All Fingers and Thumbs

This is my second year of choosing a guiding word, last year I went for silly which then evolved in to play by the end of the year when it started to feel much more like it had some real meaning for me. Choosing a word at the start of the year in our midwinter means my thoughts straying towards options like sleep, hibernate and blanket. Much though that feels kind of awesome right now I think nurture has a bit more room for in it for some other intentions and greater excitement as the year saunters on! I'm trying to engage much more actively with all that choosing a word to help focus on can bring. Last year I think it was just something I ticked off my to do list of looking after myself better and consequently it didn't make all that much difference in some ways. This year - once more with feeling . For me nurture begins with a lot of time at home, some collages and word play to really connect with all the aspects of what I want my life to fee...

I feel like I'm stalking my next knitting project like a slow, lame hunter! I've tried to tempt it towards me with chocolate and plump cushions but all I've managed is to trim four contenders down to two. Two from the Brooklyn Tweed autumn collection were the first that caught my eye. Well, what am I saying, every pattern that team releases catches my eye. I'm not sure I do the stalking I think they are the ones luring me in to casting them all on! Still, two of the stand out collection, both by Veronik Avery, stood out: Feather  by Véronik Avery Coal  by Véronik Avery Then Solstice frolicked into view. When I saw Fiona's at RedFox Retreat back in October I had very itchy fingers and if I'd yarn to hand it would have been cast on there and then leaving my Twist and Shout gathering dust in the corner and Coal and Feather swept away in a fit of startitis. Solstice Cardigan by Cecily MacDonald I'd never noticed this pattern before but seeing...

Kicking off a new blogging project for me this year, inspired by my lovely friend Amy . 1. Dinosaurs at breakfast time as we spent the weekend with friends. 2. The view from their house of the Peaks. 3. Travelling with Mr Sarah generally involves luggage by Ikea! 4. My role on car journeys is always navigator. 5. One beautiful shot from the car in the Peaks. 6. Breaking the journey in Ashbourne, love this roof. 7. Still in the car hours later. 8. Food needed before home. 9. The perfect, gorgeous package waiting for me from dear  Yvonne . 10. Relaxing with Pinterest and my new cushion cover in the background. 11. A little touch of craft with telly later. 12. Pleased to be in bed with my current book quite early. My day yesterday felt mainly like it was spent in the car but I saved you from twelve shots of the road and tried to capture some of the other moments as well!

Feeling so spoiled with my handmade Christmas gifts that I thought they deserved a little spotlight. Such cosiness. Mum made me a pair of socks. Love. I just adore everything about them. Special pattern: one she really enjoys knitting by Alice Yu, t his one I think , though we always refer to them as the honeycombs. Guess we see bees everywhere! Special yarn: we saw this Rico Tweed yarn as a sample knit up in a shop in Tavistock back last autumn and they told us it had been discontinued. I knew Mum had tracked down a ball online but didn't realise she'd bought one for each us. Special fit: custom heel and she knit them to the toes and then on Christmas morning I tried them on and then over the rest of the holidays she finished off the toes so they fit me exactly! Special love: we tell each other all the time, in oh so many ways, how much we love each other and whenever I have made  her a pair of socks I've always been so pleased to know her toes are being loved when I...

Cobwebs blown away I feel like I can turn the page and welcome 2014 more graciously. Semi-hibernation and heeding the deep calling to nap is my January default but that needs its own balance as I'm not actually a hedgehog burrowed deep in a pile of leaves. A couple of delicious days of snuggling in a luxury hotel and tramping the beaches when the rains abated have me opening to the possibilities of this glorious new year. I want to feel the pure joy and sense of awe I did watching these birds swoop. They ride the wind, yielding when it gusts, finding the lulls, accepting what is and being ready for opportunities that arise. Little gull you make a fine guide.