Attic24

A Sweet Day

Before I launch into my witterings for today, I'd first like to gift you this beautiful bunch of sweet peas by way of a heart felt thank you. Thank you all so very much for your comments on my last post, for your unwavering kindness, empathy and understanding, I am unbelievably grateful. The morning after I'd written, I read back over my words and truthfully I was a microsecond away from deleting it all, feeling rather embarrassed to be honest. It's not my style to wallow, and I was kind of surprised by what had tumbled out of my head and into that blog post. I don't generally plan my posts, nor do I edit or mess around with my words - what you read is pretty much what spontaneously enters into my head at the time, it's my weird inner dialogue and you can be sure that it is honest and genuine. So.....I can't really find it in me to delete that entry, as much as it makes me cringe to read it. It is what it is. But thank you again, for taking time to gift me your thoughts and allow me to see things from a different perspective, and for lifting my spirits. I bet you wish you could lean in to your screen and smell those sweet peas, they smell soooooo good I can tell you!

On Saturday we took a trip to visit the RHS gardens at Harlow Carr in Harrogate. I realised last week that it was the annual Sweet Pea Society show, and remembering how much I had loved it last year I asked the fam if they fancied going. The Teens were both busy with work and friends, but Little B seems to have very vivid memories attached from his few visits to Harlow Carr and was mega keen on the idea of being back there. I don't know exactly what it is that he loves so much about it - oh hang on, why don't I ask him......? Well, he says that he can't really explain it, but he just likes the feeling of it there. He says he enjoys smelling the flowers (that is so true, we did a lot of sniffing!), and he likes the way it always feels fresh (not sure what he means, maybe the air smells fresh? There is a lot of open green space). It really is a lovely place to explore with lots of different areas within the gardens, and as you would expect from a top class RHS garden, it is immaculately kept. 

The beautiful eco-building in the photo above is the Learning Centre (it has a living sedum roof, how cool is that?!) and is where the Sweet Pea show was held. I couldn't wait to get inside, and it was the first place we went to as soon as we were in the gardens (even before coffee, that's how excited I was).

You might remember me talking about this flower show when I introduced you to my Sweet Pea blanket last year? This year I knew what to expect so the shock of the rigid formality wasn't quite so great. J and Little B (who had waited for me outside last year) came in with me this time, and it was very funny to see their expressions - wide eyes and shocked faces!

Despite the seriousness of the show, it was still a breathtaking sight, and wowsers, the scent in this room was unreal. Being a warm, humid day they had a big fan blowing and the highly fragrant air wafting around was absolutely delightful.

It wasn't overly busy, but it was lovely seeing visitors enjoying the show and admiring the painstaking perfection of each little display of blooms. You could feel the passion in the air (the competitiveness too) - competition flower growing is such a weird and wonderful hobby.

I just had to show you these flowers, they looked as if they had been spray painted, aren't they amazing?

The thing I love best about visiting this show is the opportunity to buy flowers to take home. These are gorgeously large, blowsy sweet peas, a mixture of colours and varieties grown by experts and they are stunning. At only £2 a bunch I snaffled up three and donated a bit of extra money to the Sweet Pea society in gratitude for the inspiration and joy that they've given me.

I mean, just look at them - so, so beautiful, and the colours make me weak at the knees.

After the sweet pea excitement we continued to explore the gardens, following the many pathways past vast flower beds, around lily ponds, through modern show gardens and humble teaching gardens.

Being mid summer, the flowers were in abundance and absolutely stunning.

Even the pathways through the woodland areas were floral - I've no idea what these flowers are but the hot tropical mix of colours was really lovely.

Little B, nine and a half years old and possibly a tad too big for children's playgrounds these days. However, we spent an aaaaaage in the woodland visiting the various wooden play areas and waiting patiently while he clambered around. He really was the oldest child by far, but he didn't mind in the slightest. I have to say it was delicious being able to relax casually on a bench and wait for him to do his thing without having to hover around ready to rescue or offer assistance. I watched all the mummies and daddies with their toddlers and felt a deep sense of relief that those days are now behind me.

One of my most favourite areas of Harlow Carr (well of any garden really) is the kitchen garden. This one is large and immaculately kept with lots of different shaped raised beds and neat, bark covered paths. The beds were made from recycled plastic instead of wood which I thought was brilliant, and something I would love to investigate for our allotment. The mixture of vegetables, fruit and flowers was so visually appealing and very inspiring....

...you can guess where I was drawn to can't you?

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...of course, how predictable! These towers of sweet peas were gloriously unruly and in such contrast to the stiffness of the formal Sweet Pea show.

I found it hard to tear myself away from sniffing them. Beautiful.

We took a fragrant stroll around the scented garden which was mostly roses, honeysuckle and lavender....

....we loved this secluded rustic bench which was designed with a lavender back rest. Little B was enchanted by it, in fact his delight in all the flowers was unexpected and really made the day extra special somehow.

As well as the floral abundance, Harlow Carr has a pleasing amount of open green space and when you have children this really comes into it's own. Little B has a massive amount of energy fizzing inside his little nine year old body and the lure of the grass could not be ignored. After much running, he threw himself to the ground and rolled his whole body length down the grassy slopes, squealing as he went. It was joyful to watch!

In fact, I think Harlow Carr manages to very successfully mix formal, adult appeal with a wonderful childlike delight and I love it for that. I love the super-neat formal flower beds, but I also love the wilder more natural areas and the playful willow sculptures dotted around. It was such a lovely day out and if you're ever in the area here in North Yorkshire I can highly recommend it. 

I was so thrilled to be coming home with my big bunch of sweet peas, gosh they did make me swoon.

I knew they would probably be at their best for just a few short days, so I decided to put them to good use........

.....awwwww!!!! Just look at how good the colours look!!

I couldn't resist taking some photos of my Sweet Pea blanket with the flowers that inspired its creation.

This photo makes me so happy!!!

The above photo was taken exactly a year ago, on the 17th July 2018 when I was finalising the colours for my Sweet Pea blanket. I remember the day so clearly, and how excited I was when the yarn palette finally came together and I just stood and stared at it and felt like I wanted to cry. That's usually how I know that I've got it right - colour-filled emotion is quite extreme for me! It means that every blanket of mine has ALL the  feels right from the very beginning. There is heart and soul and passion in my yarny colour palettes and creating them brings me so much joy.

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Attitude of Gratitude

I've been struggling with my days of late, feeling a little on the low side and experiencing a rush of Overwhelm which quite predictably for this time of year has come speeding in like a freight train. I am really just plain exhausted to be honest, and in dire need of a rest and a bit of a break.

However, I am not one to wallow and I do try very hard to practice a daily Attitude of Gratitude towards my life. I know how very lucky I am, and trust me I do thank my lucky stars each and every day for everything that makes up my daily life. I am truly grateful for all of it. I keep reminding myself that tiredness isn't illness and this Overwhelm phase will pass over soon enough. Just got to keep on keeping on for the time being.

I'm really enjoying my little potted dahliettas in the back yard, even though I am waging a constant battle with slugs and snails. I had to resort to liberally sprinkling some pellets down (the kind that are deemed safe for the environment), and that has stopped the nightly feasting for the time being.

This one is especially charming I have to say, and I find myself sitting and simply gazing in awe at those delicious raspberry ripple petals. I've never seen anything quite like it, and for £2 I feel like I've gotten the bargain of the century.

I've had very few still, quiet moments of late, and very little time to sit and think. It's all been go-go-go, and work-work-work. Lots of time at my desk which makes me a little grouchy it has to be said. I try and remind myself to go and sit outside for a short while in the early evening once the dinner has been made and devoured and the kitchen cleared and cleaned down. It's a brief spell before I return to my desk when I make a small fresh coffee and treat myself to a dark chocolate rice cake which is just the nicest thing. I never would have guessed that a daily rice cake would make me so happy. As it's been very warm and humid this week, I've started drinking my coffee on the cool side which is bizarrely satisfying. Instead of heating my milk, I pour it cold into one of my favourite melamine cups and add in a shot of decaff espresso. Finish with a dusting of chocolate powder, inhale and enjoy. 

I was upstairs dealing with the mountain of laundry earlier, sorting, folding, stacking. Like you do. I tend to do a big heap of washing at the weekend (4 or 5 loads usually) and for about 22.5 minutes the laundry basket is joyously, miraculously, completely and utterly empty on a Sunday afternoon. It blows my mind!!! Of course this isn't the end of laundry duty and probably every alternate day during the week I'm at one stage or another with a load of clothes, bedding or towels in transit. I actually don't mind it to be honest. I added a clean pair of hand knit socks to the top of my pile this afternoon and stood for a while just looking at that beautiful pile of colourful stripes. I'm mostly gadding about in sandals or flip flops at the moment (even when it rains) but I often find that I get cold feet in the evenings and there is nothing nicer than pulling a pair of hand knit socks over chilly toes. I love them so much, and I am grateful for the simple pleasure of them.

I've been despairing at the state of our house of late, wondering if there will ever come a time when we aren't too busy or too weary to deal with it all. We've lived here for eleven years and honestly, the place is falling apart. Our bed is broken, the bathroom light has started doing weird flickery on-off things, the carpet has worn out holes in it (actual holes), the fridge has a broken shelf and a door that won't shut properly, the stair banisters are broken, the toilet seat has cracked, there are holes in the walls, wallpaper falling off the walls, a glass light fitting that is smashed (J and Little B and a Nerf Gun fight, seriously) and on and on. Every single bit of every single room needs attention, and I just don't know where to start. I keep looking at it, and thinking that right now, in the run up to the long summer holidays which will be filled with the usual work-Mum juggle, it's just not do-able. House Overwhelm I tell you - another carriage on the freight train.

But still I am grateful for this old shabby house which is such a good home for us, for the way in which it has made me feel so content and secure after a lifetime of moving around and never feeling settled.

J and I walked in the Yorkshire Dales on Monday, a still, hot and humid day. We tramped over the hills that rise above the picturesque village of Grassington, making our way down through Grass Wood to eventually reach the riverside.

It's such a lovely spot right by the river where there are huge, flat stones to sit on and take a breather.

We had a picnic lunch and a flask of fresh coffee each, and honestly it was just so pleasurable. I really love my flask by the way (it's this one on Amazon if you're interested?!). It has a really cute little cup to sip out of and I'm sure coffee tastes better when drunk out of a flask cup. I am easily pleased.

So yeah....Yarndale. I'm working hard for it right now, that's for sure. The above was a little project that I designed and made last week for the brochure. It's harder than you'd think to come up with something new that can be written as a very short, simple pattern to fit an A4 page. I'm not all that good with the 'short' part, being the long-winded, gazillion-photo type of pattern writer. I'll show you more of this project next week I think, I took photos for a little tassel-making lesson which was really satisfying.

I'm still working on the lamp post wraps as and when I find time to actually sit and crochet, which is usually at the cafe. I haven't finished the sunflower yet, but I decided to start on another idea. I made a whole length of green stripes and now I'm crocheting a flock of sheep to fill it. I designed the sheep pattern myself and am quite proud of it actually. They look like sheep and don't look evil, which is always a bonus when doing animal faces.

Speaking of faces.....

......here's a little sneaky peek of something else I've been working on for quite a long time behind the scenes. 

It's a delightful project - Yarndale is teaming up with a fantastic charity this year, and I'll be sharing the Yarndale Creative Community project with you all next week. I very much hope you'll feel inspired to join in, it's for such a good cause.

So that's us all caught up for now. I'm sorry for the slight whiny tone carrying through this post - I really had intended to come here and be upbeat and overflowing with gratitude. But maybe I'm just a bit too tired this evening, so you've been delivered the honest version of the right here and now at the tail end of a long, busy day. 

I hope your days are ticking along nicely, let me know what's making you happy this week? I bet it's not rice cakes?!

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Yarny Stripes

Ever since I completed my Dune blanket back in April I've been itching to start another blanket. There is something about crocheting stripes which soothes my soul and makes me insanely happy and I experience definite withdrawal symptoms if I don't have anything stripy on the go. The struggle is real!

Consequently, I've been fighting the huge urge to start a summer blanket due to the fact that I really don't have the actual time to squeeze in a big project. I've got a gathering number of things that need my urgent attention at this time of year, so I've staged a Blanket Resistance Campaign and well, so far so good. No more blankets until my CAL design starts to call to me. I can do it. I can, I can!

A couple weeks ago, I had the brilliant idea of combining my stripe addiction with Yarndale needs and began working on some new lamp post wraps. We currently have around 25 wraps which we install in the park  - they have been enjoyed for six years now and to be honest some of them are looking a little past their best. Time for a few new additions, and oh, I have been enjoying these easy, colourful stripes!

For my first wrap, I chose some really vibrant rainbow brights for the stripes. Each wrap measures around 28 x 100 cm, and I've worked the stripes in simple UK treble crochet. Four rows for each stripe, twenty five stripes in total. It's easy, pleasurable, joyful, therapeutic crochet and I've loved every hooking minute.

I decided to use the absolutely fabulous Moogly Crochet Alphabet to spell out the word Y-A-R-N-D-A-L-E, making up the letters in white yarn so that they stand out against the bright background.

I find the simplest way to add the letters is to tack/baste them in place using contrast yarn, then neatly stitch around the outside edge of each letter. Basting takes a little more time than simply pinning but is well worth the effort to keep the letters straight and in the correct place. Wonky words just won't do.

Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!! What do you think? 

The wrap will be secured around the lamp post with cable ties at the top and bottom, then an invisible seam will be stitched up the back so that the wrap looks good from all directions and stays intact. 

You can see the effect in the photo below...............

The 25 wraps stay in the park for around a week in the run up to Yarndale, then I carefully un pick the stitched seams and take them all back down again. They get washed and stored away ready for next year, so this isn't a throw-away kind of project, or something that will get left to weather the elements for any length of time.

I made the granny stripe wrap in the photo above for the first ever Yarndale in 2013 and it's still in pretty good shape.

As soon as the first wrap was finished I started on a second one. I'm using left over scraps of Stylecraft Special DK and a 4.5mm hook, and it's been fun thinking up colour and design ideas. The rows work up very quickly too - each row of trebles has 48 stitches and I can really whizz along fast once I get into The Zone.

↑↑↑ This was me on Sunday, sitting outside on a warm sunny morning waiting for my breakfast to arrive. I was lucky enough to spend the weekend on a jolly in Manchester with my very good friends Christine and Emma. Oh, we did have fun! Lots of eating and drinking, a little bit of retail therapy, a fair amount of pootling and wandering and a huge amount of chatter and laughter.

↑↑↑ There they are look, check out those happy smiley faces! We were sat out on the terrace at the back of a gorgeous eatery in the heart of Manchester's Northern Quarter. Coffee (oh so good!) along with a very tasty brunch and a bit of a leisurely crochet/knit along......what's not to love?! 

I really adore the various shades of blue that Stylecraft have created in their Special DK range. From the deep teal and rich blue tones, right through to the pale sky blues, this is a gorgeous section of the overall colour range.

I finished up the background stripes on Monday, ready to add a little floral something......

Oh, helloooooo beautiful sunflower!!!!!

I made the sunflower using Stylecraft Special Chunky yarn and a 6mm hook, following a fabulous free pattern by Cindy Hopper. You might recognise the design as I made the same flower in 4ply wool yarn for my Autumn Wreath. 

You can see how lovely the flower looks against the blue stripes, and I hope it'll be very striking when it's in situ in the park.

I made the leaves yesterday afternoon when I was at my Creative Coopers get together at the cafe. I had a quick look online to see what sunflower leaves actually look like, then made up a shape which seemed about right. I'm planning to edge the leaves in a darker green and add some stitched detail, then crochet a tall stem to bring it all together. 

I'll show you once it's all finished......I love love love exercising my Creative Mind in this way and am already forming some plans for wrap number three. I'm thinking something sheepish might be in order......!

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Rain and Shine

In a bid to fight the annual Summer Overwhelm and pretend that I've not been full of cold, full of hay fever, full of weirdly erratic hormones and full of not sleeping well, I've been turning my back on indoor life whenever possible and spending time outside. The house, my studio, work related stuff and anything that requires me to apply my barely functioning, sleep-deprived brain cells has been neglected and I am trying not to worry about it too much.

Rain or shine, I find such calm in being outside surrounded by nature and I am so so thankful that I can leave the house/Attic to run on neglect for short periods while I try and look after my own well being. 

J and I have been tramping familiar paths in all weathers....

....pottering around in the grey of warm, muggy afternoons. We've been making the most of these last few weeks of the term when we have a small number of child and work free hours to spend together. It's been lovely and very much appreciated by me I can tell you.

I've continued my evening outings with Little B too, as and when he's been willing to join me.

These photos were taken last week, around 8pm on Wednesday evening when we took a stroll up the farm track and into the woods.

The light was so beautiful at that time of day.....

....with dancing shadows.....

....and glowing sunbeams. 

The following evening we decided to make a picnic dinner and take it to Bolton Abbey which is something I wish we could do more often. It takes a certain amount of forward planning, but it's still possible to be fairly spontaneous with it when the weather looks promising. I marinated some butterflied chicken breasts (olive oil, wine vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, honey, mustard) then cooked them on a hot griddle pan until they were seared and cooked through, then left them to cool. I also boiled up some baby Jersey Royal potatoes then tossed them in a little butter, heavily seasoned them and left them to cool too. I packed up some crusty French bread and tortilla crisps with an avocado dip, and a big bowl of easy finger-eating salad (baby plum tomatoes, baby cucumbers, carrot and pepper sticks). What else? Hmm yes, some easy finger fruit (strawberries, cherries and watermelon chunks) and some chocolate biscuits to finish. I made up a big bottle of elderflower cordial and honestly, it was so summery and delicious, and I wish I had taken more photos to share with you. Actually I took lots of lovely summery photos of the Little People, it was one of those precious evenings that you don't want to end.

Today there was very little shine at all but the rain didn't stop us getting out and about.

We walked through Strid Wood at Bolton Abbey this afternoon, enjoying the sound of the rain drops as they fell heavily onto the leaves above our head.

The scent of damp earth and abundant greenery was lush, and helped me to feel like my head was clearing a little for the first time in ages. 

Ahhhh, raindrops on a blade of grass....such simple beauty, but oh so worth stopping for.

After a quick coffee, we drove home over the moors and I was absolutely blown away by the sight of this field right next to the road. I asked J to pull into the lane so that I could take a closer look. I wanted to find out what kind of flower was growing in such abundance.......

......oh, hello Foxgloves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I honestly don't think I have ever in my entire life seen so many growing in one place, they stole my breath clean away!

They looked spectacular en masse and I just stood there at the edge of the road with my mouth hanging open in wonder. Amazing.

Right now the rain has stopped and the evening is warm and clear, and I am thinking about sitting down quietly to do something soothing. Maybe knit a few more rows of my seascape socks, or crochet up a few more rows of the Yarndale stripes I'm working on. I finished the first one and am now onto number two and I'm so enjoying the simplicity of it....I'll show you more of that tomorrow I think.

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Summer Solstice 2019

Yesterday it was the longest day of the year and we were blessed with a very beautiful sunshiny evening to celebrate.

19.15 :: Dinner done and dusted, chilled glass of white wine in hand, sitting in my back yard doing nothing but look up at the sky. Appreciating the warmth and light of a mid summer evening, being in the moment with it all.

19.58 :: overcome by a mad craving for cake, I launch myself into action in the kitchen and bake a small batch of buns, top them with elderflower cordial icing and rice paper butterflies. Delish!

21.52 I decide to head out for a short walk to watch the last of the day fade away. Sadly nobody wants to come with me, so off I go on my own to celebrate a Solo Summer Solstice. I climb up to the foot of the steep grassy hill which leads to the woods and spend a while leaning over the wooden fence just breathing in the colour of the sky. Almost ten o'clock and still beautifully light and blue.

22.01 :: Walking slowly home along the canal, sounds of music and laughter coming from the outdoor pub terrace. Feeling mellow and so happy in the moment, me and myself enjoying the outdoor ambiance (who needs company anyway?!)

22.38 :: Back home again and it is still daylight.....seriously! I make myself a big mug of tea, grab a crochet blanket and a candle and snuggle myself up in the back yard to enjoy the very last of the longest day. 

22.48 :: A bat flits around right overhead and I make a stupid number of attempts to photograph it. Most of them look like a streaky smudge in the sky, but the above one at least shows some blurry wings. I'm calling that a result.

22.57 :: suddenly yawning my head off, the day has finally caught up with me. The sky is still blue, but I feel the chill of the night descending and so I head indoors to the comfort of bed.

Happy Summer Solstice......!

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Summer Days

We've not had the greatest Summer weather here lately, it's been incredibly wet and cool for June. The upside to all the falling wet stuff is the complete and utter lushness of the countryside, it's just so greeeeeeeen and beautiful everywhere, if a bit on the damp side.

On Monday morning J and I drove up into the Yorkshire Dales to walk around the picturesque village of Malham. This is only a short walk (around 4 miles), heading out of the village across lush green fields and into the small woodland that surround  Janets Foss waterfall. 

From there it's a steep climb up....

....until you eventually reach the top of the magnificent Malham Cove.

This limestone pavement is world famous (I'm saying that, but I'm not sure if that's actually true? It feels like it should be famous though!). Famous or not, it's an amazing geological feature and the subject of many school geography lessons.

It's not especially easy terrain to walk on and the "grykes" (the gaps between the limestone rocks) are pretty deep. But it's fun to hop from rock to rock, making a slow journey from one side to the other.

J really doesn't do well with heights, so I ventured on my own towards the edge of the cove to take in the spectacular view down the valley. It was drizzling with rain at this point so a little murky and grey, but nevertheless still very beautiful.

The descent from the top of the cove is via a very, very long higgledy piggeldy run of stone steps. Malham cove is 260 feet high, so that's a lot of steps....over four hundred of them believe it or not. It makes you very quickly realise you have a whole heap load of muscles in your legs that don't very often get a work out.

I took regular stops on the way down to admire the long distance views and to appreciate the close up details too. There was lots of wild thyme flowering amongst the rocks and the colours seemed even more vibrant that usual in the dull, grey light.

It always amazes me when we reach the bottom and look up to see how very, very high that limestone cliff face is.....and to realise that we were up there ON TOP just a short time ago. Wow....it takes my breath away. Every. Time.

The stroll back to the village is gentle and scenic.....

.....a beautiful meandering path through flowery meadows.....

....then a short jaunt down a quiet country lane.

It was lunch time when we arrived back into the village, so we decided on a welcome sit down in the local pub for a quiet drink and a very tasty light lunch.

It was a lovely day, and for the gazillionth time I said my silent thanks of gratitude for the six child-free hours that J and I get to spend together every Monday. It's such a blessing.

Back on the home front and summer is still blooming....it's Peony Paradise right there on my table this week, and I am so happy about it! One bud is still to open, but the other four stems are putting on a spectacular floral show. I am enjoying these flowers so much and drink in their beauty many, many times during the day.

Yesterday evening I rounded up Little B and asked him if he wanted to come with me on an elderflower gathering expedition. He was overflowing with enthusiasm (sweet boy) and so at 7.30, off we went into the soft early evening to see what we could find.

We have a place that we visit each year to gather elderflowers - even though they are very common hedgerow trees and grow in abundance around our neighbourhood, I prefer to go somewhere quiet and out of the way to snip and gather (rather than the local park where folk can be a bit on the blunt side when they see you snipping at trees, say no more).

The place we go now is a very quiet little lane off the beaten track on the edge of town - we can easily walk there, but it's out of the way and there are about eight trees that are can gather from so that we leave plenty behind for the wildlife. 

I put Little B on snipping duty which he was thrilled about - you can see how big and blowsy those flower heads are....

....we had no problem gathering in the fifty or so heads that we needed for cordial making. In fact, there were so many flowers this year that I'm probably going to head back again at the weekend if it stays dry and gather in enough for a second batch. 

I did two batches last year so that I could stash away some small plastic bottles of cordial in the freezer. It was such a delicious treat to pull them out in winter and have an instant reminder of summertime.

I called into the supermarket after the school run this morning and lugged back the huge two kilo bag of sugar along with the lemons and oranges that go with the flowers to make Elderfower cordial. It's extremely simple to make and the recipe I use is one that I adapted from Sarah Raven (I use less sugar in mine).

There you go ↑↑↑ I made this for me to print and keep, so thought I'd share it with you too.

Citric acid is magic stuff and super-easy to find online....Amazon sell it (of course they do, they pretty much sell anything). Although you usually have to buy it in 500g quantities, it's not too expensive and keeps for years if you seal it up well. Find it on Amazon ((here)).

The scent of this flowery concoction is a bit odd as it's "cooking" and to be honest it doesn't smell especially good. But........oh the resulting syrupy drink is absolutely divine I promise you. It's floral, sweet and citrusy and refreshingly zingy. I love love love it, it's a taste of summer that I never tire of.

You dilute the cordial with water (sparkling water is especially good), or add a splash to a glass of prossecco or gin/tonic for something a little bit more weekendish. Oooo, now I'm really looking forward to my weekend summer tipple....it'll probably be the highlight of my Saturday!

The sun was in and out today, with a surprising fall of light summer rain catching me out on my way home from the shops this morning. The kitty follows the sun around the furniture, usually finding a warm patch of sunlit crochet to curl up on for her extended daytime naps. She isn't really a laid back cat (she is a feisty little diva) but there are occasions when she really does appear to be very mellow indeed.

Over on the sofa this morning I found a monster lurking - like you do. Little B is running on Summer time and is getting up pretty early in the mornings right now. It's not unusual for him to be pottering around at 6am, immersed in his own nine year old world of play. He goes through phases where none of his toys interest him any more and all he wants is screen time (insane cartoons mostly) but at the moment there is a lot of playtime happening and I have to say it delights me no end. Long may it last. We've got four more weeks left of the school year here, then we are into the six week summer break, so I'm hoping the play phase carries on for a good while yet. Please let it (silent plea).

I've not photographed my view for a while, so I took a quick snap today as we walked to the top of the hill on our way home. The light was so clear after the earlier splash of rain, and everything is looking beautifully green and lush. 

Summer time always makes me want to feel lighter, healthier and more energised, so I'm making an effort to curb my sweet tooth and am forcing myself to stay away from the calorie laden pastries and biscuits when I go shopping. Instead I've been buying extra fruit, not just the ordinary every day fruits that we always have in (apples, pears, oranges, bananas), but special fruity things like mango and strawberries and passion fruit. I really love fruit so it's not a hardship to snack on a plate of it, I've just not got to be so lazy about preparing it for myself. 

I am so in love with these long, light days. Even when it's been raining and miserable and I've lit the candles to banish the gloom, I still love that the darkness doesn't creep in until well past ten o'clock at night. It's a magical time of year - Summer Solstice tomorrow and I'm keeping all crossed for a dry evening so that we can head out and celebrate. I'm not sure what we'll do - I kind of hope that there's cake or ice cream involved, and possibly a glass of chilled prossecco, but who knows whether I can motivate the family to head out into the greenery and be mid-summerish with me? I've been remembering this day, gosh, six years ago now, how is this possible? Our family dynamic has changed considerably since then and I am so grateful for my blog and the beautiful window it gives me back into the past. Happy memories indeed.

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Baby Bunting :: Ta-dah!

I can't tell you how happy I am to be sharing this project with you as it has simmered on my back burner for such an embarrassingly long time. I've lost count of the number of times it's been on my to-do list over the past few years, but anyhoooooo, it is here now and I'm super happy about it!

I created this bunting pattern quite a few years ago for Simply Crochet magazine (it appeared in issue 19; 2014). The original design was made of 12 triangles all in shades of blue - you can read more about it on my blog by clicking on the following link : ATTIC24 SUMMER BLUES BUNTING

I then went on to make an all pink version with the idea that they would make lovely gifts to decorate a baby's nursery or a child's bedroom. You can buy both blue and pink bunting kits in my shop at Wool Warehouse - each kit contains 4 x 100g Stylecraft Special DK, 13 cute little blue/pink spotty buttons and a printed pattern.

♥ BLUE BUNTING KIT ♥ 

♥ PINK BUNTING KIT ♥

I wonder if any of you recognise the colours above? This is yarn left over after I made my cupcake blanket in the Spring of 2016, aren't they pretty? I remember at the time that it was Easter and I decided that these colours would work really well made up into some pretty Spring/Easter bunting for my fireplace which was looking a tad bare.

I made fifteen triangles so that the bunting would easily fit across my fireplace mantel....

....I think it measures around 190 cm in total.

I loved it the moment it was hung in place, and it has been hanging there ever since. I've made some additional seasonal garlands for my fireplace in the last few years so it does get changed around a little according to the time of year. I have my Autumn Garland and Winter Balls (oh yeah, I do love my balls!), but there is something so upbeat about seeing a cute string of decorative bunting and I really look forward to bringing it out every Spring/Summer.

If you make as many blankets as I do, you will know how quickly the stash bag fills up. After each blankety creation I'll have fifteen part-balls of yarn left over - sometimes it's not a lot in terms of quantity, but other times there can be around 25g of each colour left. The above bag contains 30 colours of  Stylecraft Special DK  left over from making the Sweet Pea and Dune blankets. As soon as I'd gathered all these colours together I knew that I would be making good use of them. They make me feel reaaaaaally happy, they just shout SUMMER to me, all breezy and floral,  light, warm and pretty.

I began making these bunting triangles whilst I was away in France last month. I wanted an easy, portable project that could be tucked into my rucksack, something that I could easily sit and crochet whilst chatting and socialising. This quick and easy pattern was perfect, and I really, really enjoyed diving into my bag of yarn scraps and picking out some fairly random (but very pretty) colour combinations. 

Each bunting triangle is made up of four rounds, and I used a different colour for each round. I found the easiest way to manage the colour selections was to work one round at a time. So I made fifteen round-1 triangles all in different colours, then began adding the second round to each triangle, choosing a new colour every time. Then all the round 3's,  and finally all the edging rounds. You can see in the above photo that I've selected colours to crochet up the final edging rounds, making sure that each triangle was edged in a different colour, and no two triangles were the same. Good chocolate and coffee helps a lot with colour-making decisions, it's a well known fact.

The above stack shows the fifteen edging rounds arranged in a pretty pastel rainbow order...impossibly pretty! Hmm....I've just had a thought that maybe you might like me to list these colours of SSDK for you? OK.....brain engaged......I'll give it my best shot! From the top.....

Powder Pink : Clematis : Pale Rose : Blush : Camel : Pistachio : Lincoln : Sage : Duck Egg : Cloud Blue : Lavender : Violet : Plum : Pomegranate : Magenta.

I think I nailed it.

I had a little play with my triangles and decided on the above order for my bunting string, resisting the urge to try and be too controlling. I just tried to evenly balance them (eg. placing stronger colours at the ends and in the centre, making sure the pinks/green/blues were evenly distributed etc) and I'm very happy with the random look.

As you can see, each triangle is pretty cute and small, hence the "Baby Bunting" name I settled on. Each triangle measures around 12 cm across the top edge after it's been lightly steam blocked.

I chose three different colours to create the connecting band which joins the triangles together.

Joining the triangles couldn't be easier. There is no spacing between them so the first joining row is simply a continuous row of double crochet which moves from one triangle to the next without any chains or spacing needed. 

The second row is Half Treble, and the final third row is double crochet to finish.

I've explained it all in the tutorial, which you can find in the sidebar of my blog, or click on the following link to find it :

♥ BABY BUNTING TUTORIAL ♥

If you've been following my blog for any length of time, you will know how much I love buttons and I often use them to add a little bit of extra decoration to my crochet projects. To my mind, bunting and buttons is a match made in heaven and I absolutely knew that by making the connecting band three rows wide it would give me enough space to indulge in some button happiness! 

After having a chat with my wonderful friends at Wool Warehouse about my Button Needs, we put together some small packs of very cute little buttons that are perfect additions for all sorts of crochet projects. I created two different button packs, each containing 16 little buttons (8 colours, 2 of each). The above photo shows the "pastel" set.....

....and this one up above is the "Brights" set. I love them soooo much! Each set of 16 buttons costs £1.50 (crikey, I just typed in £150, that would have given you a shock!!!).

Ahh, you can see in the photo above that a few years ago I made some Baby Bunting using leftovers from my Summer Harmony blanket (using the Original yarn pack of 17 colours). I'm embarrassed to say that I never got around to joining them and they are still sat in a pile...oh dear. I shall have to remedy that - those little buttons go really well with the stronger shades of Stylecraft Special DK don't you think? I'll put direct links to the button packs just down below for you, if you like buttons as much as I do, maybe they might make you happy?!

♥ PASTEL buttons (16 x buttons - 8 pastel colours, 2 of each colour)

♥ BRIGHT buttons (16 x buttons - 8 bright colours, 2 of each colour)

You can see how perfect the buttons look when they are stitched to the bunting, I just love love love them!

It's such a wonderful feeling to turn a Work-in-Progress into a Finished Object, and I felt truly delighted when I stitched the very last button on to my Baby Bunting. It had taken me a whole day to create the photo tutorial so it felt like a lot of work to get to that end point, but in reality, this is a very easy and quick project to pull together. Honestly, it is!

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

Super cute Baby Bunting, perfect for bringing a dose of happy cheer to any situation or occasion.

I am so enjoying this new version on my mantel right now as the colours are a bit more summery than the previous Cupcake-coloured bunting which was more springlike. 

I keep coming into the room and forgetting that I've recently faffed my mantel. It makes me feel all giddy when I see it looking so pretty and summery, especially as we've been having the most un-summery weather this week.

So pretty.....I honestly love it.

I just wanted to tell you about these fabulous little hanging clips that I use on my mantel, they are made by Command and called "Decorating Clips" and I can highly recommend them. They are strong and stick easily to wood or any smooth surface, but don't do any damage if you want to take them off again. Being transparent and pretty small, they work extremely well for hanging bunting or fairy lights, you can find them on Amazon {{HERE}}.

So I think I've told you everything you need to know about my crochet bunting, and I would be thrilled to hear if you have a go at making your own. It's a lovely summer project - tuck a few little balls of yarn into your bag with a crochet hook and don't go anywhere without it - you never know when you might be able to sit and work a few soothing rounds.

Here are some links that might be helpful ::

  ♥ BABY BUNTING TUTORIAL ♥

♥ Pastel buttons (16 x buttons - 8 pastel colours, 2 of each colour)

♥ Bright buttons (16 x buttons - 8 bright colours, 2 of each colour)

♥ Pink Bunting Pack (4 x 100g Stylecraft Special DK, plus 13 spotty pink buttons and printed pattern)

♥ Blue Bunting Pack (4 x 100g Stylecraft Special DK, plus 13 spotty blue buttons and printed pattern)

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Happy bunting-making!

xoxo

 

 

 

 

♥ Three Things ♥

♥ Three things that have made me feel heart skippy happy today.... ♥

♥ Thing # 1 :: on my table ♥

Peonies.

♥ Five gloriously beautiful stems of pink peonies in my favourite pink button jug on my table. These flowers are such a treat, they are quite expensive for supermarket blooms but I find them irresistible at this time of year. They promise to deliver in spades as their petals oh-so-slowly begin to unfold in the warmth of home. I am beyond delighted to have them on my table and keep stopping to admire them this way and that. Such beauties.

♥ Thing # 2 :: also on my table ♥

Colourful crochet stripes.

♥ Despite sharing my fairly substantial hooky to-do list with you yesterday, it appears that I needed to add just one more thing. I am at that stage with all my projects where I need to either sit and count/concentrate (heel turn on a sock, working the handle on my basket) or photograph while I hook (granny bag, Yarndale project), so I needed something simple that I could take to the cafe for knit and natter. Despite the very strong urge, I decided for the sixty-seventh time this month to resist starting another blanket and instead I have started to make some new yarn bomb bits for Yarndale - lamp post covers to be exact. It's certainly made me happy today, these rainbow brights are a real tonic on a grey, drizzly-damp summers day.

♥ Thing # 3 :: in my memory ♥

A walk in the wood, with wildlife sightings.

♥ A quick jaunt into the woods this afternoon before the school run, to breath in the scent of damp earth and bathe in the lush, green, oxygenated air. We spent a while beside the dam pond, and were rewarded with some amazing wildlife - a pair of kingfishers darting in and out of the water and most incredibly a terrapin sunbathing on a log (yes, a real, live actual terrapin!!!!). Using the super-zoom on my camera I managed to get the above blurry shot when the kingfisher settled on the same log as the terrapin. A-mazing. We had heard the tale about terrapins living in this pond, but it was the first time we'd ever seen one for ourselves, honestly, unexpected nature-things always blow my mind just a little. 

Hoping all's well with you and that your day has contained some heart-skippy happy things too...

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Summer Crochet To-Do List

Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending the day with my lovely friend Christine who traveled on the train from Winwick to Atticland. We try and get together once a month, mainly for the absolute fun of it but also I guess this would be the closest either of us get to spending time with a " work colleague". Being self employed and working in a solitary way for the most part always feels one hundred percent the right thing for me as I am a natural introvert. But I am also a Libran who craves balance and I do enjoy socialising in small doses. I'm very lucky that I get to spend time with like minded souls at my twice weekly creative get-togethers at Coopers Cafe (which is where I have my studio), as well as regular meet ups with other blogging and yarny friends.

When Christine and I get together, we generally talk a lot about our respective projects - what we are currently working on, as well as our ideas and plans for future crochet/knit designs and commissions. It's like an informal mentoring session if you like, and one thing that Christine is always very good at is inspiring me to try and be more organised. She helps me unravel the jumble of thoughts and ideas that always feel like they are stuck in a tangled mess inside my Creative Mind, encouraging me to write things down and make proper, realistic to-do lists for myself. It's like having my own personal time management guru/life coach, she is so good at it! I always end the day feeling very much lighter after she helps me do a crochet "brain dump" onto paper, and the feeling of relief afterwards always amazes me. 

So last night I sat and wrote out a whole big mega-list of the crochet projects I want to complete through the remainder of June, then July, August and September. And as is quite often the case, I felt like I wanted to share some of it with you as I thought you might enjoy an insight into what's happening in my creative life right now.

Top of my list this week is to create the tutorial and share the pattern for my Baby Bunting. I've been meaning to do this for such a long time (four years, seriously. Cripes, how's that for a procrastination gold star?!), so today I made it happen. 

I spent a good number of hours taking all the step-by-step photographs this morning, and I'm aiming to have it all pulled together and published over the weekend. I'm so HAPPY that I'm finally on the home stretch with this, as I know so many of you have been waiting very patiently.

Late this afternoon I decided to conduct a little bit of seasonal Mantel Faffery as I wanted to photograph  the bunting in situ to show you how it looks when it's hung. I packed away the bits of creative Spring and ventured into the Cupboard of Doom to find some summery bits and bobs. I had totally forgotten about these little cotton jar covers which I made last year as part of my monthly "Making the Seasons" project - you can find pattern details and read more about them ((here)). Instead of putting candles inside, I put flowers and feathers in and I love how they look - instant summer vibes right there!

The canvas on the right is by Annabel Burton and the greetings card next to it is from a painting by Natalie Rymer.

I've got the most beautiful scented candle burning on my mantel at the moment - the Ginger and Lime fragrance is so fresh and zingy and just the kind of scent that makes me feel uplifted and happy. It was a gift from Lady B, purchased with great ceremony from the very posh and expensive "The Home" inside Salts Mill. Gosh that place is full of very beautiful but scary expensive merchandise, and I am a bit in awe of having such a costly candle on my very humble mantel. It really does smell divine though.

I found my little daisy cross stitch in the cupboard (awwwwww, I do love this little make!) - you can read more about that ((here)). And for those of you who's eyes have been drawn to the super-cute little pencil house - that was made by the very talented Emma Verner Designs. Do go and take a  look at her work, it really is beautiful and very unique.

Hmmm.......I seem to have gotten a bit side tracked with my mantel, sorry!!! I'll show you more of the bunting when I write up  a little bit of a post for it once the pattern's ready to go.

Next on my list (next week hopefully), I am desperate to get back to my Granny Bag which I started at the beginning of last month. I've got all the squares made and the handles completed (yes, yes, this bag will have stripy crochet handles!!!) and I am really excited to carry on with this creative journey. The squares now need joining and I want to photograph the process to form part of a big granny bag tutorial, so I'll need to set time aside for that. I'll be lining this bag too, so I need to search for some suitable fabric - this isn't an easy project to pull together as there are lots of different stages which all need to be documented with photographs, but it's just the kind of thing that I love to do. It means I'll eventually be able to share a full pattern and tutorial with you, I hope you're going to love it as much as I am.

This week I've also been working on my felted basket project - this is another thing which has been simmering on the back burner for quite a while. Currently I'm on version 3.0, and have just frogged back five huge rounds as the shaping wasn't quite right. It's slow going, but I'll be getting this ready in time for Yarndale so there's still a little bit of time and space to work through the design niggles. 

I ordered some of these lobster swivel clasps which arrived yesterday and I absolutely love the coppery colour. I've got a little decorative crochet project in mind which needs one of these - it'll be my contribution to this year's Yarndale brochure (I always create a small crochet pattern for the brochure each year). I'm looking forward to getting it out of my Creative Mind and into reality, it's going to be something fun and colourful  :)

Talking of Yarndale, very high on my to-do list is to finalise this year's Creative Community project. Remember last year we collected a kaleidoscope of butterflies? This year is going to be a little bit different and I've still got a bit of work to do on the design aspect of the project. We're working with an amazing and very deserving charity, and I'm really looking forward to sharing it with everyone. 

There are other things on my list - believe it or not, it's now time for me to start creating the palette and design for my next CAL blanket which will launch in November. Working with yarn companies means that everything has to happen waaaaaaaay in advance, and so I need to apply myself to that in a gentle, ongoing way so that important colour decisions aren't rushed. I already know what my source of colour inspiration is going to be and I am very very very excited about it..........kind of weak at the knees excited!!!!! But that's not for you to know just yet, it's my personal little secret for now. Eeeeeeppppp!!!!!

And there endeth my fairly substantial list of summer crochet projects - I feel really happy about everything on my creative plate right now and my days are just the right kind of busy.

Do tell me what you're making at the moment, and whether you make creative to-do lists for yourself? I'd love to hear what's floating your boat right now.

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Golden Meadow

This light and golden time of year has me completely under it's spell and I feel like I can't possibly get enough of it. These early summer days are just so abundantly beautiful and make me very happy. It's just never, ever enough.

Last week I had my Dad and Lady B visiting from Dorset, and we had a lot of fun being tourists with them in our own patch. We took the train to Salts Mill to see Hockney's "Arrival of Spring" which was magical. We walked at Bolton Abbey, had brunch in one of our favourite places, wandered around Skipton market, pootled through local woodland and riverside meadows and drove along summery lanes through the Yorkshire Dales. It was really lovely, but mildly exhausting. Of course, school stuff and household stuff still had to happen alongside touristy activity and I also cooked us all an evening meal every day except for one (hello, very welcome and delicious curry delivered to the door!). It surprised me the difference it made cooking for seven people instead of our usual five, I felt like there was so much chopping and stirring in my life.

One golden evening last week I was hit with the annual pull to go and walk in the buttercup meadow. These seasonal rituals are so strong and I find it almost impossible to resist when they call. Little B and Lady B came with me, a short five minute jaunt up to the park and through the wooden gate into the meadow. It was utterly glorious, the perfect summer evening full of gentle warmth, low golden sunlight and long slanting shadows. Little B and Lady B spent an aaaaage searching for four leaf clovers (it always seem to be a thing we do when out with Lady B), while I pranced about with my camera swooning over the beauty of it all. 

The fairground was there in the background, setting up in the park ready for the towns' annual Gala at the weekend. It all felt very summery indeed, and hugely nostalgic and emotional somehow. I'm always so greedy for Summer to be way longer than it actually is. It's almost like I'm on the verge of a mild anxiety attack every time I happen to get a whiff of what date it is and realise we are so, so close to the summer solstice already and as such, these delicious mid-summer days are numbered. Wahhh!!!!! I am aiming to squeeze every last drop out of this summer, no matter what the weather throws I want to be out there drinking it in. Next up......elderflower cordial season, yippee for that little highly anticipated seasonal jaunt!

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ps, I've gotten a bit behind with my blogging, but will try and catch up this week if I can - I need to take you to Amsterdam and France, get your passports ready?! x