As you might have noticed, I'm currently growing a teeny tiny human! With just a few weeks to go before I begin my maternity leave, I thought I'd better share a proper update on what’s going to be happening with all things Skua over the next year or so.
Sorry, this is going to be a bit of a long one (you know I'm almost incapable of concision, right?), but hopefully, it’ll answer any questions you might have about ordering my hand-dyed yarn and spinning fibre online, my creative Patreon community, and generally how things will run while I’m away.
Important dates
First up, here’s a rundown of those all-important dates that are coming up so you don't miss out on any yarn and fibre-y goodness.
Friday 28th November (6pm GMT): Final shop update
This will be my final shop update with a whole bunch of lovely, limited edition hand-dyed spinning fibre. The drop on Friday at 6pm is accessible for paid patrons only; everyone else will get access 24 hours later on Saturday 29th November.
Given the circumstances, I suspect there won't be much left for the general release, so if you're really keen to get your hands on some hand-dyed spinning fibre, it might be worth making sure you're in a paid tier.
Tuesday 2nd December: Final day for dyed-to-order yarn
Tuesday 2nd December is the last day I'll be accepting orders for any dyed-to-order Mendip 4-Ply and Mendip DK. So please bear this in mind if you want a batch of hand-dyed yarn for any Christmas gifts or festive knitting plans
Sunday 14th December: Final date for Christmas orders (+ final zoom call for Patreon members
Sunday 14th December is the last day for placing orders to ship before Christmas. Obviously, you can order as many knitting patterns as you like over the festive period, but if you were planning on buying some hand-dyed yarn for a new knitting project, please do order before this date for best chance of it arriving in time.
I’ll also be hosting my final Zoom call for Ore and Fox patrons. I’d love for you to join me for a mulled... apple juice and a bit of festive crafting. If you aren’t a patron already, but would like to wave me off, you can join my lovely creative community on Patreon just here (and there are a few more benefits to being a member, which I will touch on in the sections that follow.)
Tuesday 16th December: My last day at work
Tuesday 16th December is my final day in the craft room. After this date, my maternity leave begins, and I will officially be away until Autumn 2026.
How the online shop will run
The online shop will remain open during my maternity leave, but with a slower turnaround. This means orders may take up to 2 weeks to dispatch (and probably longer in January), as I'll be having help from family to pack them when possible.
I will be leaving with a good supply of skeins of my hand-dyed Mendip yarn in the craft room, but I won't be adding any new products or dyeing any yarn or spinning fibre until I come back to work in the autumn.
Videos and content while I’m away
I also won't be making any public videos for my podcast while I'm on leave, but I will continue to create the exclusive Patreon videos for members on the Ore and Fox tiers. These will be slightly less frequent than their current monthly schedule, and are likely to be a bit more brief and casual, but I'm really looking forward to sharing some of the spinning, knitting, weaving (and maybe gardening?) that I’m hoping to be able to scrape together some time for during naps.
Patrons will, of course, still have access to the 60+ exclusive videos in the back catalogue, so the next few months might be a nice time to catch up if you've not watched them all. And if you choose to join my Patreon community now, you’ll have plenty of crafty chat to keep you entertained until my return!
Patron Zoom calls
These will be paused after the final one on Sunday 14th December, until the end of my leave. I'll really miss chatting with you all
Discord community
Discord will remain open to all paid patrons. I'll still be dipping in occasionally to see your craft projects and share mine as I get time. The creative community we have here is one of my favourite things about my Patreon, and I hope you'll continue to enjoy it and support each other even when I am not around as much.
Out of the Dark Make-Along 2026
I won't be running the Out of the Dark make-along in its usual format, with prizes and regular Instagram posts in 2026.
However, I know this has become a lovely community event that a lot of you crafters look forward to (and I honestly really enjoy seeing all your craft projects), so I want to continue it in some way.
Similar to previous years, I will be creating a Discord channel for the make-along which will be open to all paid patrons. I might not be able to participate myself (we’ll see...), but I'll look forward to seeing what you create and share there.
If you don’t have Discord or are not signed up to Patreon, I'd still love to see your craft projects using my Mendip yarn, hand-dyed fibre and knitting patterns on Instagram. If/when you do post, please tag me @marinaskua and use the hashtag #OutOfTheDarkMAL2026 so I can follow along.
A big thank you from me
I really do want to take a second to thank all of you who support me, whether that’s by shopping with me, subscribing on Patreon or in other ways.
Going on maternity leave as a solo small business owner is frankly a bit scary! My lovely assistant Sophie will be sending out occasional newsletters while I’m away to highlight some of my knitting patterns, etc, and hopefully make sure people don’t forget about me entirely, but the business will inevitably take a hit while I'm spending time with my growing little family, and I'll have to rebuild when I come back to work.
With the little capacity I do have whilst I am away, my Patrons are my priority. Patreon genuinely helps keep things steady during times like this. During my last maternity leave, the little bit of regular income from my patron support was a lifeline that kept me going, especially in those first months back at work before the sales started coming in. It goes without saying I'm eternally grateful to those of you who have been with me since that time.
However, I want to make it clear there's absolutely no pressure for paid subscribers to stick around for the temporarily reduced offering. If you want to downgrade a tier or cancel entirely, please do so without guilt. I don't want you to feel like you're not getting what you signed up for.
A final note: The shop will remain open
That was quite long! If you’re still here, thanks for sticking with me. Before I sign off, I want to remind you that the online shop will remain open so you can still order at any time during my maternity leave. Dispatch will simply be slower, and I won't be offering my usual dyed-to-order services or dyeing any more yarn and fibre.
Hope that's helped to clear up any questions you might have had!
That’s all from me for now, so until next time.
