The Weaver's Daughter

It feels odd to be sat here on the first day of October writing my first blog post of the year! I’ve had a very good reason for being so quiet for the last 9 months though. Back in January I welcomed the arrival of my first “studio assistant” Flora. She showed up bright and early for work on a very frosty Monday morning and has been keeping me super busy ever since. Back when I was in hospital Covid 19 was just background noise, too far away at that point for the majority of people to really be aware of.

It has been a strange time to become a new mum. I feel for any of the parents who have had to give birth whilst all the tight restrictions were in place. Having Matt by my side through a scary induction and then a week of stress with our little bundle kept me sane. I’m thankful at least that we had some time to share her with friends and family before lockdown set in. Then we hunkered down as our new family of four (I’m including the dog) in the little cottage in the orchard.

Our days and nights blurred in the cycle of feeds and sleeps, obscured further by all usual routine ceasing. No morning commute for Matt, just a stream of zoom calls. No baby groups to attend. No assistance with childcare when we just needed a couple of hours to nap. We just lived in our day to day activities, cooking, dog walks and cuddles with Flora.

Prior to lockdown we had seen a house we rather liked and had madly scrabbled around for every penny we could get to try and make it ours. We played an agonising waiting game with the mortgage company for the entirety of lockdown until eventually we got the green light and then we were all systems go moving. For a crazy week we decorated by day and packed by night with Flora feeds thrown into the mix as well. I don’t think I have ever felt so tired! But it was worth it. Then we went about settling in to our new home nestled into the Malvern Hills.

The real bonus of our new place is that there’s a room right at the bottom of the house, only accessed off the garden, which is big enough to fit the loom in. It has taken another couple of months to get it all ready. It needed damp-proofing and painting and the plaster took an age to dry. But as of last Saturday it has become my studio. The loom is in. Shelves of yarn are arranged in a neat rainbow. I have a desk to dream and play at again. And it’s thankfully coordinated with my coming off of maternity leave.

So my first new project will be fittingly inspired by the Malverns. We spent such a lot of time walking up them with the dog, exploring new paths, watching as the colours changed with every month that passed. I’ve been dreaming up colour combos and drafting plans whilst motionless under the weight of a sleeping baby. Now is the time to put them into action. My plan is to have a limited collection ready to launch in November at my one and only show of the year at Elmslie House in Malvern (20-22nd Nov). This is all hoping that my studio assistant has been taking on board all of her training: her current tasks are to sleep and play so mummy can get some work done. Fingers crossed she’ll help me out!

So watch this space for some glimpses of the new studio over the coming weeks and hopefully some work in progress too.

Stay safe,

H x