May Newsletter

Knitting press events, handmade cushions and alfresco dining

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Hello and welcome back to another monthly newsletter! And can I just say it is so lovely have some new faces on here. Thank you so much for subscribing to The Slow Natured Journal and I hope you will enjoy this little instalment of all I’ve been up to this month! May has been a glorious month of lush green hedgerows, frothy white blossom and sunshine days. We had a lovely family wedding to kick off the month and then lots of relaxed evenings and weekends sat in our garden admiring all the hard work we put in earlier in the year. I also got a bit of sewing for the house done and finished a couple of knitting projects. I’ve got lots to chat about so let’s just dive right in!

This Month I’ve Been Knitting

You may have had a little preview into my knitting this month if you saw my last post that came out on Sunday. I spent the beginning of this month working on a sweet little cotton cardigan for a family friends little girl who was born in April. I have seen the adult Dahlia Cardigan design quite a few times on instagram and kept adding it to my “to make list”. I still haven’t got around to making it in my size but I loved working on the baby version. I used Drops Safran which is a 100% cotton yarn in the shade amethyst. It was a really lovely yarn to work with and I am so pleased with the finished cardigan.

This month was also the month I finally finished a pair of socks I had started back in February. I don’t know about you but once the weather changes and we move into a new season I do find it very hard to keep going with a project from the alternative season! It turned out my sister in laws wedding weekend was the perfect time to work on some mindless stockinette socks as we hung out as a large family group the day after and finished off the wedding cake!

My final knitting project of the month was the Stella Quilt Cushion. Laura had shown me this design just before it came out and I was so excited to knit it. It’s taken me quite a while to get round to it but I am so pleased with the end results. I used nearly entirely British wool for this cushion including wool from sheep who live just next to my house! The only non-British yarn was two of the colours from my yarn advent which are super wash merino but hand dyed in England.

This Month I’ve Been Sewing

You guys will know if you’ve been reading my posts for a while, this year hasn’t been a great year for me sewing wise. I became quite unwell back in December and have had chest issues ever since which has made sewing painful and difficult. I am taking it very slow still but I am glad to say I finally managed to finish off the bedroom blind I started at the end of February. It has been waiting for it’s final touches for ages but it is now up and I am very pleased with it.

Finishing the blind also meant I could take the scrap fabric and whip up two envelope cushions for the bed. You might be shocked to hear this but I’ve never actually sewn a cushion before! I went straight into dressmaking when I started sewing back in 2021 and homeware has never really excited me that much! But these envelope cushions with no zips were such a quick and easy project and I can easily see myself whipping up a few more for around the home.

This Month I’ve Been Learning…

In 2024 I have decided to set myself the challenge of learning one new skill a month (you can found out more about this in my 2024 intentions video). I am certainly not expecting to become proficient in one month but it is simply an intention to encourage me to have a go at some new homesteading skills that I’ve been meaning to get round to for a while. This month I had a go at making my own soap. I decided to use a simple recipe I found in a book I was gifted for Christmas called The Art of Gifting Naturally by Angela Maynard. In this book, Angela suggests using a melt and pour soap base the begin with as it makes it super easy to make soap and you can learn a lot about adding extra’s. I made lavender and honey soap using local honey and some lavender essential oils. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any dried lavender on hand but next time I will definitely be adding this. The soap smells amazing and I’ve made enough to keep us going for months! It’s definitely a great way to save money in the long wrong so I will definitely be making more soap later this year.

This Month I’ve Been Reading…

I was very excited when I saw the news that a book of feminism and the church had been written. It’s a difficult topic but in her book, Notes on Feminism: Being a woman in a church led by men, Lauren Windle really takes you by the hand and guides you through some of the issues faced by the modern church. She expertly weaves together personal anecdotes, research, information and a bit of comedy to create an incredibly well written and informative book. I really liked the fact she didn’t push you to accept one belief or another, instead she presents the information and encourages you to make up your own mind. This is a fundamentally important book for Christian’s today both MEN and women. I would highly recommend you have a read.

This Month I’ve Been Watching…

Some of you will know I have a Youtube channel where I share all things sewing and knitting. But I also love to watch other peoples channels so I thought each month I would give a recommendation of a channel I love to watch. This month I have been enjoying Our Sweet Sunny Days. Andrea used to run a channel sharing tips and tricks on running a small business but last year she gave up her embroidery business to become a stay at home Mum. Her channel now centres around slow and simple homemaking with lots of delicious recipes. I love that she is so open about her journey learning to be a homemaking, learning to cook from scratch and figuring out this new Mum thing. She has a really fun style with a bright 60s style home filled with thrifted finds and amazing decor. Check out her channel for a relaxing watch!

This Month I’ve Been Visiting…

If you follow my YouTube channel or Instagram you may have seen I was invited to an influencer event with the team at Mode at Rowan. I have worked with this brand quite a few times previously and it was lovely to be included in this fab event. Mode are launching their first range of yarns in September along with their next seasons patterns. We got a chat all about their yarns, had a hand yoga session and we were given a really interesting talk from Anne Kirketerp all about craft psychology and the health benefits of knitting. It was such a fun afternoon and I got to meet lots of my instagram friends in real life and chat knitting for hours. You can see more in my vlog.

This Month I’ve Been Loving…

May has been the month of alfresco eating! We have been having breakfast, lunch and dinner in the garden and it has been wonderful. It is so nice to finally have a bit of sunshine and to have a space to eat and enjoy our amazing flowerbed which is really starting to take off now. We are yet to fire up the BBQ but I am sure June will be the month where we get that going!

I hope you all had a wonderful May filled with some sunshine and time out in nature. Next week will be my monthly Seasonal Celebrations post so don’t forget to hit that subscribe button so you don’t miss out!