Oh my goodness, where is 2018 going! I can’t believe we’re already moving into the second quarter of the year. I think the prolonged cold, overcast, wet weather is not helping me to feel that it’s springtime. We are forecast snow in Edinburgh again tonight which I fear is going to cause more havoc for the beautiful spring flowers and the blossom which is just starting to peep out. Come on, sun! I am ready for a little warmth to accompany the lovely lengthening days!
Family life has been slightly marred by minor illnesses over recent week – our little people have had tonsillitis and chickenpox (false alarm followed by an actual nasty dose). So there’s been lots of unexpected time off school and nursery to contend with, and juggle alongside work, on top of broken nights of sleep. It’s moments like this that make me very grateful for a supportive family who travelled to ‘rescue’ us at very short notice, and helped out with childcare, meals etc so things were as ‘normal’ as they could be in such circumstances!
That aside, there has actually been lots of highlights during the year so far …
Positive reviews for the "incredible" Adventures in Yarn notebook ...
I sent a copy of the Adventures in Yarn notebook to the lovely Nadia at Cottage Notebook, who reviewed it and very kindly hosted a giveaway for a copy. I managed to hand over the winners notebook in person at Edinburgh Yarn Festival which was nice! If you haven’t already come across Nadia’s blog and podcast I’d thoroughly recommend it; she explores lots of different aspects of creativity, from yarn to writing to parenting, and really encourages and builds a community around this. You can find out what Nadia thought about the Adventures in Yarn notebook in her Cottage Notebook blog post.
“It is a paper and ink space dedicated to wool and the pleasures of wool”
The fabulous Louise Scollay shared a hugely positive and detailed review of the Adventures in Yarn notebook on her awesome Knit British podcast. I was over the moon as I’m such a fan of Louise. She is such a powerful voice for British yarn, and really promotes understanding provenance and appreciating local suppliers, and the whole sheep to skein process behind the yarn we enjoy using. So her enthusiasm and encouraging words (she said “it is awesome”! Honestly!!) meant such a lot to me. If you’re a yarn enthusiast and you haven’t already come across it, do check out the Knit British website – there’s a huge wealth of yarn related resources. You can hear the full review on episode #101 of the Knit British podcast.

March = Edinburgh Yarn Festival
March is, of course, the spectacular Edinburgh Yarn Festival, a highlight of the UK yarn-related calendar! 2018 marked my third visit and I found it as fabulous as always. I’ve decided to do a separate blog post (following very soon) as there’s so much I wanted to share …
Hope to see you at Perth Festival of Yarn!
In an unexpected moment of daring, I’ve signed up to be a vendor at Perth Festival of Yarn! It will take place on 8 and 9 September 2018 at the Dewars Centre in Perth, and there are around 70 vendors, alongside tutored classes with Karie Westermann, Eli Langstrømpe, Janice Anderson, Beverley Dott, John Glen and Dale Murray. Tickets aren’t on sale quite yet, but you can sign up to their mailing list to get the latest information as it’s released.
At the moment I’m hugely excited and completely terrified in equal measures. I’m an introvert so if I’m completely honest, the prospect of engaging with lots of people over a two day period is quite scary! But it’s an amazing opportunity too so I will muster all my bravery and most welcoming, warm smiles in the coming months … It also gives me time to hopefully prepare some additional Popcorn + Crocodiles products which I’ve had in planning stage for quite some time, but I’ve struggled to make much progress with so far this year! There’s nothing like a deadline to focus the mind. I’ll keep you posted of course!
I do hope all is well with you, and you’ve celebrated Ostara/ spring equinox/ Easter, if (or however) you do such things … I’m certainly enjoying the extra daylight and the promise of spring around the corner.
