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Autumn Decorating

I'm sat here thinking how long and slow my days seem to feel at the moment and I'm also sat here thinking that I don't mind this slowness one little bit. Slow seems to be exactly the right pace for late Autumn as our daylight hours get smaller and smaller and we instinctively begin to hibernate just a little bit. 

On Saturday I decided that I was in the mood to get gluey again and it was time to make some progress on a second paper mushroom sculpture. Seems a bit odd to publicly acknowledge the weirdness that is my life sometimes, but I'm trusting that you know me well enough by now to accept my quirks. When the Creative Urge strikes, it must not be ignored! I did really enjoy the process of making the first mushroom (shown above - you can read about it {here}), even with the complete fiddlyness of it.

The second one I made from the off cut bits left over from the first one, and it's about half the size. I didn't have another pipe cleaner so I simply rolled up a piece of paper to form a tube shape and glued layers of tissue paper over that to make the stem.

My best favourite bit of doing these mushroom comes right at the end when you brew up a very strong cup of tea and paint it over the mushroom cap. It's bizarrely satisfying and really does make the paper look like it isn't actually paper at all. It's a little bit of hocus pocus magic I think, and the end results are subtle but rather extraordinary. And it's all made from paper! And glue (lots of glue) and tea. Amazing.

I think I mentioned in my last post that I had an idea to hand make a little garden for my 'shrooms to live in. Inspired by the work of paper sculptor Kate Kato, I decided to incorporate some butterflies with a bit of moss to create something of a miniature Autumn diorama for my mantel. 

I went in search on Amazon for "paper butterflies" and settled on these vintage-inspired beauties.........what do you think? Aren't they gorgeous?

I really like how they are already mostly cut out so there is minimal labour involved in freeing up the ones you need.

I chose two smallish ones in Autumn colours and used a hot glue gun to stick them to some very thin copper wire.

I had an idea that the wire would allow the butterflies to flutter around the mushrooms somehow.

I used a plastic jar lid (from an empty jar of Nutella) which I covered in little bits of glued newspaper painted with green watercolour. I was able to hot-glue my mushrooms and copper wired butterflies to the base of the lid, then fill in the spaces with some dried moss, a couple of tiny dried leaves and a very small pheasants feather from my treasured collection of found feathers.

It all sounds a bit ridiculous when I write it down, but all in all the whole thing came together in quite a pleasing way to say how modest the materials are........

 ......ta-dah!!! I am quietly, secretly happy with my efforts, although you are the first to see them. I didn't feel confident in showing my creation to the family (they are used to my strange ways, but this is a slightly elevated level of strangeness I think) so I waited until nobody was looking and placed it quietly on the mantel amongst the rest of the Autumnal goings on. They remain un-noticed as far as I can tell, and I'm quite OK with that. I notice them every day and they do make me absurdly happy. Paper and glue!! And tea. And wire. And moss. Hooray for making things out of simple every day materials.

Last week I unpacked my "Autumn Decoration Bag" and was so pleased to be reunited with last year's makes. The delightful stitched toadstool hoop was part of last year's Autumn Craftpod box, and became the inspiration behind my Making The Seasons year.

As well as some pretty Autumnal postcards and a collection of motley looking pine cones, my Autumn Decoration bag contained the crochet pumpkins and garland that I made last year. Oh, it was so GOOD to see these again, better than unpacking Christmas decorations!! If you missed these last year, or fancy making your own Autumn collection of hooky goodness, you can find free patterns and colour info on my blog >>

{CROCHET PUMPKINS}

{AUTUMN GARLAND}

The Autumn Garland was made using oddments of yarn from my Woodland yarn pack - it was such a lovely way for me to play with the colours and celebrate Autumn in the months before my Woodland Crochet-A-Long began last year.

I'm really loving my Autumn mantel - I know it's only a month before Christmas will take over this surface, but I'm going to thoroughly enjoy every day of it.  

Awww.......paper mushrooms and butterflies, soooooooo  good for the soul!

Before I go and sit by the fireside, here are a few photos from our Long Walk Home from town this morning. Instead of cutting through the cobbled alleyway and heading home by the quickest route possible, we strolled to the top of town and walked around the bottom of the castle instead. I often used to do this when Little B was very little, to give him some extra fresh air and exercise on the way home from nursery.

After a day of damp grey cloud and rain yesterday, it was delightful to take in the low mellow sunlight dancing in the leaves.

I hope that you are enjoying the season you're in, whether it's Autumn or Spring where you are.....I hope your days are mellow and golden and that you are finding plenty of little seasonal pleasures to celebrate.

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Ticking Along

❉ It was our half term week last week and we spent our days being as slow, lazy and uneventful as possible, which was rather blissful following the last few weeks of underlying stress. We pottered and pootled, idled and lounged, and occasionally we got dressed and ventured out into the cool damp Autumn.

❉ We walked a little in our local neighbourhood, visiting the shops for food supplies and stopping in at our favourite cafes for the comfort of a hot milky drink.

❉ The farm shop is especially good at celebrating the seasons throughout the year with it's plants, flowers, produce and decorations, and there is always a lovely display of some sorts in the front entrance. Last week it was all about the pumpkins as we prepared to celebrate Halloween. 

❉ I love the flower section of the farm shop best of all (although the bakery also makes me swoon) - at one time when I was much younger I had dreams of becoming a florist, well, that's to say I loved the idea of faffing with flowers and calling it a job. I occasionally buy single stems from here when something especially appeals (eucalyptus stems are a favourite), but it's quite a pricey way to acquire flowers for the home. Pretty though, isn't it?

❉ On Friday I sat for a few hours in the cafe with my yarny friends and finished attaching my latest mandala to it's hoop. I really really love the serene colours in this mandala, they came together quite by accident and remind me a little of my Harmony blanket colours (blues and purples with a dash of pink and green). I followed the Bougainvillea Doily pattern by Zelna Olivier using around a dozen colours of Stylecraft Cotton Classique DK. I added two additional rounds to make it the right size for attaching to a 45cm hoop and I'm really happy with how it turned out. I've got it hanging against the blue/grey wall in my studio at the moment and it looks especially lovely against that colour.

❉ Sampling for my Sweet Pea blanket continues, and I've been working on the colour order for the stripes during the past few weeks. It takes slow, consistent time and effort to work through this part of the design process, but I absolutely love love love doing it. I spend hours and hours (literally) crocheting up a series of thin stripes to represent the whole blanket, getting a feel for how the colours like to play with each other and how my floral colour story is choosing to tell itself. The above photo is the result of the first sample being all wrong - sometimes I keep the wrong ones as a reference and sometimes I decide to pull it all apart and start again from scratch.

Yesterday I finished sample number four and it made my heart skip a beat, so I think I'm pretty much there with it - so happy about that! I've been doing the nitty gritty sampling too  - weighing out yarn and working tension samples so that I can gauge how many stitches, how many pattern repeats, how many rows etc. It's all good fun and makes me ridiculously excited for the blanket journey to actually begin. Sweet Pea yarn packs will be available in about four weeks I think, the week commencing 3rd December. Bring it on, I can't WAIT!

❉ On Monday the Little People returned to school and J and I went to have a leisurely, unhurried coffee followed by a trip to purchase a modest box of fireworks for the evenings entertainment (for those not in the UK, we light fireworks for Guy Fawkes Night on the 5th November). It was the usual fun - as you know we don't actually have a garden so we make do by using a flower pot filled with earth on the wall of our back yard. Fortunately the fireworks were just the right level of noise and crackle to entertain the Little Peeps without being too scary dangerous - there were only a few which made us run for cover!

❉ The sparklers were a hit, ahhh, so nostalgic! I love the smell of them, they instantly transport me way back in time to my own childhood. We had fun prancing about in the back street with our neighbours, the Little People dancing and twirling and lighting up the night.

❉ It's been very stormy today, wet, grey and howling. The trees are clinging on to their leaves but I feel sure there will be bare branches before long. It's that strange time when the seasons are merging - still Autumn but with the edge of Winter making itself felt. I don't mind it too much, but the low light levels are hard going I have to say.

❉  I bought a new candle on Monday, oh it smells soooooo good! It's Orange & Star Anise and just right for these cold, dark Autumn evenings - warm, fruity and comforting without being too Christmassy. I'm not mad keen on the gold patterned glass jar, but I'm loving the scent so much that I'm willing to overlook the glitz.

In other news, I've started making a smaller companion paper toadstool to go with the one above that I made last week. I've gathered some moss (real moss which I'm air drying), some thin copper wire and some gorgeous paper butterflies to create something of a mini Autumn sculpture thingy. I am stalling with the sticking of all the little toadstool gills though, I need to really be in the mood to get all gummed up with glue.

❉ And so the days are ticking along, a sweet combination of creative energy and slow, nothing-much days, of gentle parenting and the juggling of yarn and time and responsibilities. It's all good, more than good actually, and I am so grateful that I can say that and feel it too.

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Making the Seasons :: October

Helloooooo!!! Welcome to the twelth and final installment of Making The Seasons! I cannot quite believe that a whole year has passed since I first discovered Craftpod, inspiring me to embark on a monthly mission to make something inspired by the seasons. It's been a hugely enjoyable year long project, made even more special by the fact that I've been joined each month by my friend Gillian at Tales from a Happy House. There is something undeniably appealing about sharing the creative urge with a like minded soul who thinks along very similar lines, and I have love love loved creating my monthly makes with Gillian. Our styles are very different, but it's been delightful to see what each month has brought forth for us both and I have truly loved every single project.

For this month {October} I decided to make one of the projects from the Autumn Craftpod box, as these delightful subscription boxes are still making my heart beat as fast as ever, a whole year after I first set eyes on them. The projects are so beautiful, and the whole box is always an absolute treat to receive through the post. This season there is a beautiful Autumn sampler to stitch, a paper mushroom sculpture to make and ooooo some gorgeous toadstoool washi tape which made me squeal!!!

Jo always pops a really lovely seasonal card into the box and the Autumn offering is just wonderful. It's an illustration by Brie Harrison who's work I fell in love with this year on Instagram, I just love the simplicity of her style and the emotions they evoke. 

Sticky tape and stitching aside, I decided I'd have a go at making the Mushroom Sculpture, designed by artist Kate Kato of Kasasagi Design. I've been a huge fan of Kate's work ever since reading all about her in Country Homes and Interiors (April issue) and then stalking her on Instagram......

image credit : Kasasagi Design

....oh her images make my toes curl with happiness!!!! She is so so so talented - you would never believe the things she manages to do with paper. Yes, paper!!! It's such a simple medium, but Kate manages to make it do magical things and her carefully constructed natural still life studies (made from JUST PAPER!!) are things of rare beauty.

image credit : kasasagi design

I love pretty much every single thing she makes (her butterflies and flowers are utterly delightful), but her Autumn studies are particularly stunning. 

So I was curious as to how she would translate her unique art into something that the masses could have a go at - would it actually be possible to make a paper sculpture that resembled a real living thing?

The essence of this project was very simple - there were a whole load of pre-printed shapes that needed to be folded in half and cut out, and then there was glue,  a single pipe cleaner and some tissue paper. Simple materials that promised to deliver great results if you followed the instructions and allowed plenty of time and patience.

There were 72 shapes to cut out to form the mushroom gills, and these shapes then had to all be methodically glued together. It trod a fine line between being meditative and tedious, but I did enjoy the simplicity of applying glue and sticking, knowing that by following some precise instructions, something beautiful would (hopefully) come about.

Once the gills had been assembled, it was time to create a mighty fine mushroom stalk, using nothing but a humble pipe cleaner and some ripped up pieces of tissue paper. 

This was good fun, if a little messy....

.... and honestly? I was a little bit proud of how my 'shroom stalk turned out! 

One of the things i love about Craftpod is the absolute attention to detail. For example, Jo had included the most teensy tiny cute wooden pegs in her box, simply for you to be able to hold the paper gills together whilst they dried. It was such a thoughtful touch, and one that I very much appreciated when I was flapping around with very gluey fingers, trying to hold everything together and make it stick.

The part where you have to glue the gills to the stalk was much harder than it sounded, and it's one of those things where you wish you had six hands. I somehow managed to make it all stick together, although I confess I got impatient and a bit antsy at this point and went in search of the hairdryer in order to speed up the drying process. A good blast with some hot air and I was satisfied that enough drying had happened, meaning I could safely proceed to the next part of the making process.....creating the mushroom top.

This was more fiddly, messy fun (note my fingers absolutely covered in glue), and involved ripping and sticking layers of tissue paper over the top of the paper gills. It was very faffy as it involved trying to spread the gills out evenly whilst sticking the tissue paper in place, made extra challenging by the fact that my fingers were sticking to absolutely everything, including the table.

I kept going, aided by Little B encouraging me along and telling me that I was doing great. I think he was really very impressed that I was attempting to make a lifelike mushroom - gawd I seriously love that my children do not ever, ever question my weirdness. I mean, doesn't every mother spend hours creating fungi out of glue and paper, purely for pleasure??!!

The very last step involved brewing up a very strong concoction of tea, and painting it around the bottom edges of the mushroom. I was doubtful about this (I thought my mushroom already looked fab), but the difference it made was astonishing. It somehow transformed my paper 'shroom cap into something that looked very un-paper like, and honestly I just couldn't quite believe what I was holding in my hand.

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

I wish, wish, wish that I hadn't been in a major rush to get out the door and deliver Little B to his friends house for a Halloween sleep over, cos I would have loved to style this project to death. The mushroom was just begging to be beautifully photographed with all manor of natural Autumn finds, but I simply didn't have time to faff. So a few feathers from my feather stash (yes, of course I have a handy feather stash) and a few leaves fallen from the tree at number 28, and that had to do.

I am so so pleased with this make - it is so humble (paper and glue!)....

....but so oddly fascinating and beautiful at the same time.

I have a new found respect for all paper/glue artists, it's not the light breeze that you would think and requires a huge amount of attention to detail and painstaking patience.

I was thinking that I would quite like a proper home for my paper mushroom - maybe a small pot full of moss, with a critter or two crawling about....wouldn't that be lovely?

But for now it's resting quietly on the mantel, looking all natural and eye catching. I rather like it.

Please do go and see what Gillian has been making this month, her seasonal posts are always beautifully photographed and a real inspiration. You can find all of my previous MTS posts {here}

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ps my September project is finished and I'll be taking some photographs of it to share with you very soon xx

pps..................couldn't resist taking one more photo................

ppps.....I've just found a wonderful video showing Kate Kato at work - please do take a look, it's just wonderful xx

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Woodland Reflections

I know, I know, I'm having a bit of a Woodland obsession right now, but honestly, can you blame me when it all looks so very utterly gorgeous out there????? It was absolutely freezing this morning, literally freezing, but the sort of glorious day that forbids you to remain inside no matter how low the temperature might be. It was crisp and bright with a definite bite in the air when we set out to walk up the steep, steep hill, along the farm track and into the top of the woods this morning.

We found the second willow sculpture which looked glorious in the sunshine - it's called "The Stalking Horse", a reference to the olden days when the Lord of the Castle would hide behind grazing horses in order to stalk and shoot deer in the woods. I found Anna and the Willow on Instagram (which is how I know all about the horse), and have enjoyed seeing these willow works in progress. 

The little beck that meanders slowly through the woods captured my eyes this morning, I just couldn't stop gazing at the reflections held on it's surface. Even though the beck is flowing, the water moves very slowly so there is an illusion of stillness which makes the reflections very striking. In some places there were overflow pipes draining water into the beck, causing the most incredible rhythmic, pulsing ripples - it was mesmerising to watch, almost like an optical illusion of some sorts.

We stopped for a while beside the small waterfall, perched on a log in the morning sunshine, eating juicy satsumas and a little bit of chocolate too. It was the best kind of morning snack and even Little B was happy with the arrangement. We did lots of leaf kicking and larking about, eventually tiring ourselves out before beginning the short walk back to the warmth of home. Not a bad way to spend a Monday morning, that's for sure.

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A Week of Taking it Slow

So this has been the sloooooooow week following on from the rollercoaster week, and to be completely honest I am very glad it's over. There has been underlying stress to our days as J took the week off work to recover, which in itself has felt rather strange. He is very rarely unwell and the concept of time off work with enforced rest and recovery didn't especially come naturally to him. Luckily I was able to gently help him ease through the days as he took some necessary time out, and I think we managed pretty well all things considered.  

One of the things we did last week was make sure that we took a walk every day - nothing too strenuous, just some gentle strolling around our neighbourhood. We would drop Little B at school, then off we would go to stretch our legs and breathe in the Autumn air.

I know I talk often about the woods in our town as it's one of our favourite go-to places when we don't want to take the car out. It's absolutely wonderful to have this place so close by as you can literally access it just a minute or two from the high street, gosh I do so appreciate it!

The Woodland Trust do a great job maintaining it and creating some wonderful additions too (I love this beautiful carved poem bench which is fairly new). Just recently a couple of amazing willow sculptures have arrived, created by a North Yorkshire willow artist. This one is right by the main entrance and is called "Willow Hunter". It's a crazy-beautiful thing, so much energy, movement and feeling created by a collection of twigs. 

It's been cold and dry this week, and so we've had the pleasure of kicking through the fallen leaves as we've walked. No, you are never too old for this activity, not ever!

The colours in the woodland are really reminding me of my Woodland blanket, and I think that this week I might take it out on location for a little bit of a photo shoot. I get a bit nervous about doing this sort of thing, but I need to not care what anyone else thinks because, well......it'll be worth it, right? I think I'd very much like to see my Woodland stripes in situ, so I'll muster up some braveness and make it happen.

I went up to the allotment this week to have a poke around, it's all looking a bit forlorn and in need of an end of season tidy up. I keep thinking that the sweet peas are over as the plants themselves are looking rather bedraggled and my bamboo and string trellis collapsed in the last storm that whipped through here a few weeks ago. But when I was there this week, miraculously there were indeed more flowers to be picked, which made me insanely happy.

The colours are so beautiful - I don't edit my photos at all (too lazy for that), so the brightness and contrast in the above image is naturally how these flowers are in real life. Ah, I LOVE them!!! So much!!!

I've had the pleasure of this teensy little posy on my table all week, making my happiness levels rise with every sniff of those petals. The scent isn't quite as strong as it was with flowers picked in the height of summer, but nevertheless it is still blooming lovely.

As you can see in the above photo, I've been inspired by these sweet floral colours, and I've been sampling up some colours ready for my next CAL (Crochet-A-Long) blanket. YES!!! Consider this a sneak-peek!!!!!

Yarn packs will be available at the beginning of December and the CAL will begin on Friday 4th January 2019, and run for 8 weeks in total.
I've designed a new stitch/stripe which is perfect for beginners, or for people like me who need some therapeutic, soothing rows of colour to start the New Year off beautifully. Just to reassure you, the sneak peek in the above photo is part of my colour sequence sampling and NOT the actual blanket pattern. The pattern for the Sweet Pea blanket is new, and will be worked with two rows per stripe, as is usual for my blanket designs. I'll be able to show you a little more of the pattern closer to the time. I am very (very very very) excited about this blanket, it makes me want to squeal just a little.

On the days when we didn't walk in the woods, we walked along the canal, through the park and up to the farm shop instead. The bonus of walking that way is that it involves not just a nice walk but the possibility of some refreshment too, which does hold a certain appeal I have to admit.

We walked up one afternoon after J had been at the hospital to see a consultant and we both instinctively needed to be out in the sunshine to take the edge off.

Rather than sit in the farm shop cafe, we picked up a couple of take out lattés and some chocolate, then came back into the park to sit a while on a wooden bench. It was so nice to feel the sun on my face, I really love it when you close your eyes to the sun, and it's all pinky-orange inside your eyelids. That glowing warmth is so comforting somehow.

I picked up the above leaf for no reason other than the colours called to me, aren't they beautiful? Autumn right there in my fingertips.

The drop in temperature this week has drawn us to light the fire in the late afternoon, as much for the comfort factor as the warmth. This will be our eleventh autumn/winter with an open fire (there was a horrid electric fire shoved into the brick fireplace when we first moved in), and I wouldn't trade it for anything. We have central heating radiators so our house is generally very warm and cosy in winter, but the open fire adds such a lot of feel good - it's warmth for the heart and soul. 

Whilst I faff with my sweet pea colours and ponder on the stripes for my next blanket, I have needed a crochet project to keep my creative self occupied. As is often the case for me when I'm in between blankets, I find that mandala therapy delivers just the right amount of creative satisfaction. I found a lovely free pattern called the "Bougainvillea Doily" by Zelna Olivier, it's a beauty! I was working on the first version at the cafe and went a bit wrong in the light blue rounds (I didn't read the pattern properly and mis-counted the clusters), so I ended up having to wing it a bit after that. I'm hoping that my second attempt will work out better as it's such a beautiful design - please note that the pattern is written in US crochet terms, so UK hooksters will need to translate. I'm planning on crocheting these to metal hoops to add to my collection - I might crochet some additional rounds and make them bigger, I haven't decided just yet.

This weekend I've deliberately tried to take some care to relax and fully recharge my batteries after a rather draining week. I took myself back to bed yesterday morning following an early start, and ended up sleeping until 10am - I guess I must have needed those extra hours more than I realised.

Yesterday I unearthed a small pile of magazines that had remained unopened since Yarndale took over my life - this is the September issue of Country Living UK which has some beautiful floral inspiration in it's pages. Ahh, beautiful hydrangeas, still not my most favourite flowers, but I do so love the blanket that they inspired.

I've spent a fair few hours nesting on the sofa this weekend, sometimes on my own, sometimes with Little B snuggled up....

....and sometimes with the kitty. She likes to flollop down on my legs in a big long, heavy heap, which I'm not complaining about as she is super cosy and warm when she sleeps like that. She's like a living hot water bottle. 

 

I lit my jar candles earlier on today, and thought to myself that I'd like to crochet some more jar covers in Autumn colours, perhaps decorated with an acorn and oak leaf or two.

Tomorrow.......tomorrow yes I think I will conduct some seasonal mantel faffery. I'll dig out my pumpkins and hang my garland from last year. And yes, maybe I'll pick up my hook and crochet some lacy lime, orange and gold and bring a little bit more Autumn colour into my home.

The Little People are off school now as it's our half term break - it's a week later than it usually is, so I've had three rather tired and grumpy offspring to deal with this past week. We've absolutely no plans whatsoever  - we shall drift through the days as the mood takes us, perhaps going out locally, perhaps just staying close to home. I predict that we shall spend rather a lot of time enjoying fireside treats and really that is absolutely fine by me. 

Have a good week, whether you are venturing out or staying close to home. I hope your days are full of slow, cosy, happy.

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London Celebrations

I'm playing a bit of catch-up here on my blog as October has turned out to be quite a busy month and I haven't quite managed to get my blog posts to keep up with my feet! I was looking at these photos earlier today and couldn't believe it's already two weeks since they were taken. 

I always enjoy a brisk walk along the canal when I know I'm headed for the train station, because as much as I adore my rural home town and my quiet, rather simple life, I do quite like a dose of Big City spirit every now and again. Heading to London in October has become something of an annual ritual and this was the third time that I've traveled to the city to attend the Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace. This year was to be an extra special celebration as I had an extra day to enjoy the very last smidge of my forties, kind of a pre-Birthday treat from me to myself.

Arriving on a gloriously bright sunny Wednesday afternoon, I met up with my lovely friend Christine and we hopped on the underground to journey a short way to the River Thames. This wasn't a spontaneous thing by any means, because for once in my chaotic, unplanned life I had actually planned in advance and  PRE-BOOKED something!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy smokes, are you shocked????!!!!!!! I think I was a little dazed myself, I had to keep checking the tickets and making sure that the whole thing wasn't just a figment of my crazy imagination. 

Luckily for me, Christine is a very accommodating friend and when I told her that I would really like to be a London tourist and take a boat trip on the River Thames, she instantly agreed. I don't know why this appealed to me so much as I'm not a massive fan of boats (I much prefer to be on dry land), but there is something very appealing about the idea of gliding along a river to take in the landmarks of a city. Add in the notion that you set sail at 3.15 pm in time to partake in a spot of afternoon tea whilst gliding along, with the possibility of a glass of fizz to accompany the aforementioned refreshments, and yeah, you can maybe see the appeal.

And so that was how we found ourselves sailing along underneath the great Tower Bridge, oohing and aahing at how very huge and enormous it looked from down below at river level. The boat we were on was a sight seeing boat, sitting low and wide on the water, with huge windows all along the outside (see here for pictures). The river was surprisingly choppy, but I'm happy to report that we didn't really feel much movement while we were sat comfy on the boat.

Maybe that was because we were easily distracted........

.............ooooooooooooo, afternoon tea has arrived! To accompany our actual cups of tea (which were pretty much kept filled by the lovely waiting staff), we had the above three tiers of deliciousness to nibble on while we sailed the river. It was really yummy, especially the very generous scone which we slathered in clotted cream and strawberry jam....mmmmmmm!!

A glass of prosecco seemed appropriate for the occasion too, and for a little while I did feel like I might possibly be leading someone else's life......it was all very decadent for an average Wednesday afternoon.

I have to say I really enjoyed just looking out the window and taking in all the amazing buildings that line the river. We passed by some ancient historical buildings and ships (the Tower of London, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, HMS Belfast), but it was the modern buildings that I loved the most. Some of them are so tall and striking, you just can't help but be in awe of them. I didn't know the name of the above building, but thanks to the marvel that is Google, I can tell you that this is One Blackfriars (also known as "the vase") and was only completed this year. It is full of luxury apartments, and you have to be seriously loaded to live here - prices start from £1.15 million for a one-bedroom studio. Imagine that?!!! I absolutely cannot imagine for the life of me what it might feel like to call that place home, it's so far removed from my humble, rather shabby but well loved old terraced Victorian home. 

We couldn't have asked for better weather for our trip, it was unexpectedly warm with clear blue sky and bright sunshine, a late blast of summertime lighting up the city.

Ah did I mention the fabulous scones? No English afternoon tea is complete without them, and these ones were delicious.

As you can see, the boat was pretty full of afternoon tea-ers and the atmosphere was happy and celebratory. With the golden sunshine pouring in through the windows and music playing, it was a very relaxing way to spend a few hours in the city. 

All too soon we arrived back at Tower Pier and our round trip was complete. We had a really lovely time being boaty tourists and I wondered whether the Little People would have enjoyed it, or whether it was too sedate for them? Little B doesn't always do well when he is cooped up, he is still a bit like a puppy dog who needs space and freedom to burn off energy.

Tower Pier is right next to the Tower of London, and this isn't an area of London that I've visited before. We decided that as it was such beautiful weather that we would simply wander around for a while and see where our feet took us. I couldn't really get any sense of where exactly we were in the city (other than knowing we were near the river!), but we soon found out that we were slap bang in the midst of The City - the square mile of London that is the heart of the financial and business district.

I did recognise the above building though, honestly it's hard to miss if you are anywhere in this area. This is 20 Fenchurch Street, also known as the "walkie-talkie" building, and the scale of it is breathtaking when you are up close......

....it made me want to gasp out loud, it was just so impossibly monstrous!!! We called in to the reception area to ask about visiting the Sky Garden at the top of this building which I'd heard is fabulous, but much like the cruise boats this is something you have to plan and book in advance. I would so love to go up there! I think next year when I visit London, I shall definitely book a sky-high treat instead of a watery one, I absolutely can't wait.

Wandering around this area of London was fascinating as so many commuters were on the move at the end of the working day. It was fast paced and business like and so very urban, and I was once again struck by the contrast to my own picturesque commute along the side of the canal at the start and end of my week days. I am so grateful for my lifestyle, for the place (and pace) that is mine.

The above monument is called.......The Monument. It commemorates the Great Fire of London which raged through this part of the city in 1666, and I've just discovered that you can climb up inside it, via three hundred and eleven steps. Oh, I would so do that! In fact, I am thinking that I would quite fancy doing a tour of all the high-up viewing places in London, just to take in a whole load of panoramic views. I do really love love love a good, scenic long distance view from high up.

I loved the side view of the modern building next to the monument, which was mesmerising to look at with it's twirly silver bits spinning down over the windows (just found out ((thank you Google)) that this is called the Monument Building).  London does often surprise me with how beautiful it is, especially when you least expect it.

When Christine and I venture to London together we stay in the same hotel each time, so it has begun to feel comfortingly familiar. It's a small, quirky hotel right in the heart of Kings Cross St Pancras, set back from the hustle and bustle along a quiet side street. It's part of a row of tall London terraced houses which have been knocked together, so inside it's all multiple staircases and uneven floors and different levels. It's rather lovely and has great character, and we always enjoy a fun and relaxing stay there.

The following morning we had hours stretching ahead of us to fill with more city delights. As with any capital city in the world, London is a humongous place and there are endless things to do with your time there. Over breakfast we noodled on all the possibilities - art galleries? museums? shopping? yarn-related things? but neither of us were really in the mood for those things. I suddenly realised that all those activities involved being inside buildings, and more than anything I felt like I wanted to be outside. I love walking, and given the choice I would very much rather be outdoors than indoors, so we set off in search of London's famous Royal Parks.

Oh, it was such a lovely morning! We ambled through Hyde Park, strolling around the edge of the Serpentine in the morning sunshine - it was such a treat to be walking without a coat at this time of year. There are plenty of small refreshment points around the park, so we bought ourselves a coffee/hot chocolate and found a bench with a lovely blue watery view, to sit a while in the sun and chat. And chat some more, with lots of laughing, discussion, sharing of ideas and more chat. We are very good friends, Christine and I, and our chat is a mixture of personal friendship and work-ish blog/design talk. Its super-useful to have somebody to talk to who understands the uniqueness of blogging and designing, because so much of what we do is solitary and involves only our own thought processes. Having someone else's outside view point on ideas/concepts/projects is invaluable, and it works especially well when taken al fresco. Best of all, it works both ways, and I think we both felt lighter, happier and more energised after our "session". It was great - like therapy,  counselling, time management and mentoring all rolled into one!

It was so great in fact that we completely lost track of time and only realised it was past lunch time when we had gotten stiff from sitting for so long. 

We walked out of Hyde Park and into Green Park, eventually making our way back under ground and traveling north to our next destination........

......yes, this was our annual trip to the Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace which was in full swing by the time we made it there at 3pm. I do enjoy being able to visit a show as an actual visitor, with no other agenda other than to enjoy what's on offer.

It was lovely to see the work of friends (above are beautiful blankets by Jane Crowfoot)....

....and to admire the work of artists too. In fact, I really enjoyed the textile galleries this year, they were very inspirational and diverse, and displayed such a huge amount of artistic talent.

However, the main reason for visiting the show was so that I could attend the British Knitting and Crochet Awards. These annual awards are very highly regarded, especially as the nominations and votes come directly from the public (over 28,000 this year, which is incredible). The awards are organised by Let's Knit and Let's Get Crafting magazines - Let’s Knit editor, Sarah Neal, says: “These awards are an opportunity for the nation’s knitters and crocheters to honour their favourite brands, and they’ve done so in their thousands. That’s such a fantastic accolade for all the winners and runners-up and true recognition for all their hard work.”

And that does make me feel very honoured indeed, and hugely thankful for the support and enthusiasm that I experience every day here on my blog and via my Facebook and Instagram pages too. 

The awards ceremony itself is fun, most especially because over the years I've gotten to know quite a number of people so it's a lovely chance to socialise and catch up. There are yarn shop owners, yarn makers, designers, bloggers and authors, and it's a really super friendly atmosphere. We drink glasses of fizz, listen to inspirational speakers, then collect our awards and pose for the camera...............SMILE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That camera bit I find tricky, but the rest is a breeze - I'm pretty good at drinking fizz and socialising!

Sadly we couldn't stay until the very end as we had trains to catch, so it was a bit of a crazy whirlwind as we journeyed back down the hill away from the beautiful palace. It made for a very long day as I didn't get home until around 12.40am.......which was actually the very early start of my Birthday, and I had a day at the coast to look forward to, yippeee!!!! From busy city to calming sea, the complete contrast was not lost on me. 

Oh, I almost forgot to mention..........my awards!!!! Haha!!! SO busy telling you all about the jollity and I totally forgot the important bit!! I am so happy to tell you that I won "Favourite Crochet Designer" and "Favourite Crochet Blog". It was made even more special as this was the third year running for me and these awards, and I am so very, very grateful to everyone who took the time and trouble to cast a vote or two. It was also fabulous for me with my festival hat on too as Yarndale won "Best Knitting Event" for the third year running. We are so blinkin' chuffed about this!!! Thank you, thank you, to everyone who makes Yarndale so amazing. My lovely friends at Wool Warehouse also won multiple awards too, well they are wonderful aren't they?

So I've had lots to celebrate this month, and I am beyond grateful. Awards and a golden birthday....oh, and one more thing too. I've got one last post to share in my catch-up mission, as J and I celebrated twenty five years (half our lifetime) together. We remained true to ourselves and took off for 2 days up in Wensleydale at the start of October - nothing glamorous, but oh, it was so very lovely! I'll show you some photos from there very soon - lots of green greenery, and as far removed from city bustle as you could get. Just perfect for the likes of us.

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ps if you'd like to see all the awards results, I think you can access them ((here))

pps I feel like I would like to give you all a big ((((HUG)))), as I'm feeling quite emotional all of a sudden. Consider yourself squeezed with my thanks!!! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

A Week of Highs and Lows

Hello, how you doing? How's your week been? I wasn't going to post this weekend as I've had a rather traumatic few days (the lows in the above title) and am feeling rather worn down. But then I remembered how much better I always feel when I make time to sit quietly in the Attic and send my words out into cyber space for you to catch and read, and so here I am. Sitting, thinking, holding on to the memory of the highs in the above title.

At the start of the week J and I took advantage of our non-working Monday arrangement (which has been one of the best things to happen for us in recent times) and set out to walk some miles in the Dales. 

It's a beautiful time of year for walking with perfect temperatures and amazing light, and the freshness of Autumn air is invigorating. It's a lovely time for J and I to chat too, and we end up talking about all sorts of random things as we cover the miles.

Oh, I do love love love walking for pleasure, it makes me so happy to be out there amongst all that natural colour, climbing hills, rambling along quiet country lanes and woodland trails....

....strolling along peaceful riverbanks, climbing over stiles and striding across lush fields. I love it all.

As you can see, it's looking gloriously Autumnal around these parts, and if you could zoom in on the above photo you would notice that the ground is absolutely covered with fallen conkers - loads and loads and loads of them! I have honestly never seen so many in all my life - great big juicy, shiny conkers for days.

Linton Falls was spectacular in it's fullness, both the visuals and the noise levels, gosh this is one noisy bit of river! No matter how many times we visit this spot along the river Wharfe, it never fails to wow me, it's just so BiG and rushing and spectacular. As you well know, my heart is always happiest when it's be the sea shore, but this lovely stretch of river feels like home to me since we've been walking here for over twenty years.

I snapped  a photo of a pair of chattering magpies sat on the house at the top of my street on Tuesday. It's not often we see these birds around here, but I automatically thought - ahhhh, two for joy!! Yay!!!! (If you' don't know this rhyme, you can read about it here). The thought of something joyful happening really put a spring in my step, which is a bit ridiculous really, but some superstitions stick with you from childhood and they are hard to shake. I seriously hate seeing just one lonesome magpie.

I've been finishing up the tutorial for my felted basket this week, taking lots of photographs and measurements before the basket goes on it's thrilling journey into the washing machine. I was meant to do that today, but chickened out haha!! I am both excited and nervous about putting all that work into a load of spinning hot soapy water, but I think tomorrow I should do it, don't you? I really want to show it to you and share the pattern - I've got a pure wool yarn pack all ready to go too, so I really do need to stop being a wuss.

I wanted to share this with you as it's had a big impact on me this week. This is called "Five Ways to Wellbeing" and I came across it as I was researching online with Little B for his homework. I completely love that he's been talking about this in school - we talked a lot about it together too,  about how we can look after our mental wellbeing and he made a fantastic presentation in his homework book all about it. I would consider myself to be very mentally healthy, but it's always good to be reminded not to take it for granted.

The weather this week has been sublime, a beautiful slice of autumnal perfection. 

We've woken to very cold mornings with frost and low lying mist, but accompanied by the most delicious golden sunshine. 

The combination has been atmospheric and breathtaking, especially the way the mist swirls over the surface of the canal as we walk along the tow path to school.

We played Eye Spy on this misty morning, Little B and I, crikey that child is ridiculously good at it. He picked something beginning with the letter T, and all the way to school I was trying so hard to get my brain to figure out what he might be seeing. All. The. Way. To. School. I had to give in when we ran out of walking time, much to his utter delight. Turns out is was T for Tag (as in the name tag on his guitar which I was carrying in my hand the whole way), I wanted to tell him off, but really I need to up my game.

I've started eating Brunch on the days that I'm at home, and it suits me very well. I sit down with just a frothy coffee at 8am when the Little People are tucking into their bowls of cereal, then make myself something more substantial around 10.30. My current favourite thing is toasted multi-seeded bread, topped with mashed up avocado, a little olive oil, heavy-handed seasoning, and a poached egg. All those flavours and textures make my toes curl with pleasure. I then eat a light bit of mid afternoon snackage instead of a full blown lunch, and I so look forward to it! Sometimes it might be cheese and crackers with some fruit, or maybe some bread sticks with hummus and salad, or sometimes a toasted crumpet eaten with the Little People when they come home from school. We still all sit down for our main meal at around 5.30 and it's the highlight of my day, truly. I love love love family meals, they are precious times indeed.

The past few days we've had a bit of an Indian Summer and I painted my toenails coral pink to celebrate. I even got to wear my sandals out today which pleased me enormously. As much as I love hand knit socks and colourful boots at the end of my feet in Autumn, nothing beats being able to wiggle your bare toes in the unexpected October sunshine.

I took the above photos on Thursday evening as we walked down through the park on our way to the swimming pool, gosh the sun was something else at that time of day. It was low and golden, slanting through the trees as it made its end of day descent. We were running late so I wasn't able to linger as long as I would have liked - I am such a sun worshiper, I wanted to stand still and drink it in for long, long beautiful golden minutes. But I had to be content with some quick snaps, and then a bit of a run to catch up with J and Little B who refused to wait for me while I faffed.

Little did we know at that time that within an hour, things would take such a dramatic turn. Gosh, life sure does throw a major wobbly sometimes! I won't go into detail, suffice to say that we spent six hours in the hospital that evening with J. He is OK and was able to come home, but it was flippin' scary at the time and we are still somewhat recovering from the trauma of it all. 

Despite very little sleep Thursday night, I felt the pressing need to be out of the house and surrounded by friends on Friday morning, with a much needed dose of caffeine and some gentle yarn therapy. I felt wrung out, but so so glad for the gentle rhythm of my hook and the happy conversations that flowed around me. I never cease to give thanks for the joy that crochet brings to my life, and how it soothes the soul when it is most needed.

Before I go, I want to say a heart felt thank you for all your Birthday wishes on my last post, I'm so grateful for your kindness! I love the friendship that surrounds my little Attic window, thank you so very much for all that you send my way. 

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ps without too much fanfare, could I possibly just show you this exciting news????

 

 

 

Fifty

When I first started writing my blog in the Spring of 2008 I was dancing through the last year of my thirties with two Little People aged three and five. It seems so long ago now (and I've got the two teenagers to prove it), and yet at the same time if often feels to me as if hardly any time has passed at all. I so clearly remember celebrating my fortieth birthday with a weekend away at the coast, thinking that my life was pretty well settled. I thought that my forties would be a slow, happy continuation of my gentle stay-at-home-mum life, with a return to a little bit of stitching work at some point. At that time I had NO idea (absolutely none whatsoever) that by the time my forty-first birthday would rock around that I'd be carrying a baby bump along for the ride!! My my, that was probably one of the biggest surprises in my life journey to date, and completely changed the way my forties unfolded. I also had no way of knowing how my simple blogging hobby and my new found passion for crochet would develop and change my life in such an amazing way. I am so so so SO thankful for this patch of Blogland which allows me to look back through archives which represent a whole decade of my life. I love that through my own words and pictures I can remember so many beautiful little details of extraordinary everyday-ness which tell the story of my Forties.

On Friday, I said goodbye to that precious and surprisingly changeable decade of my life and welcomed in a brand new one - I'm SO flippin' excited to be stepping into my fifties!!!! YAYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't explain why, but I just have a deep down feeling that the next ten years will be absolutely marvelous in so many different and as yet unknown ways. I am absolutely full to the brim with happy optimism, and it's a truly great feeling.

It'll come as no surprise to you that for my big birthday day, I wanted no fuss and no special attention. I wished for it to be peaceful and preferably full of sea air, cake and a lot of love and laughs. I was away in London for two days last week (more about that in another post), so I had had my fill of hustle and bustle and all I wanted was a quiet day beside the sea. So after depositing the Littlest Little Peep at school, J and I drove to St Anne's on the Lancashire coast to pootle and potter and be just a teensy bit Birthdayish. 

Our first stop was one of our favourite cafe's which sits at the entrance to the old Victorian pier. This cafe is run by an Italian family and the coffee is always extremely good indeed - I was so enchanted with the chocolate windmill dusted on top of my froth, honestly, it takes very little to make me happy. I just had to have some carrot cake too, as it's my favourite cake (just about beats a good lemon drizzle) and one that I often have on my Birthday if I am anywhere that is cake-ish. 

After the coffee and cake with a beautiful, cosy sea view, we wrapped up and took ourselves outside to walk along the promenade. Despite a truly awful weather forecast thanks to storm Callum blowing in, we were extremely lucky to find dry weather in St Anne's on Friday. 

But blinkin' heck, it was soooooooo windy!!!

There were very few people braving the fierce winds, and we pretty much had the whole expansive beach to ourselves. 

The surface of the sand was being blown about making it appear like a moving, living thing. It was mesmerising to watch, as were the seagulls battling to fly in one direction.

I adore coastal walking and felt like I could have happily walked for miles and miles along the expanse of sandy shoreline. The openness of this vast sandy beach is so calming and uplifting, and the gulps of tangy salty air filling my lungs was wonderful. Did I mention that it was a tad windy?? It gave me the most insane hair (which reminded me so much of my 40th Birthday)!!! 

There are no cliffs along this beach as the land is very flat along the Lancashire coastline. But the wide sandy beaches are backed by low-lying grassy sand dunes instead and there is something so beautiful about that particular shade of silvery beach-grass green.

I fall in love with it every single time I see it, and love the overall breezy, subtle colour palette. Soft, sandy colours mixed with shades of sun bleached wood and moody, silvery skies and that stunning marram grass green......

.....oh, and the delicate pinks of the pretty shells too. There are always a tonne of razor shells all over the beach at St Anne's, but it's these teensy little stripy pink shells that I love the most. I am sooo tempted to have a play with this natural coastal colour palette, to see how it looks when I start to describe my feelings and memories in yarny stripes.......oh, such an exciting thought!!

We didn't have nearly long enough on the beach really, but the morning was marching on and J and I had a Birthday lunch date on our horizon. We hopped in the car and drove along the coast from St Anne's to Lytham proper. Usually when we visit this part of the coast we stay at the St Ann'es end as we love the down to earth charm of it there. The Lytham end is altogether more upmarket with a thriving high street full of lovely independent shops and cafes. The windmill on the green is a very well known historical landmark (hence the chocolate windmill on my cappuccino) and always amazes me with it's out-of-place feel. 

We walked all along the main street in Lytham and I so wanted to linger and browse and take photographs but we didn't have a lot of time to play with. The shops are a true delight, and if you ever get a chance to visit I can highly recommend it. I love places that have a genuine sense of community, and it was amazing to see the old fashioned greengrocers and fishmongers which are becoming a rarity in our small English towns. Next time I'm there, I will snap some pictures to share - the pumpkin display outside Strong's was especially photogenic!

We were headed to a small brasserie restaurant which specialised in Mediterranean and modern Greek food. J chose it after reading reviews online, and it was absolutely beautiful inside as you can see from the above photo. 

We ordered from the "Lunch Pronto" menu which included a cheeky glass of vino, and it was utterly delicious I have to say. Such a treat! J and I sat at a table in the window, the sort of table which has tall legs so that you perch on high stools, and it was really very lovely to watch the world go about it's breezy business as we sat and enjoyed lunch.

We left the coast full of good food, sea air and feel-good, and a heap load of very happy Birthday memories.  

Back home, and I was content to be cosy and snuggled up with J and the Little People. I opened some lovely presents, drank chilled prossecco and inhaled my latest candle crush (sea salt and lemon, just the most gorgeous zesty, summery, sea-breezy scent). I've not yet changed my mantel from Summer to Autumn, but I'm so looking forward to hanging up my Autumn garland and arranging my little crochet pumpkins from last year......I'll pop that job at the top of this week's to-do list.

And so my fiftieth birthday came to a gentle snoozy end, snuggled up on the sofa with Little B feeling so grateful for my happy home life.

Over the weekend I spent rather a lot of time idling and pondering, running through a good many ideas and thoughts and plans for the year ahead. I feel deep down that good things are going to happen, and I very much hope that I'll have enough energy to keep up with it all. I think this next decade is going to be fabulous!

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Celebrating Yarndale 2018

It's just over a week since we packed all of our Yarndale paraphernalia back into storage for another year, and I am slowly starting to feel the return of my inner bounce which is something of a relief! It's a funny thing because when I think back over this year's festival, it already feels so far behind us and almost a bit unreal like a dream. I guess this is often the case with Big Events that take up many months of forward planning - it's not that it was an anti climax (it was the opposite of anything anti!!) but now I am out the other side the whole thing has ebbed into a slightly faded memory. A glorious, multi-coloured, inspirational memory mind you, and one that I shan't be forgetting anytime soon.

Back in 2012 when the whole notion of creating a yarn festival was still very much in the idea stage, a small group of us at our cafe knit and natter group began chatting about all the possibilities. We knew we wanted to showcase the very best exhibitors, but we also knew that we wanted Yarndale to be more than just a glorified retail event. We began to visualise demonstrations and skill sharing, and workshops using the talented local textile teachers that we knew. But more than anything, we wanted Yarndale to be a "celebration of creativity" with a focus on the fabulous yarn community that we are all a part of. This is something that I feel passionate about, and I've been determined from the very beginning to try and make this festival of ours chockablock full of joy, colour and lots and lots of happy yarny fun. 

One of the first things I knew for definite was that there should be some yarnbombing involved....how could we possibly hold a creative yarn festival without it?! We started by focusing on the the walk from the train station to the auction mart where Yarndale is held, creating a "yarn walk" for visitors who preferred to wander on foot rather than driving or taking the bus. In the first year I made quite a few decorations for the canal and park with help from a few lovely friends. I crocheted a family of ducks to swim by the canal, a flower garden blooming on a fence, and a whole tree hung with red crochet balls that looked like apples. You can read about it all (here). Sadly, these lovely makes proved irresistible and so much was stolen (including my beloved ducks). It saddened me at the time, but I refused to give up.

The second year we decided to concentrate on the lamp posts which were more robust than our other creations and harder to mess about with. The first year we had around 10 crochet lamp post "wraps" and although one was set fire to (it was acrylic yarn, so only melted a bit), the rest remained intact. So the second year I put a shout out to friends and followers on Facebook, and we managed to gather enough wraps to dress almost all the lamp posts that line the pedestrian pathway through the park.

They take around half a day to install - I use long cable ties to secure them at the top and bottom, then each crochet wrap is stitched up with a seam running down the back.....

..... and they look amazing!

We have twenty five in total and the effect of seeing them against the green of the park is really beautiful. Each year I carefully take down the wraps after the Yarndale weekend, wash and repair them, then store them away ready to be used again next year.

The now famous crochet bunting is always an absolute joy to be reunited with each year, and as soon as it goes up (usually on the Wednesday before Yarndale), there is an instant festival feeling in the air. I'm sure there is a bit of magic in those thousands of crochet triangles! They were made by followers of Attic24 for the first Yarndale in 2013, and we absolutely treasure them. They are so precious to me, providing a beautiful visual representation of our generous world wide yarn and crochet community. To me, they represent everything we hoped that Yarndale would be about - the fun, quirky, passionate, creative and joyful feelings that come from belonging to this yarn community of ours. You can read all about how the bunting was created (here)

This year when we strung up our crochet bunting, there was already a whole ceiling of fairy lights after a previous event took place in August. It added a beautiful twinkle to the large and rather drab room, and made a great backdrop to our pop up Yarndale shop.

One of my biggest commitments for Yarndale is co-ordinating the large scale Creative Community project each year. I love doing this, and although it is a lot of work for me throughout the summer months, the results are always incredible and so worth while. You can read about the creative displays from past years on my blog >>

2013 Bunting

2014 Mandalas

2015 Flowers for Memories (raising money for the Alzheimers Society)

2016 Woolly Sheep (raising money for our local children's hospice)

2017 Creative Hearts (raising money for mental health charity Mind)

As you probably remember, this year's creative project was all to do with butterflies, and oh-my-goodness, it has been sooooooooooooooo beautiful!!! I left it very late to launch the project in early August so we didn't have as many folk joining in with our project as we've had in previous years, but it was no less spectacular.

All in all we received just over 2,500 butterflies, from 354 ladies across the world.....

.....and each and every one of them was made with care, skill and a lot of love.

Throughout August and early September, I had the fantastic job of opening up the parcels and envelopes that were arriving from all over the world and adding more and more beautiful butterflies to the growing kaleidoscope. Although most of the butterflies flying in were crocheted, we were thrilled to receive all types of hand made creations, and I loved seeing the variety and skill in each one.

We had some knitted butterflies........

.....felted butterflies.......

...beautifully stitched butterflies......

....and some with the most delightful embellishments. 

They really were a joy to look at individually, but as a collection they reached a whole different level.

Before I even launched the project, I knew exactly how I would display the butterflies. I had a fantasy about creating a visual collection inspired by the old fashioned Victorian natural history type displays.....you know the ones I mean, that you often see in museums? The butterflies are pinned in neat rows, with small hand written identification labels.

I thought it would be a great idea to take one yarny butterfly from every maker who joined in with this creative community project, pinning them to my board in the style of a Natural History collection. I would credit the name of the maker, and where in the UK/World they were from using small labels. A fab thought I'm sure you'll agree, but you've no idea how HARD it was to execute!!! Oh boy, I really did give myself quite a bit of stress with this! Luckily J stepped in to help me and between us we worked out a methodical way to pin and create labels for the butterflies without muddling up who was who.

I was sooooooooooooooooooo happy with how they turned out, and thrilled that everyone who took the time and trouble to send me a parcel was included (with the exception of a couple of very late arriving parcels).

Take a look................................

What do you think? Aren't they things of beauty?

 At Yarndale, we used old fashioned wooden artists easels to showcase the boards (we are lucky to know some kind and generous arty folk who helped us out with these).

The remaining butterflies were offered to Yarndale visitors in exchange for a donation to our chosen charity which this year was Pioneer Projects (a local charity offering creative arts sessions to help those living with dementia). There were over 2,000 butterflies to lay out, and I couldn't resist arranging them according to colour.....so very me I know, but don't they look beautiful?!

The Kaleidoscope of Butterflies turned out even better than I had imagined in my mind.....

.....and was very popular with our visitors.

I'm thrilled to tell you that we raised a stunning >>>>>>  

 🦋 £2339.94 🦋  for Pioneer Projects!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Such a huge success, and I would like to thank everyone who joined in with making butterflies, or who generously donated during Yarndale weekend. You can see more photos and find out more about the charity on their Facebook page.

We have some butterflies remaining, and these will be passed along to the lovely Sharon who is co-ordinating a hospital charity initiative. Crochet butterflies will be included in "comfort bags" for relatives of end-of-life patients >> more details here >> https://www.cottonpod.co.uk/blogs/news/butterflies-for-remembrance. 

You will probably remember my large mandala hoops from previous years as I've been making and adding to this collection since 2014.

They always look stunning swinging under the tree outside the front entrance to Yarndale, and I love the creative vibe they bring to the festival.

This year I began making a collection of slightly smaller (30cm) hoops - I had planned to make a dozen but ran out of time and only ended up with eight. Still, I was so happy to give them their own tree to dangle from........

.....and they looked amazing dancing away in the afternoon sunshine.

As ever when I do this sort of thing I always think "I need MORE!!" and plan to keep on adding additional hoops each year until I have a truly stunning and fulsome display. More is definitely more with where mandalas are concerned! 

While I was outside in the sunshine with my lovely friend Christine doing mandala things in the trees, inside the auction mart it was beginning to busy up.......

Exhibitors begin arriving at lunch time on the day before Yarndale opens to the public, and have an eight hour window to transform the empty pens into truly fabulous displays of yarny goodness. This year there were more than 200 exhibitors (211 to be precise) and they worked like the clappers to create what I think was our best ever festival. The standard was exceptionally high, and there was such a lot of variety too - oh so much to see, touch, squish, oooohh and aaaahh over! I love the quirkiness and diversity that Yarndale has become so well known for -  this isn't just a yarn show my friends, oh no. There is every single yarn related thing you can think of, and then some you have probably never even heard of. I love to see so many fabulous, unique, independent, artistic businesses come together to share their creativity and passion with an audience who truly appreciates it. Inspiration flies through the air, you can feel the whole building vibrate with it!

I have to appologise here now, as I was extremely lame with my camera this year. In fact, I saw very little of the festival as I was kept so very, very busy in my blanket-covered ring. The only picture on my camera was this..............

...........the lovely people of Injabulu at the very beginning of their set-up. It's so exciting to see and hear the whole set-up in progress, it's an absolute hive of activity and a lot of hard work goes into creating a visitor-worthy festival.

By 9pm the Yarndale team were sitting under the fairy-lit canopy eating fish and chips after a grueling twelve hour work day. It's an odd time when everything is poised and waiting for the doors to open the next day, a real feeling of accomplishment and excitement. 

Early on Saturday morning, I walk along the canal and through the park installing the last of my yarn signs. 

It's the gentle calm before the doors open, and I am already feeling the buzz as I know what is to come.

I take a moment to stand still and breathe in the morning air. I know the weekend is going to be an absolute whirlwind of excitement and activity and I won't get a chance to catch my breathe again until it's all over.

 Inside my cosy area at the centre of the festival and all is well. I had a lot of fun hanging all my blankets out around the auctioneers ring, it was a brilliant way to see them all displayed together and remember the inspirations for each one.

I'm cross because I forgot to take a photo of my crochet banner which I hung on a gate leading into the ring. It looked really flippin' good too! I also didn't manage to take any photos of Christine's famous Yarndale Sock Line which looked amazing. I'm hoping she'll be sharing a blog post about this soon and you'll be able to see a little of how her Yarndale played out.

The above photo was taken on Friday evening once everything was set and ready, the calm before the storm!!. During the weekend, that ring was pretty much full of people all of the time, gosh it was so busy!! I barely got chance to think about eating or doing anything else other than chat with all the hundreds of visitors who had traveled from far and wide to see me.

I borrowed the above photo from my lovely friend Donna who was a volunteer at Yarndale - she has written a lovely account of the weekend with some beautiful photos if you want to hop over and see. Ahh, it was a pretty intense experience for me I have to say, a tidal wave of gratitude and friendship and the best type of happiness radiating out of everybody I spoke to. So many heart-felt stories of crochet journeys taken and even more in the planning, oh it did make me feel good! I adore how we can be so emotionally connected through our love of yarn and colour, and how great it feels to have that sense of "belonging". Crochet blankets are just such feel-good things on so many levels. Love love love my blankets times a gazillion, all the gratitude and all the heart squeezes.

As you probably know by now, I am very happy behind my little point-and-shoot camera and very rarely do I put my face out there into cyberspace. However, in the spirit of friendship and community I make an exception at Yarndale, stepping out of my comfort zone and allowing myself to be drawn into the business of being inside the photographs. Oh boy, this isn't at all easy for me as I do have a very wide shy-streak running through me, but I do my very best not to let that show. I had to share the above photo as it's a rare photo of me with my fab friend Christine, along with two very gorgeous ladies who had traveled all the way from Australia. 

And this one too - this sums up the FUN of Yarndale - again, another beautiful visitor all the way from Finland, who made me laugh and made me so happy with her enthusiasm and joy. And.....I've just realised that she is showing you my crochet banner as well, oh happy day! I so love how that turned out.

I'd like to say a massive big THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to come and say hello to me at Yarndale, most especially those who made considerable journeys to my little patch of Yorkshire. I hope you enjoyed an amazing weekend of yarn and creativity, and that you returned home feeling inspired and full of yarny good vibes. And to those of you who have followed the story from afar and haven't visited Yarndale, I thank you for reading and hope you've enjoyed a little peek behind the scenes.

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ps to be clear, I'd like to mention that Yarndale is a for-profit orgnisation and I am one of the five organisers. I am so proud of our festival and all that we've achieved since the beginning. We remain passionate about this community we belong to and all the fantastic yarny creativity that it brings to our rural market town. You can read more about Yarndale here xx

 

 

 

 

 

In Recovery Mode

So the sixth Yarndale festival came and went in a flurry of frantic activity, high emotion and excitable energy, and I am now firmly in Recovery Mode. For those of you who have never experienced this annual festival of yarn and creativity that I help to organise in my home town, it's hard to explain what it feels like to be a part of it. Over the years it's grown into a pretty sizable event with over 200 exhibitors and around 8,000 visitors, and honestly the whole building feels like it's vibrating with happy energy. It's exciting, inspirational and rather overwhelming, with something of a party atmosphere which makes it feel friendly and down to earth. But boy, is it tiring!! The week leading up to Yarndale is incredibly busy, and the team puts in a lot of hard graft getting everything ready in time. So by the time the doors open for our visitors I am pretty much running on empty to be honest. I get through the weekend on a tide of adrenaline, caffeine and feel-good, but by the end of it all I am fit for nothing other than a bit of exhausted flopping.

I uploaded a whole load of photographs today to show you a little bit of my Yarndale experience, but the words remain jammed in my head and are refusing to tumble forth. So I've decided to wait a little longer and I'll tell you the whole yarny tale at the beginning of next week once I'm properly rested and recovered.

I had all my blankets with me at Yarndale and I LOVED seeing everyone's reaction to them, it was so much fun! I loved the dialogue and the chit chat, the recognition and the reminiscing, and of course the planning too. So many lovely ladies took the leap to start out on a new crochet journey after falling in love with one of my blankets, and that makes me so so so happy!!

I only got around to unpacking my blankets yesterday. I tipped them out in a big heap and just took a moment to appreciate the beautiful muddle of colour and pattern. They are a constant source of joy, delight and comfort, not just for me but for my family as well, and we missed them here in the Attic whilst they were away at Yarndale.

Life after Yarndale always feels quite strange for me. Its as if I've forgotten how to relax and unwind and I feel perpetually on edge. I am mentally and physically exhausted, but at the same time I find it hard to be still and rest. I've been wandering around the town, catching up with friends, popping in and out of shops, taking in the scenery and attempting to feel my way back into my normal non-rushing routine.

Autumn is here, and there is no doubt about it whatsoever. The trees have started to change colour, and the light is so unmistakably Autumnal (especially in the early morning and late afternoon) it makes me want to sigh all the time. Ahhhhhhh.......sigh........it's Autumn. Ever so slightly melancholy but so beautifully mellow and delicious all the same. J is nagging continuously for the fire to be lit, but honestly it's just not quite cold enough yet so I'm holding out. I walked out without a coat on today, although my flip flops have been packed away and I've dug out my woolly knitted socks and polished up my boots. Woolly socks make Autumn feel so good I have to say.

I was doing my rounds in town yesterday visiting the butcher and the baker after having coffee and a catch up with a friend. I was absolutely thrilled to pass by the plant stall on the market and see that they had buckets full of dahlias and asters sitting on the cobbles, oh happy day!! This has become such a seasonal treat for me in the years that I've lived here in this town, I just can't get over the joy these flowers deliver. I pondered for an age over which colour to go for (the orange pom-pom type ones nearly had me), and in the end I went for punchy scarlet........

......oh yeah!!!!!! Freshly picked local flowers, tied up with string and wrapped in paper, the best £2.50 spent all week. Right now I've got them sitting on my table in my button jug, and I tell you the colours are so vibrant the flowers look like they are glowing. Love love love them. 

I'm looking forward to telling you some more about Yarndale 2018 once my emotions are a bit more under control (I fear there would be far too much over-the-top-ness if i tried to explain it all right now). In the meantime a friend made a delightful video of the festival which you can watch if you have ten minutes to indulge in some visual yarny feel good. It gives a good idea of the diversity and talented creativity which Yarndale is so well known for, a feast for the eyes and soul.

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