Thursday, 31 December 2020
The end ... or the beginning?
Monday, 28 December 2020
Monthly Musing - December 2020 - Happy birthday!
Thursday, 24 December 2020
Merry Christmas!
Thursday, 17 December 2020
Christmas countdown
Wednesday, 9 December 2020
December days
Hello! How are you doing?
Whilst I'm talking about feeling Christmassy, I want to thank you for all your comments on my monthly musing - I think sometimes we think that we are alone in not being able to see our relatives - certainly when you see the news you think that you're an exception rather than the rule - but I don't think we are, are we? I hope we can all take some comfort in knowing that what we're giving up this year will hopefully mean that next year is so much better for everybody.
Monday, 30 November 2020
Monthly Musing - November 2020 - Too late
Wednesday, 25 November 2020
Getting colder
Friday, 20 November 2020
Friday
Wednesday, 18 November 2020
Something's happening in the garden ...
Hello, and happy Wednesday to you!
Sunday, 8 November 2020
"It was THIS big!"
Saturday, 31 October 2020
Monthly Musing - October 2020 - Family ties
Thursday, 29 October 2020
WYS Christmas yarns giveaway result
Saturday, 24 October 2020
WYS Christmas yarns and socks 2020
Wednesday, 21 October 2020
My Instagram Challenge Part 4
Friday, 16 October 2020
My Instagram Challenge Part 3
Tuesday, 6 October 2020
My Instagram Challenge Part 2
Wednesday, 30 September 2020
Monthly Musing - September 2020 - The best version of you
Friday, 18 September 2020
My Instagram Challenge Part 1
Tuesday, 15 September 2020
Arches of brick and balls of yarn!
I can't pretend that we're not worried about small daughter being back in a school environment with so many other people after such a long time at home, but the school that she goes to is very organised and very thoughtful about what is best for the teachers and the students so we are happy that they will be doing their best to keep her and all the other people there safe.
Monday, 31 August 2020
Monthly Musing - August 2020 - Happy new year!
It’s the last day of August today. Bank holiday Monday, here in the UK which has meant a long weekend celebrating the end of the school Summer holidays because, to me, that’s what it has always been. I am, of course, old enough to know better now but the start of September has always felt a little colder, a little gloomier and with a sense of impending restriction and routine as the days rush towards the return to school.
Friday, 28 August 2020
Basic 4ply Shortie Socks - free pattern
Sunday, 23 August 2020
A Winwick Wildflower Wander!
Hello, hello, how are you doing? I've had a bit of a break from my blog over the last few weeks but it's lovely to be back.
It's strange how we seem to need some time off even when we've been at home for so long, isn't it? How does that work?! Anyway, here I am and I'm going to take you on a walk across the fields so that you can tell me what all of these flowers are that I don't have names for 😀
Monday, 27 July 2020
Monthly Musing - July 2020 - Better with a friend!
I know this might sound a bit “out there” for some – even the idea of meditation can cause very different reactions! – but we both get something immensely positive from our morning stillness and, best of all, doing it together makes it much more likely that we will do it at all.
I’ve never really got the whole “gym buddy” thing; the idea of a partner who shouts encouragement (or orders, depending on your preference) whilst you sweat away on a piece of equipment. I think that’s probably because I’ve never been a big fan of the gym – I’d much rather be walking outside or, even better, sitting at home knitting and preferably with a cup of tea and a shortbread biscuit. It all felt a bit too regimental for me, I didn’t like the idea of the pressure (I’ve never been very good at being told what to do) and if I am honest, I’m probably a bit lazy when it comes to that kind of exercise!
Sunday, 19 July 2020
Sunday again
Sunday, 12 July 2020
July already!
Sunday, 5 July 2020
Let's talk about ... short circular needles
![]() |
Needle brands: Outside - Addi, Centre - KnitPro Symphonie, Inside - HiyaHiya |
Tuesday, 30 June 2020
Monthly Musing - June 2020 - Upside down
I’m sitting here looking at a blank page, wondering what on earth to write my Monthly Musing about. The theme of my blog is “looking for the extraordinary in the everyday”; the idea is that it makes me look past what I’m doing all the time to see what’s special, what’s different, what I might miss if I don’t take the time to see it – but after weeks and weeks of the same four walls, the “extraordinary” of being in lockdown has become “ordinary” and things that really are out of the ordinary now but would have been ordinary before are sometimes a cause for concern.
Just this afternoon, I was standing outside the vet’s practice waiting for the veterinary nurse to bring some medication for one of our cats, chatting to a lady whose pet was inside with the vet and another man, whose enormous St Bernard dog was sitting companionably on his feet whilst they waited their turn. It’s not ordinary to have to stand outside, no longer allowed in to see the vet or even into the waiting room. Our pets go in without us (“I really don’t like that”, says the man, and I have to agree with him) and we are given advice from a half-open door. We might not like it, but it is how it is. Extraordinary becomes ordinary.
Wednesday, 24 June 2020
Hot, hot, hot!
Friday, 19 June 2020
After the rain
Monday, 8 June 2020
Helical Knitting ebook giveaway results
![]() |
Source: www.acknitwear.co.uk Photo credit: Jesse Wild |
Friday, 5 June 2020
Helical Knitting ebook giveaway
Monday, 1 June 2020
Amory Socks
Saturday, 30 May 2020
Monthly Musing - May 2020 - Opening doors
How are you feeling? It’s been weeks and weeks since we all started to stay at home; I don’t think any of us ever imagined this!
At first, people spoke of grief and bereavement for a way of life that we had lost. There were thoughts of hope for our planet, and for a new way of living that would reconnect us to our world in ways that we had forgotten. The streets were silent and people seemed afraid to even make eye contact. It was all strange and new but for most of us, the unusual has become usual; we’re getting used to being at home, chatting to people from a distance and, believe it or not, queuing in a way that is extreme even to us British super-queuers!
What has struck me most is how resilient we are, how adaptable to our new situation when many of us might have thought ourselves too stuck in our ways to change. There’s no question that this happening in our advanced digital age has helped us; businesses that might otherwise have gone out of business have been able to stay open online, for example. In our house, we’ve loved watching Andrew Cotter’s dog commentaries when, as a sports commentator, his work would have been on hold but he has continued to keep us entertained. People who thought themselves “too old” or “not tech savvy” enough have been able to get to grips with technology in a way that has opened up a whole new world for them. Last night, we took part in a family quiz with people from all over the country – and even abroad – that we would never normally see except at occasional family events, but here we were on a Friday evening, glass of wine in hand*, comfortably ensconced on our sofa discussing quiz answers with literally distant relatives.
Wednesday, 27 May 2020
Another week
Sunday, 17 May 2020
Sunday
Thank you SO MUCH to you all for your kind comments and your purchases of the LikeMinded Socks pattern. I really was very nervous about putting a pattern out for sale rather than my usual free download, but you have all made it a very easy process and I am very grateful. I've promised to donate money from the sales for the rest of this month, but already I can tell you that thanks to you, I'm going to be able to donate a very generous amount!
If you've not seen the post on these socks, you can read all about them and the story behind them here.
Thank you also to everyone who got involved in the Sockalong 5th Birthday - Ann and Pam have been in touch and their prizes from the giveaway are on their way to them.
What else? Oh, earlier this week (last week? It depends if your week starts on Sunday or Monday!), I released a new video on YouTube. This is the first of what's going to be a series of them to go along with the Sockalong tutorials; lots of people tell me that they would appreciate video as well as the photos in the tutorials so I am veeerrry slowly getting my act together and creating those. They're designed to work in conjunction with the online tutorials, not instead of them, so hopefully you'll get a better picture of how it all works when you put the two together if you have questions as you go along.
The first video is here:
I chose this one to start with as the question that is asked most often in the Facebook group is "How many stitches should I cast on for a size [whatever] sock?" The answer of course, is that it depends on the width of the foot, not the length, but for someone who is new to knitting socks, this is a big concept to get your head around! Once you've worked out your own gauge, however, then that's you done for pretty much every sock you'll knit in that particular weight so the 10 or 20 minutes it might take you is, in the scheme of things, no time at all. Yes, yes, I'm as impatient as the next person and want to just get stuck in without messing about with tension swatches, but I can tell you that I've knitted hundreds of pairs of socks now, and they all fit. And it takes 20 minutes to work that out? It's really worth the effort!
Monday, 11 May 2020
Winwick Mum Sockalong 5th birthday giveaway results
I'm here at last with the Sockalong 5th birthday giveaway results - wow, it was so lovely to hear from so many of you! I'm sorry to those of you who weren't able to leave a comment - the comments are moderated anyway because of spam, but apparently my blog platform has eaten a few of them before I could even get to read them.
What I love most about reading your comments every is that they give me an insight into how knitting socks is as much as part of your lives as it is mine. It's that thing that I talked about in the Winter Haven KAL about us being connected by yarn and intention - our socks keep our feet warm, give us joy to knit, give us pleasure to give away, give us pride to wear ourselves, keep us calm, keep yarn shops in business ... and reading all your comments about how you have done all of that, and how your socks have created special memories, means more to me than any download figures or statistics that we bloggers are supposed to be interested in. Knowing that you are knitting socks for whatever reason, and that I might have been able to help you do that, fills my heart to bursting, and I hope that I will be able to continue to help people to knit socks for many years to come!
Please do me a favour, though - I read so many comments that said "I've only ..." and there should never be an "I've only ..." about anything! It's like those people who tell me "I've knitted this pair but they're not perfect". It's absolutely OK to be proud of whatever you have done and we are all far too good at putting our achievements down (and I can say this to you because I do exactly the same thing until I realise what I'm doing and pull myself out of it!). So this next year, whatever you are making, embrace your knitting imperfections as "design features" that make your knitting unique, and if you have to say "if only", then it should be "I've only gone and knitted [whatever it is]!" We should all be more Mike from Monsters Inc! 😀
Anyway, you don't want to read me rambling on, you want to know if you've won!
Friday, 8 May 2020
LikeMinded Socks
Sometimes, the idea pops into my head like a lightbulb going on and it's so bright that I have to do something about it straight away. At other times, I might see or hear something and think, "Ooh, that would be a good idea for ... whatever" and I will turn it over and over in mind until it forms into the shape that I want.
At other times, the idea is like a ghost at the back of my mind, slipping in and out of my thoughts, always just out of reach until the moment when it is ready to step forward into my consciousness and say "Now ... now I am ready". And that is what happened with this pattern.
It's inspired by social media, which might on the face of it seem to be an odd thing to base a sock design on. It's not based on the technical wizardry and computer coding that makes it all possible, however, and it's definitely not based on the downsides of scrolling and trolling and media overwhelm - but on the good, positive, human side of it. The side that outweighs all the nonsense, that connects us, uplifts us, teaches and inspires us. That side of social media.