things/words. In fact, between Aliki and Liz, I am almost convinced that the way to become a decent blogger/knitter is to take up a position at OUP. Continuing with this theme is Lara’s blog.
4. Knitwit is full of joy. I love the mix of projects, personal insights, knitting, craft and life that intertwine in her posts, and I feel a certain kinship as we write about similar things – the little things that please in life, felt-making, finished objects and food. I like that I never know which particular aspect of creative living I will find remarked upon in the blog, and the wide range of interests that Lara shares. For similar reasons I love the blog of:
5. Oxford Kitchen Yarns’ blog (originally filed under oscar-cat-makes-stuff and now present in the archives of oxfordkitchenyarns.com) inspired me to set up knitaluscious in the first place. I love the mix of gardening, craft, cooking, feminism and thrifting that inhabit Katie’s blog. It’s also been amazing to see Oxford Kitchen Yarns growing from strength to strength and to read about that in her posts. I especially loved Katie’s recent post re: the EZ Hybrid Sweater, and I thought the photographs were beautiful. Another Bluestocking whose blog I read avidly is Ellen’s.
6. The Frog Princess is full of practical how-tos. From making flapjacks to sweater-construction, this blog is one I especially reference for information on How To Do Stuff. I love the photos and the straightforward and informative aspect of what Ellen writes, and I learn from it. There’s something very DIY about the approach; she is one of the only bloggers I’ve found who can do her own knitting illustrations! I am in awe that Ellen can knit continental style.
7. Abby’s upholstery blog is another blog I’ve come to through The Oxford Bluestockings, and it is great to gain an insight into the world of antique furniture restoration and upholstery. I love the way that nothing happens for ages and then, Voila! A completed chaise.
8. Eat-me-drink-me is another blog I read and enjoy immensely. Keith is my dear friend Caroline’s partner, and lives in Ireland. He is a foodie of the highest order and produces incredible cuisine on a fairly constant basis. He once got me a copy of a Carluccio cookery book and hooked me on Italian cooking. Our conversations have become incredibly food-obsessive and geeky since we both read Heston Blumenthal.
9. Unusually for this list, Needled belongs to someone I haven’t actually met. I read Needled fervently because I think the writing and the ideas in the blog are excellent. The themes that run through it – thrift, creativity, ecology, cultural critique and feminism, to name a few – are elegantly woven together, and the observations on such things as knitting ‘For Him’ are astute and well-observed. I came across Needled via the Yarnstorm debate; Needled’s post The Domestic in Drag was fresh, funny, critically engaged, intelligent and 3-dimensional. Reading it made me realise the polemic potential of The Blog, and encouraged me to begin writing in a more critically engaged way. I ought to add here that I also look at Yarnstorm infrequently as I am interested to see how things develop from the fall-out accompanying the publication of Jane Brocket’s book, The Gentle Art of Domesticity. My own views on this book were not entirely favourable, but some great conversations have arisen as a consequence of Jane’s book and I’m glad for that. A question for me since The Gentle Art of Domesticity concerns format and means of engagement. I think that things that work on the blog may well be appalling in a hardback, bound publication. I find Yarnstorm much easier to deal with than Jane Brocket’s book, The Gentle Art of Domesticity and her photographs are beautiful, there’s no two ways about it. My own copy of the book is covered in post-it-notes and biro comments, forming something of a foundation for my PhD studies on The Domestic Soundscape. Another blog I read with regularity belongs to
10. Ysolda. Nominated by most of the people I’ve already mentioned here, this popular blog apparently has enormous appeal for many besides me. I think Ysolda has the gift of writing in a way that makes you feel welcome to her creative process. She shares the stages of things as she develops them and she has brilliant ways of getting her readers to contribute to what she’s up to. This inclusive approach is really engaging and capitalises on the true, networking potential of the web. I loved participating in the Elijah competition she set up earlier this year and thinking up names for the rabbit she made. And I also enjoy how she features photos from readers who have made her patterns, as in this instance of a version of her Gretel Hat, adapted by another knitter, that she especially mentioned. Ysolda sets up a reciprocal relationship between herself and her audience and I feel I could learn a lot from that.

So those are kind of my top ten blogs. Is it bad form that I have mostly listed friends’ blogs? I mean, there are certainly other blogs that I read and enjoy; notably, Laughingmouse, Weaverknits, Jodigreen, My House is Cuter than Yours, Amputeehee, Craftivism and Quirkiest. But the Bluestockings blogs have a special place in my heart because I learn so much from noting the difference between what people actually make and do and what they choose to note in their online record of knitting and the world. I’m glad for friends and blogs are, for me, a kind of extension or extra dimension to friendship. I wonder though if this approach to the blogosphere isn’t a little bit insular, though, and I’m setting a goal for myself to read more widely, beyond my immediate circle. One of my favourite quotes from 2007 was ‘There’s just so much Internet,’ from Christine Hill, my favourite artist… and I think the sheer quantity of potential online connections to be made and maintained feels overwhelming. Still, it’s exciting to know that so many amazing people are out there, making their thoughts available! I’ll finish with another list of ten, poached from Betsy Greer’s Craftivism: