Well, I am edging ever closer to a finished cow pattern. The kind team of people test knitting for me have been doing a wonderful job and it's been so exciting for me to see the first cows made by others. I have a couple more pictures to take, edit and drop into the pattern and then I will be calling it done.
I'll be back very soon, I hope, with news,
with thanks as always for your very kind enthusiasm for my patterns and your patience with my glacially slow pace of pattern writing :)
J x
It still feels like Autumn is waiting in the wings here, poised but not quite ready to make the dramatic entrance that the season is so loved for. There are inklings though of what will come; whisperings in the treetops, rustlings in the hedgerows, glimmerings in the undergrowth. The leaves are losing their vibrant summer green and are becoming dry and brittle. Each breath of wind sets free a flurry of seeds that twist and dance on the breeze until feathering gently to the woodland floor. The birds are gathering too, preparing for long migratory journeys, skeins of geese honking over the house in the first light of morning and flocks of finches that come looping and twittering into the garden, 30 or more at a time, and empty the bird feeders in a matter of minutes.
I've been out to the woods a few times on my own, hunting for photogenic fungi. As yet I have found very little, but I have enjoyed the quiet peace under the canopy and visiting the friendly red poll cattle that graze the woodland and a sweet, scruffy pony that lives in the field at the edge of the wood. And I came home with pocketfuls of beautifully fat and glossy chestnuts, I'll be sharing some with the friendly squirrel that visits our garden and roasting the rest later. Our other friendly visitor has been here frequently too, beautiful Kit the fox.
Here we are still settling in to term-time routines, it always takes a while for Toby to adjust and we have had a few wobbles, which have resulted in him being home a little more than expected or planned for. And the older I get the longer it seems to take me to settle in to concentrating properly. There's been a lot of knitting of course. I made a little rabbit for my friend to auction off at a charity masked ball that she organised to raise funds for the wonderful, inclusive playscheme that our sons both attended when they were younger. There has also been some simple weekend and evening sock knitting, as a welcome contrast to working on the patterns, which is at times fiddly, frustrating and takes a well-rested morning brain to tackle properly. I'm planning more simple wristwarmers and socks with the lovely autumnal coloured yarns bought from The Knitting Shed (I might be just a wee bit obsessed with their yarn at the moment).
My 'work-day' knitting is still all about my cow pattern, and I will show you more of how I'm getting on with that soon, but above are a couple of Highland cattle that will be making an appearance.
I've also spent a few months updating some of my existing patterns and have hopefully now sent out notifications of these changes to all Ravelry buyers. Below is a list of which patterns have been updated and in what way. If you use Etsy and you'd like a new revised copy of any of these patterns you'll need to message me via your Etsy account, as Etsy does not provide me with a way of sending you an automatic update in the way that Ravelry do. It's a very good reason to buy via Ravelry if you are able to, as I am planning a few future updates and extras to some of my other patterns. I've also added revision notes to the bottom of every pattern page on Ravelry so that you can quickly check when each pattern was last updated and what the errata/revisions were.
Well, that's all from me for now, but see you soon, J x
Summer is drawing to a close here and we're preparing for next week's return to term-time routines. Looking back over the last 2 months I have to say that this has been a good summer. The weather has been perfect, not hot enough to frazzle tempers or cause restless nights, but warm enough to make being outside a joy. And, unlike last year, the frequent rains have kept the countryside green and bountiful. It's been a wonderful growing season and the hedgerow harvest is going to be a bumper one, with masses of blackberries, rosehips, sloes and acorns.
We've walked every single day and, much as I have loved walking daily with Toby, it's been necessary for his happiness to go at the pace he sets, so I am looking forward to being out and about on my own, with the luxury of the slower pace that brings, and the freedom to stop and notice small delightful things. Back at home Toby has had his inevitable meltdowns, but they've been less frequent than I expected and the good times have been more numerous than I'd dared to hope for.
I'm also looking forward to the peace of being on my own in the house and the quiet that allows for proper pattern writing concentration. I have fiddled with my new cows pattern over the summer, but it has been a half-hearted affair, and so full of interruptions that I suspect that my notes are full of errors. It will be good to be able to sit here and make some more meaningful progress over the coming weeks.
Well, I just wanted to say hello again, I look forward to being here a bit more frequently as the autumn arrives. Thanks as always for visiting me here, J x
Pictures above are from:
Well, we're half way through the long summer break here and have settled into a comfortable daily routine. Mornings are calm and quiet as happily Toby enjoys quite long lie-ins, so I usually have a couple of gentle hours to call my own, either reading or knitting and sometimes having breakfast in bed when the mood takes me. Once he is up we head out for a walk, usually walking around 3 miles and stopping for a picnic snack along the way. Toby is good company as a walking buddy, he so enjoys the peace and quiet of the countryside and looks all around him as we go along. He's still not keen on me stopping to take photos of things but is getting gradually more tolerant, just as long as I'm quick.
It's a wonderful thing to be able to share a love of nature and the outdoors with him, and our walks together are often the best part of the day. We've seen so much wildlife: lots of muntjac deer, a stoat, rabbits, buzzards, red kites, kestrels, storks, egrets and so very many insects, bees, dragonflies and butterflies, it's been a great year for them and I've seen such a variety. It looks like being a good year for blackberries and hazelnuts too, with a bumper crop ripening in the hedgerows and we've seen a lot of early fungi too, doubtless sprouting well because of all of the rain we've had recently. Not that I'm complaining in any way, I'm so grateful this year for the cooler temperatures and wetter weather and so is the greenly verdant countryside.
There's not much progress on anything knitting related at the moment. I've been knitting quite a few scarves from the 'Sophie Scarf' pattern by Petiteknit as it's a beautifully simple and uncomplicated knit, perfect for picking up whenever I get the chance for a few rows and putting down again when Toby needs something. As far as my own pattern writing goes I do now have a cow pattern finalised, though still in the form of scribbled notes which need a lot of work once the next college term starts in September.
I hope you've had a good month and that August is kind to you, J x
Firstly, I want to say a heartfelt thank you for the kindness that you sent my way via your comments and emails after my previous post. Writing things down here on the blog is somehow easier than saying them out loud, and the process of getting thoughts and feelings into written words is helpful and cathartic. But I'm never sure whether writing so intimately is wise and I know that it turns some people off because the subscribers to my blog always drop a little more when I've written something on the gritty side. However I am always humbled by the warmth of the responses that I do receive, and that people who have never met me take time out of their day to reach out with such kindness and compassion. Many of your comments touched me deeply, thank you so much for your generosity of spirit.
Last Monday I took myself off for a solo lunch-time picnic, the last for a while because until the beginning of September I'll have a daily walking buddy (Toby - incidentally he is almost always calm and content and even sometimes quite affectionate when we are out on our walks, he definitely enjoys quiet outdoor spaces and they do bring out the best in him).
So I headed for Panshanger, which is probably my favourite place in the world, and which always provides so much delight, whatever the season. The calves have grown and are now quite inquisitive, approaching with curiosity rather than holding close to their mums. This heritage herd of English Longhorns are a very peaceful and gentle bunch, and I enjoy visiting them and watching their interactions with each other.
Summer flowers are out in the meadows and there are so many butterflies, bees and bugs darting from flower to flower, nature at it's busiest and most beautiful.
Back at home I'm using my pictures as reference and working on the cow pattern that I hope to have ready in the autumn. It will be slow going over the summer but I hope to make steady progress and will share some pictures when it's further along.
Thanks again for visiting here with me and for allowing me the space to share these little snippets of my days. I hope the week ahead is kind to you, see you again soon, J x