My little family and I were recently in Alicante, Spain. It was our first holiday abroad since having our little girl nearly 4 years ago and it was fantastic! We had such a wonderful time and were able to resurrect some old holiday traditions that my husband and I had when we used to travel relatively often, such as visiting a local yarn store and finding some local yarn treasure for me to take home and knit up as memories of the holiday.

I discovered knitting initially as a way to pass the time in trailers and dressing rooms while waiting to go on set as an actress. The repetitive action, the feel of the yarn and the time spent productively helped me calm any adrenaline or anxious energy that had been building in my body. Knitting helped me calm my mind, focus my breathing and concentrate on something simple and peaceful.

One of my oldest and dearest friends recently had her first baby, a gorgeous little girl. We never got to see each other throughout her pregnancy or her move from London back to Northern Ireland and that felt tough. Big life changes witnessed from afar.

For me yarn is inspiration. The feel of it, the colours (as many of my students will know, I am partial to some hand-dyed delights), the weight...it all spells out exciting knitting potential.

In the midst of a day of toddler madness, constant supervision, picking up the weirdest of things in the weirdest of places (why is a bottle of shower gel on the kitchen floor??)...my knitting gives me a daily dose of much appreciated peace.