The importance of downtime

Garter Ripple Squish on Ravelry

There are a few things about lockdown life that have brought my needs into sharp focus. Before this whole (waves hands wildly….) ‘thing’ I thought nothing of taking myself off to a coffee shop for a bit of downtime. Just me, my knitting, a coffee and maybe a podcast or a book. Or maybe just a drive out to a farm shop (again - one that served coffee), to a local country park. The destination wasn’t really important, it was just the need for aloneness that I was looking for.

But, in a house with 3 other people 24/7 is proving challenging in ways that I didn’t expect. We are a quiet family anyway. We have always lived at a distance from our family and we are not party people. We are definitely not extroverts, any of us - although my husband is a true ambivert.

The need for alone time is something that we have all really recognised during these last few weeks, and after some fairly spectacular meltdowns (mainly mine) we have come up with a means of trying to make sure each family member gets some time to themselves.

For me, I didn’t realise how much thinking, daydreaming and planning I do during my quiet, alone periods. Walking and being by myself often allows my brain to go off in all sorts of different creative directions. I’ve really noticed how little inspiration I seem to have for anything right now when even taking a few photographs or writing a blog post seemingly can’t happen without at least one interruption and someone looking for snacks. Add in the demands of doing a day job from the kitchen table and it’s no wonder that by 9pm I’m ready for bed.

Indeed, often the only thing that stops me heading for bed when the kids do is the need for an hour to myself - it would be nice to be sufficiently awake to appreciate it.

It has made me realise though, the need to be kind to myself. And to silence my own inner critic. Does it matter if I don’t post on Instagram today? Not in the slightest. Does it matter if my pattern has stalled or that all I’ve done this week is to knit on the same blanket? Nope. I’m the only one who will notice or care.

So I’ve taken to giving myself a big, comfortable permission slip to do whatever I need to right now. And if that means stashing an emergency bar of chocolate behind the big casserole dish in the pantry - to be eaten while playing late night games on my phone - that’s absolutely fine.

And if you are in need of a permission slip for yourself - you are very welcome to borrow mine.

The right time?

Wishing and Hoping - baby blanket pattern on Ravelry

Confession time.

I have had this baby blanket finished and wrapped, sitting in my wardrobe for weeks now. The baby it was intended for is already 8 weeks old and under normal circumstances it would have been gifted along, hopefully to start its journey of being a much loved companion.

And yet, there it sits. Still in my wardrobe. I can’t put my finger on the reason why I haven’t given it away yet. I’ve pondered and asked myself repeatedly why not and the answer is a disappointingly vague “It just doesn’t feel right”.

Logically I know there is no risk. It has been washed, dried, carefully wrapped in tissue and then in wrapping paper. It’s been untouched by human hands in my wardrobe for at least 3 or 4 weeks. And yet, it just doesn’t feel like the right time to gift it.

Normally a new baby into our circle is a time where we come together, where we greet the new arrival, support the new parents and generally do that whole ‘global village’ thing. Plus we get to have newborn baby cuddles which are, of course, just the absolute best. But right now we can’t do any of those things. We can’t be there to help the new parents - we can’t even make them a cup of tea or hold the baby for a few precious minutes of peace and quiet.

I could force it of course. I could write a breezy note and send it off it in the post. But it just seems like too much of a burden to place on new parents right now. I’m sure if I had just brought a tiny human into the world I would be overwhelmed with all kinds of feelings. I’m bad enough now and my kids are both well into their teens. In years past I probably would forced it. I would have sent the gift because it’s the ‘done thing’. But now I tend to wait and listen to my gut instinct a little more.

And my gut instinct is telling me to wait. The blanket isn’t going anywhere and yes, the baby might be a little (or a lot) bigger by the time I get a cuddle but the blanket will find it’s new home eventually.

When the time is right.

PIN FOR LATER

Boundaries Blanket

Boundaries Blanket on Ravelry

I feel as though the alternative title for this should be “How to photograph a blanket”.

No matter how much I try for ‘artfully draped’ I always seem to end up with ‘randomly dropped’. No one wants to see a blanket stiffly stretched out like a body on a slab but equally, it’s hard to show ‘casually rumpled’.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that although the Boundaries KAL is now at an end, the whole pattern in a condensed version is now available to purchase through Ravelry. There are 12 squares in total which are knit separately and then seamed together. I would normally at this point say that the squares are handy portable projects - ideal for keeping in your handbag - but if you are anything like me you haven’t used your handbag for weeks.

For the next few days - until May 1st - there will be an early bird discount of 25% on this design. Just use code Boundaries at the checkout.

And, although the KAL has ended, the Facebook group we set up for it is still running. If you would like to join - to see what the squares looked like in progress or just to hang out there as you knit - please PM me on Ravelry with the email address you used to purchase the pattern and I’ll add you in.

Sock yarn Mash-up

It’s no secret that I love a good self stripe yarn. But while I have been really good at knitting my way through my leftover solid sock yarns (with my massive garter ripple squish blanket for example), I’ve been less successful at dealing with the nearly 500g leftover striped sock yarn - nearly all of it from the West Yorkshire Spinners Birds collection.

Socks for me or my boys take around 60g yarn (although they are now growing rapidly) but that means that I have an awful lot of significant leftovers of around 40g or so. I always felt that the bold stripes needed their own showcase and that they might overwhelm a mitered square blanket or something similarly large, and so I did what I usually do - shove them into a bag and prevaricate.

But this recent lockdown saw me rootling through my stash in search of inspiration and I suddenly had the idea of knitting these yarns as a mash-up. One colour repeat of one ball alternated with a full colour repeat of another.

I gave my boys the task of pairing yarns - and first up was my youngest son who chose the Bullfinch colourway paired with a Christmas yarn from last year. I did my usual toe-up sock with a fish lips kiss heel for speed and they practically flew off the needles. I had almost forgotten how quickly self stripe yarns can zoom along.

I was so pleased at how they knit up - and they were instantly seized by my son - always a sure sign of a winner. I’m now cruising along with a Blue Tit/Goldfinch combination which is going to be nothing if not colourful! Watch this space - possibly with sunglasses for an update.

Things to craft during a lockdown - that aren't knitted hearts

I’m not going to add fuel to the fire here but I think most knitters and crocheters will have seen requests for hearts to donate to Intensive Care Units up and down the country. Apart from the questionable logic of sending items into critical care areas during a pandemic, and the suspiciously similar wording which to me screams ‘scam’ it dawned on me that there are surely some more practical and tangible uses we could put our needles to right now.

Rainbows have become a real symbol of positivity and hope during this crisis and many people are placing them in their windows for children and others to spot on their daily walks. I’ve seen lovely chalked rainbows on pavements, kids drawings on sheets of craft paper and some brilliant knitted and crocheted ones.

Rainbow of Unity by Kerry Jayne Designs

And for the knitters - there is a knit version by the very talented Sincerely Louise - which can be found on her blog

Nurse Mates by Esther Braithwaite

Type ‘bunting’ into Ravelry and you’ll find some great examples

And if you are looking to make things now, to save for future donations how about:

Premature baby hats

Hats for the homeless

Mitts or gloves

NICU baby blankets

At such a difficult time we all want to do things that help our fellow humans and the feeling of helplessness in the face of a constant barrage of awful news is very real. I’m not trying to be trite here but to sincerely suggest some projects that might help with that awful ‘I must do something’ feeling - but yet won’t risk overwhelming services that are already stretched to breaking point.

Please craft responsibly

Safe At Home KAL

As we near our second week of lockdown here in my part of the UK, things are starting to settle a little into our new-for-now routine and my mind is able to think about knitting again.

I thought now might be a good time for a friendly little KAL to give us something to focus on and give us a good excuse to rootle through our stash? (new purchases are of course permitted, where still available)

I have put together a #SafeAtHomeKAL bundle on Ravelry where a few of my patterns are available with a 25% discount (no code needed) and obviously I would love it if you were to pick a pattern from this to knit. Although as we aren't at home to the knitting police, if you wanted to knit something else that's totally fine too.

Also, if finances are not great right now I have set the Fuss Free Festival shawl to be free for the next month - so do please feel free to download that one too

To give us time to get our supplies together I thought a start date of Monday 6th April would probably work - that way we have the weekend to decide on a pattern and some yarn.

If you’d like to join in, please share your progress either in the Everyday Knitter FB group or on social media with the hashtag #SafeAtHome