Desire Paths

This week the grass in the fields was cut short – but even now, the old path remains. A strong line, still visible where footsteps have worn the way.

I’ve always loved these well-trodden tracks – “desire paths,” they’re called (I learned this recently while listening to the A Mouthful of Air poetry podcast, in an episode featuring Jude Rosen and her poem Desire Path). These paths aren’t always the official route, but the ones people make for themselves over time. A gentle insistence that says: this is the way we go together.

I think crafting can be like that too – we begin with a pattern, and following the steps allows the process to become meditative, as stitch follows stitch. But sometimes we step off the path. We shape it to fit the contours of our own bodies, choose our own colours, make changes that feel right.

Recently, I’ve felt the pull to step a little sideways from my usual path – to find a creative outlet for all my thoughts around the connections between nature, folklore, creativity, and crafting with our hands.

So this week, I softly launched The Woolgatherer’s Almanac – a new little corner of the internet where I’ll be following a slightly different route, exploring the threads of seasonal change, folk traditions, and fibre craft through a more reflective lens.

If that sounds like your kind of walk, you’re very welcome to join me there:
👉 The Woolgatherer's Almanac