Just popping in to say hello. I have been under the weather for the past week, and am now really rather unwell, and a bit grumpy to boot. I think I was getting used to my “normal” being a wee bit better than this . . . now, suddenly, I am back to feeling too tired to dress myself and it is really frustrating! There are things to be done!
At least there are some things which don’t require too much physical effort. Like playing around with this soft, Springtime palette, for example. . .
I often find myself feeling grateful for the solace-giving, restorative powers of sheepy wool and needles. When one is feeling ropey, knitting really comes into its own, I think.
KDD & Co 
You have inspired me to attempt colourwork. I visited This Is knit last Monday, bought Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitting Workshop and am now attempting the first hat. Someday….someday….(in the very distant future!) I will try a pattern from Knit Real Shetland (which I also treated myself too!!). For now I will just read it and dream!Hope you are beginning to feel better again.
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Hope you are beginning to feel better again. You have inspired me to attempt colourwork. I visited This Is knit last Monday, bought Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitting Workshop and am now attempting the first hat. Someday….someday….(in the very distant future!) I will try a pattern from Knit Real Shetland (which I also treated myself too!!). For now I will just read it and dream!
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The palette you have chosen is lovely. I hope you feel better soon. x
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Wishing you a quick trip back to feeling right. With that palette to play with, I’ll bet you come out the other side of this with something quite nice>
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I love those muted, heathery colours. Hope you’re feeling more like yourself soon.
Liz x
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Sending you welo wishes, and I am marvelling at how much you are loved on this interwebby place, and also marvelling at how many of us crazed fibre freaks there are here marvelling and loving your tiny snippet of lovely Springy colourwork!!
Get well soon!
x
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Those tones are stunning and I love the pattern you have chosen for the knit :)
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Get well soon!
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Sending you some positive energy on a wing and a prayer from across the pond here. Even on your off days your work awes and inspires me. Take care.
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What a wonderful blog, so beautiful and so poetic ! I read it regularly. I admire your talent, your creativity and this particular way to share your emotions, your enthusiasm and the love you feel for your beautiful Scottish landscapes.
If I come some day to Scotland, it will be thanks to you (I live in South-West France).
You give so much happiness around you ! I hope you get better very soon.
Please, forgive my bad English…
Gigi
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I hope you feel better soon!
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Hope you feel better soon Kate.
Love the colours on your spring inspired knit, I love knitting it is so good for the soul, I hope it makes you feel happy.
Fleur xx
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Hope you feel better again soon Kate. I am unwell from all the pollution from a small subdivision opposite my small farmland acreage, which the greedy council allowed there unnecessarily.
I am so glad you took time out to say hello.
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That palette is lovely, and you are so right, knitting has a wonderful effect on the mood. I hope feel better soon!
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Sorry to hear you are unwell. I spent last week with a virus and was too tired to get dressed, and I haven’t had a stroke! Hope you are better soon. Those yummy colours can but help..
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Feel better soon Kate x
The yarn, and those colours … just gorgeous!
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Sorry to hear you are feeling unwell and fed up. You are right, though, that at such times the sheepiness and possibilities of good, woolly yarn are a great consolation. Your springtime palette is beautiful and reminds me of soft primroses at the edge of a wood. I hope you feel better soon x
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It seems a fact of life even for those who haven’t suffered a physical setback, that a large intellectual, physical, or creative output exhausts one’s resources. (Novelists and filmmakers take a year off!) You’ve just finished a slam dunk issue of Textisles as well as a period of consistent design output, and a teaching trip well beyond the neighborhood. Many people would be bucking for a holiday to the southern coast of Italy after all that. May the spirits bless and keep you, Kate. Hunker down with some tea and shetland and whatever comfort food says “home” to you. I’ve always found that a pair of concerned retriever eyes and a wet nose resting on my arm helped in some measure. And what Lacativa said about the restorative power of turning fiber into something more . . . absolute poetry and so very spot on.
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I hope you feel better soon. The yarn is beautiful. Hopefully the yarn’s karma will transfer to you and you will be all better.
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Very intriguing sample you have there. I can’t wait to hear more about it when you are feeling better. I hope you will be better soon, out and about enjoying spring.
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Get better soon and keep knitting!
Those colours look great.
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I am in love with the yarn colors. :) Spring crocus buds – before the bunnies trampled them, thats what they remind me of. That and lemonade with orange popsicles. As much as I am craving spring and summer…I still like having my wooly projects about!
Wishing you the best. Or maybe I should type, envioulsy wishing you quality time with sheepy yarn in wonderfully cheery colors – and to include tasty dark chocolates – that improves any situation in my world!
Happy Spring :)
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Gorgeous colors! Rest with them as long as you need. :) I hope you feel better soon!
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Thinking of you and wishing you renewed energy and better health. Thank you for taking the time to blog in the midst of ropiness.
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Sorry you have been under the weather Kate and hope you will soon feel better.
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The swatch reminds me of the color of a nest with pretty wee eggs in it. We’re all hoping you have an up-swing in your recovery very soon.
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Sounds like we’re in the same boat. It’s good to have knitting during these times!
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Hi Kate, I am sorry that your health has taken a step back – but I am sure you will soon take two steps forward!! I have a little embroidered wallhanging which says “my soul is fed, by needle and thread” ….. not such a good rhyme, but perhaps you could have “working with wool, is good for my soul” …… I am sure someone could come up with something much better than that!! Anne x
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Those are lovely colors! I’m sorry that you are feeling unwell, but glad that you are able to knit. I agree that knitting is very restorative. Thanks for posting, and take care.
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Sending lots of good wishes to you, Kate! Feel better soon!
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dear kate we love you! and that is a beautiful swatch.
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Oh that is what I wanted to say and in the southern hemisphere it also makes perfect sense for winter too! Look after yourself Kate!
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:( Send you good thoughts from SF….
Kate, you are an inspiration….I’m doing a curtsy :)
Yes, knitting and being surrounded by wooly goods is the best! I started your Rams & Yowes blankie while I was down with the nastiest stomach flu….aside from having my lovely girl with me and hubby taking care of me…it was the “only” thing that made me happy…
I’m almost ready to steek it….it’ll be my very first steeking project! Over the weekend, I slowed down a bit (my wrists were not happy)…and knitted up a simple sample of your Paperdolls to try steeking…..it’s soooo exciting! I can’t wait….thank you….you are amazing….
Take care, my dear….
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Sorry to read you are not feeling well. Hope you feeling better soon!
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I always feel better knitting when I’m under the weather too. We actually had several inches of snow yesterday here in western NYS which is enough to bring even the brightest spirit a bit down. I am sending good wishes to you
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I’m very sorry to hear you’ve been having a rough time recently Kate. I hope you’re feeling much stronger very soon! Your spring palette is beautiful, and that top photo is wonderfully soft and soothing…
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So sorry to hear that you are under the weather. Probably it was the trip to Dublin that put a wrench in your stamina. I know that my husband, who is 2 years away from his stroke, will still be knocked sideways for a few days after a special outing. But your knitting & some cuddley yarn & a bit of time will cure it & you’ll be back walking the hills with Bruce soon, I’m sure. Take care.
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Ugh, chronic illness is a bastard. (This week it is very rainy and cool where I live, so all my creaky joints are triply creaky—I feel your pain re: trouble getting dressed!) I’m very glad to see that you have some beautiful colours to keep you company, though. Rest well!
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Oooohh!! So lovely!
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there is a school of thought — among the brit knitters and jane brockett and others — that the palette for your grim northern climes should be, is, as bright as possible.
but this — sort of licheny — is very excellent too.
my experience with ropiness has been that dog training helps. if i break getting dressed down to its tiniest logical components, and face it by teaspoons, the overwhelm of it all doesn’t bother me so much.
like, step one is Sit Up. i don’t have to, and nothing bad will happen if i do. then five minutes, by the egg timer, of knitting are allotted as a reward. or, if you prefer doggie style, one inch of warm microwaved chicken frankfurter.
then, Write Down a List of What to Put On. (one inch of frank and a rest.)
then walk to the closet and lay it out. (“)
then take off the jammies. etc.(“)
not to be overwhelmed or judging of one’s self is the key.
xxx
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p.s. the same method works for massively ambitious projects like writing a book or walking across the sahara. for realz.
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I miss your posts when you aren’t feeling well, but know that you must take time out to regain your strength. The colors in those yarns are so warm and refreshing. I hope that working with them revives your energy and spirit!
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Hope you are feeling better soon.
Somedays I love to spend wearing my fleecies with my knitting, spinning…and or magazines and books about woolly things…and I don’t have health problems like you.
Naughty Kate tempting me with your Spring palette. Is it possible to have too many todos on my list?
I feel tomorrow may be time to microwave dye my Spring palette wool so that I can get on with knitting my handspun farm jacket.
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Feel Better Soon, Sweets!!
Much Fondness
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May the joy of knitting restore your energy. I know the feeling of being too tired to move. Quiet needlework helps me.
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This could be one of those ‘one step back just to take three forward’… Hope so. Those colours are lovely, complimenting each other.
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You are in my thoughts and prayers. Hooray for yarn and knitting – and you! Thank you for sharing with all your loyal readers. Such beautiful colors of yarn – I just want to climb in the screen and hold them.
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I also wish you a speedy recovery. Sometimes just sniffing and squeezing the wool is a mild remedy and imagining the sheep in the fields always conjures up a pretty picture. The new color combinations are lovely. Knit on, Knit on, and feel better.
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I mean compelled. Hell , let me wake up and have some coffee now. sheesh. Its 6 am.
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I hate it when I mispell, then I am comelled to come back and make a fool o’ myself. I ought to know better than to think you ‘disign’ …nay.. you DEsign. Yes, and now I stand humble to my error… am feeling much better now that I have corrected myself. :)
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I hope you feel more energized soon. Meanwhile, what perfect colors and texture and pattern, I just want to squeeze the knitting!
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Well, if its a choice between disigning another incredible Kate Davies gem, or getting dressed? WHo needs to get dressed. Have tea, yarn, and needles in bed if it will bring you ever more joyously to feeling fulfilled… and well… feeding Us slices of yummy colorways and wholesome woolly delights. :) Cheer up … and do accept a hug from me (from somewhat drizzly dreich Northern California).
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Hope you feel better soon Kate – we’re thinking of you xx
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Pretty wool…I can almost smell and feel it just by looking at your piccies Mmmmm. I hope you feel more your normal self soon, and you get some sunshine to languish in to banish the grumps x
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Oh Kate – hope you will soon be better, yes, snuggly soft yarn is very therapeutic, and making and designing beautiful things is good for body and mind. You will be well again as soon as the sun comes out! It’s shining here in North Ronaldsay between showers, so it’s coming your way. xx
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With all these wonderful suggestions, you’ll be better soon, I’m sure.. My help would be to keep your lovely dog near, and wait it out!!!..
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I thought you’d gone a bit quiet… sorry to learn you’re not feeling well. Knit therapy should be just the thing. Hope you’re soon up and around.
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You’re right about the wool remedy and your swatch looks as if it is helping you. A new design percolating?
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Hope you feel better soon, Kate! I can’t sympathize with the physical aspects, but I can sympathize with the grumpiness – I’ve been turning to my knitting for that reason several times over the last week or so!
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Hope you are feeling better really quickly. Love the springtime colours. x
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It really does doesn’t it. I remember knitting through a visual migraine. I couldn’t open my eyes and wool made my hands feel squeamish, but I made a ton of cotton dishcloths with my eyes closed and it got me through. Then I bought fancy soaps and mailed little kits to my friends. Wish you well-er quickly.
Those colors are gorgeous!
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What a clever idea! I was feeling very sad after a bereavement, and one of my friends sent me some comforting little cards but also two cotton dishcloths she had just knitted – I can’t tell you how much it helped – such a little thing, but there’s something really consoling about them. x
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Wow, I think that is a very lovely thing to do. I have decided now to give hand-knit washcloths and fancy soaps for next Christmas Holiday !
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Hope you are feeling better soon. Those colours are so pretty and are bound to pick you up.
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Hope the restorative sheepy powers start to work soon. Take care
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Love the swatch……..go with the flow Kate……don’t fight it and you’ll feel better…….and yes, a good cup of tea…….sending good vibes your way.
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I prescribe honey, vintage lace and lichen… but I may be wrong! ;)
Be well!
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Adding a cup (or 10) of tea to the restorative powers was my mother’s cure for “broken bones, broken hearts and drab days.” I am sure that tea is already in your arsenal, but i am having one now (at my drab desk in DC) and sending good thoughts your way.
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couldn’t agree more – about knitting while feeling rubbish. I’ve been unwell for a wee while now, and knitting up your Owlet jumpers for my twins, Gudrun’s crofters cowls, and now the Kergord scarf…. yep, knitting therapy (with hot choc…), you can’t beat it. Your swatch is gorgeous and the colours are spring-perfect. Looks like Shetland yarn? Hope you feel better soon xx
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I’m sorry to hear you are unwell. I hope you feel better very soon. Those colours are gorgeous. As usual!
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Hey, I am sending you lots and lots of woolly wellbeing wishes…… look there they all are zooming around the world just for you to catch. Here’s to you Kate…. may your days brighten as you may…
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just found your website last week-love your style and admire your stamina. hope you catch a break soon and start feeling better. the colors are soft and sweet for spring-
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Well Shit! I hate it for you. but I know that knitters and crocheters everywhere get that there is something restorative about hanging on to a hook (or a pair of needles) and a length of fiber and working it into something a little bit stronger, a little bit “more” than it was before. building a lifeline to hang onto for the moment of weakness.
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Feel better. I do hope good days are to come your way. Creativity is a great healer and you do express it well. Get well soon. We are here for you. :-)
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I hope you feel better soon – but what a lovely swatch.
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Agreed, knitting is wonderful at those times. Hope you are feeling better soon, look after yourself. That is a true springtime palette, reminds me of “proper” primroses.
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I hope you’ll feel better soon! The knitting looks good!
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Once your devoted readers see this post there will be so many wishes and prayers for your wellness I just know you will feel better soon. Beautiful colors!
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Hope you are soon restored to normality. This dismal grey, cold and wet day isnt helping, is it? love the knitting…
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Me too, so sorry but glad you are finding pleasure and spark in something so lovely. That looks a lot like Rennie to me?!
Take care- I’m hoping you’re up to your normal tricks again soon ; )
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I was thinking it looked like Rennie!
Kate, I don’t want to compare in any way but at least you can knit! And gosh, when I’m feeling under the weather I can’t manage colourwork.
Right now I’m a bit bowled over by stress & overwork. It’s caused my joint problems to flare up and I can’t knit (even typing this hurts). I know it will pass, just like every flare up, but every time there’s still the niggly feeling of ‘what if it’s like this forever?’
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Oh, what beautiful yarn!
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Get well soon Kate. I love your springtime palette.
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So sorry to read that you are feeling under the weather, as always with many others I am rooting for you, what a strange expression, but you know what I mean. Such beautiful colours you have chosen. May you soon knit yourself better again. best
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