Attic24

Home

Home :: don't you think that word is one of the most heart warming words ever ever ever?? Doesn't it just make you think of warmth and comfort and security and happiness, of love and laughter and contentment?
I adore my home. I love being at home, love my days spent here at number 24, pottering around within these solid, warm, old stone walls. Can think of no place I would rather be (well excepting on certain days when I long to be beside the sea). I feel blessed by my love of All Things Home as it serves me well and provides easy-to-come-by satisfaction and happiness 365days of the year. I am a true, natural born Home Bird, with an intense love of Domestic Pottering. I do not ever feel the need to go take a job in order to find stimulation or interaction or satisfaction or sociability (is that a word?). For me, HOME is where it's at. I know it's not for everybody, but for me, yup, I am one very happy stay-at-home bird.

I have to tell you I'm getting quite giddily excited about all things h.o.m.e around here, excited that home improvements are at last happening, and excited thinking about our future Big Plans for this humble dwelling of ours.
And talking of home improvements, I have to say a big ((thank you)) for all your recent inquiries about our new bathroom and I'm sorry that I am not quite able to reveal it's makeover just yet. All is going well :: the two bathroom blokes vacated the building on Tuesday, and in their place today we have a Sparky. Just the one, a very nice electrician called Len who whistles while he works. Who I hope is not afraid of spiders because there appears to be the mother of all cobwebs in residence across the electrical spaghetti-junction down in the cellar. After Len has finished trailing cables, hoiking up floorboards and doing his wiry pluggy things, there will be a floor-fitting man and a window-fitting man to come. 

Oh, and then the walls will also need to be painted. Its uncertain yet whether I will have to get jiggy with a paint brush or whether we can try and eek a few more pennies out of the coffers to pay for a decorator to do the job professionally. Its the high ceilings, especially above the bath, which makes me think it's a no-can-do for me, and truth be told, I am not a very good decorator. No, I get far to giddy to make a good job of it. But what I do plan on doing next week is repainting the old streaky green wooden shelf and bathroom cabinet in suitably fresh, bright, jaunty colours and making a blind/curtain for the bathroom window. Those things I can do without risk of breaking my neck up a ladder with a paintbrush. I shall keep my feet on the ground and stick to prettifying. I am quite good at prettifying. Yes creating/purchasing things to make a room look homely is one of my talents.

And talking of purchasing, I am off to London City tomorrow on an inspirational shopping jaunt with my wonderful friend Lovely C. VERY excited oooeeeee, yes I am!!!!!!

The train leaves the station at 6:42am.

Hope I can transform myself from a Home Bird into an Early Bird.

Have a fabulous weekend one and all :: see you next week for Tales from the City.
xx

Loving Today

:: early morning sky ::

:: the view this morning from the end of my street ::

:: my walk home from school ::

:: noticing snowdrops growing in my front garden ::

:: wearing beautiful hand made jewellery ::

 

:: new pomegranate and raspberry hand soap in the kitchen ::

:: a vase of fresh flowers  ::

:: noticing the beauty inside these tulips ::

:: eating a home made bun  with my morning coffee ::

:: morning sunshine streaming in through the window ::

:: evidence of Little Lady's early morning play still on the windowsill ::

 

:: evidence of Little Man's early morning creativity still on the table ::

:: stitching orange beady bird feet ::

:: my growing pile of blanket squares ::

:: Finally planning the long-thought-about tea-towel quilt ::

:: a jar of sea glass, reminding me to make a visit to the coast very soon ::

:: shiny chrome and gleaming white ceramic in the bathroom ::

Hope you are Loving your own Today too?
xx

Shoots + Stripes

I bought this pot of bulbs yesterday afternoon at the supermarket.
Carried it carefully home in my bag along with the groceries.
I find it hard to resist the lure of fresh green shoots.
Something so irresistible about them.
I love looking at them, knowing that at some point in the not too distant future, the pretty little flower heads of tete a tete narcissi will eventually appear from amidst this greenery.

I like that I can buy living greenery alongside my groceries.
I like that I can choose to discard the brown plastic pot they are living in and find an alternative.
I like that I can recycle glass jam jars, of which I have an impressive stash.

I decide that Shoots + Stripes will be perfect together.
I choose blue and white, a la Cornishware.
Because I have a soft spot for Cornishware + Bulbs.
I sit a while with yarn + hook, with blue + white.
And Stripes are made.

Stripes to wrap around the roots of the shoots.

I am so looking forward to Stripes + Shoots + Flowers.
Because then I will know that Spring isn't too far away.

Simply Saturday

Ahhh here we are again, Monday morning and another week rolling in. Is it just me or does 2009 seem to be made of extra super speedy whizzy days? I feel I can hardly keep up with this month. 

As is often the case on Mondays, todays post has formed as a direct result of whats-on-the-camera after the weekend has been and gone. This is a tale of an ordinary, no-frills Simple January Saturday. A day typical of weekends spent at home when nothing has been planned and the weather outside is slightly off putting. When there is no particular need to hurry, and no particular need to do anything much. I find that these sorts of days, for me, often turn out to contain the most happy, relaxed, unexpectedly blissful little snippets of family life.

I expect there are several other remarkably similar posts in my archives...remember this post from the end of December? And this one from October? Oh and yes, hang on, I'm thinking also of this post, crikey, was that really as far back as April??? Lordy, there has been a lot of gas bagging in the Attic since way-back-then! 

I spent a delightful few hours on Saturday morning sat in bed. Nesting. Snuggling. Tea-drinking and hooking. It was quite honestly a most delightful little bit of me-time (once husband was out of my "nest" and the Little People were engaged in various activities downstairs). I am continuing to love-love-love working my Summer Garden blanket, it has me totally blissed out. And just look how charming it looks next to the ripple! They are made from different yarns, but both being Rowan, the colours are so in tune don't you think? Oh, they are going to be such good buddies these two blankies.

At about 9am or thereabouts, I hear fast running footsteps coming up the stairs.

Little Man comes racing in.

He has wide, excited eyes, and is all flushed and full of that bursting sort of excited energy that is particular to six year olds.

He is trying to tell me something but is talking so fast his words tumble out all in a muddle.

I eventually get the jist of what he is saying...he tells me he has been busy in the kitchen and that he has made bun-mixture. Yes, Real Bun-Mixture!

All. By. Himself. No Help!! Quick, quick, come see!! COME NOW!!!!

Truthfully I am enjoying my quiet hooky time in my nest, but slowly the words that I have heard reach my brain and I begin to compute the reality of what has been taking place downstairs. Little man, in the kitchen, concocting bun-mixture with no help? Sounds very ominous indeed, and potentially very very messy.....

I venture downstairs and yes, messy is right. Flour is everywhere.

I start to moan, a low, slow moan.

He tells me not to worry cos he has tidied away and put all the dirty dishes in the dishwasher.

I moan louder, because I realise that the dishwasher has not been emptied yet and he has dumped all his dirty bowls in on top of the clean ones.

Everything is floury and oily.

The moan becomes a loud shouty bellow. I am so cross.

Yet he stands and takes it, and says sorry, and he shows me the mixing bowl full of his very own bun-mixture.

It is lumpy and runny looking.

And I look at it, and look at his excited little face and suddenly feel overwhelmed with love and pride as he tells me how he tried very hard to remember how I make buns and put all the right ingredients in. He put flour, butter, sugar, an egg, some oil and a little water. My heart is almost bursting as he tells me all this.

He begs me to help him bake it.

How can I refuse?

He spoons the running, lumpy mixture into bun cases and in to the oven to see if by some miracle there will be buns.

And look!! He actually made buns! Can you imagine the excitement??!!

Oh, it was absolutely one of the most precious moments when those buns came out the oven.

He asks me to help him make icing and proceeds to select all his decorating ingredients. He is very familiar with my baking drawer I notice.

Later that morning, he has a friend come to call, and they eat all six buns between them.

Oh how I laughed!

1.37pm, after lunch and I quietly gather up my crochet, tea and bun (one of my own buns you notice) and tiptoe quietly out of the sitting room, up two flights of stairs and close myself in the Attic. J doesn't like it when I go up to the Attic at weekends, he thinks for some reason that I am up to no good when I am up here at weekends.

I settle in to the window seat and work quietly on my bathroom bunting.

It's beautifully peaceful, and I watch sunshine and shadows roll out over the hills.

The crochet bunting works out far better than I ever imagined it would. I am incredibly thrilled with it. It's jolly and fun and quirky and bright and happy looking.

And of course, completely useless. HA!! I just adore bunting for being so totally pointless, but unashamedly good all the same.

I feel as if I am six years old, I am all wide-eyed and flushed and excited as I run around the house with my string of useless crochet, exclaiming to myself (!!) and trying it out along shelf edges, along the top of windows, over mirrors, along my mantle. I am mentally planning at least  a dozen more strings in various colours to go all over the house. 

What fun!!!!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Edited to add :: Bunting-lovers, the pattern/tutorial will be coming very soon xx

Bathroom styling

House renovation is never going to be an easy ride is it? It's never going to be enjoyable whist one is living through it, is it? I am trying my very best not to get irritated by the noise, mess, chaos and inconvenience. As the bathroom is the first room to be given it's bright new makeover, we still have a long way to go, and I know that there will be a great deal more noise, mess, chaos and inconvenience to contend with before the year is out. And I also know it will be worth it.
My two grouchy bathroom workmen have in fact turned out to be extremely hard working and professional, and are doing a wonderful job. They simply don't appear to like female chitchat very much. The first day I was quite put out by them. But now on day four, I am saying okeedokee, I get it now, I am not taking it personally. I am choosing to either be out of the house dilly-dallying with friends, or ensconced up here in the Attic, and I am doing OK.

So far, as is the norm for us, we have really given the whole bathroom makeover very little thought. Not a lot of research was done, we have flown it a little (well honestly, a lot) by the seat of our pants. We have used a local, independent supplier for everything, and went for simplicity above all else. The  bath and shower were selected in rather a hurry from a catalogue. Tiles are plain white squares, no fancy bits. Taps (also chosen in a hurry from a  catalogue) are chunky chrome. So far so good, I think it's going to be great. Simple, clean and basic, but great.

Do you know, it suddenly occurred to me this morning that very soon the fun part of renovating  this little room will begin, the bit that I can start to get excited about :: the Styling. And I expect by now from the pictures on todays post, you have got an idea of which way my bathroom is going. Its not going to be classic, or sophisticated, or traditional, no no no, that's not my style at all. No, it's going to be light and bright and fun. Of course! And it's going to have crochet in it. Haha, no kidding, I already decided that every single room in my house will eventually have some crochet goodness within, and that includes the bathroom. So I've started  making some little triangles to create a mini string of bunting flags, and quite honestly I am getting huge thrills out of this idea.

I have been very inspired by the artwork of Janet Bell, who's paintings I absolutely adore. So I've decided that my bathroom is going to be very much decorated along these lines. The above picture is a greetings card I bought just before Christmas, and is titled "harbour by day". Aren't the colours just beautiful? I love the clear shades of turquoisey blues she uses in her work, and the sight of bright jaunty boats, beach huts, bunting flags and harbourside houses just fill me with joy. And oh how I do love to be filled with joy! I hope eventually that every nook and cranny of my house will give me this feeling. That's my hope. That's what's keeping me going through the noise, mess, chaos and inconvenience.

And talking of inconvenience, right now I really do need a wee, so I must be off. A quick dash to the supermarket to errrm, well, to use their facilities. Byyeeeeee!

xxxxxx

 

Flowers and Granny's (again)

Morning all. I am very aware that my posts are a little repetitive at the moment :: I am not apologising for it because in my humble opinion there is no such thing as too much yarn or floral goodness. I find that days full of fresh flowers and colourful yarn can make one feel quite wonderful, especially if other things in ones life are not so wonderful.

The weather is appalling here this week, bitterly cold, windy, wet, stormy, grey.
I have noisy, grouchy workmen in the house, ripping sh*t out of my bathroom.
The noise is horrendous (think alarming banging and splintering wood).
I cannot think straight.
I cannot wash my hair.
I cannot take a pee.
I hate brushing my teeth at the kitchen sink.

But this week's purpley-pink tulips make me smile, and my crochet continues to provide me with oodles of pleasure.

I was going to show you pictures of my bathroom today, you know, to keep my blog "current" with events taking place. But when I uploaded them to the computer this morning I realised how awful they look. I will save them for a "before and after" post when all the "before" chaos has gone and we can oooh and ahh at all the pristine shiny whiteness.

So I hope you don't mind me sharing crochet progress with you (again)? Do you like how my Summer Garden is blooming so far? Can you just picture the above four blocks multiplied nine-fold and spread out over my bed? Oh yes, I am constantly imagining that sight and it fills me with joy.

As does the above image.
The first block I made was hijacked and put to immediate use.
So sweet.
So very sweet.

I may not be able to blog much more this week, as I don't intend to be hanging around at home very much. I've been busy arranging a full list of social engagements at places that have toilets and no workmen crashing and banging around.
There's going to be lots of crochet going on, and coffee drinking, and nattering.
Time spent with friends.
So good.
So very good to have friends.

See you all very soon.
xxxxxxxxxxxx

Blanket Business

Hello, hello!! I am so hugely thrilled about sitting here to write todays post, to be sharing some exciting (well exciting for me) blankety business with you all. 

I took these first two photographs on Sunday I think it was, after the Little People had been hanging out on the sofa watching tv during the weekend. The Granny and the Hex blankets as you know are always around in this room, but Little Man especially adores the Ripple and often comes  to ask nicely if he can bring it down from where it lives on my bed.

I love that these three blankets I've made during the last year and a half have become so much a part of our family life. Love that they are loved and used and appreciated.

I do believe that I shall always be making blankets, one after the other. I just love it so. I love the whole big process of creating a blanket, from the first beginnings of an idea, through the making process,and finally the ongoing pleasure of the finished article. It's pleasure all the way.

Now that I have learnt how to make mosaics of my photographs, I've been having a lot of fun with this idea. I made the above image a few weeks ago, they are all flowers that have appeared on my blog during the past year...and don't they just look so scrumptious? I was thinking of my favourite flowers, and favourite flower colours when I started planning this new blanket. I was thinking mmmmmm how lovely it would be to create a blanket that was like looking at a summer garden. Where the colours would remind me of roses and nasturtiums, of sweet peas and cornflowers, sweet williams and geraniums. And so slowly, slowly, the beginnings of a design was born. 

The blankets I've made so far have all had a fair amount of randomness about them. Each one started with a pool of coloured yarns and then evolved quite spontaneously into different coloured squares, stripes, hexagons. But amongst this randomness, each of my blankets also has a small "constant" in it's design :: the granny squares had the green edging round each block, the ripple had the evenly spaced raspberry stripes, and the hexagon blanket had it's yellow centres. But apart from these decisions, all other colour selections were random.

And I do love randomness. I like the excitement of choosing colours on the hop, of not knowing quite how it's going to pan out when all the randomness finally comes together as a whole.  I more or less know that so long as I start out with the right combination of colours, then random will work out. It will, I always have faith.

Anyhow, back to the point Missy Lucy, I am rambling I do appologise. So yes, the design for this new blanket :: it formed itself in my whirly gig brain quite distinctly one day at the end of last year, and I immediately went to Little Man's coloured pencils and drew it out on paper. I was thinking flowery circles inside squares, like flowers growing in a neat, organised potager garden. And I knew that I wanted the colours to be quite organised for this blanket, for the random element of colour to be contained in a calm, ordered, harmonious whole. Because this is going to be a big blanket, a big square double bed sized blanket. And it needs to be calm and harmonious because I shall be sleeping with it every night and quite honestly I cannot have it screaming at me like the hexagon blanket did. It would keep me awake!

Playing with colour combinations is something that gives me enormous pleasure, it drives my creativity in all things. I find such joy in colour, it's hard to describe in words, but I'm sure you know if you've been reading my blog how it is for me. How over excited I get over using colour creatively, its that buzzy, heart-flipping, jittery, squeeealy kind of excitement, it's that feeling that kind of makes me want to go ooooooeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

This yarn, these colours, I am in love with it all. I keep wanting to stick my face into my yarn bag just to kind of snaffle it up. It was a real luxury purchasing so much yarn in one swoop, its the first time I've ever bought yarn this way. It was a bit stomach churning paying for it all at once, but hey, I am over that hurdle, I jumped it and cleared it with surprising ease. Sure, I've not yet fessed to husband how much exactly thirty balls of yarn cost, that's gonna be interesting when that conversation rolls around. But it had to be done, I had no choice. I had practically been down on my knees in the yarn shop last week, begging the owner to order this yarn in for me when originally they refused. I told them how much I loved their shop, how I would so much rather give them my money than some faceless internet yarn provider. They were eventually persuaded, but it was a big decision for them because as Rowan sells to shops in packs of ten, it meant they had to order in 130 balls of yarn in order for me to take my 30. So they did me a huge favour, and in return, I gave them my money up front. And my heartfelt thanks.

For this blanket I wanted to use granny squares again because I adore making them and they are fast and super-whizzy for me now, I can practically do them with my eyes shut. But I didn't want normal granny squares, no, I wanted to try and make them look like circles-in-squares, like flowers.

I couldn't find a pattern I liked. I searched the internet, I searched and searched. I tried some sunburst granny squares, but oh too complicated! So in the end, I made my own pattern. Do you like it? I am extremely pleased with it, it's a joy to make, and so simple. And it creates the exact visual impression that I was after, of a flower blooming. At a slightly later date I'll be sharing the pattern here on my blog, just in case you might want to create your own flower garden.

So this is how it is coming along so far :: I am making four small squares and crocheting them together, then adding three rounds of "grannying" round the outside, ending in white.

The colours for the first two flower rounds are randomly chosen, as are the two outer purply-pink rounds. The other blue/green colours will remain the same to provide the "constant", as well as the edging in white. I've not ever used white in my crochet before, and I was unsure about it at first. But I think it's going to work well and will help to hold all the colour together.

I only began work on this on two days ago when the yarn took up residence, and I'm really thrilled with how pleasurable it is to make these big blocks. It has it's small challenges, but overall I am truly loving it. I'm planning on making thirty six of these big blocks altogether, so that's two down and thirty four to go.

And finally, a thought I wish to share about the business of blanket-making. It occurred to me yesterday that crocheting is one of those hobbies that one can do so easily and happily in complete isolation, yet sharing it somehow makes it a million-gazillion times more fun.

So can I say here and now, a huge ((Thank you)) for providing me with the most perfect sharing-opportunity, and for upping the fun-element for me. I am so grateful for your interest and enthusiasm, it means a lot.

XXXXX thank you XXXXX

Pretty-pretty

Well now, todays offering from the Attic is this charming, captivating, pretty-pretty piece of jewelery that I scooped up yesterday from my favourite charity/thrift shop (British Heart Foundation).
Now this may sound odd, but I originally went in the shop to buy a multi-stranded necklace of little round orange wooden beads. I am not intending to wear an orange multi-stranded wooden beaded necklace you understand. Oh no no no, what I have done is to chop it with scissors and free the little orange beads from their strands so that I can make them into bird feet. Yes, thats right :: bird feet. You see I am in my usual nutty place, thinking up all sorts of weird and wonderful things to do with my afternoons. I have been making birds. Little fabric birds with stripy legs and (now) orange beady feet. Too cute. Will show you them when they are finished.

So whilst I was paying for my orange multi-stranded wooden beaded necklace, whilst I was standing at the glass counter waiting for the rather dippy BHF shop assistant to void all the mistakes she kept making on the till, I spotted this little porcelain brooch in the glass cabinet.
And I fell in love. I just swooned on the spot. I asked the dippy shop assistant if she wouldn't mind getting it out and telling me how much it was, and it was £3.25. So of course I had to have it.

Isn't it just the most delightful little brooch you ever laid eyes on? It's only small, oo maybe about 4cm across, and quite delicate, but something about it stirs up some sort of deep, long forgotten, childhood nostalgic memory/feeling that I can't quite put my finger on. And I love it. I'm not sure yet if I shall wear it, or whether I will display it in my bedroom somewhere somehow. And I would love to know if anyone else collects these brooches and if you know anything about them, ie how old they are? This one is a Crown Staffordshire one, I found a little bit of info here, but would especially like to know roughly how old it might be.

Just before I leave the Attic (and it's bloomin cold up here this afternoon), I'd like to say *thank you* to all of you who left a comment on yesterdays post and shared in my rather ecstatic yarn love. Oh such fun, such excitement! I began on my blanket last night and ooooeeeeee I am incredibly pleased with the whole darn thing. The yarn is a dream to work with, the colours scrumptious, and I cannot wait to share my vision with you all. Tomorrow then? The Blanket Project Reveal?? See you then ((squeeeeeal)) SoosSOSososoOSOsooo excited!
xx

From Rowan :: To Me

Happy New Year to meeee........

.......Happy New Year to meeeeeee........

.......Happy Neeeew Yeeeeear, dear Lucy........

......Happy New Year to Meeeeeeeee!!!!!!!

Hip-hip-hoooraaaaaaayyyy!!!!!!!

 

Rowan Pure Wool DK.

Thirteen colours.

Thirty balls.

All Mine.

Excited? Moi?

Oh you betcha!!

I'm hoping to begin work on my new project this evening, and I am thrilled to bits at the thought. I've a very definite plan for this blanket, my fourth big blanket project :: all will be revealed very soon.

Right now, I'm off to fondle my yarn stash. Toodle-oo!

xxxxxxxxx

Fresh

Hello, it's lovely to see you as always, thanks for stopping by. I am sat up in the Attic listening to the rain pitter patter onto the window, it's a truly Grim Day here weather wise today, cold and wet and grey. But as I am not needing to venture outside again until 3pm for the school run, I feel quite snug and cosy for the time being, it's quite lovely being up here under the eaves listening to the rain fall and having a little virtual chat with you all. I feel so fortunate that I am able to spend my days this way, that I have so very little stress and pressure in my life and such a lot of freedom to pass the days as I please. I always try every day to appreciate that fact, and not to take the luxury of Time and Freedom for granted.

So we are thirteen days into 2009 and I wanted to share a few thoughts with you. I no longer make any New Years Resolutions, I find them too stifling :: instead I like to choose a Word for the year.  A word which will hopefully serve to motivate and inspire me as we jog along through three hundred and sixty five days.
And after much deliberation and dictionary reading (hmm yes, I know), my chosen word for 2009 is 

:: F R E S H ::

Yes, that's it, Fresh. Doesn't that word just sound so delicious and optimistic? I used my thesaurus to explore the word "fresh", and oh! I was so excited by this (am I sad? mad? to get so excited by a list of words? Well no matter....) So maybe you could indulge me here, can I show you The List? Here it is...

...cool, refreshing, invigorating, bracing, brisk, crisp, pure, unpolluted, sweet, energetic, vigorous, lively, hearty, healthy, keen, alert, revived, refreshed, rested, strong, flourishing, blooming, glowing, fair, clean, spruce, bright, clear, exciting.

Now imagine if one applied those words to every aspect of ones life, doesn't that sound like a recipe for an exceedingly bloody good, amazing, happy, top-notch year? Yup, well that's what I thought.

So :: right now, this is how I am thinking and doing Fresh ::

Myself :: I am more or less free of that revolting bundle of germs which moved in on me at the end of last year, and being unwell made me realise that perhaps I should be taking better care of myself. Physically I mean. Mentally and emotionally and creatively yes, I believe I do a sterling job at taking care of that part of myself. But physically, well it often leaves a lot to be desired. So I am starting to take a fresh approach to my health and well being :: aiming to eat more fresh fruit, trying out some fresh new recipes and ingredients, and increasing my daily quota of fresh air and exercise. It's my hope that during the course of this year I will gradually be able to say that a lot of those above words apply to me and the way I feel. I want to feel energetic! And blooming, glowing, hearty, healthy!! Yes all of those things.

Flowers :: I continue to be hugely inspired by fresh flowers and I am aiming to have them in the house in one form or another every single day of the year. Right now I have this little bunch of daffodils which is giving me such a huge amount of pleasure. And I am really looking forward to spring when I can sow some seeds and make plans for growing my own fresh flowers in my little outdoor space.

Inspiration :: Always on the look out for fresh inspiration, and magazines and books and blogs continue to deliver huge dollops of it. I adore this months Country Living, the seasonal Spring pages especially make my heart skip, they are so uplifting.

Home :: Definitely a huge focus for us as a family this year, we will be transforming our house during 2009. Every room needs to be hauled out of it's rather tired sleep and freshened up. New colours, new furniture, a much needed new lease of life for this old place. Starting with the bathroom. On Monday, when Trevor the Bathroom Man arrives. I will not be sorry to say goodbye to the mouldy green streaky wood paneled walls. I absolutely can't wait for the arrival of fresh, clean, white, shiny tiles. Hooray!

Projects :: oooooooooo I am so excited about this one, even more than a new shiny white bathroom. I am positively thrilled at the prospect of starting a fresh new crochet project. This yarn sample card arrived just before Christmas, plans were drawn up for my next blanket, my local yarn shop consulted and an order placed. Delivery of yarn should come by the end of the week. I am really, really excited! A fresh new blanket to work on, and just feast your eyes on those colours! It's going to be such fun sharing it with you all.

Growth :: Fresh, new, vibrant, green growth. After only a short few days in their pots on the windowsill, my amaryllis shoots are beginning their journey skywards. And they do kind of make me want to squeal with excitement each morning when I come downstairs and check on them.

It's all so promising. A New Year, A Fresh Outlook. I for one am happy and excited by the promise of it all. Bring on the next 352 days, yeah, bring it on.

edited to add :: if you are planning a project using Rowan yarns, I can highly recommend ordering Shade Cards, available from here, I find them inspiring and exciting, kind of along the same lines as seed and bulb catalogues or paint shade charts. Pleasure in Little Things xx