My Knitting/Stitching Notebook & Shop Updated

The Knitting Notebook

About 8 years ago I started keeping a knitting/stitching notebook. I love Ravelry and the ability to keep a record of projects you have made however being a pen and paper kind of girl and having a love for journals and notebooks, I decided that in addition to Ravelry, I would keep a physical notebook too.

I chose a spiral-bound notebook because they lie flat when opened or you can bend them right back on themselves which is great when you have loads of threads, needles, patterns and yarn lying about.

When I first started this particular notebook I had intended for it to be only for cross stitch. I have a Pinterest board full of little cross stitch charts which will obviously never get stitched unless they are off the screen and in hard copy in front of me! So I printed off my favourites and pasted them into the notebook.

Then one day I was knitting and crocheting some Christmas gifts. I wanted to remember what I had knitted, for whom, what yarn I had used and the yarn details. 

Now as I mentioned earlier I was doing this on Ravelry but you cant pin a sample of the yarn or paste the yarn label in Ravelry can you. I can link the yarn to a project in Ravelry but I like to have the yarn label with all the information at hand.

For each project I noted down the following information:

* Name of the project

* Who I was knitting it for

* Needle Size and Yarn

* What size I was knitting and any adjustments I made

I then stuck the yarn label onto the page and wound a little of the yarn on a bit of card, punching a hole in the yarn sample card and attaching it to the spiral.

Once the project is completed I then photographed the finished garment and stuck that photograph in my notebook.

I use this notebook to death and as a result the elastic closure is all stretched and it has a well-worn look to it which adds to its charm I think. 

Under An English Sky Yarn Update:

My Etsy shop has received a make-over. New Photographs which took an absolute age to get right and some new colourways added and some old favourties.

I'm not sure if I have mentioned it here but I am working on an independent website/shop for my blog and yarns. Reason being that it would be nice to have shop and yarns in one place but the long-term plan is to move away from Etsy as their fees are just becoming astronomical. 

The Seasonal Home

If you have followed my blog for any length of time you will know how much I love to gently observe the seasons. Day by day, month by month, the seasons change. Each month has it's own unique characteristics to observe, enjoy and mark.

I have to say that since going back to work 3 years ago things have fallen by the wayside. I hadn't quite appreciated actually just how much falls by the wayside when you are working full time. How quickly you throw off the small things that mean so much to you as you get swept away in the swirling torrent of life in the fast lane. 

I don't like feeling like I'm being swept away in a flood of mindless living. But since dropping my work days down to 3 days a week I have been able to slowly start claiming back a bit of slow living. There is no doubt that if you are wanting to slow down, to live a more mindful life you need to be very purposeful in doing so. You need to take joy in the small tasks that you may otherwise classify as mundane.

In an effort perhaps to get back into the habit of taking joy in the small things, of being purposeful, mindful and observing the small changes that occur each day month by month, season by season, I thought it would be nice to share such posts here. If you would like to do the same, to train yourself to slow down and be more mindful then perhaps you would like to leave a comment here and let me know what you are doing in your own home to observe the seasons. Or perhaps I will post on Instagram using the hashtag #myseasonalhome and you can join in. Be sure to tag me @underan_englishsky - I would love to share your photographs in my stories as we encourage one another in slowing down and living with purpose.

So glad that it is Friday tomorrow! Any plans for the weekend? Not much from my side, I have my final law assignment due in at the beginning of June and it's a big one - so I expect the next few weeks will be taken up with that. But once that is done then I am freeeeeeeeeee! Anyhoo lovelies, I hope you have having a glorious week. See you back here very soon!