Do you ever have those moments when a random phrase just pops into your head, usually while you are doing something mundane like washing the dishes or taking out the rubbish? You aren’t sure if it’s something you’ve seen or read before but nevertheless there it is fully formed in your brain.
And for me, the words today have really stuck with me for some reason. I guess it’s what I needed to hear today and so I thought I’d share them with you too:
What if we had fewer hot takes and more warm thoughts?
Social media is always a pretty noisy place and never more so than right now. To say there is a lot going on is an understatement and there is never a shortage of people ready and willing to share their hot takes on everything from Black Friday sales through to AI art, and political news.
But one of the reasons I’m so enjoying using Substack is that it provides me a little respite from everyone’s hot takes and gives me a little more insight into people’s warm thoughts.
The ability to share longer form content and to connect with fellow crafters and other like-minded folk feels like a real break from social media. Both posts and comments here seem a lot more considered, more gentle and mindful of the fact that we all have different perspectives and viewpoints.
At first glance you might think that Substack is all about writers, authors and people who are well known in the publishing world. But look a little closer and you’ll find a wealth of crafty people who are quietly, gently creating a new and thoughtful way to connect with people.
Some Substacks I have particularly enjoyed recently are:
Knitting with Noodles writes beautifully about the meditative, reflective side of crafting. The way it draws us into a calm state of flow (on a good day) and she always offers some inspirational suggestions for new crafty ideas to try
Ani of Close Knit Notes has a lovely page and podcast all about slow living, knitting and general craft, and she has a beautiful way of writing that really draws you in.
Knitting, Terry Pratchett and recipes - what more could you want? Suzanne of the GoneAWool Substack wrote a wonderful post recently about her Hogs Swatch cowl which got me digging through my bookcases in search of my Discworld books. And then she followed it up with some amazing soup recipes - setting me up for the perfect weekend of Discworld re-reading and soup making.
Sadly, this week has been a bit thin on the ground in terms of knitting news. I can’t remember if I shared these finished socks of mine from a few weeks ago, but if I did please pretend that you didn’t see them. I’ve been wearing them a lot this week and it’s safe to say that the colourway grew on me.
They are the Woodpecker colourway in the West Yorkshire Spinners Birds range and I wasn’t a fan of the ball as it looked on the shelf. I thought they might be a little gaudy when knit up but I was pleasantly surprised at how well the colours worked together - I guess Mother Nature knew what she was doing.
It’s been a long week with little free time and this weekend looks set to be similarly sparse as we are back on the round of Uni visits for our younger son this time. I’m consoling myself with the thought that this time next year I will either a) be feeling a new found sense of freedom and spaciousness or b) crying into my pillow in a house that seems very empty with both boys ensconced at Uni.
In reality I’ll probably be doing both but at least I’ll be able to knit while I’m doing it.
Have a lovely weekend
PS. My Knit for Yourself sale is still going on, over on my website. Use code KNITFORYOURSELF for 35% off any of patterns for the next 24hrs.
I agree, my Substack feed seems full of warm thoughts compared to the rest of the internet these days. I love recommendation posts and finding new folks to read.
Love this reflection on Substack vs socials. It really does feel like the warmer of the two ✨