As one year comes to an end and another begins, it feels natural to take some time for reflection. 2025, will be the sixth year of Five in the Nest, which doesn’t quite seem possible, but a lot has happened in that time.

With no thoughts of moving home or major house renovations this year, it is much easier to see the way forward with my work and I have realised how important a multi-disciplinary approach is, for me.

The cross over of skills helps me to see things from a different perspective and improves my creative problem solving. It helps to spark new ideas and fresh approaches.

So my intention for 2025 is to make more time for some of the disciplines that I have been missing over the past twelve months, with natural dyeing and hand sewing at the top of the list.

I started working with natural dyes, alongside learning basketry, back at the start of Covid. We had just moved to the Orkney Islands and I spent most of my time outdoors, discovering the plants and natural resources around me. Because I always use freshly gathered plant stuffs for my dyes, it connects me to the seasons, which changes the way that I feel time passing and keeps me more rooted in the present.

I hadn’t really intended to get back into dyeing until spring, but there is so much available here on the east coast of Scotland, even in the depths of winter, that I decided to move my plans forward. I sat and made a list of plants in our garden, that will work well for dyes and was pleased with the variety. Making a list will help me to remember what to concentrate on gathering, in each season. But I have also looked at what is available to forage in my local area. Both lists will grow through the year, as nature’s little surprises come into season and reveal themselves.

Gorse, ivy and apple bark are on my list for January, which should give me a nice selection of colours to begin with and I have put a kilo of raffia through the mordant bath, in anticipation.

Although the old wash house here will eventually make a great workroom for dyeing (as it has a big belfast sink and I think the large wood-fired boiler could probably be bought back into use), it is currently home to our ducks.

So at the moment I will be working from our kitchen and using the cellar as a handy place to steep and dry out fibres, where they are out of everyones way.

Of course this wonderful resource of naturally dyed raffia will need a use and I am looking forward to revisiting this old friend. I used raffia when I first started basketry and it is perfect for coil work.

I am intending to keep making a few of my signature cocooned limpet and mussel shells, because although variety helps to keep creative flow going, sometimes I just want to work on something familiar. The steady, mindful task of creating these tiny, bespoke baskets is perfect for days when my mind needs to be quieter and more restful, so you can expect them to appear in my shop every now and then, throughout 2025.

I am also looking forward to making some larger coil baskets with my raffia, where the focus is on the basket itself. Having taken the time to look through the past few years work, I still love those early baskets. The hand-dyed raffia made each one so special and I love that I can see the season that each one was made in, reflected in the colours. There is also such freedom of form in an empty basket, which I am excited to get back to exploring. I often get messages from people who have bought my baskets in previous years to say how much they are still enjoyed, and it makes all the hours of work worthwhile, so thank you!

I am keen to keep spreading the joy of making this year, so I am intending to put together some little basketry kits, with some of my raffia. The first of these should be appearing in my shop over the next few weeks. I will also work on some more free tutorials. I am always so grateful for the lovely feedback, that I have had. It’s so nice to hear about the things that you have been making, with the help of my tutorials.

In December, I was busy making presents for our simple, but lovely, family Christmas. It was an opportunity to dust off my crochet needles (to make some fingerless gloves) and to do lots of sewing. I made a little doll, complete with a little baby and I also had the chance to do lots of quilting (something which I really enjoy), by making a bag, a project pouch and a tool roll for my grown up kids.

I think having the excuse to make time for these other crafts, which are so connected to my memories of motherhood over the years, was as much a present for myself, as for them.

Other fibre crafts and sewing were very much a part of my work on Five in the Nest, when it began and I am keen to work them back in, this year.

While I wait for fabrics to be ordered, to make some bags for my shop, I have kept up the intention by trying out needle turn applique for the first time. I had somehow formed the opinion that there was some hidden knowledge to this technique and that it must be quite complicated, but apart from being a bit fiddly on complicated shapes, it is really just as simple as tucking the raw edges underneath, with your needle!

I worked on a quilted hand, decorated with coastal treasures. I have had an idea about this hand for some months, because it feels like I experience a lot of life and the world around me, through my hands. Whether I am picking things up on my walks; laying my hands on the bark of a beautiful tree; making; baking or walking hand in hand with a loved one, the sense of touch keeps me connected to the things that I value the most.

I really enjoyed the process and I’m sure that I will find a way to incorporate needle-turn into some of my projects, this year.

Are you planning a creative 2025? What are you intending to make time for, over the coming months?

Whether you have lots planned or are just letting the year develop at its own pace, I wish you all the best for the year ahead. May it be full of love and moments of joy!