Attic24

Yarndale Update

 

Ahhhhh Yarndale....fabulous, wonderful, highly anticipated, woolly new event! Here in AtticLand we are counting down the days (sixty six in case you were wondering) until Festival Launch with a mixture of extreme excitement and a weeny bit of new-kid nerves. The amazing Woolfest has just clocked up it's ninth successful year, and here we are, teetering on the edge of our first year.

I have to say it's all going pretty well. We have closed the applications for 2013 now, and we are thrilled to announce that there will be over 150 exhibitors in this first year. Truthfully, Yarndale has turned into a far bigger event than we ever thought possible. When we tentatively sat around the table to discuss hiring the venue last Spring, it all seemed a little bit dreamlike. That dreamlike state has gradually been replaced by a great deal of dedicated team work, determination, energy and vision.

We meet regularly to discuss and plan the festival and work our way through a lengthy agenda. There is a great deal to be done in order to ensure an event of this size runs smoothly. Sometimes we meet in a local pub and have three-hour meetings over morning coffee. Sometimes we meet at the Auction Mart when it's necessary to work on the nitty gritty of running a show this size. We have just finished working on the floor plan as our amazing graphic designer begins designing and compiling our brochure this week. There are also various meetings taking place this week to do with the security of the building, emergency evacuation plans and traffic management. Oh, and a meeting with the bus company to look at the vintage red London bus we are hiring to transport people from the town to the event.

I've not talked a great deal about my involvement with Yarndale here on my blog, just trying to think now, I've forgotten what I've said actually?! Err....ok, think Lucy.....yes, there was the first introduction back in January, and then Bunting stuff during May. You would be forgiven for thinking that all I've been contributing is a bit of bunting and a sheep's head (with rosette).

The Yarndale Team is made up of seven people in total, so I am officially 1/7th of the outfit. All of us have busy lives with jobs and/or children, but we've chosen to give our time and energy to help make Yarndale a success. I think we make up a strong team, with each person contributing different skills and experience to the mix. There are even two members who don’t actually know how to knit or crochet (shock, horror!) but vitally they contribute much needed financial, business and event management skills to the team. It's been interesting to see how the work load has naturally divided itself, which each person taking on the role that they feel most comfortable with. For me, that has meant two main jobs :: creative wool person and writer/internet person.

The creative woolly part is where my heart lies and I've love love loved heading up plans for this aspect of the festival. We have been exceptionally fortunate in attracting the attention of the kind people at Stylecraft Yarns, who offered to send us some of the Stylecraft Special DK to use for our yarn bombing. The above balls are only half of what we've received, we are so grateful for their generosity.

And while we're talking about yarn and super-nice people, I would also like to say a huge big thank you to the lovely peeps at Wool Warehouse who are sponsoring the Children's Corner at Yarndale. They are supplying all the yarn for the children's activities (and adults who might have a bit of a thing for pom poms and wish to pretend they are child sized for a short while)

If you have been bobbing in here for a while, you will know that I love Stylecraft Special DK. For our yarn bomb projects, we were prepared to use any old cheap and cheerful acrylic yarn that we could lay our hands on, but thankfully, Stylecraft has saved us from the fate of working with the rubbish, squeaky, plasticky stuff.

When I've had time, I've been playing around with a few flower ideas for the park yarn bomb project. Well, I AM involved in much of Yarndale's Creative Woolly Thinking you know, it's all part of my job. I can't really give you much info about these flowers as I (of course) neglected to write anything down, but I can tell you that the two flowers top left and bottom left were from a pattern in Simply Crochet magazine (issue 7). And the others came directly from my Creative Mind.

The other thing I have been very, very very busy with of late is the bunting thing. Not making it, but overseeing the acceptance of it from other people. Just in case you do not know the Bunting Story, here are a few links to explain ::

:: Bunting Request :: Bunting Pattern :: Bunting Info :: Bunting Postal Address ::

This glorious vista is the interior of our local yarn shop, Purl&Jane Knitting Emporium. Jane very kindly agreed for us to use her shop as a temporary Bunting Delivery Depot, and this is providing us both with a surprising amount of fun. I call into her shop daily, after checking on Twitter to see how many parcels have arrived in that day so I know if I will be able to carry them or not.

Sometimes I can carry them all in a (large) shopping bag, but in recent days I've been doing the bunting run with my shopping trolley full to the brim. Little B is, as ever, my trusty assistant. We carry the parcels down through the town to my studio where they are duly processed.

This is a three part process.

Part one is to empty the bag/trolley and make a pile, whilst ooohing and ahhhing at the distance each one has travelled.

"Where is this one from, Mummy?"

"Let me see.....ooooooh, it's from Australia!!!!!!!! It really is!!!! Awwwww, aren't people so kind"

The secondary part of the  processing operation involves opening each parcel (Little B's job), making a note of who/where info (my job), counting the triangles (Little B's job, unless it goes past 13, in which case I need to assist), then carefully bagging the triangles in ziplock bags (a joint effort) and adding them to the pile (Little B's job).

And the third part of the process will be the Photographic procedure and the compiling of a (very large) gallery of images. I've not got there yet. So far, Little B and I have processed 59 parcels and documented 667 triangles. There are still 50+ unopened parcels. It's a long job. BUT..........I am SO EXCITED about these triangles and the world wide creative spirit that they represent. Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all of you who have joined in with this project, it's going to be incredible when it all comes together in September.

As I mentioned above, aside from the creative woolly stuff, I have also been repsonsible for much of the written content that represents Yarndale. Initially, this involved writing the text for the postcard and the website. I am also the "voice" behind the Yarndale blog, Yarndale on Facebook and Yarndale on Twitter. Boy, that last one has had me stumped. I find Tweeting an immense challenge as it is all so brief and my natural voice is very long winded. But I am trying hard to use this social media in a way that feels honest and fun, and importantly as a way of getting information out there for anyone who is interested. Ravelry is also great for this, and Yarndale now has a presence there too.

More recently, I've been writing some formal editorial stuff for magazines, and this too has been a challenge. I can sit and roll out a blog post in my own "Lucy voice" with very little problem, but writing in a "magazine voice" is soooooo much harder! Oh, how I have struggled!

It's much easier when I discover that someone else has unexpectedly done it for me, as in this sweet and lovely little mention in the pages of Simply Crochet magazine (issue 8, out now)

Something that combines both Yarndale jobs of mine (the woolly stuff and the writing stuff), is pattern designing. As I mentioned earlier, we are compiling a really wonderful colour brochure for Yarndale which we are all rather excited about! It will contain a heap load of information about the festival and all the lovely exhibitors, but as an extra bonus we are also including some creative interviews (I think?!) and a small number of patterns. I started out with a rather ambitious idea to design a three-dimensional version of our patchwork sheep, kind of like a plump little stuffed sheep toy. I had loads of fun patch working the body together, and even making the cute little stumpy legs, but the head....oh the head did NOT work at all! I ended up having a huge hissy fit and threw the whole lot into the fruit bowl, where it remains.

I'm hoping that later in the year, when we have dusted ourselves down after the festival, that I might pick it back up again and make it work. In the meantime.......

....I still needed to come up with a pattern. Thankfully, just in the nick of time, this idea literally popped into my head as if from nowhere, around about 3am on Sunday morning. On Sunday afternoon, I was able to sneak away from the Little People, out into the back yard and start work on my new design.

Designing something new is such an emotional process, even when it's something relatively small like this. There are highs (yaaaayy it's looking like the right shape, and I've actually remembered to write the pattern down!) and lows (ohhhh pooooop, it looks like a sad fish instead of a happy bird).

But it is such a great, unbelievable feeling when you end up with something that doesn't need to be slung in the bin (or the fruit bowl).

So....I made a brooch. Well I made two actually, just to test that my scribbled pattern notes did actually work out and my numbers did actually add up.

Do you like them? They are only small, measuring about 9cm across. I worked the blue one in Drops Muskat cotton, and the pinky red one in Rico Essentials Merino, both on a 3,5mm hook. A little bit of stuffing, some simple embroidery and a felt and button wing. A brooch pin on the back......

.....and ta-dah! I've called it my "Tweetie Bird Brooch", and the pattern will be in the brochure, available to buy at Yarndale. And possibly (although we've not discussed this fully yet) on our website after the event, if there are any left.

Gosh, this is a loooong blog post, 1806 words and counting. Perhaps you can tell how much I'm enjoying my own writing again after the pressure of formal writing this week, I feel like I could happily sit and write all night :o) Yipppeeeeeeeee for informal sentences and exclamation marks and words like yippppeeeeeeee that aren't in the dictionary!!!!!

Anyhooooo.... just one more thing, and then I'll leave you in peace.

Yarndale Workshops. We are thrilled about being able to offer these at Yarndale in our very first year, as for a good while we didn't think we would be able to manage anything so ambitious. The full programme of workshops is detailed on the website, but places are limited. So if you are coming along and think you might fancy a little bit of hands on creativity, do please book yourselves in.

Right then my Lovelies.....I really do need to finish up now, I'm sorry if I've gone on a bit.

The Little Peeps are home now for the Summer holidays (first day today, it was a bit tetchy at times, but not too bad), so hoping to be here in the Attic a little more regularly. I just remembered when looking through my photos earlier, that I need to talk to you about Felt Balls. The need is surprisingly urgent. Back soon........

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ps Yarndale links, just in case you want to come and chat/tweet to me/us....

♥Facebook

♥Twitter

♥Ravelry

 

 

 

 

 

Tales from Connievan :: Summer Loving

You may remember me chatting about Connievan at the beginning of June, telling you about how we moved her to a new home in the country? I've not written much about it since then, but in the six weeks that she has been there, we have managed to visit almost every week, sometimes twice a week. I don't always take photographs there to be honest. Something about being with Connievan makes me want to forget about technology and immerse myself completely in the simplicity of camping life. Weirdly I don't even seem to be able to crochet or read there either. I always take a project and a magazine with me but it rarely gets a look in. We tend to hang out as a family there, and the time passes easily without the need to look for diversions.

Here in North Yorkshire, like much of the UK, we are experiencing a really spectacular start to our Summer. We have had day after day of seasonal weather perfection, with blue skies and hot sunshine lasting well into the evening time. It has honestly been glorious, and life at the campsite in this weather is completely wonderful. There are many families at the campsite, and a really lovely gang of camping children for my brood to hang out with. It is sooooo wonderful to watch them at play, to watch the simple games they come up with, their joy in running, jumping, hiding, and (recently for the girls) learning to do cartwheels.

There is a sweet little play area at the campsite which Little B is very fond of, and often in the evenings after we have finished eating, J and I will bring a mug of tea each down here to sit on that bench and watch our littlest do his thing. He is happiest with an audience, that's for sure.

This time of day is so magical I think, it's about 8pm or thereabouts. Still another two hours of soft, golden daylight, another two hours of outdoor play before we all tuck into our cosy beds.

Our usual routine is to head to Connievan on a Friday evening, arriving around 6pm for a lateish dinner. I have found it best to keep the food very simple, and quick. Yeah, it has to be produced prettily speedily when we get there or else a small riot breaks out. Sometimes we have a cold spread of meats, salad, dips and crusty bread, and sometimes we have hotdogs in white bread rolls with lots of fried onions, ketchup and mustard. And there is always fruit. We eat a lot of fruit each week between the five of us, and it's especially good in the summer time. On a Friday I visit the market and come home laden with summer fruits :: bags of sweet cherries, plums and nectarines, punnets of strawberries and raspberries, and various varieties of melon. Ice cold wedges of watermelon are hard to beat on a hot summers day.

We have eased into the routine of sleeping in Connievan very well now, particularly Little B. Some of his initial sleeping-bag-induced over excitement has worn off and his caravan bed is now familiar to him and very cosy. Providing we all go to bed and have lights out at the same time (usually just after 10pm) then he happily climbs into his little nest and falls asleep within minutes.

I continue to love love love the early morning times best of all, oh I do LoVE it!!! I make myself a steaming hot tin mug of tea and take myself outside in my pyjamas with a camping blanket wrapped round my shoulders and sit. It is so peaceful, so tranquil and green and fresh and so completely different to being at home.

We have found that trying to sleep for two nights at the 'van simply does not work. It's just that weeny bit too long, especially for Little Man who misses his mates and his own space and is at an age (almost 11) where prolonged family time is sometimes a bit of a challenge. So we've come up with a compromise which seems to suit everyone. We arrive Friday evening, stay the night, then spend the whole of Saturday (including the evening meal) before closing up camp and heading  back into town around 8pm. Saturdays are usually spent in a very lazy fashion, lots of lounging, eating and drinking. Lengthy picnic lunches which sprawl into the late afternoon, hours of happy idleness.

Sometimes we wander the short way down the lane to go play in the river.

Down through this green and leafy pathway.....

....until we reach the cool water.

It's a beautiful spot, shallow enough for the Little Peeps to play and paddle safely....

....and extremely refreshing when the days have been so hot.

The light is so beautiful at this time of year, I love the dancing leafy reflections in the still water.

We are at the very height of summer now, and the landscape is starting to lose it's lush greenery and look a little more parched.

Still beautiful though, especially with the late afternoon sun beaming down upon it.

I sometimes have little in-my-head fantasies about living out here. It is only half an hour drive from the Attic, but it is very rural and quite isolated out here. It sometimes surprises me when I realise I have really become a Townie! I always felt so sure I should be a country girl.

Life in Connievan continues to be sweet. I just love the simplicity of caravan life so much. I love the little routines that form around mealtimes and bedtimes. I love the gentle domesticity that feels like such a pleasure.

On a few occasions, we have found ourselves still longing for Connievan when the weekend is over, and have come up to see her for a few hours on a Monday night. It feels very special when we do this, as if we are somehow sneaking in extra time that isn't really allowed! But it feels wonderful to be making the very most of our summer months, of the long hours of daylight at this time of year, and the welcome time that we can spend outdoors surrounded by greenery.

As you can see, the campsite is very well kept. Only a small part of it is used for touring caravans like ours, and for tents. The rest of it is taken up with these pale green static caravans which are used rather like holiday homes.

On Monday night when we went there for dinner and an evening of warm, golden, sunny outdoor pleasure, I took a stroll around the site with Little Man. It's not often I spend time with him alone, he is actually great company, chatty and funny and such a good young man. As the camp site was practically deserted on Monday evening, we took the opportunity to sneak a peek through the windows of some of the statics. They are very, very orderly and caravanish inside, but oddly appealing. Little Man said we should make an offer to the owners of this one so that I could have it and rename my blog Static24. Made me really laugh out loud.....but maybe..........?

Actually what we ended up doing was going to fetch a bag and some scissors and making an impromptu elderflower harvest. We came across several elder trees at the camp site and I noticed with some vocal joy that the blooms were still pretty much at their peak, unlike here in town where they are pretty much over. We collected enough for me to make a second batch of cordial, and (still pending, but on schedule for tomorrow), a batch of elderflower champagne!! I'm planning on using this recipe, unless anyone can give me a better one. I hope it works out!

8pm now on Monday evening, and the Little People both ask if we can go for a short walk up the hill behind the campsite, the same hill that we climbed on the evening of Summer Solstice and saw the Super Moon. There is a vague pathway which winds it's way through the long summer grass.....



....isn't this pretty? It brought back a sudden but rather hazy stab of childhood nostalgia and out of nowhere I remembered it's name :: Quaker Grass. My memory often amazes me. It is so appallingly awful on a day to day short term basis, and yet the most quirky facts from many moons ago are still able to surface.

The hill climb is short and sharp. I am wearing inappropriate footwear (flip flops) so I am a little slow and a little clumsy, but eventually I catch up with my energetic Little Peeps at our agreed resting point. Oh, I do love a good view!

Interestingly, my Little People decide to lay down in the long grass and study the sky, which is something that I very often do and which they very often ridicule me for. I smiled inwardly and lay down to join them. Don't you just love summer evenings like this? I feel like I never want it to end.

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This week

 

This week has been a week of the most glorious, hot, sunshiney summer weather and I've love love love love LOVEd it. Oh hot summer sun, please say you'll stick around for at least the next six weeks?!



This week I put on my official (woolly) Yarndale hat and helped run a stand at our towns annual Sheep Day. I also wrote a blog post about it, with more pictures if you'd like to go look-see. Eleven weeks to go till the Big Event, eeeekkkkk!!



This week my friend managed to move her whole dining table out into her back yard so that our Monday night crochet group could do some al fresco hooky. It was warm, relaxed and rather lovely.



This week I bought a small round paddling pool (a bargainous £2.99 from a local shop) and enjoyed many afternoons of splashy water play in the back yard with Little B.



This week I pegged laundry out on the line almost every day, the weather was perfect for it. I especially loved pegging out my bedding, inhaling the scent of freshly laundered cotton and loving the anticipation of bedtime.



This week was most definitely a week for fruity icepops, as our temperatures soared up into the 80's.



This week I treated myself to a new little melamine cup which had me in raptures over it's pretty cuteness. Ok, truthfully, a weeny lie as I actually bought two cups. See, there was a summer sale on at Fig1, and I couldn't resist. I just adore the danish company Rice DK, don't you? I could bankrupt myself quite easily by buying every single item they produce. I want to live inside this book. Or maybe take a holiday inside it.



This week I took little evening breaks in my back yard (usually in my pyjamas), savouring the beautiful feel of Summer. Still warm evenings, that particular smell that lingers after a day of hot sun, the sound of the neighbourhood going about it's outdoor summer business.



This week I pinched and squished these poor basil leaves every time I passed in and out of the back door, just so that I could inhale that heady scent.



This week I also plucked some of the above mentioned basil leaves and threw them into my dinner. I made a slow-cooked ratatouille sauce, then layered it into a dish with garlicky meatballs and chunks of mozzarella, baked in the oven until golden and bubbly. Served with pasta and lots of appreciative mmmm's from the family.



This week the Little People and I ate a shed load of luscious summer fruits. I visited the market often, and came back many times with my bag full of cherries, nectarines, strawberries and melon. Yes, I carried a whole watermelon all the way back from the market, it weighed a blinkin' tonne. Little B, you are very persuasive and next time I'm going to make you bring your rucksack and you can carry your own watermelon home.



This week (yesterday in fact) I took the Little People to the park after dinner, about 6pm or thereabouts, for an impromptu play. Little B ran all the way down this hill, whoooooping at full volume with sheer delight. I think he was happy to be there.



This week, at the above mentioned 6pm park outing, I dug my heels in and refused to enter the playpark, leaving my offspring entirely to their own devices. I had my old blanket spread out on the grass outside of the playpark and a magazine to browse. Love love love the summer mags, mmmm such delicious pages.



This week I treated my Little People to Proper ice creams from the Ice Cream Boat. Yes, we do have a rather jolly blue painted tug boat on the canal which sells ice cream, and it is located directly half way along our school run route. The Little People ask for ice cream at regular intervals when we pass by, but know the answer is usually no. Not so on Friday! Mum said Yes, whoop-whoop!



This week (today), I poured two rather large tumblers of Pimms and lemonade and sat in the heat of the afternoon sipping along with J. It was good, very good.



This week (also today) I finally remembered to go pick elderflowers before it's too late.



This week I realised that I only just made it in time as the elderflowers are already on their way over. Phew.



This week (today) I made a batch of fragrant elderflower cordial, much the same as I did last year. Only this year the weather was warm! And Sunny! And I wore a strappy little cotton vest top and sunglasses!! Yay for proper summer weather to accompany my elderflower cordial making!!



This week (and last week too) we have enjoyed some most fabulous, gorgeous, happy, sunny times with Connievan.....but more of that next time.

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ps, this week has also contained one official Yarndale meeting, two unofficial Yarndale meetings, one school open afternoon, two end of year school play costumes, three teddy bears picnics, one emotional last-day-at-playgroup, one toddler song time, some forgotten paperwork, some late payments, some late bedtimes, a fair few hissy fits and a couple o tantrums. We are ready for the summer holidays.

 pps, just incase you skipped over the Rice DK link above, I am gently advising you to go take a look. Go right HERE and open up one of the catalogues. Seriously happy feel-good visuals,  you will LoVe it xxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

Bunting Postal Address

First up, an apology. I'm so sorry it's taken this long to get a postal address together. It turned out that creating a PO Box address was just far too complicated and costly in the end and simply not viable, so I've had to search for an alternative plan. Luckily, I have a very cool and very able Thinking Buddy (Heather, take a bow) and she hit on the the perfect solution....ask our rather fandabidozy Local Yarn Shop if they wouldn't mind becoming a Bunting Delivery Depot for a month or two.

Jane, who owns the wonderful Purl&Jane Knitting Emporium is one of Yarndale's official sponsors, so it has all kind of slotted rather nicely into place. Phew.

So.....fabulous Hookers of the World!!!!!!!!!! I am ready!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can mail your bunting triangles to this address ::

YARNDALE BUNTING

Purl & Jane

4 Mount Pleasant
High Street,
Skipton,
North Yorkshire
BD23 1JZ

ENGLAND

Please, please include the following (clearly written/typed) information with your triangles ::

1. Your name

2. Where you are from (Town/State and Country)

3. Contact details (email, and/or blog etc)

♥♥THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH♥♥

I'm extending the deadline until the end of August, so plenty of time for them to arrive. I can't wait to see what you've been making, I am beyond thrilled....BRING IT ON!

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ps if you don't know what the heck I'm talking about, original post (with link to the pattern) is HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

Last Week

Last week I spent pretty much the entire time feeling like I was recovering from the weekend.

Last week I loved that the weather was warm and sunny and that I had freedom in my daily routine to walk about and enjoy my surroundings.

Last week I rejoiced with my wonderful friend as she moved into her new "home" on the water.

Last week I loved seeing my friend so happy with this new stage of her life. Her ripple blanket looked so lovely and cosy in her new boaty bedroom.

Last week I tried very, very hard to carve out some quiet time for myself so that I could try and regain some strength and equilibrium.

Last week I LOVED having so many jugs of fresh flowers in the house, generous gifts from visitors to my little studio.

Last week I tried to slow down and spend more time in the moment. Black pepper ryvita topped with mashed avocado, cherry tomatoes, fresh coriander and a squeeze of lime made a very scrummy lunch.

Last week I continued with my quest to re-learn to crochet using my fingers in a different way. I don't want to keep moaning about it here, but life on the crochet front has been hard and frustrating of late, and has been making me feel very low. I am making progress though!

Last week I LOVED my indoor flowers (did I say that already?)

Last week I potted up two geranium plants for my back yard table (thank you lovely lady from Harrogate who gifted them to me!) and have enjoyed seeing them growing happily there.

Last week I treated myself to a new bar of handmade soap from one of my favourite shops in town. I plumped for Lavender and Geranium this time.

Last week I had coffee with a good friend and half way through our conversation, she totally surprised me by pulling a punnet of fresh gooseberries out of her bag to give to me. They are from her allotment and this simple gift made me so happy.

Last week I was only in the studio for a weeny smidge of time, but it was good, good, good (chair cushion cover in slow progress)

Last week I enjoyed sitting on my front step while the neighbourhood was quiet and peaceful.

Last week I loved this solitary rose blooming sweetly by the front door. I wished (not for the first or last time) that I had more roses.

♥

Last week was a week of gentle touch down after the high of the weekend. It was a week of slow recovery and gentle mindfulness contrasted with friendly sociability and happy celebration. Life is in full summer mode here in the Attic :: busy, full, warm and happy. I am enjoying the ride.

x

 

 

 

Open Studio :: June 2013

Tracy and I have been talking about our first public event pretty much right from the beginning of our joint Studio adventure. For quite a few weeks/months it was just private chitter chatter between the two of us. Exchanges of ideas, an imagining of what it might be like. Then towards the beginning of May we finally decided to set the date, and suddenly it became very real. Eight weeks to prepare.

During those eight weeks, we began to pull the studio together ready for public viewing. We envisaged a central table with chairs around for visitors to sit and drink/natter/crochet/knit, and we both desperately needed some much needed storage for all our creative gubbins. Other than furniture and some extra prettifying and organising at my end, I honestly didn't have a great deal to do to prepare. I had decided (between me and myself) that I would not be selling anything, and I was more than happy with that. Tracy on the other hand worked exceptionally hard, producing a truly breathtaking collection of handmade goodies to sell on the day.

As the date grew closer, we both began to feel slightly nervous. Very, very excited, but also yes, a little nervous. On Friday morning (the day before), it was business as usual for us at the café. Every Friday morning we host a wonderful session where woolly types can gather for a bit of social creativity. We knit, crochet and stitch, with gorgeous coffee and delicious home baking to help us along. It's one of the best bits of my entire week and I look forward to it hugely.

When the morning was over, Tracy and I went straight upstairs to the studio to begin the final preparations. As part of our Open Studio plans, we had decided to throw a bit of a party for all our friends on Friday night. A kind of a sneak preview if you like. So on Friday afternoon we were suddenly caught up in a flurry of last minute activity. It was a weeny bit frantic!

But somehow it all worked out. We went at lunch time to buy armfuls of fresh flowers to fill vases, jugs and glass bottles. I just fell in love with these big blowzy peonies, they looked and smelt soooo beautiful. Tracy took care of the flower arranging and did a terrific job, and I went off to secure some liquid refreshment.......



....a dozen bottles of fizz ready to welcome our friends to our creative space.

At 3 pm we declared the studio to be as-ready-as-it'll-ever-be and closed the door behind us.

6.30pm and we were ready to party. Suzanne (who is one half of the amazing café partnership) had really done us proud and when we walked in the door that evening, the place looked incredible.

She had prepared a mouthwatering spread of food, including (on the far right) a joint of marinated and slow roasted pulled pork. Ohh mmmmmmmmmmm it was The. Most. Delicious. Thing. Ever. Ever. Later on, this lot was joined by a large dish of oven baked Cornish Brie with flavoured oils and fresh thyme. All gooey and oozy and just perfect for dipping in the (huge) variety of breads on offer.

Cheese is a bit of a speciality at the café, and this incredible cheese board went down a treat.

I don't know if you can read the café menu chalked up there on the board, but it tells a story of two ladies who are truly passionate about honest, tasty home cooked food. They serve a mouthwatering selection of paninis and sandwiches, as well as scrummy baked cheeses, inspiring salads and gorgeous homemade soups. They make much of it themselves, including all the chutneys, sauces and dressings, it really is a wonderful place to eat.

The whole café is quite small and cosy, with a terrific atmosphere. So many people comment on the "happy feel" of the place, it does have quite a special indefinable something about it.

On Friday night, when we prepared to welcome people upstairs to our space for the first time, it felt both incredibly thrilling and shockingly nerve wracking.

Just before anyone arrived, I took a little time by myself to just try and collect myself together and appreciate The Moment. The early evening light was beautiful. Time felt a little as if it were standing still. And I felt like I was holding my breath.

A glass of chilled fizz helped. Slurp, and breeeeeathe. The peonies had begun to unfurl their papery petals (they had been in fat ready buds when we bought them at lunchtime) and I swooned over them more than once.



This is a lovely little room, directly next door to our studio at the front of the building. Up until the middle of last week it had remained undecorated and unused, and it was really sweet to witness it come to life. The café ladies had done a fantastic job decorating it and styling it for us to use for the weekend and it provided much needed extra space for people to sit and chat when our studio was packed out.

Oh pretty peony, I love you so much, smoochy-smooch ♥ !!!

My little painted shelf made it onto the wall after much angst. I really wanted it to be in this exact position, cos as you can see, the light is divine here. But these old walls, they don't take kindly to being bashed into with screws. They protest. We got there in the end though. Pheww.

In my old white pudding basin I've replaced the spring hyacinth with a summer geranium and the simplicity of it makes me smile every time I clap eyes on it.

Sigh. I am recalling The Moment my friends. The moment when our sweet little room suddenly became filled with our friends on Friday night. The hugs and kisses, the cards and flowers, the exclamations and congratulations. The happiness and enjoyment. It was SUCH a happy time.

Eventually, the party moved itself away from the studio and downstairs into the café where it cranked into full swing. Everyone really enjoyed the food (it was amazing), the wine flowed and the music volume lifted up a notch. There was much dancing and singing,  a huge amount of laughter and a little bit of falling down. Oh such fun! It was a great night. I think I fell into bed just after midnight.

The next morning, Tracy and I were at the studio about an hour before our official opening to get ourselves ready.

Would you like to come in?

I thought I should give you a little tour around the room, starting with the wall to the right of my desk.......ready?

Come on then, come inside..................

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I know. Isn't it just?! I'm anticipating that the lower shelves will eventually be taken up with more wool, so for the moment it looks a bit higgledypiggledy at the bottom. But the rest (Drops wool and cotton yarn from the Wool Warehouse) is pretty lush eh?

In the tall tower is Drops Muskat, and on the main shelves, from the top, is Drops Baby Merino, Drops Big Merino and Drops Merino Extra Fine.

Moving around now, this is my little sitting corner by the back window. Actually, more accurately, it is Little B's sitting corner. He loves this chair and happily kicks off his shoes to make himself at home here.

My little end of the studio is pretty small really, but I am hugely happy with it. I love having shelves above my table, and I love my table too (my very first eBay purchase for the studio). It's a beautiful place to work. Above my window, you can see I did eventually manage to make the decorative pelmet thingy with the little cotton circles (from this post). It turned out really well and I will give it it's own Ta-dah moment in a separate post soon I think.

Moving round a little bit more, there's my magnetic inspiration board and the mandala flowers which I decided to display on the wall for the time being. I brought down an old dining chair from home to pile with some of my blankets and my blooming flower cushion, but I miss them very much here in the Attic so will be bringing them home again soon.

So, that's pretty much my corner covered, but I'd like to show you the rest of the studio now.......

Ooooooo, look at all that!!

WOW!!!!!!!!!! As you can see, Tracy had no trouble filling our display shelves with her amazing makes. Her linen Hares and gorgeous little Mill Mice looked adorable all cosied up together.

Her Patchwork Angels were a new design this Spring and are proving very popular, as are her gorgeous little patchwork bun tin pincushions (more pictures of them in this post).

Moving round a bit, you can now see the large table that we managed to put in the centre of the room, with it's collection of begged, borrowed, thrifted and upcycled chairs around it. Actually, we borrowed the table too (thanks Nicky!) and on Saturday it was absolutely wonderful (really wonderful!) to see people sat round it drinking coffee, chatting and crocheting. The old clock on the wall was a bargain thrifted find, just like the majority of things in our studio.

We've moved past the front window now, and this is Tracy's corner next to the old fireplace. Usually her table is chockablock full of work in progress, and a real wonderful creative sight. But on Saturday it was a delightfully busy wrapping and packing station. The blackboard painted onto the wall was rather a spontaneous last minute decision and maybe needs a bit more thought, but we wanted to try and give an idea of our future plans for this lovely room. It was always our intention to one day open it up for workshops, and we are slowly beginning to formulate ideas for this. It's all rather unbelievably exciting and lovely!

So this was our studio on Saturday, in the quiet of the early morning before we opened our door. It was quite a weird feeling, kind of a nervous waiting game. We did not really know what to expect, but honestly we need not have worried. I think I can honestly say it was a complete, wholehearted success. To say we were kept busy is an understatement. We were absolutely rushed off our feet, and the room was mostly full to the rafters for every moment that we were open. There was one quiet lull in the mid afternoon when I suddenly realised that I had been talking and drinking coffee for four straight hours and desperately needed a wee, a sit down, some fresh air and something to eat. So I took five minutes out to go to the loo and sit outside to eat a banana. And then on it went throughout the afternoon.

It's difficult to describe what it was like for me on that day. It was overwhelming, exhilerating, shattering. I loved meeting so many of you who read my blog, loved hearing your stories, chatting about yarn, creativity, colour and all the things we love and share. I felt humbled that so many of you had made such journeys to come to our corner of the world, gosh you CAME such MILES to see us! Tracy and I were hugely flattered and delighted by the sheer amount of joy, happiness, inspiration and feel-good that seemed to be radiating off the walls when the room was full of you all! The compliments were tremendous. The appreciation and gratitude was incredible. I felt as if we didn't really deserve it, but all the same, it was still rather wonderful to soak it all up.

But I think what I liked best of all was the feeling of friendship. It was the best, best feeling being surrounded by such friendship.

THANK YOU, a gazillion times over. I feel like I want to cry (again), but I shan't. I shall just feel full to the brim with gratitude and thanks for this wonderful blogging world that I am a part of.

Sniffle, smile, hugging myself.

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ps.. I would LOVE to hear from those of you who came, to hear your memories and thoughts from the day. I hope I didn't witter too much at you? I kind of got so that my mouth would not stay closed. I think I flapped my arms a lot. I think I felt a bit weird posing for photos. I think I said Thank You a lot. I LOVE that so many of you came! THankYoU! Flap flap, big grin!!

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Edit to add :: just realised that Tracy and I have been writing our posts at the exact same time, and her beautifully written review can be found here with lots more lovely photos.Enjoy! xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

High-Hi

Just popping in to wave and say Hi - it's pretty fab up here high on Cloud Nine. Yesterday I was somewhere else entirely. Not sure what you'd call it, but it was a place where I could hardly speak, hardly stand up and hardly keep my eyes open. I was so unbelievably shattered after our Open Studio event on Saturday that I did briefly wonder if I would ever recover. But today.....well, today I have bounced right back with a big grin on my face and have been feeling on top of the world!

Last night I uploaded the pictures that tell the story of Open Studio, but I'm not quite in the right place yet to formulate the narrative. It was such a great day, it's actually very hard to put the feelings into coherent words. I've been feeling quite emotional every time I think about it to tell you the truth, like I want to cry suddenly, but only out of absolute relief and gratitude. Like a flood of feeling that has no way of really spilling out, excepting perhaps here on my page when the time is right.

I know many of you are waiting patiently for pictures and to know how it all went, so I'm hoping tomorrow might see me gently float down from my high cloud and back to reality. I'll come right here to story-tell when my feet touch back down. Promise.

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