Attic24

Homespun Cushions part II

I've had such a fabulous time this week playing with my fabrics, I've been in creative heaven. It's such a long time since I worked with fabrics, I had forgotten how thrillingly fast it all is compared to the slow plod-plod-plod of crochet. The fact that I have designed and made not one but two complete articles within a week has made me all puffed up with pride. I did it! I really made it happen and I am quite ridiculously proud of my efforts. Especially the zip thing. Wow. Me and zips, we worked out ok together, who would've thought it?

I had a huge amount of fun making my second cover. I did it slightly differently to the first one in that each 2.5 inch strip is actually pieced from two fabrics. So 16 pieces altogether instead of just 8. It made it more fun putting them together (more fabric = more fun, right?), although I have to say that I gave very little thought to what I was doing. This cushion kind of threw itself together on the floor with very little hassle and it felt right to go with the random approach.

The whole zip thing went terrifically well second time round, mostly thanks to the wonderful tips and advice that I received following my last post ((thank you lovely stitchers of the world for taking me in hand)).

So I did things a little bit differently. As advised by the super talented Hen I still used a smaller zip (14" zip for a 15.5" cover), but I stitched the seam closed at each end first, leaving a 14 inch gap for the zipper to perfectly fit into. So no holes (yaaay!). However, I did not follow Hen's advise re hand basting (sorry Hen), I just could not bring myself to be that thorough. Especially when I was told by a few of you that I could use sticky tape instead. Oh My. That was the BEST advice! I simply stuck the zip in place with tape and stitched away pin-free, it was bloomin' marvelous!

I remembered to add a little extra embellishment with ribbons this time, with rather lovely results. The fabric puckered a little as I think the tension on my machine is a smidge too tight, but oh I am not bothered about that really. I am no perfectionist, I prefer to embrace the Homespun look. Overall I am really very, very happy with how it turned out.

Mmmmmmmmmm!! I love my new cushions, they make very yummy additions to my sofa. I am surprised (and yet not really) at how my fabric choices match up so well with my yarn choices. I do have a very consistent, recognisable palette that I work time and time again, they are just My Colours I guess.

I'll be taking both these cushions to live in Connievan, but I will most certainly be making some more to stay here in the Attic. They already seem so at home here and I know I'll miss them as soon as they've gone.

I did want to say a little something about the fabrics I've used, but there isn't actually a lot I can tell you. I've been buying these fabrics little by little over a good many years and I haven't a clue what they are called or which designer designed them. I do know that the spotty ones in the bottom cushion are Kaffe Fassett, but other than that I really don't know. Some Amy Butler in there possibly? Anyone know?

The backing fabric I bought years ago, and sadly the little online shop I got them from no longer exists. All I can tell you is that they are European designs (Dutch I think?) and that I adore them.

I cannot imagine living in a house without homemade cushions, I really love making them and I really love seeing them about the place. They are an essential part of our home, well loved and well used. Looking forward to many more in my future.

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Homespun Cushions

I have to tell you am deeply in love with this book [Homespun Style by Selina Lake], it really is one the most beautiful, uplifting, heart-skippy-happy books I have ever owned. The pages ooze creativity, inspiration and fun, and gosh I think the whole notion of Having Fun whilst creating a home is hugely underrated. There are too many books/blogs out there taking decorating and home styling way too seriously in my opinion. Too self conscious. Too hip and cool. This book is just a happy, colour filled, light hearted funfest and I love love love it.

I've already read the book cover to cover a fair few times, and have spent endless hours drowning myself in the images, absorbing the essence of these wonderful, quirky, happy homes. There is much I would like to say about this book and the homes featured in it, I think it's fair to say I'll be chatting more about it in the not too distant future.

One of the (many) things I particularly love about this book is the abundance of textiles. Almost every single page has some sort of delicious patterned fabric on it :: rugs, towels, wash cloths, duvets, sheets, pillowcases, homemade bags, curtains, blinds, crochet and knit blankets, quilts, seat covers, cushions......ahhh pure joy! I am passionate about colourful home textiles (blankets, tea towels and cushions send me into a spin of cosy feel good), and I really enjoy seeing how creative people layer these textile elements throughout their homes.

If like me you are a textile lover, you will adore this book.

Sometimes, on some of the pages, I found the huge array of patterns on the walls a little bit too much (I'm not a wallpaper fan). But generally speaking, so long as the walls are plain I really love to see a heap load of pattern in the soft furnishings. As you know, my own instinctive style is along these lines, I find the overall look really welcoming, laid back and cosy.

Some of the rooms featured in the book just have me with my tongue hanging out, honestly I drool quite a lot when I browse these pages. Luckily for readers like me, every image has it's own credit in the back pages of the book, allowing you to identify the creative genius behind the look. It's marvelous! You get to find out about all sorts of wondrous people living amazing creative lives in fabulously decorative homes. And it really makes you want to do all sorts of things to your own home, it is totally inspirational I'm telling you.

Two things I desperately wanted to do immediately after reading this book were to paint all my plain wooden furniture in bright colours and acquire more patterned fabric items. The latter idea would not leave me alone, and a month ago I found myself searching on Etsy for some fabric scraps. I had an idea that I wanted to make some cushions a bit in the style of Jane Foster, using a patchwork of brightly coloured retro/Scandinavian fabrics. I really have a soft spot for that style, and so imagine my delight when I came across my own vision already in creation! It was as if someone had looked into my mind, taken my patchwork idea and brought it to reality in exactly the way I had imagined.

Of course I could not resist, and the sweetest little 12 inch cushion came to live in the Attic......

Isn't it so perfectly me???!! I adore it. It was made by a lovely lady called Lisa and her Etsy shop is chockablock full of the most gorgeous creations, go take a little look at her shop Made by Lisa Jane.

I love the way the fabric patches are seemingly quite random in their placement, but the whole cushion is still really harmonious and lovely to look at.

This cushion of Lisa's is really lovely too, she describes it as "Bright Mod Florals". I like the bright fabrics, but more than anything I love the way she's added the extra detail :: the ribbons and ricrac look amazing with the fabric patches, I just adore the slightly over the top feel to it. It's exuberant and happy and fun, don't you think?

So. I already bought a little cushion, but I could not stop thinking about making my own patchwork creation. Actually I couldn't really justify buying fabric for this project, so I turned to my own modest collection of fabrics instead.

I had this idea that I could try something simple. I would combine equal width strips of fabrics.....

.....with some ribbons and trims, à la LisaJane. Yay!!! What fun I would have!

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! See what I mean??? Yummy or what??!!

These are the strips and trims laid out on the floor after I'd had a little play, I can't tell you how excited I was at this point. Remember I was working at great speed whilst Little B took his nap, I was working my Window of Opportunity to the max. It was marvelous in a hectic kind of a way.

I managed to stitch the strips together yesterday evening in the 6-6.30pm slot. Happy happy.

This morning Little B was at playgroup and I had another one hour at my disposal. I had to use all my concentration as this sort of sewing does not come easy to me. Decorative sewing I find easy, but construction, not so easy. First of all I did what Lisa advised and backed my patchwork strips with a very fine iron on interfacing to strengthen the fabric.

I then cut out a same size square of backing fabric. Looking good!

Now for the scary zip part....deep breathing and deadly concentration here folks. I chose not to look on the internet for tutorials, chose to officially wing it.

I folded and pressed a 2.5 seam allowance on both edges (patchy front and floral back) which would go against the zip. Pinned the zip in place with the folded edges touching (I'm kind of going for a concealed zip type thingy, see?)

So far so good.

Zipper foot on, deep breath in and away I go.....a little bit wobbly (the pins kept getting caught up) but oooooooooooo I stitched in a zip!!!! I actually did it!!!

I made a bit of a booboo in the shop when I bought a too-short zip, so I ended up with a small gap at each end.

But overall, I am so incredibly chuffed with my zippy zippered cushion!!

I made this cushion cover for Connievan actually. It felt sooo good to pop the yucky brown tufty velvet beasty cushion inside of it's swish new ZIPpEreD cover and zip it SHUT (with a zip that zips, zippety zip, I made a zip!)

Connie's new cushion is delightfully plump and pretty.

See how pretty it turned out? I am in love with my homespun cushion.

But do you know what I forgot? Do you know what I forgot in all the excited zippety zip frenzy? I totally forgot to stitch on the Ribbons and Trims!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Arrrrgghhhhhh!!!!

Never mind, never mind, this sweet cushion is still making my heart flutter. And furthermore, I cut out a good many 2.5 inch strips cos Connievan has 2 cushions that need funky homespun covers. And so cushion number 2 will have it's ribbons and trims attached. And it'll have a full length zipper and (hopefully) un-wonky stitching too. I just need to make time to do it. I shall run Little B ragged at the playpark tomorrow morning and hope that he'll then take an extra long afternoon nap. Good plan. Bring it on.

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Cut and Stitch

I am becoming an expert at utilising the incy-wincy windows of opportunity in my days ie the little snatches of time that do not require me to housekeep/cook/look after offspring. I am learning to act fast when these windows open and get busy very quickly. It means that the chosen activity takes on a bit of a frantic, frenzied feel to it as I am compelled to work at speed. It's exhilarating and frustrating in equal measures.

Take today for example. An after lunch window created by Little B being away in the Land of Nod. I had a sudden and overwhelming impulse to be creative with fabric, to cut and stitch and make something lovely. The frustrating thing is that my kit is not easily accessible, so the simple act of creating with fabric becomes rather complicated. But today I felt so determined, I really would not let anything stand in my way. I crawled into the attic eaves to pull out my box of fabrics (above) and the crate containing my sewing machine paraphernalia. I set up a temporary workstation at the end of my bed, using the ironing board as dual purpose ironing/cutting/sewing table.

I manged to locate my cutting mat, clever ruler thingy and rotary cutter, scissors, thread and bobbins and I was all set.

I spent a very happy hour playing with fabrics, pulling out crisply folded fat quarters, steam ironing them and gliding my cutter up and down to create 2.5 inch strips.

A bit of trimming, some happy fun arranging the strips and playing about with the colours, ooooo just look how vibrant this is going to be, my heart is all skippy and excited and then BANG. Window slams shut. It's all over.

Little B awakes from his nap all warm and cuddly and scrumptious and in need of big cuddles. My sewing window is no longer open. Sigh.

6pm and dinner is finished, I've cleared away and cleaned up the kitchen. Little B is having some time with Daddy, the Little People are playing out in the street on their scooters and....ah ha!!! I see the window has unexpectedly re-opened for me, and I guess I've maybe got just 30 minutes before it closes again. So I rush upstairs, quickly set up my sewing machine and there begins some frantic piecing and stitching of colourful strips.

Pheewwwww. That was fun!

Tomorrow I'm hoping to snatch some more time to conquer my irrational fear of zips. This stripy, patchy article needs a zip and I am going to Make It Happen. Can't wait to show you!!

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Back to it

Gosh, such gloomy grey, and cold wet-wet-wet we've been having here this past week, I've really struggled getting back into routine in this awful weather. Nothing worse than coming home after getting wet through and knowing that in 1.5 hours you will need to put on a still wet coat and go out and do it all over again. I've felt like I haven't warmed up all week, have been perpetually cold and damp.

It's not so bad though, I've been making a conscious effort to rise above the gloom and shake off the post holiday blues. I'm almost there with it. I've worked my way diligently through the gazillion loads of laundry that always materialises after a week away, and it's felt remarkably comforting to be busy doing domestic things.

On Friday morning when Little B was happily at playgroup, I put on my apron and whizzed around number 24 with the vacuum cleaner and floral duster. I sang to myself. I picked up and tidied away many, many stray objects, emptied bins, folded laundry and straightened out the sizable textile element of the living room (currently five blankets and a whole gaggle of cushions). And when it was all done I felt relief and happiness flood through me. I am Blessing my Home, doing my job, getting Back To It. And it feels right and good. Hoozah!!

I also made a wondrous discovery on Friday, you will probably laugh at my stupidity actually, giggle at how long it has taken me (many weeks) to work this one out. On Friday mornings after I've dropped Little B at playgroup, I wend my way home across town via the shops and market. Buying groceries, fresh fruit and veg, bread, flowers, toiletries, whatever we are in need of. I always end up struggling with very, very heavy bags, arriving home all hot and sweaty and exhausted. But yesterday, I had a light-bulb moment and I thought :: hang on a minute!! Why struggle carrying hideously heavy bags when I have a set of wheels at my disposal? Why leave Little B's pushchair at playgroup when I can use it to transport the shopping? So now on Friday's, Pushchair will magically become Shopping Trolley, how marvellous!! I did get a great many odd looks pushing a pushchair full of blanket-wrapped food around (I think it was the long french stick in place of the child that did it), but I care not. My arms and back were so thankful!

This weeks floral extravagance from the market comes in the form of three bunches of "cheerfulness" for £3. I can't tell you how much I love love love that these narcissi are really actually called CheeRfUlness (like officially really that's their proper name), how sweet is that?? They smell divine, and looked super-cute wrapped in my ripples as they rode home in the pushchair. Looking (and smelling) pretty good on my table too.

Part of Friday's Home Blessing also involved a clean up of my mantel as I packed away all the Easter decs. I've left the blossom flowers on the twigs, and Miss Fleur could in no way be packed into a shoebox, so it's still looking very pretty and Springlike in here.

Hmmmmmmmm? You've spotted the little vintage dish full of embroidery threads????? Ah yes, those. Well that's the subject of another post entirely, you'll have to wait for the low-down on those balls of gorgeousness.

Cheerfulness and sweet mushroomy goodness has made it's way up into the bedroom as the Home Blessing activity isn't confined to the ground floor. One of the things that I most love about coming home from holiday is that I get to fall in love with my bed all over again. Gosh, I do adore my bedtimes, such simple, pleasurable bliss to enter the land of nod between crisp cotton and plumped up feathers with a bit of hooky goodness thrown over the top.

I baked with Little B on Thursday morning, always a good plan when the weather is yuckity-yuck and the heart is still a little achy. Helping a 2 year old to crack eggs, play with an electric whisk, dollop mixture, then lick out the bowl is a wonderful thing. Add to that the warmth of the oven, the delicious smell of baking that fills the house, the fun of icing and decorating with newly purchased sweet-hearts and the satisfaction of eating a homemade bun with an afternoon cuppa, well, it all adds up to something simple yet marvelous.

What else....oh yeah, my windowsill seedlings really grew a lot whilst I was away, just look at them go! I'm planning on seeing to them tomorrow, they need "potting on" now before they get too leggy and weak. I'm treating myself to one of those small portable greenhousey type things, you know the sort I mean? Like a bit of metal shelving with a clear plastic rain mac that zips up over the top to keep the chill off.

These cute little basil seedlings were given to me by TF (Talented Friend), she has green fingers as well as stitchy ones. These weeny seedlings already smell so lovely and the scent of them instantly transports me to Summertime. I am desperate not to kill them (my fingers are not green), I talk sweet nothings to them daily and do not ever want to report news of their demise to TF. I want to see them grow into strong mature plantlets so that I can proudly talk tomato-mozzarella-basil salad on a warm summers day with TF. Fingers and toes crossed, I'm going to pot them on tomorrow with the rest of my seedlings and settle them into their new greenhousey home.

Something else that I really do want to get back to is my ripple, it's been a tad neglected of late. I sat and worked a few rows this morning, then had a little ponder about the dimensions and where I'm at with it all. I laid it out on top of ripple number one to check on the length and I'd say I've maybe only got ten more colour changes to work through. I feel a bit like I don't want it to end, but at the same time with the weather being still so chilly I'm really looking forward to pressing it into service. It's taking on a delicious weight, quite a substantial blankie this one. I really do adore it.

Well, I think that's about all the news from the home front that I can muster at the moment, thank you as always for bobbing by. I love that you visit and stay a while to chat.

Much love to all, see you again soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

Dorset Spring 2012 :: days 5&6

:: DAY 5 ::

Weather report ~ warmish, but grey and overcast with frequent rain showers.

Day 5 was to be different to the other days in that we decided to split into Team Boy and Team Girl and go to different places. It was a plan made in heaven and sprinkled with happy dust as far as I was concerned.

Team Boy were destined for Bere (a small place just over the border in Devon), more specifically the delights of Pecorama which consists of a model railway exhibition plus excellent Boyish miniature steam train running through landscaped gardens.

Team Girl would be dropped off en route to Bere to carry out Girlish pursuits, more specifically the delights of Lyme Regis which consists of shops, galleries and cafés all with sea views and feel-good.

I wrote about my love affair with Lyme Regis a couple years ago, and my fondness has even grown since then I think. I really, really (like r-e-e-e-e-e-a-l-l-y) love Lyme Regis. A lot. A very lot. It pleases me on so many levels, ticks so many of my happy boxes, that it never ever fails to deliver huge dollops of pleasure. Simply pootling round the streets is heaven, they're so damn pretty and full of charm!

And the possibilities it holds for Retail Therapy is just wonderful. There are some truly unique and beautiful little shops and galleries, full to bursting with unique and beautiful objects. The Coombe Street Gallery was the very first shop we went into, and it was such a treat. Little Lady is a fantastic shopping companion I have to say, we had great fun looking at things together, chatting and exclaiming over so many delightful finds.

I love how gorgeous the shop fronts are in Lyme, it makes the whole town look incredible. So much style and colour everywhere you look.

This was the window display in one of my favourite shops, Ruby Rockcake. Wow, I really felt at home in here. It was full of an amazing selection of retro styled products, quite a bit more funky and colourful than your average vintage shop. I first read about Ruby Rockcake on a lovely blog called JellyJam, you can read the post here and see more beautiful pics of the shop's interior. Caroline...if you are reading this, I ADORED your shop, and will definitely be back again, most probably to try and move in.

After all this retail excitement and a lovely spot of coffee'n'cake, we headed up to the top of town to go find my good friend M. She was finishing up a spot of work in her beautiful studio (she's a knitwear designer), located down this really incredible, pretty little back street.

Isn't this just the most picturesque little street?

Pretty cottages and gorgeous gardens......

....and views out over the rooftops. It was all so yummy, a real feast for the eyes.

After a lovely, chatty lunch at a place called Pasty Presto (delicious), we wandered down to the seafront to rendezvous with Team Boy who had finished doing train things. By all accounts they had a fabulous time and were ready to join us in a bit of seaside pootling and icecream eating.

It was unusually quiet down at the beach, but then the weather was quite stormy with frequent short bursts of rain, so not exactly beachy weather really.

But it was as lovely as ever, and we enjoyed a leisurely stroll along the seafront and round the wall of the Cobb.

You can just see the end part of the old Cobb wall to the right there...go and have a peek at this beautiful aerial view and you'll get a great impression of how the cobb walls form the sheltered harbour.

More boaty loveliness, I can never get enough of Boaty Views.

It really was gorgeous on this afternoon. Not perfect weather (we kept getting wet) but still a beautiful day to be beside the sea.

Now after all that sublime coastal scenery, I'm going to leave day 5 with a heap of seaside plastic. What fun this shop display was! I was thrilled to see a huge giant version of my own backyard windmills, and I wish you could've heard Little B's excited exclamations over it too, so sweet.

:: DAY 6 ::

Weather report ~ warm and lovely, blue skies, fluffy clouds and sunshine.

Day 6, our last day. We weren't going to leave till 5pm or thereabouts so we had most of the day to say goodbye to everyone and everything. The day started early with Little B waking just after 5am, so I left him snuggling in bed with J and came downstairs for a little early morning quiet time. I love to crochet in the early mornings whilst on holiday, the light is golden and the sweet sound of bird song fills my ears. I sit in the old chair beside the patio doors with them open just a smidge..enough to let in the sound of the birds and the scent of still wet grass and earth.

I took the May issue of Country Living magazine with me to read whilst on hols, wowsers, what delight in those pages! I loved the decorating spread based on "Retro Revival, and it struck me how similar my current yarn selection is. The teal blue with the mustardy yellow, the slightly purplish grey tones with the orangey pink thrown in.

There was reference made to some Fired Earth paint colours (their mid-century collection), and yes, I can see that I have kind of fallen into this palette by accident. I am just missing a good deep burnt orange and a slightly mucky olivey green.

Actually, I went to pay a visit to Bridports new wool shop on day 6 (what a gorgeous experience that was! See some pics of it here, it's a slice of pure yarny heaven)...and picked up two extra colours of the Rico Merino to try and fill the orange/green gap. Not quite sure about them yet but we'll see (for reference, I added in orange colour 73, and khaki colour 46, although they won't be in my cushion)

After breakfast, we decided to go and have a short farewell trip to the sea and there followed a short, sharp debate over which bit of sea we should visit. Burton? Eype? West Bay? I'm happy to say that my choice won out, and back to West Bay we went. It was the most beeeeeeautiful morning, warm and sunny with the wind finally down to a mere light breeze.

It was only just after 9am when we arrived, we parked the car right on the promenade (my idea, as there is an amazing coffee place right there where I knew I could get me a carry-out to accompany my beach session). 

The Little People each had a spade and went off to the small patch of sand to dig, dig, dig (you can just see them in the above pic). I sat my bottom on the warm steps that lead down from the promenade to the beach and indulged all my senses. The taste of hot milky coffee, the feel of the smooth stones in my fingers, the sight of the blue-meets-blue horizon, the sound of seagulls and waves rolling into shore, the scent of fresh coffee intermingled with salty seaweed.

I looked up, down, and all around. All was beautiful and content in my world. Happiness washed over me.

I watched my Little Boy (see him above there?) toddling about with his blue spade, picking up pebbles, collecting things, throwing things, so happy in his own sweet world. And I thought for the umpteenth time...WOW. I have THREE children. Not two, but THrEe of these incredible little things. It appears I am still astounded by this fact, still amazed that we have become a family of five. I wonder, will this amazement ever evaporate?

I tell you, I so did not want to leave that beach, I felt like my very soul had taken root in the shingle. My feet did not want to walk away. But......we had packing to do, a family lunch to be present at, dear loved ones to bid farewell to. And then a long 300 mile journey to make home.

On Sunday morning back here in Yorkshire, the weather was bright and sunny and we set out early to go and walk along the riverside. I put on my fleece to keep the chill off, and when I put my hands in my pockets I pulled out a small handful of collected beach treasures. Souvenirs from a fabulous holiday beside the sea.

Not the only treasures to come home with me mind you, I wasn't just idling about window shopping in Lyme Regis, no no no! I had been saving up my pocket money specifically for this trip so I had a wee bit of spending money at my disposal. Would you like to see my New Sweet Things?

There you go....a collection of spoons and egg cups and mushrooms and postcards and cake sprinkles and wooden arty objects. Yum yum yum!

The teeny wooden mushrooms and the cute mushroom nightlight came from Ruby Rockcake.

The melamine spoons are Rice DK (similar here)

I bought the adorable little egg cups from Fuego, but you can buy them online here.

Ahhhh I LOVE these postcards! I spotted them at a newsagent in West Bay and couldn't resist them, they are illustrations by the talented Martin Wiscombe.

I bought this lovely, lovely little wooden boat from the Coombe Street Gallery in Lyme Regis, it nearly broke my heart with it's cuteness. It's a simple piece of automata and when you wind the little handle, the boat rocks up and down......isn't it lovely?!

When I went for lunch in Lyme, I got this sweet boat out to show M. But I found that all the while I was showing it, I was actually thinking and talking about a larger piece that I'd seen but hadn't been sure about buying at the time as it was a good chunk of my spending money. However, the more I thought about it, the more I just knew in my heart that I should go straight back to the gallery and buy it. I could already feel that I would totally regret not having it in the Attic, I was already longing for it, does that make sense?

And this is the piece I went back for. It really is beautiful, soooooo beautiful. It's another piece of automata ~ winding the handle makes the little painted metal seagulls fly up and down. It's so totally in the spirit of Lyme Regis (the rows of coloured painted houses, the ever present seagulls, the white fluffy clouds) that my heart soars when I look at it. I've written the date I bought it on the underside, and I shall treasure it and love it forever, I know I will.

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Edit to add :: after some research I've found out that the sweet wooden automata are made by a British company called Shoeless Joe. They describe themselves as a "wholesale gift company" who design their products in the UK but have them made in other parts of the world. These wooden pieces have such a delightful handmade quality, and were very reasonably priced, but sadly they aren't available to buy online anywhere as they are wholesale only. Not sure if this is of any help whatsoever, but hey, you did ask!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dorset Spring 2012 :: days 3&4

:: DAY 3 ::

Weather report ~ blustery cold winds, sunshine and short April showers.

Much more promising Springtime weather arrived on Tuesday morning, and we were so ready for it. The most glorious blue skies and bright sunshine had us heading straight down to the sea, this time a little further along the coast at Burton Bradstock.

There was a strong, blustery wind which made for an impressive Big Sea. I really love it when it's like this, the sound of crashing waves is one of my all time favourite sounds on earth (along with childrens laughter, and the sound of a skylark calling). The air tasted of salt, it was all so refreshing and delicious.

We had an idea that we wanted to lay a picnic blanket down on the shingle and lounge about in the sun a bit. But despite the sun, the wind made it very chilly, not really very comfy lounging about temperatures. So out came our trusty old windbreak, and all five of us snuggled down together....

....to loaf about and eat chocolate. What a marvellous thing to do at 9.30am on a Tuesday morning, we all thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Little People don't really do lengthy loafing or lounging, especially at the coast. They sat and ate chocolate for about 47.5 seconds, then were up and off again, climbing and scrambling up and down these beautifully sculptural sandy banks. Little B however does not like windy conditions and was more than happy to spend his time snuggling behind the windbreak consuming chocolate.

After the chocolately rest, Little Lady and I took a walk together along the beach in search of treasure, which was disappointingly in short supply. I did find one lovely curly-wurly whelk shell, but sadly it still contained approximately one third of it's occupier and was therefore rather stinky. Ah well. It was still a lovely stroll, in which Little Lady described to me her perfect home that she is currently saving up for (I kid you not, she saves every single penny she gets in her own account, so that she can one day buy her own dream cottage. Thatched, and by the sea of course, she is definitely from my gene pool)

By the time we'd finished walking and talking dreamy real estate, we had come back to the boys and the cafe was open, hoorah! Cappuccino/juice at the Hive is always rather high on my list of Dorset must-do's. It did not disappoint, delish in every way.

After all the fun of the beach, we waved goodbye and headed inland to the gorgeous little pocket of countryside where my Mum lives. The sun was still shining, throwing gorgeous shadows through the little curly-latched windows. It always feels so still and timeless and soporific at my Mum's cottage (although the noise of the Little People at play does rather shatter the peace somewhat), and on arriving I always, always get an overwhelming urge to lay down and sleep. I find that I yawn a lot. I lounge idly on the sofa while my Mum provides me with cups of hot tea (in bone china mugs) and feeds me yummy food. It's all rather lovely actually.

Providing yummy food is my Mum's speciality, and she set out a truly scrumptious spread for lunch. It was devoured with gusto by us lot, the visiting hungry-folk. She made five different types of sandwiches on fresh granary bread. There were sweet little cherry tomatoes and bowls of hand cut crisps. Plates of spicy cured meats and homemade pickles. And there were Moores Easter Biscuits. Of course. No Easter would be complete without these, we all love them.

Every year my lovely Mum always creates a very special Easter Basket for the Little People which she started doing when Little Man was a small tot. Even now at 9 years old, Little Man asked me on the way over whether I thought Grandma would've done her Easter Basket, it's become a truly sweet tradition. The LP always very politely ask permission before taking anything out, and this year even Little B learnt to say a heart melting "peeeeeeeease" before running off with his chocolate of choice.

The weather threw down a few short, sharp April showers during the afternoon, but nothing that really stopped play. The soporific feeling continued, even the river flows slowly here, winding gently past the cottage on it's way down to the sea. Grandpa B gave the Little People a slice of bread each, for them to pull off little bits and feed to the resident trout. These fish love granary bread it seems, they rose to the surface and gobbled it up, much to the huge delight of the LP.

Isn't this pansy flower just soooo beautiful? Such vibrant, velvety beauty, I felt like I wanted to kiss it! I refrained, and photographed it instead. Mwah, sweet pansy-face, you are way too gorgeous.

Hmmm....trying to think now where we're at. Yes, that's it. Still on day 3, but much later on now, after dinner, 7pm or thereabouts. The early evening light makes it impossible to retire indoors, so we head instead up to the heights of Egardon Hill.

We parked the car at the roadside and walked out along the ancient ridges, such beauty in the light and landscape at this time of day.

The fields are wearing their gold and green Easter outfit with the crops of rapeseed just beginning to flower.

I love it up here, always have done ever since I was a small child and came up here to picnic with my grandparents. It's so unspoilt and so full of natural beauty, often with the most incredible play of light and shadows across the hillsides. Incidentally, I just googled Egardon Hill (it's an ancient iron age fort with oodles of history attached), and found a stunning aerial photograph of it, do go and take a peek)

Isn't this the sweetest looking road? Any road with grass growing down the middle of it tweaks at my heart strings, it just begs you to drive down it.

Ahhhh....the tail end of a most gorgeous, happy day. We all fell into bed early and slept deeply.

 :: DAY 4 ::

Weather report ~ Bright and sunny start, clouding over in the late afternoon.

J made the decision for Day 4, he declared it to be the day we make our pilgrimage to St C's. Do you remember me talking about our visit to St Catherines Chapel last year? Ahhh, sooo funny for me to read that now, to layer last years experience with this years!!!! We had an almost identical visit this year, excepting that Little B walked the Whole Way Up All By Himself. He huffed and puffed a bit, and it was slow going, but he did remarkably well for a 2yr old.

There were sheep in the field this year in place of cows and Little B adored them. He was a bit baffled that he couldn't get close enough to cuddle them, and he was rather worryingly fascinated by their poo, but it was all good fun.

We did our usual thing up here and laid out our picnic blanket, leaning our backs against the ancient sunwarmed chapel walls. We ate Easter eggs and admired the view. Well that's to say that J and I did the admiring and the viewing. The Little People did their usual thing and hared around. Boy, they do soo love to run, run, run up here! Round and round, in and out, it exhausted me trying to keep tabs on them, trying to shhhh them inside the chapel. In the end I gave up, gave up trying to shhhh them, gave up trying to get them to be respectful, and allowed them to just run riot. It actually felt rather brilliant to let go of the parenting for a bit, just allow Freedom to happen. I did feel slightly sorry for the other visitors that kept arriving though. Older folk with guide books and big expensive cameras, spouting historical facts to each other. It was not entirely peaceful up there with my brood.

Ahhh the view, the view.......stunning as ever, absolutely breathtakingly stunning.

The sea was the most incredible shade of turquoise blue, I just couldn't take my eyes off it.

I've never taken any pictures inside the chapel before, but this time I did take a few. There is nothing inside, just a sandy floor and a couple of little nooks where people leave a few coins and some rather heart-squeezing little handwritten notes to St Catherine (along the lines of "please will you keep my family safe and please find me Good Husband to love").......ahh see, good ol' Wikipedia!! I just discovered that St Catherine is the patron saint of Spinsters!!!! Hence the wishes for husbands. Makes sense now, thank you Wikipedia for being so informative and marvelous.

Did I mention how beautiful the view is from up here? Isn't it just?

Some time later, when the Little People had tired of all that Disturbing Of The Peace, we walked down from the chapel and made a visit to the local Recreation Ground. A beautifully designed play area, with super wooden entertainment for children of all ages. Can highly recommend it if you are in the area and wish your offspring to burn off energy in a safe, friendly environment.

Not much more to say here really, excepting that the Little People had a really great time. J and I did more sitting and viewing, with a flask of hot tea and more Easter eggs. Some occasional assisting to Little B, but nothing too taxing.

We ended the afternoon with a journey home via another High Place, with more stunning views and Scenery Appreciation. Little B snoozed, J and the Little People explored and ate ice cream and played ball, and I sat and did some high up, scenic hooking.

It was all rather blissful. A day of fresh air, views and al fresco eating. Gentle exercise, playtime and family time. Relaxed parenting, happy children. Just how a holiday should be.

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ps please do come back tomorrow for the final installment, I'm taking you shopping tomorrow! See you then x

 

 

 

 

Dorset Spring 2012 :: days 1&2

:: DAY 1 ::

Weather report ~ cold with a stormy grey sky, although miraculously no rain.

Very similar to our last visit in August 2011 the weather on the first day of our holidays looked a bit grim. The sky was ominously dark and grey and we felt sure we would be in for a downpour at any minute.

We journey to Dorset in the evening, arriving late in the dark, and always my very first thought upon waking on Day 1 is that we must get down to the sea. Quick smart, no matter what the weather, we must get to the sea. It's become something of a ritual for us, this first trip to the coast, it's less than 10 minutes drive to West Bay from where we stay at my Dad's house and I honestly cannot tell you how very much I look forward to it. It's my Day-1-sea-fix.

10am and there we were, striding/scootering/toddling out along the pier to breathe it all in. Brrrrrrrrr it was cold though! There was a damp feel to the air (very autumnal actually), and it really chilled through our clothes. But oh, the air smelt divine to me, that familiar fresh, salty tang that fills me with joy every-single-time. And the light was rather incredible, sort of dramatic and unpredictable. Cos although it looked incredibly stormy, there were some wonderful shafts of distant sunlight alighting on the landscape. And no rain came to us either. We could literally see it falling further round the bay, but it never made it as far as our patch. We were blessed I think.

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you will know these boaty scenes well by now. I never tire of this amble around the harbour, not ever. The sight of the boats bobbing gently on the water, the sweet familiarity of it, the fact that it remains so unchanged across the decades, I just love it all. It spells Childhood to me, takes me back to my own Little Years in an instant.

I am a bit lost for words all of a sudden. How beautifully boaty this picture is?! My heart is squeezing at the sight of it, I feel like I could still be there.

I have to tell you that Little B also loved the boats. It was great fun having him with us this holiday as he is a jolly good little walker now, and his speech is coming on a treat. He's still just using single words (he can say "boat" beautifully), and I just loved to hear him exclaim and point out everything he could see and name.

We are into the afternoon now, I put my camera away while we went to my favourite cafe on the beach for morning coffee, then off to a country pub for a delightful chatty, lengthy (rather boozy) family lunch.

My brother and his family were also visiting, so after the aforementioned lengthy lunch we found ourselves back down at the bay, pootling about with them.

My sister-in-law decided that it should be crabbing time, do you remember me telling you about this last summer? Such fun for the Little Peeps! Thirteen crabs were caught, admired, inspected, chatted to, then released back into their watery abode.

While the crabbing went on (and it was quite a long crabbing session), I wandered off by myself  for a little bit of salty me-time.

I took myself onto the rolling shingle of East beach, lay myself down on my back, arms and legs stretched wide and eyes closed. I took in the sound of the waves crashing in and the gulls screeching overhead, the faint sounds of shouting children and a barking dog. I probably looked very daft indeed, but I did not care. It was quite delightful.

:: DAY 2 ::

Weather report ~ wet, wet, wet. Blustery winds and pouring rain all day.

My brother was leaving that morning, so we had arranged an early 9.30 rendezvous back at the Watchhouse cafe for a family breakfast. We are a large party (8 adults and 5 children) and we took over two tables. The cafe was warm, fragrant and busy, the windows cosily steamed up with rivulets of rain coursing down the outside. Great coffee and super poached eggs on toast. Mmmmm.

With the weather preventing us from doing Outdoorsy things, we took the Little People to sample the delights of Indoorsy things. West bay is charmingly unspoilt, and there isn't much in the way of Amusements. But this dinky little place has been there forever, and it remains sweetly old fashioned and rather full of nostalgia.

The Little People were captivated by the Tuppenny Falls, so we gave them £1 each converted into 2p's (50 coins) and let them at it. Little Man kept his going for ages, feeding them strategically into the machine and waiting excitedly for them to finally tumble over the edge. Great whoops of joy when the machine spit out a handful of coins, which were then promptly fed back into the machine. All good fun.

The afternoon passed slowly. We spent the time at Lady B's, cosy and warm indoors while the rain continued to fall. Her garden always looks so lush and beautiful no matter what the weather.

In actual fact, a whole afternoon cosy indoors with Little People happily occupied was quite blissful. I settled myself at the table and immersed myself in circular hooky bliss while the LP discovered the joys of Monopoly. Little Lady, almost 8 years old now, was new to the game and it was really lovely listening in to Little Man's careful explanations of the rules and helpful guidance as she learnt the skill. It was a long game (2 hours), and they thoroughly enjoyed it, so much so that the very next day we went and bought one for ourselves. We are not a gaming family (I actually really cannot stand to play board games, never have done) but in recent times J has introduced Scrabble to the Little People, and now evening games of Monopoly have become a regular occurance. Little Man is quite a skilled Monopoliser it seems, not sure if that's a good thing or not?!

My holiday hooky has been quite wonderful, I'm so enjoying this yarn and these colours. The simplicity of this circular pattern (which you can find a tutorial for here) makes it a very relaxing pastime. I think I could quite happily crochet circles forever.

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ps more holiday tales to follow tomorrow with Days 3&4, thank you for indulging me ♥

 

 

Good Times

I am full of mixed feelings, quite out of kilter. Had such a wonderful week away by the sea, and it's always so hard to leave it all behind and return to my land locked life. I am mostly very happy to be cosy home in the Attic again, but I confess my heart is aching a little. Just a little.

I've been sitting at my desk with a big mug of hot tea, looking through the 275 photos that I took last week. Reliving the days, remembering the good times. Such good times! Such sweet pictures of my three Little People in amongst all the scenery, gosh we did make the very most of every day. We really did. Wonderful.

Would love to share some of it with you, I'm thinking I maybe need to string it across three installments, do you think that would be ok? Can you manage three days of holiday snaps? Just make sure you have a nice place to sit comfortably with a big mug of something yummy to drink when you next pop by to visit, and I'll try not to bore you too much. See you soon...........

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Holiday Hooky

I keep these five adorable little stones-within-stones on the windowsill behind my desk to act as a sweet reminder of holiday time. Do you remember them from last year? We are off again this evening, making our 300 mile journey south to spend time with my family by the sea. I am looking forward to it so much, can't wait for tomorrow, to wake up to the sound of gulls flying overhead and the scent of sea salt in the air. Lovely.

An essential part of my own personal holiday preparations is to make sure I have some sort of portable hooky project ready to go. This time last year I was busy making Mr Snakey Chops, and I have fond memories of working on him whilst away by the sea. My ripple blanket is really too big now to count as a Portable Project, so I've come up a little something to keep me happy during the next week or so. I'm using a yarn new to me, it's Rico Essentials Merino DK.

I was given the above six balls more than a year ago but didn't quite know what to do with them at the time. The colours are really scrummy, but six simply isn't enough for a colour junkie like me. Luckily I've found a local yarn shop that stocks Rico (hoooray!) so I was able to make a quick visit yesterday to choose a few extra colours to add into the mix. The colour range in this yarn is really good, there are more than 30 to choose from. There's a great mix of saturated brights and deep jewel tones along with some paler, more muted colours. I was very pushed for time yesterday, so could only spend about five minutes faffing with colour choices, it was quite rushed and a wee bit frantic. I did briefly ponder on adding in some deep purples, reds and dark blues, but in the end I found myself unexpectedly drawn towards the greys and browns..............

Look, see what I came away with?!  The greys in particular are really beautiful, I love them. They sit amazingly well with the brighter shades, look...................

Ooooooooooooooooooo yummy scrummy!

So I've now got ten shades to play with, you can find them all over at HCS Crafts which stocks 38 colours at £3.79 for 50g, with free P&P if you spend over £25. They also ship internationally. Here is the colour info>>

top row, left to right........

:: 05 red :: 15 berry :: 10 fucshia :: 66 sun :: 04 acacia ::

bottom row, left to right........

:: 45 mint :: 27 jeans :: 97 mouse grey :: 53 wood :: 20 mauve ::

I am really happy with these colours, I've spent quite a while just playing with them and getting a feel for how they work together.

I couldn't wait to get started to see how it worked up, It's always exciting to do something with a completely new type of yarn. I made a start last night once Little B was in bed, I'm making another  simple circular cushion cover, similar to the one I made a few years ago (you can see it in this post). I wanted something quick and easy and pleasurable to work on, and this fits the bill nicely.

This is lovely yarn to work with, warm, soft and easy to crochet (I'm using a 4mm hook), it really is a dream.

I was so excited to see how the greys would work in with the colours, this is a New Thing for me colourwise and I tell you I am love, love, loving it!

Adding in the yellow completely altered the look of it, I'm going to follow on now with some rows of brights (acacia, berry, jade, jeans...) I get such a buzz from playing with colour in this way. Whheee, so happy about this sweet little bit of Holiday Hooky!

Right, I need to scoot off now and try to bring together some piles of clean clothes for us all, it'll be the usual chaos of stuffing things into plastic bags, shoving it all in the boot of car and hoping for the best. We have no idea what the weather has in store for us, so we shall aim for multiple layers, with waterproofs and sturdy shoes, crocs and swimming costumes on standby.

Back in a week with my soul full of the sea, see you soon ♥

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Easter Blossom

Oooooooh I've had a happy, wonderful creative time with myself this morning! I suddenly got my mojo back after having an unintentional hooky-hibernation in recent weeks, and it's been really great to feel that old buzz of inspiration and productivity return.

Both Little People came down with The Bug on Tuesday, it's not been a great week. There's been lots of nasty mess, heaps of extra laundry, miserable offspring, and one worn out Mumma. It's also meant that I had kind of forgotten about Easter until this morning when it suddenly occurred to me where we were at. I really love to decorate for Easter, and I have an old shoebox labelled EASTER containing all sorts of decorative bits and bobs for the occasion. I was really excited to retrieve it from the Attic eaves this morning, especially as for some unknown reason I didn't do Easter decs last year (why ever not? I don't recall). The Little People said they couldn't remember a single thing that was inside the box, but when I opened the lid and got everything out, there were lots of excited shouts of recognition. It was a treat to watch them rediscover and reconnect with past memories.

I really wanted to make something new for this year though, especially as my decorative set up was going to be slightly different. Usually I hang my decs onto some fake cherry blossom in a jug on a side table (see here) but this year I have my jug and twigs already installed on the mantel. The twigs had remained bare after the Christmas Bauble treatment, so it gave me a lovely excuse to hook up a little Springtime colour for them. Inspired by my recent love affair with early Spring blossom, I got out my small stash of Rico Creative cotton and designed a simple six petalled blossom flower.

I used the pale yellow yarn with a darning needle to add some decorative stitching to the centre. I really enjoyed the simplicity of working the stitching, it was incredibly soothing to do this same repetitive thing twenty times over.

I left out the darker colours of Rico cotton and stuck with the mid and light colours....don't they look pretty all nestled together? Very satisfyingly springlike.

This flower is very quick and simple to make, I'm going to write the pattern out at the end of this post if you want to whip some up.

Before darning the end in at the back of each flower I made a small loop so that they'd be easy to hang straight onto my twigs. I did the same thing when I made the teeny tiny hearts and it worked a treat.

Ooooohh, there you go look.......................ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!

One decorated Easter Mantel.

I absolutely L♥VE it. 

I hung some little wooden painted eggs amongst the hooky flowers, and arranged some other bits along the mantel :: spotty wooden eggs, some rather odd looking squished up fluffy chicks, a little woven nest, and a fair few bunnies.

I also re-hung my heart garland as I've really been missing it of late. I took it down at Christmas then never put it back up as I intended to try and stiffen the hearts with some pva glue to stop them curling in on themselves. Needless to say I didn't get round to it so they stayed in my desk drawer. I did briefly wonder whether it might be time for a change anyways, but no, no change. Hanging them up again has made me realise how much a part of our home they had become. I love them as much as I did when I first made them four years ago (and yes, I know someone will ask...the pattern can be found here)

Something new and lovely hopped into the Attic for Eastertime yesterday, did you spot her perched up at the end there? I've called her Miss Fleur and she is my latest crush. Isn't she aDORable???? Such beautiful little flowery britches (with matching bag) and the cutest little granny square jumper to tie the whole outfit together. She is just lovely, look at her darling little face..............

......oh smoochy kisses to you Miss Fleur, I love you so much! She was made by my wonderful Talented Friend, the one who loves to stitch, stitch, stitch. She knits and crochets as well, but it's the stitchy-stuff of hers that just blows me away. Please do go and have a peek at her blog (Patchwork Chickens), you can see all of the other Easter Hares that she made, amongst many other gorgeous things. I keep trying to persuade my Talented Friend to get some of her wares into an Etsy shop, she would do well with them don't you think?

Aside from the germs and resulting yuckiness this week, it's still been a lovely, quiet, stay-home time. I do sooooo love my home. Most of it is in a bit of a mess at the moment to tell the truth, but my shelves are NOT messy, hooozah!!!! Lovely, lovely, lovely to have this one wall looking seasonal and hunkydory, it's making me very happy. I keep walking out the room, then back in again so that I can appreciate the impact of my new Easter arrangement :o)

Right then....before I finish and go and eat some chocolate, I'd like to share the pattern for my Easter Blossom. It's just going to be words as I don't have the time to do pictures, but it is very straightforward I promise you. First a quick summary of the stitches, I'm working in UK terms as follows ::

sl st [slip stitch] :: insert hook, yarn over, pull the loop back through the stitch, then through the loop on your hook.

dc [double crochet] :: insert hook, yarn over, pull the loop back through the stitch (two loops on hook), yarn over and pull through both loops on hook (note :: this is equivalent to the US sc stitch)

tr [treble] :: yarn over, insert hook, yarn over, pull the loop back through the stitch (three loops on hook), yarn over and pull through two loops on hook (two loops left on hook), yarn over and pull through remaining two loops (note :: this is equivalent to the US dc stitch)

 ❀ BLOSSOM FLOWER ❀

To begin, chain 4 and join with a sl st to form a ring.

:: Round 1 ::

Chain 1 (counts as 1 dc), then work 5 dc into the ring. Join with a sl st in first chain to close the round. You should be able to clearly identify 6 stitches to work out of for the next round.

:: Round 2 ::

Sl St into the first st, chain 2, work 1 tr and 1 dc into same stitch.

**Sl st into next stitch, chain 2, work 1 tr and 1 dc into same stitch**

Repeat between ** four more times until you have 6 petals in total.

Make a sl st into the base of the first ch-2 to close the round. Fasten off.

Don't forget to leave a long enough tail end to create a hanging loop if the blossom is destined for twigs!

Happy Easter my lovelies, have lots of blossomy, chocolatey fun!

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