You may have gathered from the radio silence that I have been taking a little break. A well earned family holiday in the Lake District has been just the thing for recharging the batteries and spending some time making happy family memories.

Random images from our Cumbrian holiday

I packed the knitting of course but hill walking, bird watching and general outdoorsy activities left very little time for knitting. In fact I barely picked up the needles at all. What was even more strange was that I didn't feel the urge to either.

Instead I read. A 'proper' book - as opposed to using my Kindle. I also map read and spent time in the Youth Hostel's bird hide. I haven't bird watched in years but seeing it though my children's eyes made it so much more fun than I remembered.

I came to the conclusion that, in large part, my compulsion to knit is a reaction to the low-level, everyday stress that many of us face. Deadlines, homework battles, the dreaded packed lunches. With that taken away I was happy just to sit and be.

With this in mind I have decided to be kind to myself and have a gentle re-entry back into my normal everyday activities. I also plan to carry on with my reduced use of electronic gadgets (although I may backslide a little on this one) and spend a bit more time outdoors.

With all the laundry to be done though, not to mention 'back to school' shoe shopping I have a feeling that the knitting will be much needed by the end of today.