We are enjoying some beautiful September weather. The days are warm and golden, the evenings are a little colder, and appreciably darker, and every morning a rising mist softens the light over Carbeth loch. I think the weather is definitely contributing to my own characteristic September feeling – an urgent sense of new beginnings, which is somehow weirdly bound up with a little wistfulness and nostalgia. If I’m thinking about new beginnings, it is probably because we have a brand new colleague starting work with us in the KDD warehouse this week (hurrah) and if I’m feeling wistful it is because I was reflecting yesterday that it has been a decade since we moved here, to Carbeth, and that an awful lot has happened in that time.
I lived in my childhood home, in Rochdale, for my first 18 years. Since that, this is the longest I’ve stayed anywhere.
I love this place.
When we decided to move to Carbeth (for Tom’s new job at Glasgow University), I was two years post-stroke, and had recently published my first knitting-related title, Colours of Shetland.
And so, at the end of summer in 2013, we bought a house at Carbeth from Paul and Susie.
We settled in. I passed my driving test.
We loved our new rural life
But the University post that Tom had taken sadly proved to be a disheartening dead-end. So he left academic science, and, after working his way through several courses at City of Glasgow College, became KDD’s full-time photographer and book design maestro.
We got married.
I wrote a lot. I designed a lot of knitwear. Tom photographed it all.
With our friends, we worked hard, and we had fun.
In 2017, we helped my mum and dad to move, and join us in the west of Scotland – where they love living too!
Here at Carbeth, we kept on walking, writing, making, learning. . .
. . . and swimming!
We have been joined by Bob and Bran
But lost lovely Bruce
I’ve had my low points with depression
and, at times, people have proved disappointing. But they’ve been surprising and heartening as well.
Through the past decade, the beautiful landscape of Carbeth has always been a source of inspiration
The scene of many scenic photoshoots!
and – perhaps especially during the pandemic – a place of genuine solace.
When we came here ten years ago, I had published one book under my own imprint. With Tom and the rest of my team, we’ve now published twenty four different titles.
we’ve manufactured a lot of lovely yarn
and knitwear
Through making things, we’ve encouraged other people’s creative making. We’ve supported ourselves. We’ve provided employment. And hopefully, through our books, provided enjoyment too!
This September morning, I’m feeling very grateful for this place
And for this time of creative flourishing
May the next decade be one of flourishing too!
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Thank you for acknowledging the comment… but is it possible to have the pattern to this pale green sweater?
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I started to get a wee bit nervous as I read this….. thinking you were going to say farewell. I am grateful to have read on and see that you are still you and plan to strive on. Thank you for persevering and for sharing your gifts and talents with the world. Blessings, MicheleInPA
Kate, it’s been amazing to watch and learn from you. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself.
Kate, you and Tom produce such rich and resonant work! Thank you for sharing this powerful summary of what the past decade has been like for you. Reflection is wonderful gift! When I look back on my own past decade, I know that I’ve grown, not just through the successes, but through the difficulties I’ve trudged through. Your work here speaks to that for everyone reading.
For all who have posted here about not feeling like they could take on some of your patterns, I challenge you to dive in with the one(s) that call you! One of the things that I learned from being part of the Allover group is that it really doesn’t hurt to try! I have a few pieces of colorwork that I attempted that will not win any prizes for aesthetics. One I unraveled pretty quickly while it was still in process, and otherwise I have a pair of mitts and a cowl that will be useful and that will remind me of what I want to do differently next time. All in all, it is all about playing with yarn, and stretching my art of knitting.
Thank you, Kate!
Your posts always touch my heart and this one is no exception. What a wonderful homage to the last 10 years. I have loved being part of your journey and Tom’s also. Best wishes for the next ten years.
Carolyn
Colorado Springs
I love the image of the green sweater, taken from behind, arms outstretched over a winter view of your loch – where might the pattern for that sweater be?
Thank you! And what a very very lovely blog post. I adored the images, and getting a better sense of you and your journey.
MADELEINE VEDEL
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Hi Madeleine, that’s the carbeth sweater https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/carbeth
Thank you! And purchased :-)
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Dear Kate, love, love, love from Argentina. Thank you for your writing, creativity, confidence in life and…many other things my english make it difficult to express
Su
I just want you to know that I’ve loved watching, reading and learning from you over the past decade (as well, of course, knitting your patterns and drooling over Tom’s photography). You’ve been an inspiration to me in so many ways — knitting-, designing-, and mental health-wise, and entrepreneurially. You’ve reshaped your life in just the way you wanted. It is lovely to watch it unfold from afar. Please continue to tell your stories often. Thank you!
thank you, Joan! x
A lovely summary of the month. I always enjoy September – warm enough to keep growing tomatoes, cool enough for sweaters. Every time I see your wedding pictures, I absolutely love them.
Such a beautiful post! Thank you for all your wonderful inspiration!
You, your blog, your books, your designs and your yarn (especially Milarochy Tweed) have been by my side almost since you began. Thank you.
Such a lovely post. Thanks as always for your writing, patterns and inspiration (and openness about dealing with the difficulties as well as the good things). Great that Tom was able to join you in your work and find a new career path too, and fabulous that you have given employment to others as well.
That’s indeed a wonderfoll place to live. You can be very proud of yourself. And thank you for sharing this. Hope for you that there will be many more septembers coming in the future. Whish you all the best and a good health.
best regards
Carla Meysembourg-Rijnaarts
Thanks for such a beautiful post and your Wedding photo is beautiful too.
Wishing you well, and thank you for many years of following your journey.
Kate, I receive many blogs and newsletters and I read few of them. However, I always read yours because it is so beautiful, inspiring, well-written, and aspirational. I also live in a beautiful place in the north of the North Island of New Zealand and live alone (widowed) with a very funny black labrador. I haven’t attempted any of your patterns, although I do buy some, because I lack some confidence attempting colour work. I’m a pretty good knitter, I can knit Aran jumpers, for example, but except for one jersey I have always knitted in pieces and seamed. I’m attempting a top-down jersey for my daughter as my next project. I started knitting again after my husband died (I used to knit all the time when the kids were little). Knitting took my mind off the overwhelming grief and I chose to knit a heritage baby shawl even though I had no grandchildren when I started. I wanted to knit something that made a statement about life having meaning and that I had a future. Thank you for your blog.
Congratulations on the past ten years, Kate & Tom & Team. Well done! Really enjoyed journeying some of it with you.
If you could just ship some of that September cool to the south coast of England . . ? Schools went back this week, and one thing that hasn’t changed in 50-60 years is that the sun has immediately come out with vigour.
Only it’s definitely warmer this year!
You have a life in Carbeth that so many just dream about. So happy for you and Tom. Your knitwear and his photography are magic. My husband and I moved to a rural location on the west coast of Canada 8 years ago and it was the best move ever.
Thanks Kate and Tom for just being you. I feel very honoured to know you both and walk aside you on your trip.
Kate, your blog is where I come for a little boost of beauty and thoughtful expression. From the intensity of working front line in the pandemic until now, when I am starting new creative ventures, I have thoroughly enjoyed the photos, the insightful prose, the patterns and the knitting! All the very best for the decades ahead, for all the family. And thank you.
This is a beautiful post – September Feeling ! Thank you, Kate and Tom and Bob and Bran, and dear sweet Bruce (RIP) for sharing your amazing journey/adventure with all of us. May it continue for another decade and far beyond.
Your words always make me pause for reflection and the last 10 years has certainly been a journey! For me September always feels like time to create and gather my resources to for the darker days ahead – you have definitely provided much inspirational fuel for the winter! Now to get my log store sorted for the warmth and light to knit by. Thank you both for being an incredible team and proving just what is possible to achieve when you do it together!
Beautiful column gorgeous work. The photos….
A wonderful retrospective. I’ve been a follower since before your move to Carbeth, and this has brought so much back. My thanks to you and Tom for all these years of sights and thoughts. Here’s to decades to come!
Beautiful! Shed a tear for Bruce, but he’s loving dog heaven. Here’s to the next 10, lovely lady!
…a wonderful post. I appreciate learning more about the artists I admire and this post with the time line is enjoyable. You have more published books to your name than have yours on my shelves. I will have to work on filling in the gaps. Tom’s beautiful photography and your superb writing set your books a newsletters far above the norm. Many thanks.
You and Tom are brilliant. I can feel the texture of the stunning knitting items posted and the designs are inspiring (though beyond my capability). The photos Tom takes of the landscapes are Magical…just Magical.
Wow, Kate, just wow! Your piece made me feel very emotional. Life can be hard (even when it’s easy if you see what I mean) but you seem to have been able to make the most of it and that is very encouraging to me.
Thanks
Having experienced some of this with you – we found it very emotional.We are thankful to continue to be part of it .love Ma & Dad
Dear Kate, your writing and Tom’s photographs have combined to create this beautiful and inspiring post. It’s a tribute to this special time, a unique place, and the spirit and courage that you two share with us. Many thanks for allowing us this window into your experiences, thoughts and creativity! Perhaps because September is my birthday month, this time is also very important to me.
Best wishes to you all from NYC, where even the current heat advisory will not keep me from some knitting today!
All the best! Your work and Tom’s are beautiful.
The beauty in your surroundings is reflected in your creations and documented by Tom’s eye for that beauty.
Congratulations a d many more!
Sarah
Your last decade has been a gift to me. I’ve been adapting to the on-going progression of a neuromuscular disease and you have been a companion and witness to a way forward. Creativity is the pulse of life. Sometimes I can barely feel that heartbeat and I receive a message from you, with Tom’s beautiful pictures. I am revived, restored and return to my new work: from university dean to poet and teacher of poetry. Thank you for sharing your journey.
Yes, exactly!
Thank you for being an inspiration to me and my friends. You and your friends have helped us to be the best we can on many fronts. I am off to Perth for the Scottish Wool Festival tomorrow. Lovely to return north and see my home again.
Thank you for all the joy and inspiration you have provided through these past years. You are someone I admire greatly, and learn a lot from as well. Thanks to Tom as well for all his beautiful photography and work that he does behind the scenes. And to all your staff! Here’s to another decade!
Wow Kate what a lot you’ve achieved! How little did I know when I started following you after the rams and yowes hap that you were only just at the beginning of your journey.
I know it hasn’t all been golden and glimmering but Tom’s record and sense of place is a lasting legacy as is all the work that you and the team have achieved.
Congratulations to you all and hold on to this for next time you need it.
Me – I may not keep up with the knitting but I’m sure gonna keep up with your journey 😍
Such a lovely post and fabulous photos. may the next 10 years be as fruitful!
All the best
Leslie Chmiel
This is a lovely post. Glad it has been so satisfying and rewarding for you.
I love following you. Thank you for sharing your journey. Your writing, Tom’s photography, the abundance of patterns you put out are so inspiring. I am in awe. I hope to make it to this beautiful part of the world one day. Thank you!
Congratulations Kate and Tom on your decade of creativity and community. I have loved reading about your projects and of course knitting a few of your designs. I enjoy reading knitting patterns (weirdly my friends say) so each book is a delight in itself. Tom’s beautiful photos make them special. Thank you for sharing and all the very best for the next decade and beyond.
Thank for sharing your story, your creativity and Tom’s beautiful photos. I’m inspired by and in awe of all that you 2 have created Much gratitude. Aimee
Wow! Wonderful photos and memories. Thank you.
Joy, wonder, nostalgia, much creativity and blessed thankfulness shine from this blog and videos. Thankyou for your sharing Kate, you have lifted my day, which, as a carer, was just what I needed :)
This is a very impressive journey and I enjoy so much your publications (I think I have nearly all of them). You make me yearning for your landscape, your designs and yarns as well as your way to cope with depression. Thank you, dear Kate!
Kate, I don’t know how you do it, but every single time your words go right to my heart (and eyes, aka tears). Thank you for your writing and Tom for the wonderful pictures.
I am on a plane to Glasgow as I write this. Although, like many Australians I have some Scottish heritage heritage, Scotland was never high on my priorities as a travel destination until I starting following your blog some years ago (which also prompted a trip to Iceland for a knitting tour with Helene Magnusson).
Reading your blog and then several of your books, I found myself fascinated by and drawn to Scotland and being equally awed by Tom’s photos.
So later this week I will spend several days walking around the Argyll region, spend time in Glasgow and Edinburgh before heading to Shetland for Wool Week.
Thanks to you and Tom and your work.
(Of course I have KDD jumper, the Keith Moon, in my luggage for the coldest days!)
Ann
fáilte, Ann – I hope you enjoy your time walking in Argyll (the weather is set fair for the next days!) and have a wonderful time at wool week
What a journey! You live in a wonderful place (beautifully pictured by your husband), and create designs that delight many people. You are surrounded by loved ones (and dogs!). It sounds great, and I hope you’ll continue to enjoy life fully (and produce many further patterns for us to knit up!)
Gratitude expressed beautifully!