Attic24

It's Connievan-ing time

I was hoping to write up a little review of our last holiday in Connievan which was at the beginning of June, but time has run away from me. I uploaded the pics a long while ago but haven't found time to sit peacefully and write about it. It was a super-duper holiday with some very fond memories now attached to it. I'll share it with you soon. That's one of the things I absolutley love about blogging, the fact that I can use it as a Family Diary to preserve our memories. But it's no good if important chapters are missing. Remind me not to forget, won't you?

We are off again in Connievan, leaving today for a week in York. We are repeating what we did last year,  although we're staying at a different camp site this year. I'm about to commence our very slap-dash preps for a week away in the 'van, ie slinging a heap of clean clothes into a big bag. Magazines and hooky for Me, books and the laptop for Him. Scooters and DS Lite's for the Little People, toys with buttons and silly noises for Little B. All sorted.

Looking forward to spending time with great friends in a familiar and vibrant city (I shall be shopping I think!). See you when we get back xxxxxxxxxxxx

ps while I've been sat writing this, Little B has emptied out the fridge onto the kitchen floor and helped himself to a feast of strawberries and cheese slices. Man, that child. Deep breaths.

 

 

July 2011

Ahh July, what a sweet month you are turning out to be!

Life has been very full and busy during July but my overall memory of the past three weeks contains much happiness. The weather's been a mixed bag but mostly I recall it's been pretty good around  here really. Warm and summery, sometimes quite humid and thundery, but beautifully warm yes, and plenty of sunshine. We've spent quite a lot of time outdoors taking it all in, appreciating all that these long summer days have to offer. Picnics and barbecues by the river. Impromptu trips to the park. Ice creams. Water fights. The sound of children playing out till well gone 9pm. Chilled white wine with friends. Lots of salad meals that involve No Cooking. Bare arms, flip flops and silver painted toe nails. The smell of high summer in the evening air. Delightful.

At the very beginning of July I went off on a little solo adventure. In an airplane no less. I tootled off to Manchester airport very early one Saturday morning, climbed on that there white metal bird with it's slightly scary propellers and flew down to Southampton, which took all of 45 minutes. It was an amazing flight with clear blue skies and the most fabulous views of the landscape below. At one point we flew right over a hot air balloon, I was quite beside myself with the beauty of it all. When I arrived in Southampton I hopped on a train and travelled a further 100 minutes west to arrive in Dorset by ten am. Wow. Yorkshire to Dorset by ten am! Never done that before!! It was a really great journey and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole business of being on the move. Just me by myself with a small rucksack on my back, making the journey to visit my dear Mum in hospital.

Later that same day after I'd spent all afternoon at the hospital, I got onto a local bus and travelled a further 40 minutes west to get to Bridport where I was staying the night. When I got off the bus, I had a sudden realisation that I had no door keys, and that the house where I was staying would be empty till midnight (everyone was off making merry at a wedding). It was a beautiful early summers evening, so I decided to while away an hour or two by travelling some more. I journeyed on foot this time, a mere 45 minutes tramping south across familiar fields until I reached the blue of the sea.

West Bay harbour was an absolute picture, the evening light was incredible, and at 6pm it was still very hot. I went to a bar with the above view and sat on the terrace drinking an ice cold beer in the sunshine.

Enjoyable as it was, I was still in a bit of a predicament re getting to my bed for the night. So I decided on one more jaunt on foot, this time an hours journey along the coast to a neighbouring village where the wedding reception was taking place and where my host and hostess would hopefully be found with The Keys to The Door. I walked up over West Cliff....

....and enjoyed some wonderful peaceful time being Me-by-myself on top of the cliffs, gazing out across the bluest of blue seas with the sun on my face and a spring in my step. I have some fabulous memories from this little snippet of time, it was such bliss finding myself quite unexpectedly on a familiar sunny clifftop beside the sea. All By Myself. Just Me. I can't tell you how good it felt, such a rare luxury at this stage in my parenting career to have time so completely to myself.

I did eventually end up at the wedding reception after a lot of huffing and puffing (hugely steep hills in that village don't you know). I felt a little conspicuous walking into the venue wearing my crop jeans and a sweaty teeshirt when everyone else was done up to the nines, but hey, I carried it off with a broad smile.

The next morning I joined a large post-wedding gathering for a spot of brunch in a rather splendid posh local place. An old coaching inn which has been transformed in recent years into a top notch hotel with fine dining and plenty of ambiance. 

Behind the rather grand facade of the hotel lies a rather beautiful rustic courtyard which totally captured my heart. Fabric bunting strung across, casual wooden furniture and lots of vibrant geraniums, it was a little slice of heaven I thought. Perfect for sitting with a mighty fine cappuccino and allowing my  divine "eggs benedict" to settle. I didn't want to leave.

That sweet little Sunday morning courtyard really stuck in my memory, I'm glad I had my camera with me to capture a little of it's atmosphere. It's exactly how I like to think my own small outdoor space should look. Kind of pretty and casual and rustic and homely.

This is a snap of my July back yard. I took the above picture by standing very precariously on my bedroom windowsill and holding the camera out of the top opening window. Since I took this photo a few weeks ago, the geraniums in my wall top pots have really started to flower their hearts out, it's quite lovely if I say so myself. I feel quite proud of it. And I love my windowsill too, I love that our house is made out of old, old stone.

I have a rather amazing hanging basket next to the kitchen door in my back yard, it's chocka block full of my favourite colours. It was given to me as a surprise gift actually, and my goodness, it totally delivers a bolt of pleasure on a daily basis.  I even remember to water it daily and religiously deadhead the flowers, it's very well treated I can tell you.

I wasn't actually around to take my usual first-day-of-the-month photo of the Attic view, but I took a few pics when I remembered on 12th July.

Yes, now I think about it we did have a bit of a cruddy cold, wet spell near the beginning of the month but like I said earlier, July has mostly been bright and beautiful I think.

Something else I did earlier this month was to participate in a fund raising event at a local school. I was asked if I could provide a few hand made items for the craft stall and I was happy to give it a go as I knew I'd be in very good company. One of the things I love  about where I live is the growing number of friendships I have which are connected by The Yarn Thing. Other people who lead a creative life and share similar passions and excitements to my own. Its marrrrrvelous to have those connections with friends, it really is. I like nothing better than a get together over a coffee/glass of vino (depending on the friend in question and the time of day) and a natter about arty-crafty-yarny-handmade type of things.

And if those particular friends happen to live just two streets away, well then, it's all very handy and supportive and creative and jolly! I watched some of the above knitted cupcakes take shape each week at the pub you know (yes, we frequent the local pub on a Monday night to do hooky and knitty things, my friends and I). Aren't they totally scrummy?

These beautiful appliqued and embroidered cushions are made by another friend....I adore them, and you may remember me bringing one home to number 24 last year? I'm the proud owner of a round birdy cushion with colourful felty triangles (scroll down this post and you'll see it second pic from the end...cor isn't it weeeeeird looking at frosty winter pics in high summer???!!!) Anyhow...yes, these cushions are a complete joy to behold, they really are.

The same clever-pants lady who knitted the cupcakes is also a hugely talented stitcher. Her work is un-be-leivable. She makes the most gorgeous patchwork and applique cushions with a homespun, folk-art feel to them. They are true works of art, just lookeee at this.................

...........yay, chickies have landed in the Attic! How could I resist??? I just had to have one of these beautiful cushions for my very own, just had to. The Wanties hit hard.

There's an insane amount of hand stitching going on here, such a labour or love. You can tell this is made by a lady who completely lurrrrrrrrrrves to sit and stitch can't you?! Gorgeous.

So my contribution to the abundant craft stall was rather thin on the ground I have to confess. I simply didn't have the available time to make all that I wanted to make as my daylight hours are mostly filled by a demanding Little B shaped object. I managed to make seven little crocheted and stuffed keyring fobs (pretty colours don't you think?).......

..........and three little rabbits. Ahhh I did LOVE making these rabbits! Two of them hopped off to find new homes, and one remains here in the Attic with me.

The pattern came from Kate's blog Greedy for Colour, of which I am an adoring fan. I love Kate's  work. I practically begged her on bended knees to write up her pattern for these bunnies when I saw her making them last year. And being the kind and obliging soul she is, she did just that. Isn't she a gem? You can find her Flora Rabbit tutorial here look.

Well now.........I think I need to finish up, it's quite late and I've just realised I'm sat alone in the dark whilst the other four-fifths of the family are tucked up in bed. We are in full school holiday mode this week, taking it leisurely day by day with no plans to speak of. Lots of mess, lots of time lounging in pj's, slap dash meals eaten as and when. Mid morning breakfasts. Lots of hooky time too as I'm getting a welcome amount of help entertaining Little B (free child labour, oh how I love school holidays). I've got a huge amount still to share with you and something wonderful and new on the hook already this week. More soon.

Toodle-oo for now!

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Edited to add :: ahhhh fear-ye-not, Snakey-chops is still in residence here! He was on the craft stall purely to serve as colourful eyecandy, although I could have sold him I'm sure, he got loads of attention! Did you also spot my granny buting hanging on the front of the gazebo? Will have to show you that sometime as I realised just now that it never received it's Ta-dah moment. Thanks for all your lovely comments today! ♥

 

 

 

 

 

♥ Enjoying ♥

♥ enjoying the pleasure of snipping fresh flowers from the back yard ♥

♥ enjoying a bottle of teeny tiny fresh flowers sitting on the table ♥

♥ enjoying the excitement of a first time visit to a posh local florist ♥

♥ enjoying the giddy extravagance of purhcasing one single bloom for £3 ♥

♥ enjoying the sight of freshly laid Charlie's-hens-eggs in my kitchen  ♥

♥ enjoying a simple, delicious lunch of soft boiled eggs on wholemeal toast ♥

♥ enjoying my new plastic pegs replacing the old, mouldy wooden ones ♥

♥ enjoying the pegs+bankets art of summer holiday den-building ♥

♥ enjoying my kitchen door flung wide open while I cook dinner ♥

♥ enjoying fresh English plums and cherries bought at the market today ♥

♥ enjoying Little B enjoying a Whole Apple All To Himself ♥

♥ enjoying all your lovely comments on my last post ((thank you so much)) ♥

♥ enjoying the golden evening light and the sound of children playing outside ♥

♥ enjoying thoughts of sweet sleep tonight, how I look forward to bed time! ♥

Hope you enjoyed these little snippets of ordinary life from the past few days here. Fresh flowers, simple food, happy kids, wonderful words, beautiful views, amazing light, sweet dreams.

Lucky Me.

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Blooming Flower Cushion :: Ta-dah!

Well hello, so good to have your company. Sit ye down in a comfy spot and prepare yourself for a visual treat, for at last it's ta-dah time!!! As ever I am bubbling over with the excitement that goes hand in hand with the giddy showing off of creative endeavours. I apologise in advance if this post gets out of hand, only I have just previewed the photo uploads and OH MY. This is going to be one truly photogenic ta-dah, it really is.

Before we commence with the project reveal, lets just have a little Hook Talk shall we? Many of you asked about the hook I've been using (the dotty-spotty one) which appeared in the last post. I have to tell you I absolutely adore using this hook. Not only is it drop-dead-gorgeous but it also feels wonderful to hold and seems to magically enhance my crocheting speed. Sadly I can't tell you where it came from as it was a gift from a very generous visitor to the Attic, sent all the way to my door from Germany. As far as I can tell, the hook itself is a normal metal crochet hook with the handle made from polymer clay. In theory then, it should be possible for one to obtain some packets of colourful polymer clay and make ones own colourful hooky handles don't you think? Or else you could always commission someone else to do the work for you :: take a look at these, oh and these too. Yes, yes I know, The Wanties are pretty bad sometimes aren't they?

So on with the crochet stuff now then......my latest project has provided me with such a huge amount of fun, I've absolutely loved working these layers. Love love love loved it. It's been quite a frivolous indulgence, making something for myself just to see if I could. A hooky challenge. I wanted to see if I could take an idea that's been sitting in my Creative Mind for quite some time and pull it through to successful reality.

The idea then? To make a layered, circular shape that looked like a giant blooming flower. But one with No Holes or Gaps in it, and therein lay the challenge. As far as I could tell when I was desperately searching for a suitable pattern, most layered flowers have the petals worked out of chain loops. For example, look at this lovely flower to see what I mean :: this was the look that I was after but I didn't want any gaps or holes in between the layers.

So I tried to work something out myself...the above sample was made back in the winter time. I figured that maybe I could work a basic circle, then work a layer of petals out of Front Loops Only, picking up the back loops to create the next round of the circle.

I think the principle of the idea worked out, but I wasn't happy with my petals. Cos they looked like bobbles and were all sticky-uppy. I wanted pretty, flat shaped petals that looked more flowery. Plus I was having a lot of difficulty working out the mathematics of it all, ie how many stitches should be in each round and how to divide those stitches by the number of petals. My brain kind of went into melt down at this point and I was forced to abandon the idea.

Fast forward to two weeks ago when a most pleasant little jaunt through Flickr suddenly had me stop dead in my tracks :: THERE IT WAS!!!!!!!!! The very idea that had been in my mind for ages, and someone else had brought it to reality! I followed the link to a lovely blog called Two Butterflies to find out more, and joy of joys there was a link to the pattern. It's actually an old vintage potholder pattern from the 1940's. I couldn't wait to get started.....

........wow, what a super little pattern!! It's constructed in the same way as my original sample ie the petals are worked out of the front loops and the circle part out of the back loops. 

The flower is then built up in layers, with two rounds being worked in each colour (a flat circle round, followed by a petal round).

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! Round and round and round building up layer upon layer of colourful, happy floral petals!! Such fun!!!!

Boy oh boy, I really, really, really enjoyed sitting and working on this beauty, enjoyed watching it grow and bloom, playing with the colours as I went.

Smoochy-smooch, I couldn't get enough of it ♥

Then last weekend I realised that it was all over.

It had come to an end.

I think I probably could have gone on and on and on producing these frilly layers for ever and a day.

I could have constructed a huge ginormous circular floor rug.

But no, I had to stop.

Thirty centimeters across and that was it.

Stop.

And admire...........................

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

There it is in all it's frilly, layered blooming glory.

Isn't it perfectly bonkers??!! Quite a crazy bit of hooky over-the-top-ness!

This is the reverse side look. These are the circles that are worked in the back loops, supporting the front-loop petals.

I found out through a bit of trial and error that I only needed to make increases in every other row, otherwise there seemed to be way too many stitches and it didn't want to lay flat.

I also found out that the total number of stitches in each row needed to be a multiple of five for the petals to work out right, so this project did involve a wee bit of counting and checking to make sure it was all staying on track.

But it was SO worth the effort. The result is a beautifully flamboyant and wonderfully tactile object, it invites you to play with it....oh and we certainly did just that.

The Little People really enjoyed playing with this bit of crazy hooky whilst it was lying about the place waiting for it's backside to be created. Little B took to holding it under his chin and snuggling his face into it like a comforter. Bless.

The backside of my Blooming Flower cushion was constructed in plain circles which mirrored the circular rows from the frilly side. In other words I made the same increases in every alternate row....

....then finished off with a row of red petals (front loop only). It was a bit curly-wurly when I'd finished it, so I gave it a v light press with the steam iron on the wrong side to flatten it all out nicely.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!! Yummy scrummy!!!

To construct the cushion, I put wrong sides together and joined with crochet slip stitches through the back loops of each final round. It worked a treat and made a lovely neat join, bringing the front and back sides together beautifully.

The feather pad I bought is quite full and puffy, so the cushion has taken on a wonderfully squishy round shape.

And of course, it looks perfectly at home amongst all the other hooky goodness I've got going on here.

I love seeing it nestling into the furniture as if it's always been here. Sometimes on the sofa, sometimes on the big chair. I love it's frilly good looks, it's rich layers of colour.

In short, this project has made me very happy indeed. Lots of happy hooky memories, resulting in a wonderfully happy Finished Object.

The written pattern is out there on t'internet for you all to go find if you'd like to have a go at this sweet project. I also managed to sneak time in whilst Little B napped to take some step-by-step photos in order to write up a tutorial for you all. I'll be working on that in the next few days.

In the meantime, here's a quick snapshot to show you my Blooming Flower cushion being smooched and my neat new hair-chop.

Well you did ask. I'm happy with shorter hair now (I had long, long hair for most of my life) and am also back to my natural dark colour after years of having highlights put in. I figured that whilst I've only got a smidgen of grey hair lurking then I'm happy going au naturel with the colour. Saves the pennies too.

I've thoroughly enjoyed sharing with you today, thank you so much for calling by. Off to go snuggle my three Little Peeps now, today is the first day of our long six week summer holiday and I'm loving having them home. Byeeee for now xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Edited to add :: re the dotty-spotty crochet hooks, I've just recieved the following info from Angela at Polymer Clay Creations....

She will happily make hooks to order, you will need to convo her directly via Etsy. The spotty hooks are priced at $6 each, with a discount of 10% if you order four or more at the same time. The hooks are US ones, so for UK peeps the sizing is a little different to what we are used to. She has the following mm sizes available ::

3.25 / 3.5 / 3.75 / 4.25 / 5 /5.5 / 6 / 6.5
I think the one closest to a UK 4mm (our most popular size) would be the 4.25mm.

Resistance is futile you know. x

PS>>>> TA-DAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE TUTORIAL IS READY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FIND IT ♥HERE♥ !!!!

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Ninety Minutes

This afternoon, 12.15 - 1.45pm.

He busied himself with snuggles, snoozes and sweet dreams......

......and I busied myself with some slurping, munching and happy hooking.

It was a mighty fine way to spend Ninety Minutes.

♥

ps. there'll be a hooky reveal coming very soon, I'm almost there with it.

pps. Squeeeeeeeeeeeee eeee ee eeee e e e e e e e e e !!!!!!!!!! V e r y  e x c i t e d !

♥

On my hook

Hello my lovelies, good to be here.

I've been trying to write my July calendar post these past few days but eh-hem, it's not been working out. I've uploaded some super pics, but unfortunately the words are stuck and don't want to flow forth so I'm a bit scuppered with it. I suspect this mental blockage is due to general tiredness, I'm having a busy time with the Littlies at the moment. Plus I am mad crazy obsessed with my current hooky project which is whispering to me every spare moment of the day, teasing me with it's delightful colours and curves, begging me to come play with it. I sit at the laptop to write my blog and all I really want to do is go smooch with my crochet. So the smooching has won out. Which is precisely as it should be, right? Hooky first, Family second, Blog third. Or something like that.

Oh my. Love love love. Deeeeeeelicious.

Did I tell you how madly in love I am with what's on my hook at the moment? Do you like what you see?? I promise (hand on heart) that I'll share more if it with you in a day or two when there is more of it to show. It needs to grow a little bit bigger. But my goodness, it's a terrific little something I've conjoured up here, you're going to love it.

July is still here for another eighteen days so I will bring you my monthly seasonal ramblings at some point in the near future.

But in the meantime I can tell you the following ::

• The sun is shining and the sky is blue.

• I am in total love with the above images (boom boom boom goes my heart)

• Pimms is THE drink to drink in July.

• My Mum is home from hospital.

• I'm having a hair cut on Saturday.

Hooky love to all, see you all soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx