Being among friends
Some things really do spark a genuine connection and conversation - and a post I wrote earlier this week did just that.
If you didn’t see it you can find the link below but basically I was talking about the thorny issue of adult friendships and how sometimes our expectations or perceptions might be biased by what we see portrayed in the media.
When your friends are in your phone
The other day, my Mum bumped into an old school friend—someone she hadn’t seen in years. Within minutes, they were catching up over coffee, swapping stories, reminiscing, bonding over shared grief. Both widowed had been widowed but also had a lot of joyful anecdotes to share as well.
So many people joined in the conversation about this and more sent me DMs - it clearly resonated with many and I was so grateful for each and every voice on this.
Full disclosure: I actually wrote this piece some months ago but didn’t feel brave enough to share it at the time. I needed a bit of space and time to step back and allow my feelings to settle before I shared it with the world.
Even just saying the words out loud - “I don’t have many friends” feels as though it is inviting judgement and ridicule. But it is a statement that so many of us really do resonate with.
And honestly, that is one of the many reasons I love the community we have here. And I’m so grateful for the ability to connect with like minded souls on such a regular basis - can we just quietly gloss over the fact that I forgot to send last Friday’s newsletter and it is still sitting in my drafts folder 😂
I would love to do a study of knitters and self-declared introversion as I feel as though the Venn diagram might be not quite a full circle, but not far off. There is something very appealing about a hobby that gives the socially awkward person something to do with their hands and something to focus on. It allows us to be part of a gathering but on our own terms (judgy folk can mind their own beeswax). And it allows for a reliable topic of conversation and connection.
How many of us have struck up a conversation with a complete stranger at a yarn festival, when ordinarily we would rather untangle 1000m of mohair laceweight than converse with someone we don’t know?
The Substack app
If you normally read this in your email, firstly thank you so much. And secondly, if you are looking to connect with like-minded yarny folk did you know you can also read it in the Substack app or on the website.
Yes, I know it is technically yet another website - I can see your eye roll from here 😂- but it really does offer a lot more and it isn’t social media in the sense of Instagram or Facebook, I promise.
You can see comments that other people leave on my posts - and chat to them right there in the feed. You can also see what other blogs they are reading and widen your online social circle. Future yarny pals are right there.
In addition if you decide to join my Everyday Knitter membership here we have exclusive member-only chats, book clubs and physical swaps. In the past year we have had book swaps, yarn swaps and right now we are partway through a PenPal project. Such has been the enthusiasm for the latter that I have a wait list of keen letter writers looking for an overseas penpal - please do get in touch if you would like to be part of this by the way.
We are all looking for human connection - just on our own terms
What’s making me smile this week
🌸 Picking my boys up from their respective Uni’s. The resultant unpacking and laundry - not quite so much.
🌸 My new Kindle Sock pattern - because even Kindles need to be cosy. This will be a paid-for pattern in due course but for now members of my paid community here will be getting a free copy of the PDF in their inbox (over the weekend, hopefully)
🌸On my baking list for this weekend is this fabulous looking sticky loaf cake from
🌸This amazing article from
- further cementing my desire to leave my phone in my bag a little more often and actually see/reflect on things rather than immediately wanting to ‘capture’ it for later. This is paired with my ongoing project to purge unwanted photos (and all of those accidental burst shots) from my camera roll and online storage.
🌸 Bullet Journaling. It’s fair to say my enthusiasm for BuJo has waxed and waned over the years but right now I am back in the ‘love it’ camp. The secret has been ridding myself of stickers, washi tape and ‘spreads’ - bringing it right back to black and white basics. Just me, my Leuchtturm notebook and a plain bic biro. There’s a lot to be said for keeping it simple. This blog post is a great antidote if you are finding yourself going down an Instagram rabbit-hole of perfect pages.
I also gave up on washi and stickers. So much faff
Oh, thank you for sharing. Did you end up making the cake?