I'll be quite honest, with everything that is going on in the world right now, me waffling on about my knitting seems irrelevant and inconsequential. Massive world events are taking place and much of the social media I see seems to be pretty hostile and angry right now.

It's not that I'm not knitting - I knit on through everything - it's just that I am struggling to write about it with everything else that is going on

One thing which has struck me though is the importance of keeping a positive outlook. It's easy to adopt a ' we're doomed' approach and run around panicking in the manner of Dad's Army or we can choose to see the positive and the uplifting in the everyday.

I read an article just this morning about how the women's March and the #pussyhat project has created a whole new wave of women (and men) keen to learn to knit. So much so that knitting stores in the US have chosen to lay on extra knitting classes at the weekend to cater to them all. More knitters has to be a good thing..right? Because knitters are amazing people who could probably move mountains given some sturdy yarn and some suitably sharp needles.

So, this week I am taking the decision to embrace a more positive outlook and rather than descending into Twitter- fuelled angst I am looking for practical things you can do to make a difference.

Some ideas which I came up with are:

Clear out some stash and donate it to Knit for Peace.

Donate unwanted toiletries or clothes to a local shelter.

Check out the Women's March London 10 Actions project.

Donate to or promote the work of a charity close to your heart.

I'm sure you can come up with your own personal list of things things that are important to you. But your challenge for today is to look for the positive in the everyday stuff and if it involves yarn, so much the better.