relish. life

The Schiehallion Point Pullover  This design was a couple of months project for the Hook & Light Advent Calendar, where I almost completed it... and then frogged the whole lot and started again (a really bad trait of mine). But working with 24 glorious 20g mini skeins of Falkland  merino 4ply by Hook & Light was a real honor and pleasure I was happy to do it all over again. The colours they achieve from nature just blows my mind! I have tried to dye some of my own yarn (from one of their kits) with varied success, but I do hope to try some more.      This is a relaxed and comfortable fit tunic length pullover, with meditative and calming moss stitch gives a gorgeous rhythm and showcases the ebbs and flows of the natural charm and beauty of the variations in colour. Subtle yet striking seaming details add a touch of fun and difference. Grab your tools, get cosy, enjoy the surprise each day, trust the process, and indulge in your finished garment in January, February and beyond.

Hello there beautiful humans. I want to tell you all about the delightful sister duo at Hook & Light whose ethos is handcrafted, sustainable and naturally dyed.  Iris and Melissa both have full-time day jobs and make the magic of Hook and Light happen in their own time. And what day jobs they are! I was able to get some exclusive insight to their world through an interview with Iris.  Iris works as a postdoctoral research scientist (so yes, you may refer to her as Dr Iris) at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, arguably the home of molecular biology. She is a neuroscientist, trying to understand the brain working with these tiny microscopic worms called C. elegans, that have only 302 neurons compared to the 3 billion us humans have and were the first animal to have their genome sequenced. Yet they are surprisingly clever; they can find their way in simple mazes and even learn to associate food with positive or negative stimuli, so by understanding these little creatur

Grab your cuppa and have a read all about My. First. Garment. My weight has fluctuated from a small 12 to a stuffed 16, so the idea of making garments just seemed like an absolute waste of time. That, and sizing, and MATHS. But the problem is, I have fallen in love with indie hand dyed 4ply yarn, and all those GORGEOUS knitted yokes.  And so, in a COVID-19 driven era, I learn how to make garments, and my brain has been running WILD since. The initial inspiration - nature and colour Long walks around our local village hand in hand with my partner (how romantic? except actually we always end up with clammy hot and sweaty hands, mmm nice), we are surrounded by farmland and fields and I tell you the wildflowers are glorious. I started to put a pinterest board together to capture the colours and feels of these walks. This then evolved throughout the project. The yarn - yum The first yarn I wanted to use was obvious - the delectable sisters at Hook & Light, a local due who dye natural f

If someone had told you all the things that would happen in 2020, before we even saw its fourth month, would you have believed them? Every man, woman and child has been impacted in some way. I was due to start a new adventure in my life, having quit my third job in a year (I was already taking some time to myself due to mental ill health and settle in to a more comfortable balance). In February I decided that I wanted to start a new career in children and young peoples mental health and well-being. I found an online distance learning level two certificate that was fully funded (no idea who by) so I applied, I went and spoke to the head teacher at my daughters primary school and we drafted up a volunteering / work experience plan, I started to fill out all the required paperwork. All the while things were un-settling in Wuhan but didn't seem to be of a big concern over here in the UK, *cough* Brexit *cough*.  LEAP YEAR DAY. My Nana passes away. In New Zealand. I was closest to my N