By: Kate Davies Designs
review, , , ,

fore and aft

YOKES_lowres

2014 has been very busy and productive year for me. In many ways, the past twelve months have been dominated by the creation of this book – designing and knitting the garments, researching and writing the essays, then working with my comrades on editing and production. Yokes has been a wonderful project to work on and I confess to feeling proud, in all respects, of the end result.

My work took me to some amazing places . . .

nearskogar1

like Iceland

gustafsberg

and Sweden

. . . and meant I got to meet some really inspiring people

kirstensstudio

such as Kirsten Olsson

fireicetour_eyjafjallajokull_background

and Hélène Magunusson

As well as the eleven garment designs included in Yokes, I also published several other patterns in 2014 . . .

eccelfechan11-1
Ecclefechan Mitts

machrihanish7
Machrihanish

richardtheroundheadweb
Richard the Roundhead tam (part of the wonderful Gawthorpe project)

hap3lo
A hap for Harriet

SMALLHEID6

Epistropheid

. . .and made a tea towel with my creative comrade, Felicity Ford

teatowelrange

There were some difficult things about 2014 — Tom spent several months working away from home, and lost his appendix in a Dublin hospital. My parents also had their own health issues to deal with, but my mum is now making a great recovery from her successful hip operation.

On a personal level, 2014 has been notable in a few other respects as well

squash
midsummerseve

I put down roots.

lplate

I learned to drive. (HUZZAH! WHOOOT! YAY!)

wazznbruce

I also spent as much time as I possibly could, during the Spring and Summer, working and walking outdoors. For five months of the year I looked pretty much like this. As a result, I really have felt healthier of late than I have done for many years. This can only be a good thing.

Most of all, then, in 2014, I have felt the benefit of living where I do – in our wee house in this lovely landscape – and I honestly feel incredibly blessed in enjoying my work so much. Having had jobs, in the past, that were not very good for the soul, I can tell you that it makes me really happy to be able to create, and research, and design, and write, and to simply be able to support myself through my endeavours. Thankyou for supporting them too.

islaysky4

I’m looking forward to next year. Enjoy your Hogmanay, and see you all in 2015!

Love to you all
Kate x