All around me is a sea of cardboard

It's been quieter than I'd like it to be over on this here blog recently - that is because I am up to my eyeballs in cardboard boxes and there is literally stuff EVERYWHERE. Since I last moved house I have accumulated at least 4x the amount of possessions and I honestly have no idea what to do with them. I guess it's true that you accumulate to fill the space you have…

This time next week I'll be all moved in in Sussex - with a whole host of unpacking and organising ahead of me, which is the bit I like - I love having a new space to play with and decorate how I please. I'm looking forward to getting out of this weird Limbo place I've been in for the last month or so and finally feel at home again. And who knows, maybe I'll find my mysteriously absent knitting mojo tucked away in one of the cardboard boxes!

In the meantime, I'm stalking the home decor boards on Pinterest to get ideas on how best to maximise small spaces and idealising pretty closets.

So, I'm off back to decide what I can't absolutely live without for the next 6 days and whatever's left will be packed away in cardboard prison. Please bear with me for the next week or so, I have lots of posts planned but I just need to get everything around me straightened out first!


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How do I own this much stuff?

In exactly three weeks I'll be moving out of my falling down flat in South London, to the Sussex coast. So I'm currently surrounded by a tonne of half packed boxes  wondering how on earth I've managed to acquire quite this many possessions in two and a half years.

I feel like I'm in limbo - my flat not really feeling like home anymore and there still being three weeks until I move in with my family. Going home (although I've never actually lived in the bit of England that my parents currently reside) should feel like a step backwards, but it doesn't. It feels like a tactical retreat. I'm not going to miss London life. I'll miss my friends, I'll miss my job, but I won't miss much else. Over the last six months my anxiety and depression and all the things that don't have a name or a formal diagnosis have become such a big part of my life, that I've forgotten what being well is like. So that's why I'm going home, to remember, or relearn, and to remould myself into someone I like and understand.

I might come back to London and to my unfinished Illustration degree. But I might not. For now, I'm going to have good old fashioned spring clean of everything in my life I don't like and don't need. Starting with the contents of my flat.


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The Brussel Sprout Hat

I finished three projects over the five days I was at my parents' for Christmas. Three. I haven't finished or really knit anything since then, but that doesn't matter - I'm waiting for my Next Big Project to find me. But I finally got around to taking some photographs of the hat I knit in a couple of evenings, whilst sitting in front of the fire and watching Christmas movies. I'd forgotten how quick hats knit up!
This is the Bray Cap by Jared Flood, knit out of Cascade 220. The pattern was a dream to knit - with enough happening to keep my interest, but not too much that I couldn't watch Christmas tv at the same time ;)

Talking of hats - I signed up to the Mystery Hat Swap hosted by Liesl over at the Buckalooview Blog I think sign ups are open until the 14th January if you're interested in taking part. Must finish filling in my questionnaire…

I hope you're having a lovely Tuesday, I've had a very productive day so far, considering I'm still plagued with germs ;)

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Hello 2015

2015 is for fresh starts and bracing walks in sea air. It's for riding my bike more (after I've got the brakes fixed - luckily I have a mechanic for a Dad so I'm pretty sure bicycle brakes won't be much of a challenge for him). It's for eating better and getting healthy. It's for small steps and big achievements. It's for scented candles and (non-scented!) fairylights. It's for decluttering and building a new home (not literally - I can't even put a shelf up…). It's for knitting sweaters and filling my sock drawer with cozy wool socks. It's for sending packages to people I love. It's for taking more photos and making videos. It's for getting more involved with the wonderful knitting community both online and in person. It's for slowing down and remembering to breathe.

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  I put off this post because I wanted to take fun photos to accompany it, but I was working so daylight hours were in short supply and today I am sick (a cold, nothing to write home about) so not at my most inspired or photogenic, so you get a photo of the park on a very cold morning last week, instead. Haha.

2015 Knitting Resolutions

I'm not a big fan of New Year but I love resolutions. I love making lists and goals and challenging myself and trying to be better. I have a list of things I'm resolving to do in the next year - the usual eat slightly less cake and slightly more cabbage etcetera - and I'll probably post them later in the week, but it's my knitting resolutions that I wanted to talk about today.



1. Knit ten projects out of my hand spun yarn - including a jumper. I'm looking to upgrade my wheel in the not too distant future and I feel that I should make a few more things from the pretty yarn I'm spinning, in order to justify the purchase.



2. Knit ten projects from books or patterns that I already own. I have a pretty good collection of knitting books and yet I rarely ever actually get around to making anything out of them. I look through them, I put little post-its on pages with really good patterns and then the next time I'm in the mood to cast something on, I just buy another pattern from my ravelry queue.

3. Knit and steek a project. I am a steeking virgin and this needs to be remedied! If anyone has a steeked pattern recommendation, send them my way!



4. Continue onwards with Operation Sock Drawer - if you're not familiar with O.S.D. it's a project started by Jasmin and Gigi of The Knitmore Girls and is basically an instagram drive to knit more socks. I'd like to add another 25 pairs to my drawer. I'd really like 50 pairs of handknit socks. But  that's a lot of sock knitting...

5. Maybe maybe start a knitting vlog or podcast of my own. If I can decide what I have to talk about.

Do you have any knitting based goals for 2015?

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Wrapped Up In Knits

I wore four different hand knits to the beach this afternoon. I finished these wristers out of my hand spun yesterday and they're super warm.

I also wore my Docklight Sweater knit out of Cascade 200 Heathers - which as you can see, isn't the most figure flattering garment, but it's really warm and cozy and perfect for winter evenings.

This cowl is one of my favourite hand knits and correspondingly it's one that gets the most wear, it's like a nest for your neck - I love it.
My mum cheerily got into the knitty spirit and wore the mittens I knit her a few years ago and we both had hand knit socks on - but it was far too chilly to take our shoes off for photographic proof!

As I write this, I'm vying for the prime position in front of the woodburning stove, with a snoring cat (the cat is winning). It still doesn't really feel like Christmas to me, despite the mince pies I've been scoffing all day, but we still have to put all the presents around the tree and watch Love Actually, two Christmas traditions, so hopefully I'll finally start feeling festive!

I hope you're having a wonderful holiday season, whether you're a Christmas celebrator or not, I'm off have a lovely Christmassy takeaway (because no one cooks the night before they have to cook the biggest dinner of the year, right?)

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Introductions

Hi. Welcome to Stranded Blog! Some of you keen eyed souls might recognise me from my old blog, Happy Daisy. I started Happy Daisy when I was at art school (the first time around) and wrote it on and off until last year, when I simply outgrew it. The title Happy Daisy came from the little happy daze I'd go into whenever I did something crafty. Fast forward five years and I don't really do that much on the crafting front anymore, besides the knitting, spinning and dyeing I mean. And I wanted a place where I could be a little more… wordy than I ever was on my last blog.

So without further ado, let me introduce you, dear reader, to Stranded Blog, which loosely takes it's name from my love of all things knitting, and will be the virtual island of sanctuary upon which I can depend, as life trips me up - as it has a habit of doing, I'm sure you'll agree. 

Here you will find honesty, life and yarn. Possibly not always in that order. 

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