Adventures and apricity
The joy of tiny moments (and avoiding roadworks)
My word for this week and my overriding theme is apricity - a fantastic word used to describe the warmth of the sun breaking through in winter. I have had a busy week traveling around the country for various family commitments but I have been determined to take snippets of time for myself as they present themselves to me.
It meant being deliberately late for a few things (to me, late means not being 10 mins early 🤣) and ignoring the sat nav for a while when it was determined to send me into the roadworks from hell. But I really wanted to make the most of the tiny moments I had this week to do something for me, that would stick with me long after the rest of the weeks events had passed.
Luckily the weather got the memo and presented me with a series of beautiful, misty autumn mornings. I wrote about the first one on Monday as a private email - I normally send these weekly to members of my paid community - where I share more ‘behind the scenes’ snippets of my everyday life. But this one in particular really seemed to strike a chord, and as I took apricity as my theme for the week it seemed appropriate to remove the paywall from it and share it here as well.
I hope you enjoy it and get a little bit of a sense of what’s been making me smile this week.
In knitting news I have finally managed to reclaim my sock knitting mojo and actually finished a pair of socks. You know it’s been a while since you last finished a pair when you have to go hunting for your sock blockers. These are in the Candy Cane colourway from West Yorkshire Spinners for a festive project I’m working on in the background.
I also released a new pattern - I know - it’s been a busy week. The Battle Mitts came out yesterday and I’m holding them at the early bird sale price for a little while longer. So if you are quick you can pick it up with the 20% discount. At this time of year I’m all about keeping my wrists warm (essential protection against the dreaded Raynaud’s white fingers) so every pocket I have has at least one pair of fingerless mitts stuffed in there.
What’s making me smile this week
There has been a lot of driving this week so let me emphatically state that the A1 road works near Doncaster have definitely not been making me smile. Luckily there have been plenty of good moments too.
🍁 I saw a kingfisher in the wild, my first sighting of one for several years and an absolute joy to behold.
🍁 Time spent in a new yarn shop is always a joy. And finding Norfolk Yarns in Norwich was a real treat.
🍁 “Attention must be paid” This piece by
really resonated with me this week and fit really well into my apricity theme.🍁
wrote a brilliant list of lessons learned during her 51 years and honestly they are just a joy to read. I defy you to read them and not nod along in agreement with almost all of them (the Def Leopard one was a bit of an outlier for me 🤣)🍁Don’t miss The Everyday Knitter Gift Swap - there is a week left to sign up for it if you are interested. Once we close to sign ups on 27 October we will be allocating swap partners so it won’t be possible to join late. If you would like to become a member of my paid community and join in with this fun seasonal yarn swap you would be very welcome indeed.
Thanks for lifting the paywall on your piece truly beautiful.
I am a bit of an amateur photographer although missing my photography mojo a bit atm.
Reminded of the time in a local country park where I was standing watching a kingsfisher perched in a tree by the river, with my camera pointed at it. A woman came along the path and asked what I was photographing. I pointed out the kingfisher. Oooh, she said, Aren't they rare? Should we tell someone? I mentally envisaged dialing 999 and asking for Chris Packham, but suggested they weren't uncommon along this stretch of river. As if on cue, the kingfisher dived into the river and came up onto another branch with something in its beak. Well, said the woman, they do that on the telly! And walked off.