A new routine

September has long felt like the start of a new year for me, and this year has been no different.

Not so small daughter has started college, school runs have finished for us as she’s now getting the college bus, I’ve made lists and plans of what to do with my time … and promptly got the September Back to School Lurgy which has flattened me this weekend.  In a change to my usual way of dealing with lurgy (“just keep going, it’ll be fine, it’s just a cold”), however, I have listened to my body for once and spent the day in bed on Friday, most of yesterday quietly finishing off WIPs (it’s embarrassing how many pairs of “nearly finished” socks I had in bags) and watching TV with not so small daughter, and today I am feeling ready to get back on with everything again.

Not so small daughter has thoroughly enjoyed her first two days at sixth form college.  She did brilliantly well in her GCSEs, getting all the grades that she needed to get into college, and we are very proud of her for putting in all the hard work, and especially over the lockdown years when all of her studies were online.  I know that lots of you have children and grandchildren of the same age and I hope that the grades in your house were exactly what you needed too.  They have achieved something incredible.

Not so small daughter is still getting used to the idea that her timetable only includes three subjects now, that her lanyard opens doors for her (quite literally, as the security around the college is very tight) and that she has study periods during the day where she can do exactly what she wants with her time.  The college induction days were structured so that she got to meet people outside of her friendship group in a quieter environment where people were less likely to use being on their phones as a barrier to talking to someone new, a thoughtful move on behalf of the college, I thought, and she has already widened her social circle and has new friends in classes to chat to.  Both big daughter and I went to this same sixth form college and leaving school to study somewhere else for my A Levels was the best thing that I ever did, so I hope that it is as rewarding an experience for not so small daughter.

Before being struck down by the lurgy, I had some lovely walks out with the dog, leaving the house at the same time that not so small daughter went out for the bus (not sure how long I’ll keep that up but it was nice while it lasted 🙂 ).  The sky was blue and the sun shone – we might be reaching the end of Summer and there is just starting to be that Autumn smell in the air, but this seasonal handover was one of the nicest ways to start the day.

We’ve been walking in the fields around Winwick, and they look very different now the crops are harvested.

The last field to be harvest was the blue flax field that I showed you in this post, which was a field of the most stunning blue flowers, an amazing sight to see as the dog and I came over the hill and through the hedge bordering the footpath.  You couldn’t see the flowers from the road so this felt like a walkers’ gift and I loved it.  The flowers were left to go to seed and they have been harvested now, or mostly.  I’m not quite sure why the field has been cut like this but I’m sure there’s a reason!

This is what the seed heads look like now.  It wasn’t easy to photograph but hopefully you can see.  They look like little golden balls!

I didn’t want to take a photo of the mess of sock project bags all over the floor yesterday, but I will be able to show you the socks – one pair will become a new Top Sock Tip – I’m having fun adding these quick blog posts with answers to questions that people have asked me over the years – and the other pair is one from a new pattern that I’ve designed which I really must get on and write up.  I felt that I needed a bit of a rest after the Gingerbread socks and also another commissioned design that is coming out this week for Yarnstravaganza which is a week long celebration of yarn shops by UK Hand Knitting, an organisation which promotes hand knitting and associated yarn crafts and also supports independent retailers, and as a result, I’ve not been as focussed as I usually am on what I’m creating which has made it very easy for me to collect a bigger mess than usual of unfinished projects!

Yarnstravaganza runs from 17-23 September and throughout the Yarnstravaganza week, there will be events and workshops going on at local yarn shops that are getting involved.  You can find out more and whether your local yarn shop is taking part here.   There are also two exclusive Yarnstravaganza patterns – one is a crochet bag by Emkat Crochet and the other is a sock pattern by yours truly 🙂   I’m always very happy to support local yarn shops so I jumped at the chance to be involved when I was asked if I’d like to design a pattern for the event.

There’s already been a sneak peek of my sock pattern on social media so I don’t feel that I’m giving any secrets away by showing you this photo which is actually a work in progress photo (shh!) but is the one that got shared …

The pattern is called Branch Line, and will be available (along with more professional photos!) exclusively from yarn shops so if you like the look of this sock, it’s a brilliant reason to visit your local store!  As always, it’s a pattern that is based on my Basic 4ply Socks pattern so even if you’re new to socks, you can give it a go.  The rib moves using increase and decrease stitches but they’re explained in the pattern and it’s also a quick knit which is ideal if you’ve got gift socks to knit!  The pattern will suit everybody and you’ll see next week when it’s officially launched that it looks great in lots of different yarns; the one above is Stylecraft Head over Heels in Amazon but it’s also going to be photographed in other yarns from the partner yarn companies of UK Hand Knitting.  I’m going to write more about Yarnstravaganza and what’s going on next week.

Finally for today, I’ve found out that I’ve been nominated in this year’s British Knitting & Crochet Awards in the Social Media Superstar category.  Thank you so much if you nominated me for this, I am thrilled to be on the list again this year!  I’m never very good at asking people to vote for me (I would be terrible at politics! 🙂 ) but you can also vote for your favourite yarn shops, yarns, designers and accessories so if you’d like to take a look through the nominations list and maybe put an X in the box for me, I would love that, thank you! 🙂   The link for the voting form is here, and you can also click the photo below.  There are prizes to be won for voting but I think you might have to live in the UK to register for those.

So, with the idea of a “new routine” firmly in mind, I’m ready to start next week with a new timetable for myself – phew, it’s amazing how much time school runs took up, although it will mean less time to spend on my Emergency Socks so I will have to make to finish those off – you’ll be wanting to know how I’m getting on with the vegan yarn I’m knitting!

I hope that last week was a good week for you if you had back to school as well, and that this next week will one where your new routine feels comfortable as well! xx