This Week :: Part II

 

Hello! Thank so much for being here, for popping in to see me, and for all the wonderful well-wishes that you left after my last post. Goodness me, I've had a very odd week! But I am feeling very much brighter This Week and thankfully have managed to haul myself out of my little feeling-sorry-for-myself funk.

On Friday morning I went on my usual jaunt around town, and bagged myself some very necessary feel-good remedies ready for the weekend. A divine magazine, some luscious dark chocolate, a bunch of  gorgeously pretty flowers and a bag of the sweetest red cherries.

It was exactly what was needed to remind myself of lifes simple pleasures, of the happiness that can be found in small things. Silly, silly me :: I had temporarily forgotten.

To be totally honest with you here, for the record, my domestic life is a complete shambles, not just last week, but pretty much most weeks. And for the most part it doesn't bother me in the slightest. I usually have the knack of skipping over The Piles, ignorning the weeds, planning cheap and cheerful family meals in order to provide a little spare dosh to buy plants/yarn, and flying by the seat of my pants with the other domestic chores. The Little People are quite used to opening their clothes drawers and finding them empty cos I often get behind with the laundry. We have grown accustomed to a certain level of mild chaos around here, and I am very, very expert at Diverting my own attention from it.  All I have to do is prettify the place a little, bake buns, put flowers into jugs and miraculously the mess and chaos dissolves completely from my minds eye. 

It's only on quite rare occasions when I suddenly find myself overwhelmed with the chaos, when it takes over and becomes too great to ignore. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you will have seen it happen from time to time. Good thing is, it doesn't last long.

I mean, just look at those flowers!!! How could you walk into a room with those beauties at centre stage and not be completely captivated by them? They are, in short, the most fantastic Diverters-from-mess and in my opinion every home should have at least one powerful bunch of chaos-busting flowers, all of the time.

 

I've been meaning to show you this little crocheted bottle-jacket, I made it a few weeks ago. underneath the hooky stripes is a small olive oil bottle which struck me as just the right size to hold a bloom or two.

 

I made it in rounds of Double Crochet (thats UK double, or US Single), working up in straight rows until the neck of the bottle began to narrow. Then I sort of winged it and began to decrease stitches on each row rather randomly until it looked like it was making the right shape. Its a bit wonky, but I'm really pleased with it actually.

 

I love the way the colours work together, and how neat and dense dc sticthes look compared to the trebles I usually work in.

Talking of crochet and yarny stuff, I have now had my car mended (yipppeeeee!) and have also managed to jig the finances a little in order to set some money aside for an imminent yarny purchase, most likely tomorrow. So the Big Blankie will be on the go again, and I'm really, really looking forward to going full steam ahead with it. I've missed it. Frogging the white was quite thereputic in it's own way, but when all's said and done, frogging is not nearly as much fun as hooking.

Chores are getting done too, slowly but surely. I have hacked the jungle-grass back down to normal height, and yes yes yes, you were all SO RIGHT about the seeds. Those little packets tend to panic me and make me feel so guiltily aware of how badly organised I am, that I forget that they could still have time to work out.

So thats the plan for later this week :: seed planting. I suddenly remembered how fantastic it was picking nasturtiums and cosmos into late October last year, and that autumn flowers are almost better than summer ones.

I could maybe even kid myself that I deliberately planned it that way.

xxxx

ps the above textile picture, found with a bunch of others in one of my larger Piles when i was sorting through last week. I'll show you the rest perhaps, I think I may put them for sale in my Etsy shop? I had quite forgotten about them, there are 8 altogether.

xxxx

edited to add :: my etsy shop can be found at www.attic24.etsy.com  but you know what, it's still empty! So by all means go have a little lookee at my stitched banner and read my teeny bit of blurb, but there is nothing yet to buy I'm afraid. You can bet that I'll let you know when the virtual shelves have merchandise though, and thanks so much for your interest xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Comments

[Ros]

Hi Lucy,
Just found this post on your stitchy pictures. They are LOVELY! Not quite within my capability to buy, but they are absolutely georgeous and really made me wish I had my own sewing machine. Never learning to sew properly ever before, however, I do hesitate in investing on one. Maybe I should just ask my mom if she's willing to part with hers if she no longer uses it.

I find your blog absolutely INSPIRING and a great fun to read, and there are so many aspects of it that I LOVE, like the way you keep your privacy. I think it was very tastefully done. I do try to follow a similar guideline, and it's really not as easy as it looks.

In any case, all the best to you and your blog. Take care.

[Samm]

just found your bottle cover... as I am ocd at the moment with covering jars and pots with your creations I am going to try the bottle! Empty ones that is!!!

[Kate - The Garden Bell]

I always know a little new yarn will cheer me up. It helps me to clear the clutter of my mind away. My mind starts to wander to all the new combination I can create. Being in Right Brain mode is great for a little stress relief. Cheer to you for getting to RB so quickly.

I alway like to think of one drawer cleaning and not the whole room at a time. Then I feel an immediate satifaction that I have accomplish a nasty task and can get back to the fun stuff.

Can't wait to see your progress with you new lovely colors.

[Kari]

So that's where your magical house banner is! In your ETSY shop! I love those little houses, and I love it that you are going to sell your beautiful art. Best wishes!! from Kari in Texas

[bex]

glad that you are feeling better now! your so right about remembering the little things! the sweet william looks great, i got abunch for my birthday last week and they are still looking good!
x

[Valerie]

Those sweet williams are gorgeous. Such a lovely contrast with those fab shades of wool.

[Moonie]

Dearest Lucy,
Welcome to the world of the Creative Spirit! We Artists are just as driven by our need to create our version of beauty as any other person who is possessed by the unrelenting need to accomplish their goals. When you understand that about yourself you will begin to embrace yourself completely. If it were not for the dark times - how could we enjoy the light so very much?!
I call those little lulls, forced vacations. Kind of like when our body catches the flu. We understand perfectly why it's OK that we don't have the energy to do the laundry and give ourselves a break. So is it with our little dark times. The secret is to stop mentally punishing ourselves. When we can do that, and know this down time is necessary to refuel - life is oh so much better. This is a necessary part of your very makeup. Allow it. Embrace it. There's always a pile of laundry somewhere. :D

Love, love, love you,
Moonie

[Whimsycate]

I've recently had a little attack of the domestic glums too, but i'm over it now and feeling much more happy bright and inspired (with some thanks to your fantastic blog), so i'm so glad you are too.

Cate, x

[Cate]

I've just got over a quite a lengthy attack of The piles, but it's finally over and now i'm feeling happy bright and inspired, good to see you are too! x

[pj]

Glad you are on the up. I've been feeling a little lost myself recently after the recent holiday. I'm planning on getting crafting today - the best medicine. Love the bottle cover - so neat. I will be interested to see how you get on with etsy as it is something that I have considered, but I've not been brave enough yet. Best wishes, Pj x

[Jeanette]

Lucy, your such a gorgeous girl---and from what I have read reading your blogs---you do takea lot on----and try and keep the whole world happy----my dear donht get down as I can asure you make a lot of people happy just reading your blog and finding out how natural a young lady you are----keep smiling and enjoying yourlife---you have a lot to give Australia

[Anna]

Glad to hear you are having a better week. I also push many of the not so exciting domestic things aside and concentrate and making things look pretty, time is too precious for prioritizing piles and endless cleaning.

[Kate Wells]

Lucy,doncha know "Creative Minds Are Rarely Tidy"...?? Loved the pink grass shears! Kate~

[Rose]

Hi Lucy!
Congratulations on your home, and your crafts.
I'm sure your soul is brightly as the colors you pic.
We are very alike, I love my life, my home, my husband and my "fur" baby (poodle).
Have a beautiful life!
Rose

[Linda]

"To be totally honest with you here, for the record, my domestic life is a complete shambles, not just last week, but pretty much most weeks. And for the most part it doesn't bother me in the slightest."

Absolutely -- this is me all over! I have a very high tolerance for domestic clutter and our own family mess. We're comfortable and our daughter is happy. It only gets to me when I can't find anything and things start to become very inefficient, or when I have visitors. When I imagine my home through the eyes of others, I get a bit angst-y. I don't expect my house to be perfect (nor do I expect it of others), but it can be a bit embarrassing to have overflowing piles of child artwork, unopened post and various other things strewn across the dining room table all the time. I need to strike some kind of balance.

Glad to hear you're feeling better! Love your bottle jacket -- how could a person not feel better after looking at that?

[hjd]

So glad to hear that you're feeling better! Hehe, fall flowers are wonderful, probably mostly because they're not so expected as summer. They're like a pleasant surprise :)
(By the way,I think just about every crafter--whether they have Little People or not--has Piles. It's like a sort of initiation. Besides, my mom once had a magnet that said "An immaculate house is a sign of a dull woman" and we all know you're not dull!)

[Shannon]

so glad you are feeling chipper again. I, too, find that dark chocolate + good reading material + flowers = bliss. And please put a few of those adorable crochet covered vases in your etsy shop! I would gladly pay to have it shipped all the way to my tiny corner of the northwest US!

[Gerry Hook]

'one powerful bunch of chaos-busting flowers' Lucy, I believe this is just the perfect way to brighten anyone's spirits.
I've been 'shopping' for flowers since you've been posting so many spirit-lifting bunches of flowers. I've not found just the perfect bouquet of flowers for me yet, so I'll widen the radius of my search.
I've posted pics of my Lucy-style projects to my blog.
After I finished the Crocheted Bag from your tutorial, I decided I needed a smaller version for my sock knitting projects so it's be compact for travel to and fro. I used yarn from my first bag and eliminated the pastels and what resulted was a Mexican style Sock Knit Bag
Your enthusiasm is infectious. I'm forever dreaming of the next project. After I made one jar jacket I'm thinking what about a jacket for something as small as a medicine bottle. Pearl Cotton would be 'bout right for that size.
This is a hoot ! ! ! !

[frances]

Good evening from New York, Lucy.

Ah ... you are human like the rest of us, and don't always get everything done according to others' priorities. Cheers to you!

Obviously, you have a tremendous following on the web, and your regular readers (like me) love the optimism that you send out, your very upbeat color sense, your way of cheering your children when they turn cranky, your appreciation of the the view from your attic window, and of other places near where you live.

Might be quite easy for regular readers to think that your life is exalted in its creativity and uplift, and very different from theirs. That might be why so many do click daily.

I so congratulate you for the joy that you send.

I so thank you for posting day after day, no matter what might be going on away from that trusty camera.

You are a wonder, Lucy. Rest when you wish, let your fans wait. You've already given us so much inspiration, and shared so ideas.

This is a bit of a long-winded comment, but I did want to let you know how much you are appreciated. (Don't think anyone likes doing laundry, cheering up cranky children, making the family supper Again, feeling under the weather and yet having to rally.)

Best wishes from a fan. xo

[Karen]

Hi Lucy, Glad life seems brighter and back to normal this week. Looking forward to your shop opening! Karenx

[Nelly]

Hi Lucy your post made me think I'm not the only one that lives in total chaos it is very comforting.Love your bottle cover too...

[Louise]

Hi Lucy, Can't wait for you to load your Etsy shop with your beautiful artwork. I must start saving now so I can buy one! I have the flowers you posted in my front garden. I love them and they flower like mad each year with practically no help from me :-)
Louise

[Lucy]

Hurrah! You're back! So glad to hear you're feeling chirpier. You have been sorely missed! Love your bottle jacket. Such great colours. Lucy2. xxxx

[kitschen pink]

Delighted to hear you have the blinkers back on! And jolly good too! Quite the best attitude to all the piles of stuff. In my experience they like to be pruned and tweaked - it makes them grow stronger - so best left alone methinks! t.xx

[Nura Karpowitsch]

Lucy, you are not alone, remember that always. There are many of us who get overwhelmed with the mundane chores of daily life, they generally are not that important & will have their day in getting done.

Glad you're feeling like your usual self again x