making the most of the cold

I'm afraid there's not a lot of motivation to spend any time outdoors at the moment. It's been cold. The plants have almost stopped growing and much of the grass is brown from the daily frosts. Once we've braved the cold for soccer (and I try not to think too much about my son running around in a t-shirt and shorts in low single digits) and picked up Julia from her sewing lesson, it's mostly been a return to indoors and back by the warmth of the fire. Shared simple meals break up the weekend days. But the weekend I purposely ignored the steadily growing pile of laundry that had outgrown it's drawer space and was threatening to swallow up the entire pantry floor.

Instead I concentrated on some making. I worked some more on Violet's Autumn Leaves (the free pattern is here),  which encouraged Julia to do a little more knitting herself. I cut up some old magazines for another scrapbook. Something, I admit, I have never grown out of.  Though I think Daniel wishes I would. My mum helped me cut out a dress for Julia. I admire her accuracy with pinning and cutting out. All done so carefully and accurately, a reminder of her time as a pattern grader in the 70's. This accuracy is something I need to work on as I tend to be a little lazy in this department, and then wonder why those seams don't quite join as they should. Julia, too, had a little sewing project of her own to work on in the form of a simple stuffed toy of her own design.

 It is brought home to me again, the contentment that can be found in simple creative things. That is not just about the finished cardigan or dress, but as much about the process involved from selecting colours, the texture of the item in your hands, to the pleasure of knitting by the fire.

And while the weather may be not so nice, and Spring feels very far away, it does feel that we are making the very most of this season in our own way.