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Blogtober 2021 : Day 16

It's been a couple of weeks since we walked in the woods (Blogtober Day 2) and it was good to be back. I think a woodland walk may well become a new Saturday morning thing for J and me, a prequel to our market jaunt and café breakfast. I think I'd be pretty okay with that kind of weekend arrangement.

Signs of Autumn were plentiful....

...but it felt fresh and is still surprisingly green in the treetops.

It was beautifully quiet along the woodland paths this morning, and I appreciated the sounds of the little beck as it tumbled it's way over the rocks. No matter how many years I live here, it always comes as something of a surprise when you reach the end of the narrow walkway in the photo above and find yourself suddenly in the town centre. 

Out of the woods and straight into town, how convenient is that? We finished our shopping not long after nine and right on cue my tummy made a really loud "feeeeeeed-me" type of a growl. Time to leave the town behind, head over that little hump backed bridge and into the warmth of the café for some outrageously good coffee and a bite to eat.

Ahhhhhhhhh, that's better!! Saturday morning coffee with J as we waited for our eggs on toast to arrive, and I felt overwhelmed with a feeling of deep gratitude. This simple lifestyle of mine is something I used to dream about when I lived a hectic city life, and I feel so, so lucky to be living it.

During the week we eat wholemeal brown bread, but as a treat on Saturdays I always bring home a traditional baguette from the bakers. Crusty bread always makes me crave soup....

....so today when I got home I decided to make some ready for lunch. I had some leeks which needed using up so I made a simple leek and potato soup (I loosely follow this Delia Smith recipe). 

It was yummy, and I even managed to do a pretty drizzle and a garnish with chives from the yarden. All very wholesome I think you'll agree.

Despite my photos looking decidedly leisurely and weekendish, I did also manage to get a few jobs done. Two loads of laundry washed, dried and put away, the kitty's litter box and eating mat all cleaned and disinfected, bins emptied, a quick swish and swipe around the bathroom surfaces. I'm very slap dash when it comes to housework, and truthfully there is a lot more that I should really be doing on a more regular basis, but I try not to stress over it. I find that clean clothes and good homecooked food are priorities and everything else will get done as and when.

It's been cold today, so I lit the fire in the mid afternoon and settled down right beside the hearth to knit for a little while. It was a slow and pleasurable hour or so - the Little People were all doing their own thing, J was sat in the big chair reading, and I enjoyed those knitty stitches very much.

I finished the leg of sock one, then I cast on and knit the rib for sock two on the second needle. I have two identical small circular needles because I like to knit both socks at the same time. Actually, I've had a few questions lately about the needles I use for knitting socks, so I thought I'd show you what they look like.

After trying out the recommended 30cm short circular needle at the start of my sock making journey I found that it was just a bit too big for my knitting tension (it pulled my stitches too much and kept catching). A friend suggested I try a slightly shorter needle so I switched down to a 23cm length and found it suits me perfectly. They are much harder to find in this length - I would recommend looking for HiyaHiya or ChiaoGhoo brands (you can find HiyaHiya 23cm / 2.5mm short circulars at Wool Warehouse).

Right now I'm sat at the dining table and I've been trying to write this blog for the past three hours. Three HoUrs!! I've had approximately 249 interruptions from the Little People as well as the TV (a supernatural horror drama with lots of screaming), and so I've not got any idea if my writing even strings together properly. I hope it's not too jumbled because I'm too tired now to check through it. I'll just press Publish and hope for the best.

Hoping you've had a great day with lots of happy moments which have made you thankful.

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Blogtober 2021 : Day 15

Ahhh, it's the end of the week and to be honest I feel a little bit done in. Some weeks just feel longer than usual and leave me feeling a weensy bit ragged around the edges, do you know what I mean? Or is it just me? My alarm woke me at 6am and I was so hard and fast asleep it felt like my eyelids were glued together. After a much needed coffee (which I sneak back to bed to drink) and a splash of cold water on my face, I was ready to head out 40 minutes later, and oh, what a truly gorgeous start to the morning it turned out to be.

There is no mistaking the season now, the crisp chill in the air could only belong to autumn. Despite walking much of our early morning walk in semi-darkness, it's still amazing how much we get to see and appreciate. 

Three hours later and I was heading out again, by myself this time. Friday mornings always bring about a feeling of excitement as it's one of my favourite parts of the whole week - precious time spent with my yarny tribe, yippeeee!!

Just look at that sky, isn't it radiant? There wasn't a cloud in sight this morning, the sky was completely clear and blue and it made me feel so good. I hope we have many more days like this before the year is out. Isn't it strange to think that there are only eleven more weeks left in this year - that's right, only seventy seven days left of 2021. How??? I've no idea how, the passing of time honestly baffles me sometimes.

I thought you might like to see the above view which I don't think I've ever shared before. In the morning when I set off on my jaunts, I head down the steep hill from the end of my street, round the corner at the bottom before crossing over the canal via a swing bridge which opens from time to time to let the boats pass through. Once I've crossed the canal I can either turn right to head along the tow path to the park or turn left to head along the tow path towards school town. Or I can walk straight ahead and continue down that steep hill which runs between the mill buildings and takes me to Coopers café and the supermarket etc. Believe it or not this is actually a road where cars drive (cars can also drive across the swing bridge) - I wonder if you have any unusual roads like this where you live? I do enjoy living in such a historical town, and especially love the textile heritage of the old cotton mill buildings here.

Coopers café was a really fun place to be this morning, it was buzzing with friends and all things yarny and I loved it, every single minute of it. It was extra special too because my old friend Tracy (who I used to share the studio with) was visiting for the first time in twenty months since she moved with her family to a very small island far away in Orkney. It was wonderful to see her again, and to catch up with all her news, I've missed her and she hasn't changed a bit which was lovely. 

I spent much of this afternoon with Little Lady, doing my very best to offer advice and support, she is really coming through some wobbles right now. These teenage years can be tricky to navigate, there is so much decision making expected at a time when I don't think they are always ready for it. Add in a dash of sky-high hormones and the melting pot is quite likely to bubble over. The main advice I could offer is that whatever happens at the end of this school year, she will be OK. She will have our unconditional love and support no matter what grades she gets and what she decides to do (or not do). All will be as it should be. I hope that doesn't sound too vague, I mean it with all my heart.

It was definitely time for a little bit of liquid refreshment come four o'clock, that's for sure. We decided not to cook this evening and had a very rare Chinese takeout instead. J and I shared crispy duck and pancakes which is quite the treat I have to say - it was very yummy, but now I am overly full (I ate too much) and feel extremely thirsty. Like I could drink a bath full of chilled fresh water, I am parched dry from head to toe. Water, water, water, it's all I can think about. I want to lie down and rest my full tummy, and drink water for ever.

We are pretty much half way through the month of October now, day fifteen of thirty one. I hope you're still enjoying our daily get togethers during Blogtober and not yawning your way through the sameyness of my daily routines. I wonder if you're visiting any other blogtober blogs? Christine? CJ? Barbara? Do tell me your thoughts, I love to hear them. I'm thinking about doing an "ask me anything" type Q&A sometime next week, is there anything you've always wanted to ask or wanted to know? Gosh, here's me asking you lots of questions, haha, please do feel free to ask me any burning questions and I'll put them together in a post of some sorts.

Right............w....a.....t.....e....r......

I really need to go and get a drink or ten, so I shall love you and leave you and will be back again tomorrow.

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Mandala Hoop Love

I've been meaning to write this post for a long time now, and today seemed like it would be a good time to do it. I wanted to document the collection of mandala hoops I've made over the years so that all the blog post links and pattern details would be easy to find in one place.

I've been making mandala hoops for years, ever since I was involved with Yarndale and had the idea to create colourful crochet decorations for the yarny event. 

At first I was just making these gorgeous starflower mandalas for the creative thrill and excellent colour therapy. But after I'd made two in quick succession and realised how large and eye catching they were (45cm across), I thought that if I could work out a way to attach them to hoops then they would make really excellent hanging decorations.

I made the Starflower Mandalas in 2014 -  the blog post and pattern links are below >

♥ Starflower Mandala blog post ♥

♥ Starflower Mandala pattern by Zelna Olivier ♥

Two years later in 2016 and I was at it again, working on more large 45cm mandala hoops to hang in the trees at Yarndale.

The above two hoops were made using the central part of a free doily pattern I found on Ravelry. Doilies are traditionally made with very fine crochet thread, but the patterns work equally well when crocheted with DK cotton, only they are obviously very much larger.

The blog post and free pattern details for the mandalas shown above are linked below >

♥ Mandala Hoops blog post ♥

♥ Autumn Spice Doily pattern by Elizabeth Ann White ♥

A short while later and I was still obsessing over making these mandala hoops, I just couldn't seem to get them out of my system.

The one pictured above was taken from a pattern for a summer shawl which was published in Simply Crochet magazine (issue 47). Similar to the doily patterns, the shawl was made using much finer yarn, and the original design made a substantial circle. Upscaling to DK weight cotton, I simply crocheted the first 19 rounds to make a 45cm mandala which fit the plastic child's hoops I'd bought.

You can find blog and pattern links below >

♥ Mandala Hoop blog (includes photos showing my method of attaching the mandala to a hoop) ♥ 

♥ Mandala Love Shawl by Elisabeth Davis de Herraiz ♥

Another couple of years later in 2018 I began to make a collection of slightly smaller 30cm mandalas designed to fit into metal craft rings. 

These are quick projects to work on and insanely satisfying, I can highly recommend them if you want to have fun with colour and make something pretty to hang on the wall or dangle somewhere eye catching.

The blog post and pattern links are below >

♥ Mandala Hoops blog (including my own design) ♥

♥ Spirit Mandala pattern by Lilla Björn (shown above) ♥

♥ Dream Catcher Mandala by Emily Littlefair ♥

The mandala pictured above is my own design and I named it the Positivity Mandala.

You can find links below >

♥ Blog post showing colours and photos of the Positivity Mandala in progress ♥

♥ Positivity Mandala pattern and photo tutorial ♥

The above photo shows the first six mandala hoops I made to fit 30cm metal hoops - I LOVE them so much!

Another year on and it's the Spring of 2019. The rather grand building in the photo above is a chateau in the French Alps which has been converted into a beautiful hotel, and I had the pleasure of staying here during the Spring of 2019. Lucky, lucky, lucky me!! This was a working holiday for me as I was invited to be a tutor on a week long crochet retreat, how splendid is that? As it happened, the retreat was so popular when it was released on the Arena Travel website that it sold out in less than 24 hours, so I was asked if I would do a second week. Did they really have to ask??! 

Springtime in the French Alps is absolutely delicious and I had a wonderful time teaching two groups of very lovely ladies. I created a workshop which focused on some elements of colour theory, as well as giving lots of help and advice about planning and creating colour palettes for crochet projects. 

I decided to use mandalas as a way of experimenting with colour and putting some colour theory into practice and I designed some new patterns especially for the retreats.

This is a smaller 20cm hoop and I called this the Daydreamer Mandala. The simplicity of the pattern allowed for the focus to be on the colours, and the decorative dangly bits were a fun way to finish it off.

We used a combination of crochet with felt feathers, wooden beads and ribbons.....

....and the ladies really enjoyed this project. The resulting mandala hoops were so lovely!

I also designed a bigger 30cm mandala hoop which I named the Chateau Mandala. In the photo above, my hoop is the one at the top left of the photo. It was fascinating to see how the ladies selected and ordered their own colours, and how unique each mandala looks even though everyone started out with the same yarn palette. 

Another year on and it's 2020, the year of the pandemic. I crocheted the above rainbow mandala for no other reason than I needed some colour and yarn therapy, and mandala hoops are most excellent at delivering in times of need. This is the same pattern I used in France - the Chateau Mandala - made using a rainbow palette of Ricorumi DK. 

I love the way it turned out, and really enjoyed working from my own pattern which added another layer of satisfaction to this sweet project.

The rainbow Chateau Mandala is here in the Attic right now, but not for too much longer. You see, I've offered to donate it to a charity raffle which is happening this coming Sunday 17th. The raffle has been organised by my lovely blogging friend Helen to raise money for a charity which is very close to her heart. There are prizes to be won every week, and they are all of a yarny nature - my mandala is only a small part of a larger prize this week and it's absolutely fabulous - you can see more on Helen's blog .

The raffle is run via Just Giving, so the idea is that you donate to buy raffle tickets. So £2 will buy you two tickets, £5 five tickets etc. You can donate right up to the end of Sunday, and the winner will be announced on Monday, does that makes sense? It's open worldwide too. Here is the direct link to the raffle page >>>

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/helen-kurtz

Helen has raised more than £21,000 in the past two years which is a remarkable achievement, please support if you can.

Well, I think that's all my mandala madness for now, I hope you've enjoyed seeing my projects from the past seven years all in one place, and who knows, perhaps you might feel inspired to make some for yourself?

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ps I forgot to add links in for hoops, so here they are for reference >>

♥ 30cm white metal craft hoop

♥ 30cm wooden craft hoop

♥ 45cm child's hula hoop

 

 

 

Blogtober 2021 :: Day 13

Ahhhh, I've had a slow, slow day here today and it's been good. My battery has felt a bit flat so I've been thankful to have a day with very little in the way of plans or any real need to do very much. There has of course been the usual before-school jobs  to get through, most of which I pretty much do on auto pilot. Emptying the dishwasher, making the bed, putting a laundry load into the washing machine, making packed lunches, getting breakfast together for Little B etc etc. Speaking of the littlest child, he has settled really well into secondary school life and seems to be enjoying his days very much. He still needs a fair bit of parenting in the mornings to ensure that he actually gets out of bed at 8am and gets himself clean, dressed, bag packed and all the rest of it. I'm happy to do the parenting, I like to still be involved with his boy-life on some basic level as he is becoming increasingly independent and needs me less and less these days. 

J and I are sticking to our new morning routine which takes us out the door at 6.30 (ish) for a 45 minute walk around the neighbourhood. I am still enjoying it, or more to the point I find I really enjoy the way it makes me feel when I walk back in the door. It's definitely an energy booster.

At 10am we head to the café for our morning cappuccino, and it's honestly such a nice thing to do. It's a short half hour or so for J to take a break from his screen and for us to enjoy a little bit of time together and it's a lovely perk of us both working from home. 

When I got home from the café I felt at a bit of a loose end, not really sure what to do with myself. I do have a big project on the go at the moment (I'm working on the next CAL blanket) but I felt like I wanted to start something new. In the end I decided to cast on my socks because the yarn was sat on the table patiently waiting for me to play with it. 

It's been cold and gloomy today and my bones have felt chilled and achy, so I lit the fire just after lunch. It gave me an excuse to move away from the table and sit next to the hearth to knit, well I had to take care of the fire but also the warmth greatly helps my joints and eases the discomfort a lot. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy the satisfaction of seeing those knitty, stripy rows appear in my hands, and I made some good progress on the first sock.

The Little People are both home from school by 3.45 so I generally stop whatever I'm doing and make time to talk to them both, to find out about their days and chat about anything they feel like sharing with me. It's one of my favourite things at the moment, the little catch-up conversations we have each day at this time in the afternoon.

After mentioning it yesterday, I thought you might like to see my Birthday cake (it's this one from Tesco, and I can highly, highly recommend it). It's now just a beautiful memory as we polished it off tonight, but oh my gosh it was seriously yummy.  By the way, thank you SO MUCH for all of your sweet birthday wishes on my last post, I'm very touched by all the good vibes you send my way. Thank you, thank you.

I've just spent the past hour being interrupted by Little Lady as we continue the university research. We are booked onto another couple of open days (Sheffield and Manchester) so there will be more travel in my immediate future. There is so much to think about and organise it seems, especially as she's not quite sure exactly what course to go for - the vast number of choices is blowing my mind somewhat. My brain is now very, very tired indeed.

I'm going to head up to bed in a little while, maybe I'll switch on my new little house lights (bought from Foxtails and Feathers which is a small online business I came across on instagram), and try and relax myself a little. 

I've got a new candle to light too, it was a birthday present from a good friend who knows me well, and it is absolutely wonderful. You know how much I love the scent of eucalyptus, well this is the main scent of Quiescent and it's so refreshing and calming.

Here is what the blurb says about it...

" Eucalyptus is uplifting, cleansing and fresh and the floral notes of lavender soften this scent and provides a sense of calm. Frankincense delivers a resinous base note that's grounding, complex and earthy. Overall, Quiescent is comforting, pure and luxurious "

I am very much looking forward to being calmed and comforted a little before my eyes close....

........see you tomorrow, sleep tight xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

Blogtober 2021 :: Day 12

This morning my friend messaged me and told me to be ready at 9am prompt, because we would be going out for breakfast. Not one to argue about an unexpected breakfast invitation, I quickly got myself together and shortly after nine we were strolling through the park in the direction of the farm shop. It's very Autumnal out there now, my boots are on and leaves are falling down everywhere you look.

This is the view from the top of the hill before descending the steps down to the farm shop footpath - it was cool and overcast today, excellent weather for eating a proper good breakfast with a frothy coffee or two.

With less than three weeks till Halloween there are pumpkins on display everywhere, and the ones at the front of the farm shop looked very seasonal and lovely. But it was the bucket of tulips that caught my eye and stole my heart....oooooo, those frilly orange ones were very flirty indeed and I was extremely tempted by their charming ways.

However, I already have fresh flowers on my table this week......

....these exuberant lilies are lighting up the room, and although they aren't the kind of flowers I would usually buy for myself, they are very lovely indeed. Little Lady bought them for me, knowing that I would love the bright colours (and the scent which is already filling the room), and I came downstairs early this morning to find them on the table waiting for me. 

Today is my birthday, fifty-three years of life on planet Earth. The Little People really hit the jackpot with the chocolate-and-salted-caramel theme, and gifted generously to support my addiction....very happy about the current chocolate sitch I have to say.

When you've been eating a healthy diet for a length of time, in particular the restriction of sugary things, it can be difficult to remember how very, very good the sugary things taste. It's like your brain erases the sugary memories so that you adapt to the new low-sugar normal. Then when your friends surprise you with a plate of the most wonderous and extravagantly sugar filled slice of baked goods at your knit and natter sesh, well, the resulting pleasure high is next level. It was utterly delicious, in every way. 

I had a great little outing to the supermarket with the Little People this afternoon once they'd returned from school - we went to purchase a collection of party foods for tonights Birthday Tea. I let them choose, and we ended up with all sorts of tasty morsels - baby sausage rolls, a variety of salamis and cured meats, olives, sundried tomatoes and baby mozzarella balls, chorizo and chicken koftas, spinach and feta filo pastry parcels, baby plum tomatoes and a french stick. We also chose a birthday cake (chocolate and salted caramel, of course), and a bottle of pink prosecco. It was absolutely heavenly - all I had to do was heat up a few things on a tray in the oven for ten minutes, and the rest was just plonked on the table so that we could all help ourselves with minimal labour involved. I served up pink prosecco in my vintage champagne saucers (allowing the Little People a small slurp each in their own glasses) and it was a most excellent birthday tea.

Ahhhh, I've had the best day, and I'm so grateful for family and friends, good food and good company and for the easy happiness that fills my days. 

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Blogtober 2021 :: Day 11

A few weeks ago we decided that on this particular Monday we would drive the fifty or so miles to the west coast to spend some hours seeking out the shoreline. J knows how much I love being by the sea and that a day spent pootling around on the beach would be guaranteed to make me happy.

Being a Monday morning it was very quiet indeed, and the usually bustling promenade was pretty much deserted. Oh, I forgot to say, in case you didn't recognise the photos, this is Lytham St Annes on the Lancashire coast. We've been here many times before, and it was the place that inspired my Dune blanket. 

There you go - away from the promenade and to the north of the pier area, the huuuuuge sandy beach is backed by miles of sand dunes.

The openness of this coastal land/seascape is very captivating, even though I definitely prefer cliffs to dunes. I also really happen to like pebbly beaches, and beaches with rock pools to explore at low tide. I like harbours too (love them actually), and cute little harbourside cottages. St Annes has none of these things, but what it does have is space. Loads and loads and loads of space, and on a quiet, sunny Monday in October it was an incredibly relaxing place to be.

By the time we were walking in the dunes it was lunch time (the morning had been spent strolling along the promenade and stopping for a morning coffee in the park). We hadn't taken a picnic lunch with us, but after a quick call into the local supermarket we had the makings of a really super al fresco lunch. This is one of my favourite types of meals to eat and I crave it often. Salty crackers, Spanish salami, impossibly thin slices of Iberico cheese, herby Italian ham. Sweet cherry tomatoes, grapes and crispy apples, thickly cut salt and vinegar crisps. Salted Caramel dark chocolate to finish off. 

Oh my. So so so good.

We spread out a picnic blanket in a sheltered spot in the dunes above the beach, and settled down for a while to eat and enjoy the warmth of the sun.

I found a tiny, perfect stripy snail shell in the sand, isn't nature just amazingly mind blowing at times? I have a particular love of shells of all forms (land and sea), in fact it's probably right up there with my moss obsession. 

You can see in the above photo that the sea is a long way away, in fact you'd be hard pushed to actually see any of it from the dunes but you could certainly hear the waves. It was around 1 o'clock and we knew the tide was on it's way in and that high tide was sometime after three. So we decided to take advantage of the tranquil location and indulge in a bit of total relaxation while we waited for the water to come a bit closer. We lay down on our picnic rug, and with the sounds of the distant waves and the breeze blowing through the grasses we both had a little afternoon sunshine snooze! It was unintentional - we both kind of dozed off at around the same time and it felt absolutely amazing to be so totally relaxed and in the moment. 

Eventually we were ready to pack up and walk down to the sea....

....over the wet sands....

....stopping every so often to collect little bits of beach treasure.

We saw some kitesurfers having fun in the shallow waters, and I couldn't wait to reach the waves. It took about 15 minutes to walk from the dunes to the sea....

....and as you can see the waves were very small and dainty because the sea is very shallow as it moves across the sands here. 

The tide on this coast is famous for the speed at which it moves, and you can honestly see the sand disappearing by the second as the water rushes in. It's mesmerising to watch and I could have stood there for ages but sadly it was time for us to head back.

These little day trips on a school day are short and sweet, I think we spent about four hours in total by the sea today and I absolutely loved it. It was such a relaxing way to spend some time, and I'm hoping that we can do it again soon. Sea air is so good for the soul.

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Blogtober 2021 :: Day 10

I had that thing this morning where I woke up and looked at the clock, saw that I'd slept in till seven which immediately set off an almighty panic that I was running late for a school morning, only to then realise that it's actually Sunday. It was such a massive rollercoaster of emotion all contained within about five seconds - panic, dread, relief. It left me feeling a bit strung out for a while, but eventually my brain got the memo that it really was the weekend and all was well. After so much walking and travelling yesterday I slept really well but I still woke up feeling tired, so it was lovely to have a slow start to the day.

At 9.30 I made myself breakfast and decided to take it back up to bed for the full-on slow Sunday experience. I was craving a bowl of comforting porridge, and I remembered that a little while ago I bought myself a giant soup mug which I hadn't yet used. It's the sort that comes with a lid with an air vent in it, designed for you to heat up your soup or noodles in the microwave, do you know what I mean? I think I only paid £3 for it in my local sells-everything shop, and it's absolutely lovely to use, really chunky and satisfying to hold and eat out of. If my porridge looks a bit weird and lumpy it's because I stirred in some passion fruit pulp and sliced banana to sweeten. It was a delicious breakfast, if a bit on the chewy side.

I'm back to taking a daily dose of vitamin D with my breakfast, after finding that they did seem to help my mood last year through the very darkest months. October till April, these little golden things are a must for me. Do you take any vitamins or supplements, anything that you would not go without?

Today might have had a slow start, but it wasn't a day without plans - we had a lunch date over the border in Lancashire with my in-laws. J is the oldest of four siblings, with two younger brothers and a sister, and they all live reasonably close by (well, within a 90 minute drive). J's Mum and Dad are the loveliest people imaginable and it's obvious how much they absolutely love having their children and grandchildren all together. It makes for a slightly chaotic gathering in their Victorian terraced house but there is always a lot of good humour to the proceedings. 

After lunch we decided to take the dog and the children for a walk to the local park which is just ten minutes walk up the hill.

We used to regularly visit this park when my own Little People were small - it's a lovely open space high up above the town, with far reaching views out to the high peaks of the Yorkshire Dales in the distance.

It was such a beautiful Autumnal afternoon, bright and breezy but still surprisingly warm for this time of year. The light was so beautiful, very soft and mellow and exactly what you might think of when you ponder on a sunny October day.

While the Little People ran around and played, J and his brother sat on a bench and talked about work and man stuff. And me? Well I wandered around drinking in all the seasonal beauty, of course I did. It's my speciality.

Soon it was time to head back, a slow amble down the steep slopes with weary little children ready for home. 

When we got back to the Attic it was after 4pm and once I'd gotten settled with a cup of coffee I suddenly felt unbelievably tired. So I declared to the family that I was having a night off from cooking and they took it in stride, everyone agreeing to do their own thing as and when they felt like it. It's rare that I don't make us all an evening meal, but every so often I simply feel too tired to do it, and besides, I think it's good for the Little People to learn how to fend for themselves. Little B decided he would make himself some pasta, so I did supervise his endeavour because it was the first time he'd ever done it for himself and boiling water was involved. He did good - it was simply done, a bowl of penne tossed in a little butter and seasoned, then some grated cheese on top, but he was super chuffed with himself for making it with minimal help from me.

I lit the fire this evening for comfort and cheer more than the need for heat, and I'm so glad I did. It's one of my bestest and most favourite seasonal pleasures, and never fails to make me feel content with my lot. Add in a pair of hand knitted socks, light some candles and suddenly the darkening evening feels very blissful indeed.

It's 9pm now, and I'm still sat in front of the fire with my laptop in front of me on the coffee table. J is watching an old favourite film - "Withnail and I" which is making me hoot with laughter in between trying to write coherent blog sentences. I think I'll go and join him on the sofa and watch the rest of the film....I'll see you tomorrow xxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

 

Blogtober 2021 :: Day 9

Well I think it's safe to say that I'm absolutely exhausted - I hadn't realised I would be home so late in the day, and I'm afraid I've not got a lot of blogging oomph in me right now. We set off to catch the eight o'clock train this morning, Little Lady and I, travelling north on an adventure to the city of Newcastle. We've been to visit the university for their open day, and it was a really great experience I have to say. Newcastle university is old (founded in the 1830's) and the buildings are absolutely beautiful. It's also a huge establishment with a very large campus and over twenty thousand students, but the atmosphere was really friendly and welcoming and I felt like it would be a great place to spend some years studying and living life. We took a tour of the campus and sat in on a couple of talks so that Little Lady could get a feel for the university as well as the department and subject she is considering.

Later in the day once we'd seen pretty much all there was to see around the university, we took a walk through the centre of the city and down to the quayside. The River Tyne is huuuuuuge and it's all about the bridges, of which there are many, and they are all huuuuuuge too. We found our way into a very nice Italian restaurant beside the river and I enjoyed a glass of chilled rosé with a plate of the most scrumptious pasta (butternut squash and sage ravioli with walnuts, it was mouth wateringly good). We finished off with an affogato so there is a high chance I am running on espresso energy right now.

It takes two and a half hours by train to travel from Atticland to Newcastle, so it's been quite a long day, but a really good one. I'm not sure whether Little Lady will end up choosing this particular university, but it's always fun to visit new places and consider possibilities. And eat exceptionally good pasta.

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Blogtober 2021 :: Day 8

Six thirty seven this morning, and I'm stood at the end of my street looking out across the twinkly lights of the town just as the day is waking up. It felt so good to be out breathing in the still of the early morning.

It was a lovely walk with lots of sky appreciation and general gratitude for October weather that is mild enough for us to ditch the coats.

Nine thirty five and I'm in one of my favourite places with some of my favourite people, settling in for three hours of good coffee, yarny pleasures, happy chatter and tears-down-the-face laughter. I can't even remember now what made me laugh so hard, but it's not an unusual occurrence for a Friday morning at Coopers.

Awww, look at my gorgeous friends, look how smiley they are! I promise you that they are all making their own Yuletide blankets without any encouragement from me, they just happen to like the way I put colours together I think. Our creative group is a mixture of crocheters, knitters and stitchers and it really is lovely to see what's on the hooks and needles each week. We inspire each other in so many ways and I couldn't be more grateful for these friends of mine.

It's early afternoon now, twelve thirty, and I'm strolling home from the café in the warm sunshine. I decide to walk home along the narrow pathway which borders the beck before climbing the steps up to the canal tow path. Feeling the sunshine warm on my back as I walk slowly homewards is the most blissful feeling.

Three o'clock and I'm in the kitchen, unpacking the shopping bags after a quick jaunt into town with J. I'm off on a trip tomorrow and need to set off early so won't be able to manage our usual Saturday morning market visit. Luckily Friday is also a market day, so fruit, veggies and cheese came home with us today, as well as sausages, eggs and bread from the butcher and baker. We buy loads of tomatoes from the market every week (often topping up again on a Wednesday), Little B in particular has a real addiction for tomatoes and eats them every day without fail.

Four o'clock and it feels like the right time to prepare my sock yarn. Please don't be alarmed by the above photo, all is under control! I learnt about stripe matching from the Sock Queen herself, she has a tutorial on her blog to tell you how to go about it. You have to split a 100g ball in half, then attempt to decipher the colours so that you can make up two identical 50g balls which start in exactly the same place (all is explained here). Fortunately this Regia yarn has very distinct stripes so it was easy peasy to find matching starting points.

I use my trusty yarn winder to make centre-pull yarn cakes, and honestly it's the most satisfying task. I mean, just look how beeeeeeautiful the yarn looks! All that glorious colour waiting to come and hang out on my feet. I need to cast on now and get started with the knitty business, I hope I can remember how to do it as it's been a while.

Right now it's six o'clock and I think a small glass of chilled sauv blanc will feature in my immediate future. Wishing you a fabulous weekend whatever your plans - I'll hopefully have a few photos to show you tomorrow evening when I get home from my day trip, although I can't promise I'll have much energy for words.

See you tomorrow xxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

Yuletide Mandala :: Ta-dah!

I expect most of you will be familiar with the Yuletide blanket by now because I have been going on and on about it rather a lot. I'm kind of not-sorry about it, I do tend to get pretty obsessed by colours and patterns when they are really floating my boat and it takes a while for me to work them out of my system. And lucky you, you get to hear alllllllll about it because I am prone to oversharing when my boat is floating. If by any slim chance you haven't heard about the Yuletide blanket, then you can find all the deets in a blog post ((here)).

I'm not sure what made me think about making the square stitch pattern into a circular one, it was one of those ideas that just pinged into my Creative Mind mind and once it was lodged there I just could not let it go. I had a chat about the design process in Blogtober day 4,  and despite it being a little harder than I'd anticipated, I did eventually manage to nail down the numbers and make the whole thing work. I'm really happy with the Yuletide Mandala and intend for it to be used as a table mat on my festive table, to sit under a jug of seasonal blooms.

Mandalas are brilliant things to make if you have a creative itch to scratch, because they are absolutely perfect vehicles for colour play. They don't take long to whizz off your hook so there is always an imminent ta-dah moment and that makes for an exciting type of project. I've designed and made quite a few mandalas over the years, some small and some large. You can find my first ever design (pictured above, bottom right) as a tutorial here on my blog (it's called "Attic24 Mandala Wheel" in my pattern list), and it's a really good pattern for beginners to try.

The mandala in the photo above with the pink scallop edge is always on my table, so you've probably seen the edge of it in many of my flower photos. It's called the Mollie Mandala because the original version of it was designed for Mollie Makes magazine some years ago. I've also used it to teach a crochet workshop for Stylecraft Yarns, so I decided to keep the pattern unpublished and reserved as a teaching pattern for my own use. I've had loads of requests for it though, so it's been on my mind to create another similar mandala with a scallop edge to share here on my blog. The Yuletide Mandala seemed like it would work well with a scallop, so I'm really happy to give you this new mandala so that you can make something pretty for your own table. It's a great project to use up any odds and ends of yarn left over from making blankets, and I hope you have fun trying out your own colour combinations.

One more thing about the above photo - you can see that the Yuletide mandala is a bit bigger than the ones I usually make, measuring 23cm across....

....but I had a go at making a smaller version (18cm across) to see if the numbers worked out. I'm happy to report that they did - the final round before the scallops has to be a multiple of 4.

After the success of the Yuletide mandala, I wanted to try making another one in a completely different colour palette. I had in mind something autumnal, and inspired by the pages of the latest Country Living magazine (you can see them in this post) I picked out a selection of dusky pinks, golds and soft greens. I don't think it screams autumn, but it does have a link to those very photogenic images of pumpkins that are all over the internet (I shared some inspiration photos in this post).

I used Stylecraft Special DK from my stash and chose ten colours in total :

Vintage Peach : Pale Rose : Mushroom : Mocha : Buttermilk : Camel : Gold : Meadow : Lincoln : Sage

I absolutely love love love it, and kept feeling that it was somehow familiar.....

.....then finally realised that it shares many of the same colours as my Dune Blanket.

The smaller mandala I made yesterday is perhaps more autumnal - I picked out eight colours for this one : 

Claret : Tomato : Spice : Gold : Lime : Meadow : Sage : Teal

I don't like this one quite as much - I chose to blend the colours, but I think the Yuletide spike stitch pattern works best when there are strong contrasts instead of subtle blends, to make those little hearts pop out. 

If you're making the Yuletide blanket, then this pattern will already be very familiar to you. Please note that there are some small changes which make a big difference and ensure the mandala ends up as a flat circle and not a bowl shape (ie there are extra spikes, chains and treble increases worked into the rounds). That's a subtle hint to say please read the pattern carefully!

I made a PDF pattern for you, well it was a joint effort because J does all the layout stuff for me and turns my written blurb into something that looks like an actual pattern. I also spent the majority of today creating a tutorial to go with the pattern - I know many of you said you didn't need one but I hated the thought that anyone might struggle without additional photos to help.

❂ DOWNLOAD YULETIDE MANDALA PDF PATTERN ❂

❂ YULETIDE MANDALA TUTORIAL ❂

At the start of the tutorial I added in some additional photos to chat about crocheting a circle, mainly focusing on how to create a neat join and how to "read" the stitches so that you avoid adding in any extra stitches which is a common mistake. I hope it's useful, especially to those of you who are new to working circular patterns.

Well I think that's about all for now, I hope you've enjoyed seeing the results of my creativity this week. I've been on such a happy high working on these lovely circles of colour, they really have delivered a lot of joy.

See you tomorrow xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx