Attic24

Almost Yarndale Time

It's Thursday evening and I'm having a little bit of a gentle slump after an incredibly busy week. These days leading up to Yarndale are always insanely busy for me, but I seem to get through it ok, riding on a wave of sheer excitement and way too much coffee. At the start of the week I dug out my yarn signs and yarn bomb makes and carried out a little bit of yarny housekeeping. All the yarn signs and lamp post panels had a wash and gentle tumble dry, a few repairs were made, and all was good to go for the fifth year.

I installed the woolly jumpers in the park on Tuesday - it was the misty-moisty day from my previous post, which turned out to be an absolutely perfect day for climbing up a ladder and swinging from the lamp posts.

It's just lovely to chat to the assortment of folk who walk through the park as we work - toddlers, dogs, old people, young people, students and professionals all use this footpath throughout the day, it's a busy thoroughfare. So many smiles and nods of recognition as the woolly jumpers went up - "ahhhh, it's Yarndale weekend again already!" The yarn bombing does it's job well, reminding the residents that Yarndale is coming to town, then guiding the many visitors to the festival.

I walked through the park this afternoon on my way home from the auction mart and had the chance to enjoy seeing the lamp posts as if I were a visitor. I loved the jolts of stripy colour amongst the greenery, it really does lift the spirits.

Yesterday and today I've been up at the auction mart with the rest of the team, beginning to get the rather rustic and drab place ready for our yarny visitors. We repaired our flock of mascott sheep and made a little bit of a haphazzard display of them - we often get asked about patterns for these sheep, but every year we make them quite spontaneously and nothing ever gets written down. Plus, they are quite big, heavy things in real life - a wooden shape covered with knitting and crochet, a little bit cobbled together but I do love them for their quirkiness.

We hung the crochet bunting up yesterday, it's a mammoth job which takes a good half a day, but oh the sight of it is just amazing, even after all these  years.

I'm sorry I've not yet shared many pictures of the Creative Hearts that have flooded in from all over the world, but honestly they are all absolutely stunning and so beautifully made with an awful lot of love. They are still coming in so I've not got an exact total yet, but we are almost at 500 I think.

We've created a really breathtaking display for Yarndale - I'll show you more pictures next week. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has joined in with this creative community project, raising money and awareness for the mental health charity Mind.

I also want to tell you that I've managed to photograph every single heart that has been sent - all the hundreds of images are sitting inside my laptop right now, but after Yarndale I'll have time to create some glorious virtual displays on Pinterest so that you can see all the beautiful details. Very inspiring indeed.

I dashed down to Coopers Cafe late this afternoon to touch base with the lovely ladies there and to clean and tidy up a little in my studio which had gotten a tad messy of late. I'm at that point now where I have more yarn than I have shelf space, so not quite sure what to do about that little problem. 

I love my cosy little studio space so much, it really is a dream come true for me to have this place to work and I feel thankful for it every day.

If you are visiting Atticland for Yarndale, my studio door will be open all weekend for you to pop in and have a peek. In fact, don't just peek, come right in and make yourself at home, enjoy the colour and the slightly crazy vibe!

Coopers Cafe will be open Friday 8-6 : Saturday 9-6 : Sunday 9-4.

If you've not been before, it's a stylish old grey painted building down the bottom end of Skipton town on Belmont Street (near to Morrisons supermarket).

This is the upstairs cafe room (which used to be my studio before I moved to the room next door). The tables have all been pushed together ready for our popular knit and natter get together tomorrow morning - we will need ALL the chairs tomorrow! If you are in town already for Yarndale, do pop in and join us from 9am onwards - I'll be there for the first hour or so before I head to the auction mart to finish setting up.

I'm looking forward to seeing some of you up at Yarndale, and I shall be back here in the Attic at some point next week once I've got my breath back and come down to earth from my Yarndale cloud.

See you soon!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

Misty Moisty Morning

Yesterday we woke up under a damp white blanket of misty fog and the hills were nowhere to be seen.

The temperatures are dropping now as we walk on the cusp of Autumn, and it was a surprisingly chilly 4 degrees yesterday morning.

For the first time in a good many months we blew out clouds of smoke as we breathed, and it felt strange and good all at once.

Our walk to school was soooo atmospheric, with soft billows of mist floating over the surface of the water.

Little B and I were enchanted! I know I often tell you how I find the shift of Summer-to-Autumn quite hard going, but I cannot deny the absolute loveliness of this kind of morning.

These spiders webs on the canal bridge were transformed by the mist and looked so pretty....

....I couldn't stop looking at them. 

By midday the early morning mist was just a distant memory and we were gifted with a really beautiful late summers day. 

The sunny warmth continued into the early evening, and so after dinner we decided on the spur of the moment to head out for a short walk. 

It always feels special when the familiar routine of a work/school day is turned upside down - I love that feeling so much! 

The soft light, the still-warm air, the excited chatter of the Little People, the gentle stroll along familiar paths - all of it felt good, and all the better for being so unexpected. Such a change from the misty, moisty morning!

It wasn't too late when we got back, around 7 pm or so, but I'm so glad we took this precious hour at the end of a busy day to walk and talk and breathe it all in.

Soon enough it'll be dark at 7 pm, and I will look back at these photos and smile at my end-of-Summer memories. Can you tell I'm trying my hardest to squeeze every last drop out of summertime?!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

Summer Moments {six}

☀ I'm not sure that I can really get away with describing this photo as a Summer Moment, but I'm going for it anyways. This was a rather wet walk along the canal on our first morning back to school last week. Please don't look at the leaves on that tree, please just don't acknowledge the shades of Autumnal red and gold.

☀ A quiet moment after the aforementioned wet walk to school. I came home completely soaked to the skin, stripped off, put on a fresh set of dry clothes then made myself a coffee. Ahhhhhhhhh.......so good. Note to self - get kitted out with a proper raincoat and some lovely footwear that does not let in water.

☀ 7.30pm, popping out to sling an empty wine bottle into the recycling bin and noticing how drop-dead gorgeous the early evening sky was looking. Dashed in to grab my camera to capture those cutesome little puffs of cloud sailing over head in a hurry. It was windy, the build up to a bit of a storm, and the word "scudding" most definitely applied to those clouds.

☀ A large tray of garlicky, herby, oiled-up veggies waiting to go into the oven to roast. It makes me smile, this tray - it is my marriage right there in vegetable form. Bright summery peppers and courgettes for me, more earthy celery, potato and carrots for him. Broccoli and red onion for us both. It's like Summer meets autumn in that tray. They were delicious by the way.

☀ A Friday afternoon, 2.30pm. We were sat at this wooden table outside the cafe drinking a coffee and sharing a slab of seriously good chocolate brownie. The sun streaked down and warmed my face, briefly reminding me that it still feels like summer. We had been out for a delicious pub lunch with my lovely in-laws, stopping by here on the way home for a little bit of additional post-lunch finishing off. I usually find chocolate brownies a bit much, but every so often that sticky, clarty chololateyness just hits the sweet spot like nothing else.

☀ A jug of summery stocks on my table, lighting up the room with a burst of colour and a waft of distinctive sweet/spicy fragrance. I think it must soon be dahlia time? I don't walk past the market stalls at the top end of town as often as I used to, but I must not be so lazy and go see what the Plant Man has in his pavement buckets this week. I'm sending out positive dahlia vibes!

☀ Ahhh, my beloved blankets, doing a sterling job of looking messy and delicious all at once. How I love them! They are so well used and adored here, especially with how cold the early mornings and evenings feel right now as we haven't yet put our heating on. Just looking at them makes me feel warm and cosy - so much feel-good right there on my sofa.

☀ Another rather un-summery image, but this wet, soggy scene has been mine twice a day this past week as I've walked to school and back in the rain. So much wet has fallen from the sky lately. I'm still wearing flip flops when I can get away with it, but they aren't the easiest thing to walk in when they get wet. The ice cream boat is still opening at weekends throughout September, so we will try and make time to pop down and enjoy one last delicious cone before they close up for the year.

☀ Little B dug out an old colouring book this week, and his enthusiasm and joy prompted me to treat him to some new colouring pens that he could call his very own. Both the book and the pens are superb and I can highly recommend them if you have Little People to treat to such things {this book, and these pens}. 

☀ More stewed fruit was concocted in my kitchen this week, using up a some apples gifted to me by my neighbour and half a bag of fairly ancient frozen Summer Fruits which I dug out of the freezer. Oh the colour of it is quite delicious, so impossibly bright pink. I'm optimistically calling it Summer Fruit Compote and dolloping it into little bowls of creamy Greek Yoghurt to feed to the Little People after dinner. I'm sure they would prefer chocolate, but we are attempting to encourage the return of healthy food habits following a very slack summer of eating a considerable amount of rubbish.

☀ The beautiful view from the end of my street before we descend the steep hill down to the canal side. I never, ever tire of gazing out over the hillside, it pleases me as much now as it did ten years ago when we first decided to buy this house and make this town our home. Ten years. I can hardly believe it.

☀ Just six more days until the Autumn Equinox on the 22nd of September, and I don't think there will be chance for me to squeeze out much more of the Summer now. I've loved putting together these posts - such a sweet record of ordinary family life unfolding during the past couple months. I hope you're enjoying whichever season you are in, whether you are slip sliding into Autumn, or skipping towards Spring. Take note of the small moments, they mean so much.

Here are links to all my 2017 Summer Moments posts....

☀ {one} ☀ {two} ☀ {three} ☀ {four} ☀ {five} ☀

 

 

Simple Nutty Muesli

I've just come out of the oven-warmed kitchen and am feeling all content and domesticated this morning. I've a huuuuuuge work load piled on my shoulders right now (not literally, but it feels that way), so in times of rising stress I find myself slinking into the kitchen and turning the oven on. Often my need to be in the kitchen results in something sweet and indulgent, but today I made something healthy and delicious to nourish my family, and I am shining my halo. Go me!

Shall we talk a little about that delicious breakfasty thing called muesli? For a start off, I've only just learnt how to spell it correctly, and I'm a little ashamed to admit that I've been writing museli (instead of muesli) for all of my adult life until today. I've just had an enlightening little pootle through the interweb to find out more about this stuff, and to see how my recipe compares with others - I discovered all sorts! Don't you just love the internet for providing all this incredible knowledge?!  I've found out that the word müesli is a Swiss-German word for “mix”, gosh, I really love to have these little snippets of information tucked up in my brain.

In it's basic form, muesli is a "minimally-processed mix of whole grains, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, and spices". It's different to granola in that no sweeteners or oils are added, and the oats are left in their natural state and not baked. I've been making and eating a simple breakfast muesli for more than twenty years, and I really do think it's a fabulous first-meal-of-the-day. I thought I'd share my recipe with you (it's very simple), and tell you that 4 out of 5 of us eat this every morning here in the Attic household. Little B doesn't much like the nuts so he eats ReadyBrek instead (a quick-cook, smooth porridge) with added fruits, but the rest of us are definitely muesli-lovers.

First up, you need 250g of nuts. I buy a bag of mixed nuts from the supermarket which contains hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds and brazils. These need to be chopped up smallish, which is a bit of a chew to do it by hand with a knife, but I'm OK with putting in the time and effort for this. I leave the hazelnuts whole, break up the walnuts, chop the almonds in half and the brazils into 3 or four small pieces.

The next ingredient is 150g of seeds. Like the nuts, I buy a bag of mixed seeds from the supermarket which contains pumpkin, sunflower, sesame and golden linseeds.

Spread the chopped nuts and seeds in a single layer onto a large baking sheet or oven tray, and bake in a moderate oven (180C / gas 4) for 15-20 mins until they turn lightly golden. You'll be able to smell them when they are ready - keep an eye on them and make sure they don't over bake (blackened nuts are a no-no). Leave them on the tray to cool completely.

Now for the fruit element - I keep it simple and use 150g of sultanas as I tend to prefer piling up my breakfast bowl with fresh fruits. In the past I've experimented with all sorts of different dried fruits - dried apricots and cranberries work well, but you can use whatever takes your fancy. 

And last but not least, you need 500g of rolled oats. Lots of muesli recipes include all sorts of additional flaked grains (barley, wheat, rye, spelt etc), and I have dabbled with adding some of these in the past. But somehow I like the simplicity of just using oats - they are easy to find in the supermarket and very inexpensive, which is good, cos nuts aren't cheap are they?

Mix all your ingredients together - oats, sultanas, roasted nuts and seeds - and find something airtight to keep them in. I use a 1.9L Lock&Lock tub which is exactly the right size to hold the quantities given above. I love these containers, we have them in all shapes and sizes and they really are air and water tight - nothing gets in or out once the flaps are locked down. 

And now we are ready to get it all together - I keep an 80ml measuring scoop in with my muesli, and one scoop gives around 50g (I've just checked this, I had no idea how much I was eating until now). It doesn't look all that much in the bowl, but by the time you've added the fresh ingredients it really does make a pretty substantial breakfast.

First add your wet ingredient - this can be milk (the Teen's preference), or yoghurt. I like to use a low fat vanilla or coconut yoghurt, but Little Lady prefers plain creamy Greek yoghurt on hers. You can sweeten with a drizzle of honey if you like (I don't, cos the yoghurt I use has enough of a sweet taste for me). Mix it all up so the oats are covered in the yoghurt/milk, then leave it to sit for a few minutes so that the oats soften a little.

Lastly, add your fresh fruit  - I always slice half a banana, then add whatever fresh fruit I've got in the fridge. Usually we have red grapes, blueberries and strawberries, sometimes raspberries or blackberries when they are in season. Grated apple also works well. Just recently I've been adding in a spoonful of homemade apple and blackberry compote - oh, soooo good!

Each mouthful is just delicious - the creamy oats, crunchy roasted nuts and juicy fresh fruit combine into a yummy combination of flavours and textures. It makes me so happy to eat this bowl of good stuff every morning, and I love that my older kidlets are enjoying it too. Little Lady (who is 13) is a very recent convert - it does take children time to get to grips with the very chunky, chewy nature of this breakfast I guess.

There is a tonne of stuff written about the virtues of eating an oat based breakfast (I swap from muesli to porridge in the winter months, so I eat oats all year round), but honestly I mainly love muesli for its taste rather than any health reasons. Oh, and it does keep me feeling nicely full pretty much until lunch time, which is also a Good Thing.

I'd love to know what you eat for breakfast - d0 let me know?!

x

♥ Simple Nutty Museli ingredients ♥

500g rolled oats

150g dried fruit (sultanas, raisins, cranberries, apricots etc)

150g mixed seeds (eg pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, linseed)

250g mixed nuts (eg hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, brazils)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

 

Moorland Blanket :: Ta-dah!

Over the years that I've been designing and making blankets I've become fascinated with the way in which inspiration strikes - it's a very unpredictable thing indeed and really rather amazing! Sometimes an idea will ping into my mind as if from nowhere, a sudden vision that I can see as if it were right in front of me already. Other times a vague idea will creep and crawl oh-so-very-slowly into my Creative Mind, growing and changing over a period of months/years until the time is right to try and bring it into reality. This was definitely the case with the Moorland blanket, and the very idea of making a blanket inspired by the colours of this particular landscape was a slow thing to grow. I don't think it could have happened in any other way actually. It became a culmination of many years of happy memories, a colourful, creative description of time and place, of emotions and family life, of seasonal change and natural beauty. 

The colours I chose to make the Moorland Blanket describe my memories of the heather moorlands in late summer. I wanted to try and give a feeling of being high up on the moors on a beautiful clear day, a feeling of openness, freedom, fresh breezes and sunshine. I created a colour palette which I think feels fresh and light, but earthy and natural too.  I used 15 shades of Stylecraft Special DK...

Top row, left to right ♥ Pistachio ♥ Sage ♥ Grape ♥ Wisteria ♥ Duck Egg ♥

Middle row, left to right ♥ Lime ♥ Meadow ♥ Mocha ♥ Violet ♥ Cloud Blue ♥

Bottom row, left to right ♥ Cyprus ♥ Khaki ♥ Walnut ♥ Plum ♥ Storm Blue ♥

You can buy the yarn pack from my shop at Wool Warehouse..

♥ MOORLAND YARN PACK ♥

I wrote quite a a bit about my design process for the Moorland Blanket when I introduced it back in November last year (hard to believe it was so long ago!). The above photo shows the final result of my many stripe samples - this was my way of working out how to organise the 115 stripes so that they told the story of the moorland landscape. I remember being so excited about the idea of making this blanket into a "colour-story", but also strangely nervous as well. Behind the scenes I spent a fair bit of time questioning my ideas and fretting about how everyone else would take to it. It's one thing to create a blanket in isolation for one's own pleasure and enjoyment, but creating a Crochet-A-Long project where you hope to encourage and inspire others to follow brings a weeny amount of additional pressure.

But whenever I had my doubts, I looked back over my collection of photos and reminded myself how joyous this blanket would be, simply because of the stunning inspiration behind it. The creative journey would be a fulfilling one, I felt sure of it.

When I am designing a blanket, it's nearly always the colours that come first, followed by the pattern. For me, the essence of any blanket is the colour palette and this will always be my priority. Yes, I really am that obsessed with colour, always have been and probably always will be.

I flirted with some straight-stripe pattern ideas for a while, but pretty quickly knew that straight stripes wouldn't work. The pattern needed to have movement, and I began to look for something that would be a good fit for the undulating layers of wide open landscape that I wanted to describe. I sampled a good number of different chevron, ripple and wave patterns before settling on a variation of a simple wave effect that I felt happy with.

♥ NEAT WAVE PATTERN ♥

There is something quite magical about working on those first few rows of a blanket, building the foundation for what will become a treasured and much loved piece of yarny fabric. With every blanket I make, I always try and practice some gentle mindfulness whilst hooking  - catching a hold of the memories and feelings which make up time and place and embedding them into the thousands of little stitches. Mostly, there are a tonne of happy thoughts and emotions that make up a blanket, and I just love that idea, don't you?

I have to say (honestly) that the very first part of this blanket didn't really, truly make my heart leap with joy. I do have a soft spot for these lovely shades of green as in my minds eye this isn't just yarn - it's moss and grass of course! It helped that I could visualise the bigger picture, and could see how eventually all those greens and browns would be balanced out with the purples and blues. 

After two weeks and forty stripes, the purple haze had started to gently creep in.....

....and after three weeks the blanket was looking much more colour balanced. At this point I was just over half way and absolutely falling head over heels in love with the wave pattern. The way the colours play together when they are forced to move up and down is amazing, there is such movement somehow, a visual rhythm which is mesmerising to look at.

It seems appropriate to be writing all about this blanket right now, as I do really think of the Moorland blanket as a Summer blanket. But remember at the time the Crochet-A-Long was taking place in January/February this year, we were in the dead of Winter here in the UK and only dreaming of summer. It seems odd to think about that now, but I do remember daydreaming a huge amount about summertime whilst meandering up and down these stripes with my hook!

During the fifth week, I was absolutely on cloud nine in my colour-filled world as the soft summer blues began to arrive. Oh deep joy, it felt so so good to be floating up in the sky! 

I love the way that the purples and greens merged so beautifully with the blues - I tried to capture the feeling you get when you look out over a large expanse of landscape to the horizon beyond. Its' a calming, slightly dreamy feeling I think, especially if you are up on high ground and looking out over many, many miles of countryside. 

All too soon, the sky was complete and my Moorland stripes were done and dusted. I have to confess that I really did miss those hooky hours of easy waves and could quite happily have kept going. And going, and going.....but at the same time, I had the delicious business of the edging to get to grips with, and I do love a good Edging Challenge. This was one of those blankets that needed very careful handling on the edge, as I didn't want anything to take away from the gorgeousness of the stripy colour story. I opted for a narrow band using four colours - just enough to neaten up those side edges and gently frame the stripes without drawing too much attention. 

It feels a bit funny now, attempting a big grand Ta-dah moment a whole six months after the blanket was completed. I guess many of you have already seen the finished blanket all around the internet, and a good many of you will have your very own slice of Moorland draped across the back of your sofa. But it's still a nice feeling to celebrate the making of something that has given a huge amount of creative pleasure. I'm super-proud of this blanket and absolutely love it to bits.

A few weeks ago, I took my Moorland blanket up onto the moors, purely for the heart-stopping visual pleasure of it all. The heather was looking absolutely spectacular (you can see the photos in this post) and I can't tell you how much I enjoyed taking in the colours of the real landscape alongside the colours in my blanket. 

It was one of those times where I was glad to have J and the Little People with me, as I did feel a little bit of a loonie doing my thing up there in the wilds. Of course my family are so used to my bloggy ways that they don't think anything of it, and that makes me less self conscious about the weirdness of arranging (and re-arranging) a blanket on the ground and taking (many, many, many) pictures of it.  

I had to laugh because when I came to roll my blanket up ready to head back to the car, it had gained some extra texture! I spent ages picking out all the little bits of moss and heather that got caught up in the stitches, restoring the Moorland blanket to it's cosy indoor state. I wonder if it enjoyed it's little al fresco adventure?!

I've been thinking a lot just lately about our online crochet community, and the way in which we inspire and encourage each other. I consider myself extremely lucky to experience this almost daily as I pootle about in Blogland, Facebook, Instagram and Ravelry, it really is a wonderful thing. So many talented and generous people making and sharing so much fabulous crochet, I love love love being a part of it.

Creating a project to run as a Crochet-A-Long is so exciting, and it's something that I've come to look forward to each year very, very much. I get such a happy feeling knowing that we can all connect through our mutual love of crochet and colour - this connection creates a genuine feeling of "belonging" which I am personally very grateful for. I spent a good many years in my younger adult life feeling rather alone and adrift with my creativity, and I haven't ever forgotten that rather lonely feeling of existing in an isolated bubble. I am so glad that I discovered a way to burst my bubble and find my way into Blogland. It honestly changed my life.

Anyhow.....I could probably write a whole other blog post on the subject of creative blogging, but what I really want to do right now is to share some of the crochet projects I've come across that have been inspired by the colours of my Moorland Blanket. I want to show you what happens when one idea/colour palette sparks off a whole lot of glorious, inspirational hooky creativity......feast your eyes on all this moorland loveliness!!!!!!!

♥ the beginnings of the most amazing "free form" crochet blanket designed by Roslyn. I've not seen a picture of it finished, but it really is spectacular even at this stage. A bit like "Van Gogh goes on a Moorland Adventure"!

♥ Heather turned her neat waves of moorland colour into a beautiful jacket.

♥ Miranda created this very pretty mixed-stitch bag using the leftover yarn from her blanket.

♥ Another fabulous Moorland bag made by Nancy.

♥ Judy - wow, what a creative lady she is. Judy came up with the idea of making a summer moorland decoration using her blanket left overs (2nd from left). She then went on to make three more beautiful decorations to represent all the seasons. Truly lovely, and such a joy to watch these in progress via  Judy's regular updates on Facebook.

♥ I especially loved seeing Sarah's "Moorland Harmony" blanket in progress recently - it amazes me how different the same colours look when worked up in squares instead of stripes. Just beautiful.

♥ Shenandoah embarked on an epic "Moorland Madness" journey using her Moorland yarn pack, and the finished mandala is nothing short of spectacular.

♥ Alexandra used her left over yarn to make some beautiful cushions in Moorland colours.

♥ Another really lovely cushion made by Gez, I love the way she has arranged the colours so that your eye is drawn to the soft blues at the centre. Gorgeous work. And awwwwwwwwwww........just cast your eyes on that cutesome little woolly sheep wearing a rather fetching Moorland jumper!

♥ Katherine added her little sheep to the virtual Moorland flock.....

♥ .....and Fiona did too!

In fact there were a fair number of little woolly sheep which came to live on the Moorland this summer.....

.....including Heather's very sweet little Sheepish.

All these Moorland sheep were made by ladies who joined  a thriving Facebook group which started up at the beginning of the Moorland CAL in January. This wasn't a group set up or run by me so I can't take any credit for it, but it has became a lovely source of friendship, support and shared hooky goodness. And now 8 months since the Moorland journey began, the "Attic24 Moorland and More"group has grown to include over 1,800 members and is still going strong. A truly fabulous little online community. 

I guess it comes back to that feeling of Belonging that I spoke about, it's such a good, good thing that we can connect with each other using words and pictures from wherever we are in the world. Long may we continue to burst out of our private little creative bubbles!

And finally....

....before I go....

....I want to share with you....

....my very best photo from the Moorland.

I had to utilise a little bit of child labour....

....combined with lots of verbal direction....

....but eventually, after many failures, we got a photo that I am proud to share....

Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Moorland Blanket looking stunning up on the moorland. I can't tell you how much I adore this picture, it encapsulates all the joy that this blanket holds in it's stitches. Beautiful, in every way.

With thanks and gratitude to Little Lady, who enthusiastically did what I told her to do without complaint and showed great humour and strength (especially in her arms, bless her)

And huge heartfelt thanks to all of you who joined me on my moorland journey this year, I really hope you loved coming along.  If you're still working on your Moorland blanket, or think you might like to give it a go in the future, all patterns and CAL posts will stay on my blog indefinitely, free of charge. I created a page in my left hand side bar which contains all the info and links, so that everything's in one place  and easy to find.

{MOORLAND STRIPE BLANKET}

(¯`v´¯) 
.`•.¸.•´ ★ 
¸.•´.•´¨) ¸.•¨) 
(¸.•´(¸.•´ (¸.•¨¯`♥*  

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

ps my next CAL will follow similar timing - yarn packs will be available from mid November 2017, and the Crochet-A-Long will run throughout January and February 2018. I absolutely can't wait! x

 

Heather on the Moors

We were up on the moors two weeks ago on a warm, bright Sunday morning, and looking at these photos now is making me feel all kinds of heart felt good things. I remember the day so clearly, I can feel the light breeze, see the cloud shadows moving gently across the hills, the sublime light and the absolutely glorious, breathtaking colours all around. 

Heading up onto the moors to see the heather blooming in August has become something of an annual family ritual, in much the same way as going to the woods to see the bluebells in May has. It's a joyous celebration of the gentle passing of the seasons as well as a profound appreciation for this little patch of England that I've come to call home. We walk, chatter, observe and breathe it in. I try to keep my complete over excitement in check, try to tamp down my Creative Mind as it goes into overdrive, try to be in the moment with my Little People as we go about making our memories together. It truly is glorious where we live, and I am filled with gratitude for it every single day.

The heather this year has been stunning, the colours seem so vibrant and the swathes of blooms look absolutely beautiful covering the expanse of moorland as far as the eye can see. It's such a pleasure to be out amongst it all, pottering about along the stony pathways, then resting a while on a sun warmed rock to enjoy the long distance views with a little bit of chocolate. Always there is chocolate on these sorts of outings, it's become our family thing.

This year there was kite flying too, and I am secretly hoping for this to be a new little add-on element to our heather-appreciation-ritual. I loved flying kites as a child, and so clearly remember the simple little blue fabric kite with it's wooden stick supports that I flew on the hill behind our house.  Little B has taken a real liking to the joy of feeling the pull of the wind in his hands, and I've so enjoyed watching him.

I took my Moorland blanket up onto the moors and had a bit of a play with it in it's natural environment. Such fun! I took some really disastrous photos! Hahaha!! But one or two images turned out just right, and I'm enjoying putting together my Ta-dah post for this blanket which continues to bring me so much pleasure.

I can't wait to share with you the final installment of my Moorland Blanket journey. This blanket so deserves it's ta-dah moment.........coming soon.......

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

Summer Moments {five}

☀ A short walk in the woods last week when the weather was warm and grey and we all just needed to be out of the house for a bit. We're so lucky to have this beautiful area of woodland within a short walking distance of home, I appreciate it very much. I loved the branches of this deceased tree which were completely covered in moss - the way the moss was back-lit somehow made the branches look like they were glowing.

☀ I was stunned to find these toadstools on our woodland walk, partly because I think this may be the first time I've ever seen picture-book red and white toadstools ever in my life, and partly because they screamed "AUTUMN" in a way that I am so not prepared for right now. It is still summer, and I am most definitely claiming this as a Summer Moment. 

☀ But seriously, no matter what the season, these toadstools were spectacular in their shouty red-ness. I've just made a Google search and discovered that this is most likely a russula emetica, also known as "The Sickener", so definitely not something that can be pan fried in a little butter then. The Little People were in awe of them, well, they did look pretty impressive as toadstools go.

☀ I realise that pretty much every one of my Summer Moment posts contains a sleepy kitty, she has been a big part of our family life this holiday. She isn't always an easy animal to interact with as she is rather fiesty and very strong willed, but we love her to bits and adore having her around. She is never very far away from us, choosing to cope with our noise and constant comings and goings rather than hide herself away, and I love that.

☀ Last year our buddleia went into a state of extreme shock and not one stem grew after I pruned it back hard at completely the wrong time the year before. I was so sad and really missed the flowers last year,  so it's been especially lovely to see it in full recovery this year with it's gorgeous purple flowers blooming in recent weeks. 

☀ A bit like the Sickener toadstools, this image is really rather worryingly autumnal, but I'm overlooking this fact and concentrating on how lovely the colours are. I picked these leaves up from the pavement at the bottom of the hill, a little dismayed to see the first signs of Summer coming to a close, but crushing on these beautiful Autumn shades.

-+*`    f7v........ [oh, that was a little cat message to you from Tilly as she walks across my keyboard!]

☀ Another day, and another moment of delight as not one but two butterflies were spotted dancing around on the buddleia bush. We don't see that many butterflies around our terraced streets, so it really is fab that our modest (and rather harshly treated) shrub can draw these beauties in.

☀ During this past week we've often had the best weather in the evenings. We are generally finished eating and clearing up around 6.30pm, so after I've done a few chores (laundry mostly) I've been heading up to the park around 7pm with the Little People. We are lucky to have a fabulous open space on our doorstep (well, five minutes walk away), and I am very thankful for it at all times of the year.  

☀ Often when I go to the park with the LP I opt to plant my backside on one of the wooden benches at the top of the hill and simply sit still and take in the view. Being physically still is something that doesn't happen all that often when you are a busy Mum, but I can highly recommend seeking out a few minutes each day to just sit. It relaxes the body and focuses the mind on being In The Moment - practicing this type of very simple mindfulness feels so good. I watch the play of light and shadows across the distant hills, breathe in the scent of freshly cut summer grass, feel the last of the day's warm sunshine on my face, listen to the sound of children playing, watch the swallows dip and dive low over the ground as they swoop in search of insects, make a quiet, silent wish on the sliver of crescent moon in sky.

☀ I don't always just sit still and observe when I go to the park though...sometimes I like to have my mind and hands busy. I took my Summer Harmony blanket up to the park for the first time this week, oh it looked completely glorious spread out on the grass in the early evening sun. I sat quietly on top of all that yarny colour and knit a few rows of my sock while the Little People kicked a ball around and expended some energy. It was a super-lovely way to gently unwind at the end of the day.

☀ Summer evenings are so precious with that beautiful, glowing golden light and those enticingly loooooooong shadows to play around with. Goodness only knows what the three of us must have looked like to anyone else, but we did have some fun with our shadowy selves. 

☀ Behold, our glorious allotment booty!! Oh we were so proud to harvest this modest handful of little tomatoes from our row of outdoor tomato plants. Little B was beside himself as tomatoes are his most favourite thing to eat, and he couldn't wait to try them. They were indeed utterly sweet and delicious and bursting with summer flavour. 

☀ More blackberries from the untamed wild bit at the allotment, and some little cooking apples from the single tree that grows in my in-laws front garden. Isn't it some kind of wonderful when fresh fruit comes into your hands for free? I'm thinking these are summer fruits, wouldn't you say? Nothing Autumnal here, nope, not at all.

☀ I made an apple and blackberry Oaty Crumble using this crumble recipe (but leaving out the golden syrup). We unearthed a rather old tin of Birds custard from the depths of the kitchen store cupboard and oh-my-word, it was sooooo good. So so so good. 

☀ 7.48pm....an early evening summer sky looking very lovely indeed as we made our way home from the park. I love being able to make the most of these summer days with the Little People, stretching them right out into the evenings whenever we can. Already our days are noticeably shortening and we are drawing our curtains at 8.30pm.

 ☀ The Little People go back to school next week, bringing our summer holiday to an end. We've had a very relaxing six weeks, it's been a pleasure to just mellow out and enjoy some quiet family time at home. Now, in my book it is still summer until 22nd September which is the Autumn Equinox, I had to have words with some of the ladies at the cafe who tried to tell me that it was the first day of Autumn today. We still have three more weeks of Summer my friends, and I intend to make the very most of it!! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

A Little Village by the Sea

On Monday morning we miraculously managed to get ready (with a picnic and everything) to leave the house at 8.15 am. We kept our fingers crossed for  fine, dry weather and set out to spend the day pootling and pottering at our closest seasidey place on the Fylde coast.

Our first stop was at this delightful little village - doesn't it look quaint?

This is no ordinary village, as it is very teensy-small indeed. So small in fact, that you can walk the streets and feel like a great big lumbering giant.

Yes, you probably guessed right away that this is in fact a model village. And maybe you might also have guessed right away that I absolutely loved it to bits! I was soooooo excited to visit as I adore model villages - I was that child who obsessively played with her dolls house for hours and hours on end and was in love with the whole idea of miniature houses. Still am actually. 

So this is Blackpool Model Village, and it's a very quirky little place that's been here since the 1970's. I've wanted to visit for ages, and managed to persuade J and the Little Peeps that we really needed to go see it. Oh, it was really good! It's quaint and ever so slightly faded, but I just fell in love with it all. As we arrived early we were the very first visitors so pretty much had the place to ourselves (only one other family arrived whilst we were there). We had a quiz sheet which led us around the little twisty-turny pathways, and we had loads of fun answering all the questions. The was plenty of gentle humour too - for example, one of the questions on the quiz sheet was "who's in charge of the school?" and the answer was Mr. Terry Bull and Mr. P. Brain. We had to work a little to explain the names to Little B, but when the penny dropped he nearly wet himself laughing.

 This is a family outing very well suited to those with Little People (or adults who still have rather childish minds), and it's all very simple indeed with no gimmicks and nothing extraordinary. Its old fashioned charm certainly pleased me no end, and it was  a lovely start to our day.

Blackpool Model Village is on the edge of Stanley Park which is absolutely huge (over 300 acres). The formal gardens are spectacular, with exuberant, colourful flower beds designed to wow.

I particularly loved the dahlias - these fiery coloured ones with the dark foliage were amazing, and made me want to scoop them up and run back home with armfuls of blooms to fill my house with.

I'd heard about the famous art deco cafe in the park, and was keen to see it for myself. It really was stunning inside, quite grand and very 1920's stylish. We chose to sit outside on the terrace.....

....to enjoy a morning coffee and a little bit of a breather. Gosh, I realise that so often a good strong milky coffee is one of the true pleasures of my day. Not sure if I need to worry about that or not?!

After the village and park (and coffee) excitements, we drove the few miles to the coast, choosing as usual to leave the bustling crowds at Blackpool behind and head a little further south to St Annes instead. As you can see, the day was grey and overcast, but that certainly didn't stop a good many families enjoying the vast sandy beach.

We found a bench on the busy promenade and sat a while to eat our picnic and partake in a bit of people (and dog) watching. It fascinates me to visit our rather old fashioned British seaside towns and ponder on the fact that families have been promenading and taking in the sea views for over a hundred years. According to Wikipedia, St Annes was a 19th-century planned town, officially founded on 31 March 1875. Eighteen Seventy Five!!!

After lunch, we took to our feet and leisurely promenaded along the promenade before dropping down to the beach and slowly strolling back again. 

By this time it was mid afternoon and the weather had dramatically improved since the morning. The low grey clouds had completely blown away to reveal these perfectly summery white wispy ones.

As with all of our previous visits, the tide was waaaaaay out, exposing the vast open sandy beach. It was decided between us all that we weren't all that bothered about trying to reach the sea this time, it was enough to simply kick off our shoes/flip flops and enjoy the sand between our toes. There were lots of kites flying - some really simple ones flown by children, as well as bigger two-string stunt kites flown with varying degrees of skill by adults. 

I enjoy the atmosphere so much in St Annes, there is something incredibly tranquil about it. It feels calm and peaceful, a town built purely to provide gentle leisure and pleasure. We sat a while on the beach, then walked out onto the end of the pier to eat ice cream and take in the views. 

Our walk back to the car was through our favourite Ashton Gardens which was looking as beautiful as ever. We flopped around on the grass for a bit, watching the oldies play bowls on the green whilst keeping an eye on Little B who was flinging himself relentlessly down the slide in the playground there. 

It felt like a perfect little slice of English Summertime, and all was content in my summer-loving world. Even the fountain was making rainbows as we walked past, which just added to the quiet charm of the whole day. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

Designing and Writing

 

A little while ago I contributed to an article for Simply Crochet magazine which was all about yarnbombing. After the magazine was published, I came across a question on the Simply Crochet facebook page asking me whether I'd mentioned the article here on my blog or whether I'd intentionally kept it quiet. It made me stop and think about the things I do which don't always get shared on my blog, especially in recent months when I've been kept quite busy with various designing and writing commissions. But to answer the question, no, no, I really don't keep these things quiet on purpose! Mostly it's simply a timing thing - the world of magazines has a way of working which is quite different from the way I like to write and share on my blog. Commisssion work for magazines happens many months in advance of publication, whereas here in the Attic I like to share things pretty much as and when they happen. As you know, I have an atrocious memory and often by the time a magazine comes into the shops I've forgotten all about the work I might have done four or five months previously. 

Anyhoooo.....I thought perhaps it might be good to have a little catch-up sesh and share a few things that I've been up to "behind the scenes" so to speak. The magazine in the photo above is Simply Crochet issue sixty, which was out last month and no longer current. I'm so sorry I am late to tell you about it as it's a fab issue with some great projects in, but you can still get a hold of it as a back issue, or as a digital download. You can find all info about SC issue 60 {here}

I was asked back in February if I would like to work on a design for a Simply Crochet magazine summer collection, and I answered yes straight away. Back then in the depths of winter I found the idea of working on a summer project hugely appealing, especially as I was asked to choose the colour palette as well as designing a pattern.  I chose the above 7 shades of Stylecraft Classique Cotton DK, responding to the brief which had asked for "something summery and fun". In the above picture, the colours I chose (from left to right) are :

Azure : Sky Blue : Soft Lime : Wisteria : Shell Pink : Fondant : Hot Pink

There are six crochet projects (by six different designers) in the summer collection, all using this beautiful soft colour palette. From dragonflies and pebbles, to a whole amazing tee-pee....

.....these makes are all about having some creative fun and adding a bit of hooky decoration to your outside space.

My contribution was a mandala hoop, and I just love the way the team at Simply Crochet styled and photographed it for the magazine page. 

Designing and making my Boho Chic Mandala was really, really enjoyable, and I consider myself extremely fortunate (almost beyond words) that I get to do this and call it Work. Lucky, lucky me. I am so grateful for my crochet and colour addiction and all that it brings to my life!

You might possibly recognise the centre of this mandala - I started out by making the first five rounds of my Happy Flower, then continued to add enough rounds to form a 35 cm circle.

A 35 cm crochet circle should stretch quite happily to fit a 45 cm hoop - this stretching out of the crochet as you attach it to the hoop transforms the design, opening out the stitches to create a lovely neat, taut finish.

When I've made this size of mandala before, I've attached the crochet to child-sized hula hoops, you know, those brightly coloured plastic ones you can get (see my blog post here). But I've since discovered that you can  buy lightweight plastic-coated metal hoops which are very much thinner than hula hoops, making them much easier to crochet around. They come in various different sizes, from teensy 10 cm ones up to the 45 cm one that I've used here. If you are looking online for these hoops (eg on Amazon UK) , you need to search for "metal craft ring" - they are sold for making things like dream catchers I think. 

I just love the way this pattern turned out, and I've got a second mandala in progress which is crocheted in much brighter colours, more like my previous mandala hoops. I must remember to dig it out and finish it - in fact I've got a couple of large mandalas which are half way done, so I'll be finishing them off very soon and attaching them to hoops ready for this year's outdoor display at Yarndale.

Talking of Yarndale, as I mentioned at the start of this post, issue 60 of Simply crochet magazine also contains a really great article all about the joys of yarnbombing. I was interviewed for this write up (with my Yarndale hat on) and it's really interesting to read about the inspiration and motivation behind some other amazing community yarn bomb projects.

I also contributed to a beautifully written article all about choosing colours for crochet projects which you can find in Simply Crochet magazine issue 59. Again, I did this interview months ago now, and it had slipped my mind until recently. 

I don't know - sometimes I confess I feel a little bit uneasy about sharing these things, as I don't want it to seem like I am shouting out about myself or trying to sell or promote anything, does that make sense? I enjoy writing and designing very much, and although mostly I keep things contained here in the Attic, occasionally it feels rather good to see my words and images out there in print. 

Oh, what do we have here then? Something else crocheted in a pretty palette of summery cottons! I designed these little heart key rings as my contribution to this year's Yarndale brochure (you might remember the owls from last year?). I used five shades of Classique Cotton > Sunflower : Shrimp : Fondant : Sky Blue : Soft Lime (aren't the colours pretty?!)

These are quick and easy to hook up - I made two hearts then crocheted them together around the edge in a contrasting colour, adding a small hanging loop at the top. The little flower is crocheted separately and stitched on.

I love designing and making small decorative things as I think it's always great to have a stash of patterns that you can pull out when you need to whip up a last minute little crochet gift. If you are coming to Yarndale, the pattern for these hearts will be in the brochure which is given to all visitors. 

And finally before I leave you in peace, a quick shout out for the British Knitting & Crochet Awards. As per usual I'm very late in putting this on my blog as the voting closes today (30th August)....typical me! These awards are a great recognition within the industry, and to be nominated is considered an honour. This year I have 4 nominations (yes, four!) which I am so happy about!

★ Favourite Crochet Blog
★ Favourite crochet Designer
★ Best Website (for WoolWarehouse/Attic24)
★ Best ready-to-use kits (for WoolWarehouse/Attic24)

also Yarndale has been nominated in 
★ Best Knitting Show Event

Votes are open to both UK and Worldwide peeps this year (although only UK residents will be eligible for the yarny part of the prize draw). It's worth mentioning that you don't have to vote in all the categories (especially regional ones which may well mean nothing to you) - only categories with an asterisk* require an imput. So if you'd like to give it a go, I'd be very grateful - click on the image above, or go {here}. Closes midnight 30th August.

As ever, I am so thankful for you all, for your ongoing visits to the Attic and for the kind words you write to me. I appreciate it very very much xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Reflected Landscape

We ventured out into the misty grey yesterday morning to take a walk around Grimwith Reservoir. We are generally an early-to-rise family (with the exception of The Teen, who's body runs on teenager time these days), and it's fairly easy for us to be up and out the house by 8.30am in the summer.

I have to confess that I have mixed feelings about this walk. It takes just short of 2 hours to do the 4 mile round route, and there is a part of me that finds the whole thing ever so slightly dull. There, I said it. I try not to voice this in front of the Little People, because really this is a great walk for them and us as a family - very easy footpaths, a known distance/time that they can cope with, toilets in the car park. 

So yesterday I did my best to adjust my mind, and I set out to appreciate the scenery, feel the benefits of the fresh air and exercise and enjoy some chatty-time with the Little Peeps.

I took the above photo to show you the water levels here in North Yorkshire which are still desperately low despite us having a very wet summer. It's odd to think that our drinking water may very well come from right here (this is one of five reservoirs in our area owned by Yorkshire Water). It makes me not want to moan about the summer rain quite so much!

This time around Grimwith (our third time walking here), we decided to walk the reverse way around the water and see how it felt. For some reason it worked a treat and I enjoyed the walk so much more than in previous times. Maybe it was the fact that we walked the most boring part first, or maybe it was the weather which although grey was blissfully still and just the right kind of warm. But perhaps it was simply the fact that we enjoyed our time together as a family, making the absolute most of these last days of the summer holidays. 

There is definitely something about being beside still water which is extremely soothing and restful. You can feel the peacefulness seeping into your soul, and although I generally prefer to feel invigorated by crashing waves and salty surf, I am finding a new appreciation for quiet, still waters.

We saw very few people yesterday as we walked, just a few dog walkers and a few sheep taking in the morning air.

The surrounding landscape was looking beautiful, with a purple blush of heather across the hilltops and so many shades of green all around. I stood still and breathed it all in. So so good.  

There are several of these carved stones set into the walls around the reservoir, but the poetry of this one is my particular favourite. I've just made a quick Google search and found out that this is the work of local artist Fiona Bowley. 

"A reflected landscape of shadows calling out from under the water" - isn't that such a lovely thing to ponder as you wander around the waters edge?

At this point in the walk we were about 2/3 of the way around, and the light and weather was beginning to alter almost minute by minute. 

The low grey cloud was beginning to lift a little, allowing a gentle brightness to creep into the morning.

The swaying summer grasses, as usual, stopped me in my tracks and made me hold my breath. I have no idea why they affect me so much - I feel like there is an old, old childhood memory tucked deep down just out of reach. I love how tall they are at this time of year, so delicate yet strong at the same time.

This was quite some hill, an unexpected climb which took us by surprise. Of course, as we were walking this route in reverse we would've been jaunting downwards not upwards when we walked here before. It felt good to get the blood pumping though - Little Lady and I proper power-walked up this bit, flopping down on the grass at the top of the hill gasping for breath. So unfit - jeez. I really could do with improving my fitness.

The light was extraordinarily beautiful as we neared the end of our walk, and the contrast of colours was just incredible. The water had turned a dark shade of grey under a heavy grey rain cloud, whilst the sun lit up our little patch of high ground. It was absolutely breathtaking. 

Ragwort (that yellow flower) is a funny plant, mostly ignored as an annoying weed (a bit like dandelions) and hated by land owners as it is poisonous to animals. But the colour of it on this grey day was nothing short of magical.

That grey and yellow colour combo is pretty powerful don't you think? It instantly reminds me of my dear friend Vanessa who used to love seeing yellow and grey together......I really do miss her very much. I think I might take a pootle through her blog archives later, she left behind such an inspirational treasure trove of words, images and ideas for us to dip into. Blogging at it's very best.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx