Wintery skies

After all the rain and grey skies that we’ve had recently, it has been an absolute joy to see something other than clouds!

I went over to see my friend Lucy in Skipton yesterday and was very glad to be leaving gale force winds and driving rain behind in Winwick – by the time I got to Colne in Lancashire, the skies had cleared and made driving over the moors a thoroughly enjoyable experience.  I even saw sunshine!

A view of the Yorkshire Dales with blue skies and sun shining over the fields.

Coming home, the sky looked like it was on fire, such a beautiful sunset – that you would be able to appreciate far more if that tree hadn’t decided to photobomb my picture …

A yellow and red fiery sunset against black silhouetted trees

More clear skies out with the dog this morning – we were out much earlier than usual and it was misty first thing.  There was frost on the ground too (hurray!), and we made first tracks across the grass.

A sunrise over a misty field. There are silhouettes of trees

I was never terribly good at art at school (such a disappointment to me as my Mum was an artist), but I could paint trees that looked like these ones.  I love the Winter silhouettes.  I wonder where all the people on the planes were going?  I often wonder that when I see vapour trails in the sky.  Holiday or business?  Going home or going away?

A blue sky sunrise over a misty field with silhouettes of trees

I’ve got two socks on the go at the moment.  This one is my Windowsill Sock – not called that because it’s the name of the pattern but because it sits on the windowsill and whenever I walk past, I knit a round or two.  It’s surprising how quickly your sock grows doing that!  The yarn is from The Yarn Badger, it’s a Merino/bamboo eco blend so this will become another no-nylon sock review later in the year.

A ball of yarn in a bowl and some knitting on a white window sill

This sock isn’t for a no-nylon post, it’s for my sock drawer!  The yarn is Stylecraft Head over Heels in the colourway Red Pots, chosen by my friend and Stylecraft Blogstar Lucy for the All Stars range of David Hockney-inspired colourways.

A partially knitted multi-coloured sock on a white window sill

I’ve got more designs planned for this year, but for the moment it’s nice just to be able to knit plain socks!  I’m making an effort to get through my stash this year – it’s not a massive stash but it could do with knitting up, so I’m going to try to always have a Windowsill Sock on the go which should help with that mission.

It’s only a short post today to say “hello”, really – oh, and to remind you that if you’d like to be part of this week’s Winter Haven KAL round up then you need to get in touch with me with your photos or any comments.  You can find me on Facebook, Instagram, or use the email link under my profile picture on the left.

Finally, I’ve been asked by therapeutic knitting expert Betsan Corkhill to share a link with you to a research study being carried out by Reading University into the psychological effects of knitting and crochet.

She says, “Stage 1 involves a series of psychological questionnaires that will take about 10-15 minutes to complete. There is also an online game at the end should people choose to do this too.  A later stage will involve using EEG to study the brain waves of knitters.

We are trying to spread the link to the study as far and wide as possible as the greater the number of respondents the greater the impact and level of interest there will be. It has the potential to be huge – in the first 5 days there have been 3,035 participants!

The Neuroscientist in charge of the project is committed to open research.”

If you would like to take part in the study, you can find the questionnaires at the link here. This should take only 10-15 minutes of your time. You will also be given the opportunity to play an online game and enter raffle for a £50 Amazon voucher.  Please note that you need to be on a laptop to play the game.

Thank you – and see you on Friday for the Winter Haven KAL round up!

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15 Responses

  1. Susan Rayner says:

    Lovely photos – a heavy frost and thick fog here today and the sun only broke through at lunchtime – but dry!!!! Love the socks on the go!

  2. Lenore says:

    I love your windowsill sock idea. I think I might try kitchen bench sock. A few rounds each time I pass should see socks flying off the needles 😁😁. My friend Debbie completes 10 rounds before she gets out of bed each morning, it’s a great kick start to her day.

  3. Julie Culshaw says:

    flightradar24.com/

    A website to see the planes anywhere in the world; click on any plane and get the data of where they started and where they are going.

  4. Jools41 says:

    Naughty tree, photo bombing your picture like that! I love the silhouette of skeletal trees against an orange sky; it reminds me of walking home from school (many, many years ago now!) in the depths of winter.
    I like the idea of window sill socks and wonder where else might be a good spot around the house – on second thoughts the first place which springs to mind might not be very hygienic; moving swiftly on then.

  5. selina says:

    windowsill socks! what a great idea! i don't have very many places around here that i can knit (yet) so it's just the craft room in summer & then in winter will be the lounge as this usually gets a heated throw over to keep warm when knitting! otherwise it's too dark to sit there & lights produce too much heat to sit under it in the summer.
    love the wool & bamboo yarn, have been trying to find a sock yarn that's a little more 'summery' than the regular sock yarns (most i get are 75% wool & 25% nylon) just recently have noticed my feet suffering from being very 'hot', we are getting extreme temperatures here as I've never suffered this before; i have lots of cotton 4ply but have no idea if it would knit up for socks very well.
    mmm, also must make thicker boot socks, instead of the finer yarns; boots take a lot out of my lovely socks.
    always enjoy reading your blog
    thanx for sharing

    • Winwick Mum says:

      I think Regia produce a cotton sock yarn so you could try that one – 100% cotton doesn't have much stretch in it so the socks would go baggy quite quickly. You could try knitting 2 strands of 4ply together for thicker socks too – just do a tension swatch to work out your stitches per inch and then use the Sock Stitch Calculation to work out what to cast on 🙂 xx

  6. sustainablemum says:

    Oh, I have been too busy this week to catch up with blogs so I have missed that you were asking for links to Winter Haven KAL posts etc.

    Love the idea of windowsill socks, I don't walk past windowsills as I move around the house but I do have other spots that would work. Love how the colour is knitting up on both your socks.

  7. AnnB says:

    So wet and windy in Sussex but today it is sunny. I have two pairs of socks on the go. Thick 8ply for my daughter ( who pinches all the new pairs) and a bright pair for me. Love reading your blogs. Thank you.x

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