Attic24

Wooly Happiness

Ahhhhhhh what a HApPy Morning I've had! I've been at my favourite cafe in town for my weekly "knit and natter" session, and oh I'm sooooo glad to have these precious mornings back in my week again. It generally becomes too hard for the majority of us to meet during the school holidays due to our Little People, so we didn't get together over the summer holidays at all. But now that school has started again, the weekly cappuccino+crochet mornings are back :: yyyaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy!!!!! I've soo missed it.
I added a few more deliciously bright stripes to my growing baby blanket, sipped my chocolately frothy coffee, nattered and rippled the morning away and found myself almost squeeeealing with the pleasure of it all.
Delicious.

I took the above photo when I came home at lunch time :: I'd dumped my bags down in the hallway before making a hasty dash upstairs for the loo, crikey I nearly peed my pants, I was that desperate. When I came back down, the sight of my three bags there at the bottom of the stairs made me stop and smile, they looked so....well HaPpY! Yes, Happy Bags, thats what they are.

Aside from my wooly ripples this morning, I'm very happy to report that some extra Wooly Happiness came my way today too. On my way home from the cafe I popped in to a couple of the charity/thrift shops, still on the lookout for a suitable wooly jumper to back my two crochet cushion covers (do you remember them from earlier this summer?) I've been looking most weeks as and when I've been in town and had time to spare, but nothing had appeared until today.
In the second shop I went into, I suddenly spotted it :: the Perfect Wooly Jumper.
I can spot a true woolen jumper a mile off, they look totally different from acrylic or cotton garments.

The colour of this one is just perfect for what I want. It's a slightly deeper purply pink than the above photo shows, and looks and feels fabulous. Its originally from the Edinburgh Wool Mill (always a good source of Quality Wooliness), and is a lovely blend of lambswool and angora, with a small 10% nylon added. And best of all, it had been reduced in price, so only cost me £1.60 :o)

Just to remind you, these are the two crocheted covers that I made with the left over Rowan Pure Wool yarn after I'd completed BB.....

...and here they are nestling with the new/old wooly jumper. Don't you think that this jumper looks as if it were just made to be chopped and stitched and turned into Cushiony Goodness? It matches my crochet colours beautifully.

 

And of course now I get to play with my buttons too...oooooh my heart is all fluttery and jumpy at the thought of button-arranging and cushion-making.

I've already made three cushions using recycled jumpers for the backing, and I think it works out really well. So I thought I could use this opportunity to write a tutorial for making up cushions this way, as I've had several requests for this information just lately. Hopefully I'll be able to do it over the next few days ready to share with you next week.

Seems like a good thing to do :: I want you all to enjoy some Wooly-Buttony-HaPpiNeSs!!!

How could you NOT want to give it a go?!!!!!!

:o)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Edited to add :: the felted pink/purple bag that I use as a handbag (top photo) was made by textile artist Laura Brittain (Laura Brittain Handmade Originals) and is one of my favourite things...I tried to search for her on the internet to give you some more info about her lovely bags but could find nothing, I'm sorry, I did try!

 

Back to School

Ahh Monday morning and here we are stepping into a fresh new school year today, back to our familiar term-time routine. Between you and me, I've been secretly looking forward to this day for a weeny while now, but shhhh I am saying it quietly you understand, not wishing to sound harsh and un-mummy-like. Because as much as I've loved having the Little People at home, as much as I can say hand-on-heart that we've enjoyed a fabulous summer together, I have nevertheless truly missed my solitude during the long 7 week holiday. And quite frankly, by the time this morning rolled around I was more than ready for some quiet, pootling, homely, comforting, me-time.

I'm not 100% at the moment either as I started with a cold on Saturday, so I am feeling extra glad to be home alone with some peace and quiet. Just me by myself, with the honey, lemons and tissues.



I experienced a lovely content, happy little rush of pleasure walking back in the door this morning, putting the kettle on, pottering around the rather untidy rooms, just loving being here really. No demands, no noise, just me with my thoughts and a luxurious six whole hours of me-time stretching ahead.

My fresh flowers this week are these amazing sunflowers, gifted to me at the weekend by my wonderful Mother in law. Just three stems, but oh, what stems!! They're positively glowing in the sunshine streaming in through the bay window this morning and look absolutely beautiful.

I'm enjoying yellow flowers on a smaller scale on my dining table this morning too...five little stems of yellow marguerites picked from the back yard yesterday. Do you see the dinky little glass vase that they're in? That was one of three very modest purchases made during my summer holidays. I was hugely restrained when it came to retail therapy this year, and you may not believe it, but I even managed to visit the Girls Own Store and come out empty handed. Yes, tis true, I swear!
I love this little glass vase, it's solid and heavy and I bought it for a few pounds from a quirky little second hand stall on Bridport market.

My second purchase was a bag of old glass marbles for 80 pence, also from the Saturday market. I absolutely adore marbles, and as child I remember saving up my pocket money to buy them individually from a little gift shop in Bridport.
I've had to fight tooth and nail to keep these marbles from the Little People, who automatically assumed that they'd been bought for them. Much like the Mummy-sweets, these are most definitely Mummy-marbles. Although I do tolerate Little Fingers having the odd little play with my marbles, they have been verbally and clearly labeled as a Decoration-Not-A-Toy. Mean old Mummy that I am.

My third purchase was this delightful coloured glass suncatcher mobile, oh, it was Love At First Sight with this object. I was strolling leisurely down South Street, spotted it hanging in a shop window, went straight into the shop, plucked it off it's hook and had it bagged up and paid for in about two minutes flat. Its the beady glass raindrops that I love most of all, those itsy little bits of coloured glass make me want to cry with happiness.

And talking of happy-enducing things, a little sneaky peak of my current crochet WiP, which I'm hoping to reveal to you in a few days when I've worked some more of it. There is a BIG Story behind this project, and just thinking about it now is giving me butterflies in my tummy.
I can't wait to tell you all.
Its gonna be such FUN to share this with you, I can just tell.
Possibly Thursday, if all goes according to plan.

Right my lovelies, I am off to make myself another mug of hot lemon and honey and snuggle my weary self under a blanket for a while I think, I am wilting a little.
See you tomorrow....

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tripping to Town

One of the things that I really appreciate about living where I do is the fact that it's less than a ten minute walk from the Attic to the centre of town. I can be sitting at home, dreaming of cream cakes and strawberries, or having run out of toothpaste, and within ten minutes I can be right there in the middle of Main Street fulfilling my dreams and needs. Ok, so it takes a little longer than ten minutes in the school holidays cos the Little People still require a considerable amount of work to get them ready and out the front door, plus they seem to make detours for themselves en route. You know, walls that need to be balanced along, cats that need to be stroked, bits of broken metal that need to be picked up off the pavement and examined, that sort of thing. But it's still a relatively quick walk and quite a pleasant activity to do with the LP in the holidays.

So yesterday, in the late morning, when the rain had stopped raining, I decided on a little Trip to Town.

First stop the chemist, for toothpaste and Miffy tissues.

Second stop the library, to finally take back The Overdue Book. Dear oh dear, has it really been sssoooooo long? Do I really owe That Much??? Crikey.

Third stop the fruit and veg stall on the market. And I have to say it was really interesting visiting the fruit and veg stall with the Little People.

I needed to buy some sort of green vegetable to have with dinner, and a small selection of fruit. So into my bag goes a head of fresh broccoli, 4 big juicy morrocan oranges (J's favourite), and a punet of sweet strawberries. If I had been on my own, then that probably would have been the extent of my purchases, but the Little People have other ideas...

....they are really eyeing up all the fruit, and it does look very tempting and delicious.

Little Lady begs for plums, that she says are her "absolute favourite-ist fruits". Oh, Ok then. So we buy a bag of deep purpley black plums just for Her.

Little Man pleads for fresh apricots. Are you sure? Are you sure you like them? I seem to have memories of him trying a fresh apricot before and spitting it straight back out again. But he insists, and so we buy a bag of plump, soft apricots just for Him.

I start to get a taste for this more spontaneous method of selecting produce, so I too begin to eye up what's on offer, begin to consider various other fruity possibilities. Melon? Too heavy to carry. Dragon fruit? hmm perhaps a little too exotic. Red currants? My eye suddenly catches Little Ladies fingers poking into a punet of red currants and squishing them one by one. Arrggghhh!!!! Quickly whisk her had away and decided against red currants.

oooohh I can't decide, I am parralised by all the choice. My eyes move across the fruit and into the salady bit. Huge pinky red bunches of radishes, ripe tomatoes, and then.....

 

....Peas. Ahhh how about some peas? Seasonal and fresh and possibly local? Yes, why not, I suddenly have a real need for fresh, sweet peas popped out of their green pods and straight into my mouth. So we buy a bag of fresh green peas just for Me.

 

We are done at the fruit and veg stall now as my bag is suddenly very heavy. And the Little People are suddenly declaring themselves to be staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarving hungry. So we make a fourth stop and call in to a local baker to buy some freshly baked hot sausage rolls for an early lunch. I suggest we take them home to eat, but no no no, they are staaaaaaarving and cannot possibly wait, need to eat Right There and Then.

So we cross over the road to the Town Hall where there is a little cobbled square with wooden benches and big tubs planted with bright flowers. All the benches are full so we end up sitting on the Town Hall Steps and enjoying a quick picnic lunch of sausage roll, fresh peas, apricots, plums and strawberries. Quite delicious.

We do happen to have made other purchases from the bakers, eh-hem, it's not all healthy fruit and veg with us you know, where's the fun in that???! But I do manage to persuade the LP to bring the Naughty's home to eat, cos I am quite desperate for a cup of tea with my purchase.....

 

There are gingerbread men for the Little People (essential to pick out their smartie eyes first don't you know)....

 

....and a Sicillian Lemon muffin for Mummy.

 

mmmmmmmmmmmmm, the muffin is delicious. As is the book I borrowed from the library.

 

The book is "Creating Vintage Style" by Lucinda Ganderton. High Grade eye candy indeed. I personally don't really do whole-hearted Vintage Style in my own home, but I know a great many of you in Blogland do love this style. I like small elements of it. For example, I do love old enamelware.

 

And you can never go far wrong with a pretty jug stuffed full of beautiful fresh flowers.

 

Oh and blankety things, yes yes, I do really love the blankety things.

I mean, whats not to love? A Granny Square blanket draped over a bed, why it's the stuff of my dreams!!

Talking of which, what has happened to the Story of BB I hear you ask? When is the Ta-dah post gonna be happening? Did I get more yarn? Is BB finished?

Well no, I have not yet been able to get more yarn :: trips to buy yarn seem altogether more complicated with Little People in tow. But I shall try very hard to go today. BB is currently sitting in a neatly folded pile on the arm of the sofa, waiting patiently for the End-of-The-Edge-of-The-Edge to happen.

Soon my friends, it'll be soon.

And thats a promise.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Supermarket Retail Therapy

Yesterday, around 11.30am or thereabouts I felt a need, a longing.

A Longing Need for some Retail Therapy.

I consider options. Little local shops requiring on foot jaunting? Nope.

Ok, how about Little Shops further afield that would require a car journey? Nope, that was not it either.

Suddenly it comes to me :: what I want is a dose of Big Shop. Department store? Nah, need to go too far for that and there's not enough time left before the school run.

Ok, think, think...ahhhhhhh YES! That's it! Some Large Supermarket Retail Therapy. And better still, one that can be beautifully arrived at by train.

  

I check train times :: 12:02 is the next train, perfect. Ten minutes walk along the canal tow path and I am at my local train station. Ahh, feels good to be on the move and I have a perfect little twelve minute journey along the branch line to look forward to. Too short to crochet anything, so I content myself with the view :: twelve minutes of green, green fields whiz in front of my eyes, and suddenly I arrive at my stop.

 

I have journeyed to a nearby town, an unremarkable little town, a tad shabby it has to be said. But no matter, I am not there for a  picturesque stroll, I am there for one thing only :: The Supermarket :: and it happens to be just a few easy minutes walk from the train station. For those of you in the UK who wish to know, it was a Sainsbury's, which I happen to be quite partial to. In fact, I like all of our large English supermarkets, the ones that sell stuff other than food. I like that these days supermarkets always have a "Seasonal" aisle, and I like that you can plot the year by the contents of these shelves :: Christmas-Valentines-Mothers Day-Easter-Summer Activities-Fathers Day-Back to School-Halloween-Christmas. It's the Retail Calender.

So right now, Easter is finished with and we are in the Summer Activities season :: Barbecues, Gardening, Picnics, Outdoor games, all of which I adore.

I spend oooooh a very happy hour or so in the Supermarket, ignoring the food completely, just visiting the aisles that interest me, putting various items into my basket, making a little heap of frivolous, unnecessary things that delight me. And I confess that I find it an enormous amount of fun.

 

1:30pm and I am back at the station, sitting on the red painted bench waiting for my train home again. My shopping bag is bulging with my frivolous, unnecessary purchases.

 

2pm and I am back home again-home again, jiggety jig.

Cor, what a short but sweet little jaunt that was!

I put the kettle on to make a cup of tea and proceed to unpack my bag......

Want to see?

Can you guess?

Colourful stuff?

Why yes, of course!

Ok.

Go on.

Take a peek.........

 

There.....thats my haul, in all it's colourful, frivolous, unnecessary glory!

 

I fell head over heels in love with these fresias. Could not resist. It's a flower I don't often care a great deal for, but WOW the colour of these petals totally knocked my socks off.

 

There were only ten spindly stems in the bunch, but as has become my habit, I spread them around...a single stem on the bathroom windowsill....

 

....and the rest in a small jug beside my bed, plumped out with some greenery from the garden (most of which are actually weeds I think, but hey, who cares?)

 

I had a quick browse down the length of the magazine aisle and selected Period Living magazine :: not one I am used to but it looks lovely, with some gorgeous homes featured and plenty of inspirational pages to linger over (more of that another time).

 

Some new paper napkins from the Seasonal Summer aisle, these dotty lovelies were delightfully called "Caravan Spot Napkin". Makes me love them all the more knowing that!
 

Some new Sarah Smith cloths too, I have a real cute little stash of these growing in the kitchen. I do of course use them as they are intended, but am also cultivating a plan which involves cutting them into triangles and stitching them into outdoor summer bunting, inspired by Emma of Lavenderhouse. Incidentally, Sarah Smith has blog which is well worth checking out for inspiring ideas, and I was delighted to see Attic24 on their blogroll!

 

Ahhhhh just look at that windmill, doesn't the sight of that make your heart flutter just a little? I found it in amongst the Childrens Gardening paraphernalia, and thought it would look lovely in my bathroom....the Little People are most confused by this idea, they keep trying to take it outside, but in the bathroom it is staying.

 

A packet of seeds popped into my basket too, Morning Glory Grandpa Otts. I grew this variety some years ago and the flowers are absolutely stunning, a very intense bluey purple. It says on the packet that the seeds should be planted March/April, but I'm hoping that early May will be OK.

As well as a magazine, a windmill, flowers and cloths, seeds and napkins, I also bought some hair bands for Little Lady, a pair of sparkly earings, a birthday card and a glass lemon squeezer. And after all that spending, I did sit and have a little think about my Retail Therapy experience. I wondered whether to feel guilty or not for indulging myself in this frivolous, unnecessary way? And I decided that No, there is no need for guilt. That as much as you can find free happiness in a view, a sunset, a comfy chair, some snuggly socks, every so often it's OK to go out and buy oneself some happiness. That's my theory anyways. And after all, I spent less than twenty pounds, so hardly a fortune.

By the way, did you notice the crochet hiding behind the windmill and the seeds?

Well when I got back from my outing yesterday I walked into the living room and saw all my squares laid out on the floor like a big rug. I'd forgotten that I'd been playing with them that morning and had left them there after I'd been taking photos.

What do you think????

I'm 2/3 done with this big blanket now, only another 12 more to make (well actually 8, cos four more have been made already and are awaiting the final white round).

I think I am liking it.

I think.

But I am not sure.

I intend to make quite a wide "granny" border around the whole thing once all 36 squares are joined, and I think that'll be the thing that makes an OK blanket look great.

What do you think?

Let me know?

Thanks ((xx))

Sunday Stuff

I often wonder if there might come a point when I get bored with blogging my life. If you will get bored reading about it too. If you will one day pop in to Attic24 and groan. Think to yourself :: oh no, how boooooooring, not moooore crochet, moooooore baking, mooooooore magazines, how predicable, we've seen it all before, a dozen times or more. Isn't there anything different? Isn't there more to this persons life??

Well maybe that might happen one day. In the distant future. But right now I have to say I really, really, really enjoy my life. And i enjoy that my blog follows my life, and it is therefore honest and reflects my happiness as well as  my current passions, all of which don't alter much from week to week.

I sincerely hope you don't think me too smug for saying this, for declaring my happiness? I hope not, because it is certainly not meant that way. I am not bragging about my life. I am quite simply photographing bits of it and sharing it. Honestly, simply, and exactly as it is. Although of course I do tend to miss out some of the messy bits, the tantrummy bits. And the very private bits.

Why am I saying this to you? Well....because just now I uploaded my photos from my camera to the computer to take a look at the weekend images. Pictures from the past 48 hours which were snapped here and there. And I was delighted to see them. Yes, they are quite predictable. Yes, there are images which are very similar to ones you've already seen. But then that's the nature of my weekends at this point in my life, there exists a great deal of predictability, of repetition. But OH how I LOVE it that way!!!

So today's post is all about my yesterday, the Sunday Stuff. A little morning crochet (pictured above), interspersed with baking cookies, drinking coffee, eating breakfast (a bacon sarnie, sat on the front step in the morning sunshine), some magazine browsing and some Little People supervising (they were outside, up and down the street on scooters/bikes with half a dozen other neighbourhod children).

11am or thereabouts and we decide on the spur of the moment to pack the Little People's bicycles in the boot of the car and drive to a nearby town which has a park with great cycling potential. Unlike our local park (which is beautiful but hilly), this park is flat. It has expanses of flat grass and a neat flat path which circles the perimeter. 

It turns out to be quite a momentous bicycling morning as for the first time we remove the stablisers from Little Lady's bike. It does not go smoothly. There are tears and snot, there is a lot of obstinate, rather frightened protesting. There are wobbles and there are falls. There is minor injury. There is a rather exhausted Mother running around the entire park attempting to maintain her daughter in a vertcal position whilst whizzing along with some furious pedalling. But we do on the odd occasion achieve Balance, and a Little four year old girl pedals on her own when her Mummy secretly takes her hands away. We still have a way to go, still have plenty of practice to do, but it was a great start.

 

After all that emotion and exhaustion we drive up out of the town to a favourite pub we know and love. We were in fact here last weekend too, on the Yes-day. Today we don't sit inside near blazing fires and under ancient beamed ceilings but instead sit in the pub's beer garden with cold drinks and crisps and enjoy the warmth of an early spring afternoon. You can see the pub in the above photograph look, see it's stunning location. It's high high up on Ilkley Moor, and the views are spectacular.

 

After we've had rest and refreshment at the pub we take a walk up over the moor.
 

The landscape is quite bleak in some ways, but there is beauty in the sweeping open spaces.

It's the height that I love about this place. I love that when I am up on this moor top I am so much nearer to the sky. The town of Ilkley looks so tiny and far way down there in the valley, like a model village.

 

There are spectacular rock formations up here on Ilkley Moor, providing great climbing/scrambling opportunities for Little People and heart-in-the-mouth panics for Big People. There are sheer drops all around. It is not all that pleasant at times.

 

We watch gobsmacked as climbers scale the sheer rock faces. And eventually we tire of policing the daredevil antics of Little People who are so unaware of the perils of Sheer Drops.

So we head homewards to number 24 to light the fire and settle down for the late afternoon/evening. A film for the Little People, and some crochet and magazine-strolling for me....

....I began working the reverse of my circular cushion. Round and round in ever widening circles, I am loving it.

 

I often like to multi-task when I am crocheting, and one of my favourite things to do is to browse a magazine at the same time. Well truthfully I cannot read and crochet at the same time, but what I mean is that I like to hook a row, then browse a few pages, hook another row, then browse some more. I like the visual stumulation of doing these two things together, of seeing the yarn against the pages, the stripes against the print (see here, I was doing it then look)

Yesterday I was looking through last months issue of Country Homes (the April issue I think?) as I realised there were bits of it I had missed out the time I first read it. The above page caught my eye...it was a spread about cleaning out your greenhouse. Want a closer look to see what attracted my attention?

OK...look....

That blanket!!!!! OH oh oh!!! I Love it!! I tell you, I can spot a crochet blanket in an instant, they jump out at me, leap off the pages...That colourful stripyness is just so joyful isn't it?!

Oh yes and speaking of joyful, I realised this morning that I had indeed promised to show you a little something today, a little itsy bitsy peek at some new yarn, remember?

Want to see?

Do you?

Really?

Really really?

Oh go on then...have a peek......

Hmmmmmmmmm yes, another bag of scrummy yarn comes home to Attic24.

I blame Lovely C entirely. It's all her fault.

On Thursday, she casually mentioned to me that she was taking a trip that afternoon to a shop in a nearby village as they were selling off Debbie Bliss yarn for £2 a ball. Do you remember me posting about a Sale last summer? Well another sale is about to happen in a few weeks time at the same place, which is very exciting indeed. But even more exciting was the fact that Lovely C decided to telephone the shop and ask if we could possibly have a sneaky private rummage through the yarn before it goes on sale. And the shop owners agreed! Yeeee-hawwwww!!!! Wild Horses wouldn't have kept us away.

 

The yarn they had this time was Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. This is a GORGEOUS yarn, quite fine in weight (you would hook on a 3mm or 3.5mm hook) with a slight twist, and oh SOooooo soft!! It usually retails at around £4.35 for a 50g ball, so to find it at £2 a ball was an absolute bargain.

 

I'm not sure how many balls I ended up with...maybe 24 or so?? I was waaay too excited to count numbers. I simply filled a bag. And used my grocery money to pay for it. It all happened very fast, in a bit of a blur.

I got them all out and had a lovely play with them yesterday, had a good look at the colours I ended up with...13 in total, all very spring-like and oh-so-pretty aren't they?? A little more pastely than I would normally choose perhaps, but I love the way they look all together. They remind me of  sweet peas, that alluring combination of pretty softness with the odd deep shade thrown in.

Of course I don't yet have a plan for this yarn.

I am still firmly in the stroking/gazing/playing stage. Oh and sniffing. One thing I do love to do with any new yarn stash is to stick my face right in it and have a good, long snaffley sniff.

Delicious.

xxxxxxx

Weekend :: Inside

My weekend seemed to be one of contrasts. The contrast between warm, cosy inside stuff and cold, snowy outside stuff. Between the bold, bright colours of my home and the muted, whites and greys of the winter landscape. Between quiet time spent walking and picnicking together, and the noisy, brash time spent shopping together.
The contrast delighted me. When I uploaded the photos from the camera this morning, I loved the combination of Inside and Outside, of almost black and white, snow-filled country landscapes and these bright and breezy, colour-filled domestic landscapes.

So today....some colourful pictures from my weekend :: inside.

Above photo, taken Friday night by Little Man.
A picture of me as you will often find me in the evenings :: snuggled in my favourite brush cotton winter jammies, toes cosy, fluffy hot water bottle filled, pondering where to snuggle myself for the evenings crochet session. Bed or sofa? Fireside or duvet comfort? Ripple or granny blanket? Ahh, lifes little dilemmas!

Saturday morning :: sitting like a cat in a little patch of warm sunlight streaming in through the window. It was the most delicious sensation feeling the sun's warmth on my face.

This weeks fresh flowers are humble daffodils :: I love that they are so cheap to buy right now, so that for £2 I can fill jugs and jam jars and old bottles and distribute this yellow cheerfulness all over the house. Waking up to daffodils beside the bed is just wonderful. Ditto having them in the bathroom to gaze upon as I brush my teeth.

A tidied room :: Little lady spilled orange juice all over the sofa during the week. Luckily it has removable, washable cotton covers. So with the sofa all clean I plumped the cushions, cleared the table, straightened the blankets and the room looked unusually spik and span. Needless to say it does not look like that this morning.

Fireside :: we continue to love our open fire. We light it most evenings, and for much of the weekend and it gives such a huge amount of pleasure. Warm, cosy, inviting, relaxing.

Tete a tete :: at their peak now. I have loved watching these grow and bloom. Today I've bought a few more little pots home from the supermarket, ready to replace these ones as they fade.

Cheery :: They light up the room, make my heart sing.

Retail Therapy :: I am passing through that phase again right now, I go through shopping phases every so often until I am cautioned by The Management and kindly asked to stop spending money needlessly. 
Our shopping destination of choice was a very large Boundary Mill store in Lancashire. For those of you not familiar with BM, its a large, out-of-town retail store which sells branded goods at a discount price. The goods are usually end of line, or slight seconds. There are various departments, my favourites being the art department and the bedding department.

Husband and I very rarely go shopping together because it usually doesn't work out amicably. But we are able to get away with going shopping here together because there are many Departments catering for all.
This is our strategy :: we go our separate ways for a while (me to the cards/posters, him to the discount books) then rendez vous at the saucepans. It works for us. We both adore the kitchen department, ditto the arts and crafts. So far so good.

He begins to get antsy when forced into the bedding department though, especially when I start systematically opening all the plastic packets of pillowcases to spread them out and see which ones I like best. I cannot resist these hideously expensive Designers Guild ones (RRP £20 each, reduced to Half Price).
But I am smart enough to recognise the husband-fed-up signs and to then be quick, and to suggest a coffee in the cafe to ease the pain of spending a rather large amount of money on things we don't really need. 

We agree over coffee and an unfeasibly large muffin that we've enjoyed a good shopping trip, because he purchased an inch-thick book on war aircraft and got to fondle knives and stainless steel, and I purchased some pretty CK mugs, more cards for The Inspiration Stash, a beautiful plastic plate and of course the aforementioned Hideosuly Expensive pillowcases.
All in all, a good day.

Tomorrow :: the Outside stuff.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

That London

I was not actually late for the 06:42 train early on Saturday morning, although I confess I did have to run to the station and consequently arrived all hot and out of breath and with just five minutes to spare. No surprises there then.

I was excited, oh I was soooo excited to be going on this trip. It's a very long time since I had company on a trip such as this one, as usually I am very happy to go shopping alone. I had wondered how it would be to have company on the journey and also once there. I could not imagine it, yet I was surprisingly  thrilled to have it. There's something about a shared trip that magnifies the whole experience, and my friend Lovely C turned out to be the perfect travel and shopping companion. For a start off, she was very organised, and packed her bag with chocolate and energy bars and bananas. She also made sure to remind me to bring crochet. And a map.

So our train journey down from North to South was a delightful few hours of crochet, nattering, coffee drinking and route-planning. It was kind of like our weekly Knit and Natter but on-the-move. So yes, we had it all worked out :: I had been given a marvelous ready-made plan by the lovely Hen, who coincidentally had made a very similar trip to That London recently. Her kind of shops are my kind of shops and if you hop across to her blog, you can read a remarkably similar London Tale over there. 

First stop for us was Liberty's :: straight up to the third floor for the yarn and haberdashery. I realised immediately from this very first shop that we would be Shopping with Intent. That the pace for the day would be Fast and Furious. Lovely C is a seriously pacey shopper :: she gathered reels of ribbon to purchase while I was still catching my breath from the three flights of stairs. But that was fine by me, I can Speed-Shop, oh yes indeedy.

Next stop, as recommended by Hen, was a shop inside a beautiful trendy arcade to the side of Carnaby Street. All The Fun of the Fair is a quirky little shop packed with yarn and vintage trims and all manner of hand made goodies. The knitted cakes and cacti were especially charming I thought.

As we were on our way out, we had to go past this cake shop :: the cupcakes in the window are what you would most certainly call Eye candy, and I couldn't resist taking a photograph to share with you....

After the delights of the arcade, we walked (very fast) back up Oxford Street :: desitnation Marylebone High Street. More specifically, VV rouleaux (ribbon heaven), Divertimenti (fantastic kitcheny shop with an amazing cafe at the back where we stopped to have a delicious lunch), Brora (cashmere), Emma Bridegwater (pottery and kichenalia) and finally the one and only Cath Kidston. Oh, it was such fun! So many beautiful things to stroke and ooh and ahh at! Shop after shop of inspirational and desirable gorgeousness! In and out we went, the pace was indeed well, yes Pacey!

At the top end of Marylebone High Street is a small tree lined square which often has an outdoor market taking place within. Last time I was there, it was a farmers market with produce jauntily set out under breezy striped awnings. This time it was a vintage inspired market with a banner telling us it was called the "Cabbages and Frocks" market. Lots of vintagey clothes and jewellery, and then joy of joys a stall selling these....

...aren't these simply THE most beautiful cupcakes you have ever ever seen? Oh, I was absolutely in love with these edible creations, which are the work of the marvelous Peggy.

They so reminded me of this...

It was late afternoon by now, but we reckoned we still had time to whizz across town to Islington to make a much dreamed-of visit to Loop.

This was my first visit to this well known yarn shop and it was pure joy. In every possible way. It's hard to describe, but this small shop, down a quiet side street, had such an amazing vibe, and was quite incredibly visually and creatively uplifting and inspiring. There was lots of yarn (naturally enough for a yarn shop), but amongst all the wooly goodness there were also lots of quirky and beautiful little displays of creative, hand made items. These included a number of exquisite creations made by Julie Arkell, who conducts workshops at the Loop shop. It was just wonderful :: from floor to ceiling, from front to back, wonderful. The owner of Loop is Susan Cropper, who's beautiful crochet book I have, and if you'd like to know more about this lovely lady, there's a very good interview with her here.

And so our lovely day was drawing to a close and it was time to head back to Kings Cross to await our train homewards.

Sat on the train, journeying North, and I buy a cup of tea from the refreshment trolley as it comes through our carriage. Tea to drink with this.....

.......my very own delicious, beautiful, charming Peggy cupcake. It was sweet torture eating those gorgeous sugar flowers. the cupcake was as delicious as it was pretty. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm and oh-so-good. Just like the day itself.

Lovely C and I chat about the day, about our various purchases, about what we had loved, about what had inspired us. We sit and quietly crochet, and we both find ourselves beginning to yawn. Sooo tired. But wasn't it such a good day? Yes, such a good day. I am longing for bed....

....and when I finally get there, with my head in the roses and my feet under the ripples, I am blissfully happy and so glad to be home. Such a good day, but so good to be home and into my bed.

So......wanna see my goodies?

I didn't buy a lot.

I was very restrained.

But what I did buy is scrumptious.

Yeah, really yummy.

You know, the usual Attic24 delights .

The things that make my own little world go round....

:: balls of yarn ::

:: woven trim ::

:: a turquoise kitchen spoon ::

:: and multi coloured teaspoons ::

:: cotton tea towels and the lastest CK catalogue ::

:: a candle holder and a pretty pouch ::

:: buttons (well ok, it's actually a sheet of buttony wrapping paper) ::

:: the time to sit and make 24 circle flowers ::

Oh yes, it was such a good day, and I thank you so much for sharing it with me.

xxxxxxxx

Down at the Station

The above photo was taken at around 9:40am this morning, although it looks as if it could be much earlier. I find myself very aware of how short our days are right now, how late the sun rises in the sky each morning and how very few hours of full daylight we are getting in each twenty four hours.
On Sunday it'll be the shortest day of the year and Winter Solstice. I'm thinking I would like to celebrate the Solstice this year, although not sure what exactly to do, but I'm thinking something warm and cosy and light-filled. Something sunshiney perhaps, or something evergreen. Do any of you celebrate this day? If you do, if you have any family traditions that you do at this special time, I'd love to hear about it.



So yes, I was waiting for a train this morning. I love my local train station, it's very decorative with some beautifully preserved curly-wurly painted bits, and the metal work is painted in a most desirable shade of turquoise which I adore. Something quite lovely about sitting ones bottom on a turquoise bench, even if said bench is very very cold indeed.



I was actually early for the train which is quite a novelty for me :: usually I'm the one arriving all hot and bothered and panting from running and making it only just in time (or missing the train completely, which happens more frequently than I care to admit). So this morning I found myself strolling leisurely up and down the sunny platform and having a good look around. And I found myself smiling. There was blue sky and sunshine and the station's twiddly bits...



....and the old quirky planters of cheerful polyanthus and clipped box. It was all quite wonderful in a simple and rural kind of way. 



My train journey was a short forty minutes :: I was off to The City to attempt some Christmas shopping. I do really enjoy traveling by train. I enjoy gazing out the window and watching the changing landscapes, enjoy observing the colours and shadows, the hills and fields and rivers and roads and bridges and towns as I whizz past.



And I enjoy a little time to sit and crochet too. I am in full swing with a new project and am so excited by it. There has been this design gradually forming in my whirly-gig mind over recent weeks and I am LOVING bringing it out of that whirly-gig place, through my fingers and into reality. Love the creation process so very much. Sitting and crocheting whilst journeying was hugely enjoyable.



Wish I could say the same about the Christmas Shopping, which was hugely un-enjoyable.
The City Centre was so very City-Centre-ish, so big and crowded and noisy and Shoppy.
Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for Shoppy.
Maybe I should've just stayed home instead.
I wonder if I could crochet all my presents?
In the next week?
For the whole of my family and several good friends?
Hmm possibly not.

London Shopping :: Part II

Hello, good morning, and welcome to the Attic24 Lovely-Things Show n Tell!

I can't tell you how much fun I had yesterday, unpacking my bags and styling  a little photo shoot  so's that I can share all my recently purchased goodies with you. I love taking photographs, love playing with pretty things and it's so nice to be able to show you everything I bought, to share it with you. Nobody else around here is remotely interested in the contents of my bags, well hang on, not strictly true, because these first two items have generated a lot of excitement amongst the two Littlest members of the Attic24 house. The above little wooden Christmas tree came from Paperchase, and it is already out of it's box and on our table. A bit premature for Christmas, but honestly, the pester-power was ginormous. And what fun the Little People had decorating their very own tree, it was delightful to watch.

But even  more popular than the little wooden tree is this Christmas Tin (from John Lewis). Awww it's so cute, I think I bought it as much for me as for the Littl'n's. What you can't see from the photograph is that the tin contains a little music box inside :: when you wind it up, it plays a wonderfully tinny, nostalgic, beautiful rendition of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". Oh how we love it! And as well as containing musical loveliness, there are also brightly wrapped chocolates inside :: the Little People have begun a routine which involves an immediate post-breakfast dash for the tin, followed by eating a  chocolate each to the sounds of the Christmassy music. I'm sure they shouldn't be eating chocolate for breakfast, but hey-ho, it's so much fun I haven't the heart to stop it now. I have a feeling this tin will be around for many, many more Christmases to come, and I love that thought. Love it very much.

Next up, a couple of the cards I bought in Paperchase. I love to buy cards for myself, little snippets of inspiration which for the price of a few pounds give me a lot of pleasure. I have a box full (and I mean full) of cards which I have collected over the past twenty years, and one day, when my Attic Studio is up and running, I intend to create a large Inspiration Wall to display cards such as these. I have a surprising number of cards which feature patchwork quilts/blankets, I just love them so much.

Now you can see we are at the Haberdashery :: red christmas ribbon (Paperchase), East of India Ribbon (Liberty), a much desired CK button tin (John Lewis),  beautiful glass beads (John Lewis) and pretty mother of pearl buttons (Liberty). Ahh I do so love a good Haberdashery Haul!

These glass beads from JL just had me from the start. I simply HAD to have them, no question. I have no use for them (yet), but the very bobbly, colourful, frivolousness of them nearly had me in tears. Only I could get so emotional over haberdashery, honestly, I am quite a headcase sometimes.

Similar emotions with these Liberty buttons :: serious heart-flipping desire, followed closely by wanting to cry, then a fidgety sort of jumping from foot to foot when I decided I HAD to have them, then nearly peeing my pants when I realised how much I had actually paid for them.

And if you think beads and buttons had me bad, imagine the state I was in over this gorgeously tissue-wrapped bundle. Oh boy, I was really in a lather here.

I think I mentioned briefly yesterday how much I love Kaffe Fassett fabrics. And coming face to face with a whole wall of them in Liberty's was seriously exciting for me. I have only a very modest fabric stash, I have never really had available cash to buy fabric for the sake of it. But this is exactly what I did on Saturday :: I decided on a complete impulse that I would not only stroke this fabric and photograph this fabric, but I would actually treat myself to this fabric. Just Because. And I am So glad I did. It is beautiful, colourful and inspiring. I look at this fabric and I am inspired to sew, to make some sort of happy, colourful patchworky something or the other. Not sure what yet, but of course you will be the first to know when I do decide.

Aren't the colours just fabulous? I bought 30cm lengths of each, so not a huge amount really, but enough to cause me to get hot when the amount ker-ching-ed on the till. Incidentally, the top two fabrics in this pile are actually Amy Butler designs (also for Rowan).

Some Country Living goodness now :: I treated myself to two more mugs by Susie Watson, as they were a special price for two at the fair. Her stand at the fair is always huge, and always very popular, deservedly so. I do love her designs, both the patterns, and the shape of the things too. It's a pleasure drinking coffee out of these, really it is. Paper napkins were also bought, and cute paper cake cases too. My paper napkin stash is coming on a treat, the pile is almost at teetering stage.

Ah yes :: Greengate. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Greengate! There was a stand at the CL fair selling just Greengate products, and I spent a long time here. I picked up various items and put them back again (honestly, I was close to broke by now), settling in the end for three lovely tea towels, which the kind lady discounted for me because I purchased three instead of one. These are being added to the in-the-attic-not-to-be-sullied pile of tea towels, as they are intended for my tea-towel quilt. I'll try and remember to photograph this little stash pile next week to show you how it's coming on, because it is absolutely delicious (see here for a reminder of what I'm on about)

When I go to the CL fair, what I like more than anything is to come across the work of talented crafts people. There are not that many there these days, you have to search them out, spot them scattered in between the mass-produced made-in-the-far-east type products, But I love to see and buy British Handmade, love it very much.

This gorgeous boat was made by glass designer Ann Wood. And what a lovely young lady she was! We chatted about a love for the sea (she lives on the coast of West Sussex) and she told me how she beach combs locally for the driftwood and shells used in her work. As well as these charming little boats, she also made the most fabulous glass and wire chandeliers, oh they were so quirky and wonderful. A bit out of my price range, but I really did admire her style and talent.

So. Thats all folks. That's me officially spent out and satisfied until March 2009, when I shall do it all again. Although Lovely C and I are pondering a January trip to London which will be mainly centred around the delights of Marylebone High Street, aren't we Lovely C?

Thank you so much for your generous enthusiasm and sharing, its been an absolute pleasure. Right, I'm off to reacquaint myself with long forgotten cleaning products and my dusty old Dyson :: I've a friend coming to visit tomorrow (we will be going to Knit and Natter together, what joy) and my house is looking...well, words can't describe really. As husband of mine keeps quipping "too much Blogging and not enough Housework".

Yada-yada-yada.

xxxxxxxxx

London Shopping :: Part I

In my everyday life, living as I do in a small, rural market town, retail shopping is small scale, local and very modest. And in truth I am not a spendy sort of a person. I don't really indulge myself very much, live week by week on a modest cash budget, don't use credit cards and save up for bigger purchases. I buy 98% of my clothes from charity/thrift shops, and I wear those same few clothes week in week out, year in, year out. And I'm happy with that.

But twice a year, in March and November, I make the trip down to London by myself on a totally self-indulgent, inspirational shopping trip. I don't pretend it's anything else :: don't try and do Christmas shopping, don't do clothes, don't do food, don't shop for anyone else but me. On these trips, it's all about me, me, me. And boy does it feel good.

Well to be more accurate, it feels fan-bloody-tastic!

If you could've seen me sitting on the train during the three hours it took me to get to London on Saturday, you would've seen me fidgeting and squirming in my seat unable to sit still. I was SOoosoosososooo excited, it was almost unbearable. I had already purchased my Travelcard in advance, had my Shopping Route all planned out, knew exactly where I wanted to go, which shops would delight me the most. And I really, badly, desperately hoped to be delighted, hoped to be thrilled and amazed by the Big City shops I planned to visit.

Seven hours is what I had at my disposal, and if you'd like to come along with me, I'll give you a taste of my day.

First stop was the big flagship Paperchase store on Tottenham Court Road. Oh how I love this shop, fondly remembered from childhood visits. I love the stationary, the walls filled with coloured writing papers and envelopes, the beautifully designed notebooks, the cards, wrapping papers, ribbons, pens and (at this time of year) the Christmas decorations. Sadly I didn't think to take any photographs in this shop as I was too busy oohing and aahing, but it was a great start to my day.

After Paperchase, I walk very fast back down Tottenham Court Road, turning right onto Oxford Street and along to John Lewis. I love department stores, I love them very much. I browse my way through many lovely departments (including stationary, gifts and Christmas) before riding the escalators up to the 4th floor for haberdashery. I adore escalators, love the thrill of them every time, but especially at Christmas when the decorations are hung in abundance. It's glitzy and over the top and I am delighted by it all.

And Oh! Can you imagine me in the haberdashery department? Can you just picture me trying not to hyperventilate with excitement, giddily rushing around back and forth between the fabrics, the trimmings, the ribbons, the threads, the crafts, the beads, the yarns?!

I try to absorb everything, take it all in :: the colours, the textures, the complete desirability of everything the haberdashery department has to offer. Mind you, despite the total, near-to-yelping excitement factor, I was very restrained here. I bought glass beads, one solitary ball of yarn, a button tin. Some stick-on wiggly eyes and Hama beads for the Little People. But I love all I bought and am already excited for the next shop....

....onwards I go, down Regent Street to visit one of my all time favourite shops :: Liberty of London.

Stop to admire the flowers for sale at the front of Liberty's before rushing on in through the big heavy wooden doors to see inside.....

.....and I am not disappointed. It's just as i remember it to be (quite a few years since I was last here). It is dressed to the nines for Christmas and quite spectacular.

I do some idle browsing first, enjoy wandering aimlessly through the many wood paneled rooms, admiring the very shop itself as much as the contents within. Its so grand! So very utterly, extravagantly divine and expensive and grand!

But as much as I enjoy the oriental rugs, the expensive chocolates, the beautiful stationary, the luxurious bathing products, the silk scarves, the gorgeous tableware, the out-of-this-world furniture, I am really just saving myself for the fourth floor. The Floor of Temptation. The Floor of Liberty fabrics and the Rowan Department.

I am totally overwhelmed in the Rowan room. I have a major crush on Kaffe Fassett's/Rowan fabric and quilt designs and it's a long while since I've seen them in real life. In here, jostling for my attention are some real life, totally gorgeous quilts made up in Kaffe Fassett fabrics, a huge range of the fabrics themselves, books, threads, tapestry kits and a large selection of Rowan yarns. It is heaven. I had not intended to buy fabrics, but I am totally overcome with desire here and unable to stop myself. Before I can think too hard or do the maths, I yank eight bolts of fabric off the shelves and stand back to  witness the fabric being expertly cut, folded, wraped and then the  k-e-r-c-h-i-ng of the till. I manage to blow a quarter of my spending money in about ten and a half minutes flat. And it's so exciting that I nearly pee my pants. I can report that the Liberty Ladies Loos are very easy to find and conveniently also on the fourth floor.

After the excitement of Liberty, I make my way to my final destination which is the Country Living Fair in Islington. I have already had so much fun, and find I am beginning to wilt slightly, but I do my best and enter with spirit. It is humongously busy, absolutely heaving with shoppers here. And I am hot and tired and weary. But nevertheless I spend a good two or three hours visiting practically every stand in the show. Its very inspirational, very festive. Lots and lots of decorations. Lots and lots of Shabby Chic. Some nice individual stands amongst the usual suspects. All in all, yes I love it and find some nice things to buy.

And when I'm done with it all, I get myself a cup of tea and go in search of Kathy, to introduce myself and say hello. Kathy, it was LOveLy to meet you, it's wonderful when someones blog comes to life and the person behind the words and pictures becomes real. I'm sorry if I was a bit vacant and wilty, I was so desperately tired and totally shopped out!

My train left London at 5.30pm, and although it left on time, it was delayed by one hour en route. So it was 9.30pm by the time I staggered through my front door, and I was pooped. All the way home on the train I had been thinking of my bed. Had been looking through my purchases, thinking of bed, reading a bit, thinking of bed, dozing a bit and waking with a stiff neck, thinking of bed.

I could not get to my cosy, feathery, ripply, rosy, snuggly bed fast enough. I was asleep within minutes, dreaming of fabric and buttons and yarn and ribbons and decorations.

Yes, I had a wonderful day, and tomorrow I promise, I'll show you what I bought. Show you what came home in my stiffy, cordy-handled bags.

Hope you'll join me for a Lovely-Things Fest :: its gonna be so much fun sharing it with you!

xxxx

Edited to add :: oh I meant to say that if you haven't already done so, please do go and read Hen's blog, she did a similar shopping trip last week and her photo's/descriptions of the Country Living fair and Liberty are super.