What’s in a name?

Hi! My name is Simon and I’m an avid tabletop gamer. Board Game Yarns is the name of my blog, springing from my love of board games and my wife’s love of yarn.

The name ‘Board Game Yarns’ is a play on words where ‘yarns’ can mean ‘stories’ as well as ‘the materials used to make cosy hats and socks.

It’s also a tribute to my best friend, soulmate, and wife, Fran, who hand-dyes unique yarn colourways, which are available at her online store, at burrowandsoar.co.uk

Location, location, location

I live just outside of Nottingham, in a village called Barrow upon Soar, where I am surrounded by tabletop creatives, in what is affectionately known as the UK’s ‘Lead Belt’. Nottingham is the home of industry titan, Games Workshop, after all.

Living here has enabled me to meet many excellent individuals from all corners of the tabletop industry, as well as to learn from the best.

Hobbies

I’m an enthusiastic card and board gamer, and I attend as many tabletop events around the UK as I can. I also enjoy painting miniatures and tabletop scenery, as well as playing narrative-rich video games such as the Bioshock and The Witcher series.

I’m enthralled by books, graphic novels, TV and movies – often spending time picking apart a script or dialogue, just for fun. Anything involving wordplay is pure entertainment to me and I often spoonerise quotes, alliterate aggressively, or turn mundane phrases into songs while I work.

Doggles and other animals

I am hopelessly in love with all animals, great and small, and my wife and I have two wonderful Cockapoos named Monty and Zelda, who we affectionately refer to as our “doggles”. One call of the latter on a walk and their happy faces come bounding straight back to us!

We all enjoy walking together through the local countryside, and hiking around the Peak District. One of the few times the doggles get left at home is when we visit the local alpaca farm to walk, pet and feed the animals!

For the love of yarn

Our home is a cosy hub of creativity. In addition to the various indulgences in my tabletop hobbies, it is home to my wife’s yarn-dying business. From her custom workshop, in our converted garage, Fran serves unique hand-dyed yarns to crafting communities across the globe.

Fran has a lifelong love affair with yarn, and when she isn’t dying the stuff, she will most likely be found spinning, sewing, weaving, and more.

Below is just a taster of her work, and you can find more images of her beautiful yarn on Instagram, which is available for purchase from her online store, at burrowandsoar.co.uk

My game collection

I’m a big fan of games with miniatures and and scifi dungeon crawlers. I keep returning to Magic the Gathering, and have a soft spot for all things related to Alien, Predator and AvP. Theme plays a big part in my game preferences because I like to immerse myself in their stories and worlds. Games like Arkham Horror: The Card Game really scratch that itch.

The below BGG widget will show a random selection of games from my collection. My current game collection is also visible on BGG, here.

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