Wednesday

Here we are in the middle of the week again!  Where does the time go?  The countdown clock in our local supermarket tells me that it’s 39 sleeps till Christmas which doesn’t feel like nearly long enough away, although I have made a start on some Christmas planning so hopefully I’ll be organised before too long.  After one year that ended up as a last-minute rush on pretty much everything, I now try to be more or less ready by the beginning of December so that I can enjoy the run up to Christmas instead of dreading each day that goes past!

Small daughter isn’t feeling well today so is off school.  She’s spending her day alternating between being snuggled up on the sofa, wrapped up in blankets and in front of the fire and snuggled up in bed with a hot water bottle and a purring cat.  I think she’ll be fine to go back tomorrow – sometimes you just need to take a day out to head off something that could turn much worse – and a purring cat always helps!

I’m quite glad to be tucked up in the house today too, watching the rain battering the windows instead of being out in it with the dog and during the school run.  Outside in the garden, the leaves have all but gone from the sycamore tree …

although look at the colours of this Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster horizontalis)!  They almost glow, they’re so red!  Hidden amongst the leaves are red berries too, although there aren’t many of them left – they’ve obviously been a tasty meal for the birds!

There’s no shortage of jobs to be done and being home all day has meant that I’ve ticked quite a few off my list.  A big job has been sending out the last of the Yarndale Sock Line socks which I’ll tell you all about in another post – it’s always lovely to be able to send the socks on to their new homes and equally lovely to be able to tell you where they’ve gone so I’ll be doing that very soon.

I’ve also sneaked in a couple of rounds of knitting whilst taking a break to check up on small daughter.  My skirt is coming along nicely and I’m having such a fun time knitting this – you’re certainly not going to miss me when I wear it!

Considerably less bright is my new tutorial sock which is also coming along nicely.  I’m enjoying having both projects on the go and picking them up depending on which room I’m sitting in.  It’s been a while since I knitted cables and I do love them; it’s good to have a project with them in on my needles!

I don’t have a progress picture of my Neat Ripple sock as that’s in the car.  I decided that I was going to leave a project in there for me to pick up when I have a few minutes to wait; I got fed up of forgetting to take my project bag out with me and then being cross with myself for not having anything to knit when I had time to spare.  Now I’ve got a dedicated Car Project and although it might be quite slow to grow some days, it’s always there when I need it!

There’s nothing but crumbs left of this now, but I have to tell you about this cake … it’s an Autumn Apple Cake which I made with a recipe from Cakes, Bakes and Simple Suppers.  Jane, who writes the blog, is a member of the Winwick Mum Knit n Natter Facebook group and recently shared her recipe in the group; it’s a great place for all kinds of conversations and this particular one was what do with windfall apples.  You may remember that we’ve got apple treesthat refuse to let go of their apples, but after drooling over pictures of other group members’ apple cakes, I couldn’t put it off any longer.  And I’m so glad I didn’t!  The ingredients for this cake are all based on the weight of the eggs which are used, which seems like some kind of kitchen sorcery to me and oh boy, the results certainly were magic!  I made the cake for visitors who were coming over and served it – as Jane recommends – warm with cream.  It didn’t last long, but luckily there are more apples on the trees which WILL be coming off! 😀

Finally, I also want to share with you my video debut!  Quite a few people have asked me if I have video tutorials to go along with the Sockalong photo tutorials and although I can see that they’d be helpful, it’s been something that I’ve put off for a long time – I’m much happier behind a keyboard than anywhere near a video camera!

I mentioned this to my friend Maeri who runs The Make and Do Studio here in Warrington.  The Make and Do Studio hosts various workshops (I went to a curtain-making one but still haven’t made any curtains …) and Maeri also advises on running small – and especially craft – businesses. I’ve known Maeri for a few years now.  She’s one of those fearless people who tells you to get off your backside and do something (in the nicest possible way) and it’s always good to have a friend like that!  The idea of making videos has brought me out in a cold sweat whenever I think too much about it – which is why it was something of a surprise to find myself sitting in front of a camera in Maeri’s living room about to do a Facebook Live interview with her!  She wanted to talk about online communities as part of her small business advisory role and although this wasn’t quite what I had in mind, you’ve got to start somewhere, right?

So here we are.  (The video isn’t available any longer as Maeri is no longer running The Make and Do Studio.)

And do you know what?  It wasn’t nearly as scary as I thought it was going to be.  I think we build things up in our minds to be something that they’re not and the only way to prove to ourselves that we can do something is to just do it.  Of course, it helps that I was with a friend, but it reminded me that we hold ourselves back from doing things because of imagined rather than real fears. Anyway, a monster may have been unleashed because I’m much more confident about the idea of video tutorials to go with the Sockalong tutorials – you have been warned! 😀

 

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16 Responses

  1. Jo says:

    I'm sat here waiting for my dinner drooling after seeing that cake, it looks delicious. Hope you're daughter's feeling better soon, there's lots of things going round at the moment but I agree, a purring cat always aids the recovery. I shall go and watch your video now, you'll be podcasting next now you've found your confidence.

    • Winwick Mum says:

      Ooh no, a tutorial is one thing but I have no plans for podcasting! The world has enough on it's plate! 🙂 xx

  2. Summer says:

    All so lovely ♥

  3. R's Rue says:

    Pretty.

  4. Josephine says:

    Wonderful video. First thing I learned was that, as an American who sometimes struggles with U.K. place names, I'd been mispronouncing "Winwick." I think video tutorials will be great — I know I always learn better if I can see someone doing the project. Please don't limit access to just Facebook people, though. Lots of us don't do Facebook but are still out here knitting (and frogging….and learning….).

    • Winwick Mum says:

      Hello Josephine, thanks for your comments. You made me smile – lots of people pronounce Winwick wrongly, thinking that it's Win-wick instead of Win-ick – the joys of English pronunciation, eh? 🙂 When I eventually get round to doing my videos they will go up on YouTube as that's more accessible and not everyone wants to be on Facebook – it just happens that Maeri posts her videos there so that's where this one ended up 🙂 xx

  5. Angela says:

    Oh I like the idea of a car project. I would be able to fit in a few rounds whilst waiting for my daughter to come out of school. The skirt looks amazing, as does the cake. Hope your daughter feels better today x

  6. selina says:

    video tutorials would be great with your socks tuts! i am more visual even though i can read knitting patterns, the sock patterns, most of them confuse me! i do have a craftsy class (2 of them) to watch but it's getting the time to sit & make socks what with all my other knitting i need to do!
    great post
    thanx for sharing

    • Winwick Mum says:

      Once you get started with socks they'll be easy to fit in around your other projects, but often it's the getting started that makes it difficult! xx

  7. Mary says:

    I enjoyed the video which I watched on my iPad but used the link as I don't do Facebook. I did have trouble hearing all of the conversation even though I had the volume on high. I would like to go and do your original sock a long and will check out your book. Thanks for putting so much of you in each post. Lastly, I hope your little one is feeling better. Here in California we have a few viruses circulating so I guess that means winter is almost here.

    • Winwick Mum says:

      I'm glad you were still able to see it, Mary. The volume seems to be a bit hit and miss – I can hear it OK but others have said it's a bit quiet. I think Maeri is planning to invest in a microphone for her future interviews! It'll be great to have you join in with the Sockalong – I may be rather biased but I think sock knitting is just the best – and of course you'll be needing socks for winter! 🙂 xx

  8. Lilly's Mom says:

    Hello dear friend. I hope your little one is feeling better. That knitted skirt of yours is looking amazing; I hope you will share a phoeo when it's completed. Thank you too for sharing that delicious looking cake. We're having cooler weather the next couple of days here in southern California. It's been a long, hot, summer/fall. Enjoy your weekend! Pat xx

  9. Gillian Roe says:

    That knitted skirt! It's going to be amazing. Quiet days snuggled indoors are just the ticket when the weather is cold, wet and windy. x

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