I have been thinking a lot over the past week about the difficulties of talking about the mental health “benefits” of a craft like knitting. There’s a lot of really interesting research about crafts and mental health about right now, but I often have problems with the way such research is publicly communicated or presented.… Read More
Knitting, creativity, mental health.
Harriet’s hat
Have you heard about the Shetland MRI scanner appeal? I know from personal experience just how important MRI scans are, since it was inside one of these machines that my stroke was diagnosed nine years ago. Magnetic resonance imaging is an incredibly important diagnostic tool not just for brain injuries, like my stroke, but for… Read More
Seavaiger
If there’s one thing I’ve had time for over the past few months, it is my knitting. I think one has to be very, very careful when talking about knitting and mental health, or discussing craft activities in association with terms like “mindfulness”: mental illnesses are varied and complex, and craft is not, in any… Read More
Blossoming
Recently Kate suggested that for my next project I could have a go at her iconic Owls sweater pattern. Now, as you will know if you have been following my learn to knit journey, it had only been three months since I had picked up the needles… Read More
inspiring projects: best in show
A few days ago, all of us at KDD were very excited to hear that Jennifer Moats (WonderfullyWovn on Ravelry and Instagram) had won Best in Show at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival skein and garment competition for her beautifully-knitted version of Kate’s Shieling blanket from the West Highland Way collection. We caught up… Read More
Light and lambs
Hello everyone, it’s Tom here. I thought I’d pop in to share some of my photos from our recent Hebridean trip to the isle of Berneray (Eilean Bhearnaraigh). As a photographer, I find the ever-changing weather and shifting quality of light in Scotland’s Western Isles really stimulating in my work. On this trip we were… Read More
in mind
Hello, it’s Kate here. I know many of you have been keeping me in mind. Thank you so much. I’m a little better now, so I felt I should let you know what’s been happening. For the past year, I’ve been really struggling with my bipolar. Most of you probably had no idea I had… Read More
a fresh new shade
I’m very excited to reveal a wonderful new shade of Milarrochy Tweed yarn.
Introducing Cowslip. Read More
Learning to knit in the round
My circular needles have arrived!
The learn to knit book gives an introduction to knitting in the round, explaining that this technique is effectively making a spiral to form a tube of knitting, rather than seaming flat pieces of fabric together. Read More
Scientific Swatching and a Como Cowl
I seem to have had a breakthrough with being able to read my knitting during this project. Maybe down to the chunky yarn, meaning the stitches are easier to see. Read More
Thursday I got nothing
Hello everyone, it’s Tom here. I’m dropping by to tell you all about my latest photographic project – Thursday I got nothing: a collection of images inspired by George Mackay Brown’s poem, Beachcomber. Together, these images ask the question, as photographers, if we look closely, do we ever get nothing? George Mackay Brown was one… Read More
My first knit project
Here we go. My first ever knit project and first time reading a pattern – fingerless mitts. Read More
