Monday 25 January 2016

A Confession.


Forgive me, reader, for I have sinned. It has been almost nine months since my last blog.

Is a blog like a confession? Almost. A document of time passing, those small obsessions that take hold over the course of a few days, weeks or months. I confess to having lost my mojo. Blogging, crochet, parenting...all of it. In truth, I have been suffering from depression, and keeping myself busy with work and regular contact with my (wonderful) GP have helped me through a black time.

But on the bright side, my creative juices have been flowing- straight into work! I'm loving my writing work, and have been working with the same publishers on my features job for five years now. Each week I talk to interesting people, learn about new ways of doing things, and I'm inspired by those who teach, create, travel and just want to make the world a prettier, more productive and sustainable place to live in. And so I'm pleased that my ten-year career as a journalist has brought me to a happy place. And now, an even more productive, creative place in the shape of my new role as sub-editor of 91 Magazine! I've long been a fan of Caroline's blog, Patchwork Harmony, and I'm delighted to be involved in such a cool magazine, celebrating my favourite things: interiors and creative lifestyles. We're working towards bringing a new print version to you in late Spring/early Summer, and I can tell you know it's going to be BEAUTIFUL.

Speaking of beautiful, isn't the above image lovely? This is my stash from the Waltham Abbey Wool Show, which I visited last weekend with my mum. I chatted to the lovely Fiona Alice, author of Take Heart above, and I can't wait to cast on some of these projects. The yarn is gorgeous too- the slate grey is Baby Camel/Silk and is the softest thing EVER. I had to stop myself buying more, but at £23.50, one 400m skein of 4-ply is plenty! I'm thinking of knitting a shawl- my current obsession, actually. That West Yorkshire Spinners Fleece is a beautifully soft Blue Faced Leicester, and will be a cowl I think.

Over the past few months I've been acquainting myself with less 'mainstream' yarns and delving more in to the world of small dye-houses and indie yarn spinners. Yes, folks, I have become a yarn snob. Of course I still love my Drops yarns, my bright Rico cottons and my growing stash of Debbie Bliss yarns, but there's something magical about the combinations of fibres and colours that indie dyers and spinners are using. So to celebrate my birthday in November I went to Loop and spent an obscene amount of cash on some truly special yarns- limited editions and exclusive to Loop! My most favouritest yarn shop in all the world.  I'll share that stash soon!

I can't wait to update you on my Handmade Wardrobe situation and show you all the work I've been doing for pretty much all the crochet magazines. I'm also becoming a proper Ravelry user! Be my friend! And does anyone know how to get a little 'r' button so you can link directly to my Ravelry page? Evidently the break from blogging did not include learning how to be more technically-minded.

Thanks for calling in again, I wasn't sure if I wanted to blog. But thankfully the words have flowed, and a little break from the work schedule can do the world of good. cheerio old beans xxx


11 comments:

  1. Welcome back, I have just found your blog via instragam. I really liked this post, I can relate alittle bit to the darkness as I want though it with my hubbie over a year ago. Hang in there and do what feels right for you. The yarns are amazing and so does the book. Take carexx

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    1. Thanks Michelle for your lovely words, it's always good to know I'm not alone in feeling like this. I've been reading 'Reasons to Stay Alive' by Matt Haig- it's really uplifting book about his experiences of depression and how it manifests, and how he has dealt with it. I highly recommend it. xxx

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  2. Whoop whoop you are back - missed your posts. Keep your chin up and take small steps and all will be good x

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    1. Thanks darling, it's good to be writing again in a personal sense y'know? Nice candles, books and yarn always help too!

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  3. So lovely to read your words again-you have been missed! Sorry to hear of your illness, do hope you are feeling more cheery and yourself again. And look forward to catching up!

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    1. Thanks treasure, it's good to be back! I have so much to catch up on, but instead of planning and getting too committed I'm just going to go with the flow, see how the words shape themselves y'know? xxx

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  4. Glad you are back! Loop is delish isn't it, when I went on the Julie Arkell day, one of the women spent over £200 on yarny bits!!!!! x

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    1. £200! I did't *quite* spend that much...but unfortunately it wasn't too far off! I'm booked into the fair isle class in March, I can't wait to spend the day in such beautiful surroundings.

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  5. Nice to see you back, and sorry you've been feeling low - it's horrible when your own head stops fun stuff being fun stuff. The picture is, indeed, absolutely beautiful! I'm lusting after that blue-faced Leicester now despite having a perfectly healthy (i.e. epic) stash already :-).

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    1. He he thanks lovely, my stash is pretty healthy too but I just can't help myself! It's terrible! But there are worse habits, let's face it ;-) xxx

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  6. Hi Kath, lovely to have you back in blog land! Congrats on your new 91 job - that's sooo exciting! Have been mooning over the Take Heart collection - so many lovely projects. Sorry to hear you've had a dark time, but so glad you had some help getting through x

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