Thank you so much for visiting me in the Attic, it's lovely to see you. My name is Lucy and I'm a happily married Mum with three children. We live in a cosy terraced house on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales in England which we are slowly renovating and making home. I have a passion for crochet and colour and love to share my creative journey. I hope you enjoy your peek into my colourful little world x
This week is shaping up so nicely, you know the sort of week where every day is full and busy, but pleasantly so. I have quite a lot of work on at the moment, various meetings and very specific tasks that need to be completed in quite short time frames. But I realised today how much I am enjoying having this structure to my week. I love that my mornings are so full and varied and productive. And I love that my afternoons are so easy, samey and Little-B orientated.
We always have such a sweet chatty time walking home from nursery (via the barbers, and then the cafe today), then two hours at home together before we set out again to do the school run. Sometimes we bake, or draw or play with toys, and sometimes we just hang out together (he is often quite tired in the afternoons and requires quite a lot of attention and physical closeness). Sometimes we spend the entire afternoon larking about which he loves, you know, piggy backs, jumping games, hide and seek, singing and tickling and a bit of rough and tumble around the furniture. It's a good sort of mothering feeling, that kind of everyday physical and emotional closeness that feels so precious. Six more months is all, then Little B will start school and these afternoons that we share together will become a memory. Yes, so precious.
Today has been a day of sunshine and showers, and this morning I noticed the most glorious rainbow arcing over the town as I walked from nursery to my studio. It felt like a Good Sign. The crocus and snowdrops in my front garden have suddenly sprung into life this week, and I can feel that winter is on the wane, slowly slipping to make way for Spring. We are eating all of our meals in daylight now, which feels unbelievably good, oh how lovely it is to open the curtains and let the daylight in before breakfast!
On the hooky front I've almost finished my chunky cushion, although I'm having trouble visualising how to finish it off at the moment. Shall I stitch it or crochet it together? And how to do the buttons and buttonholes? But I'm sure the solution will present itself once I get there and apply my creative brain. I'm hoping to make a quick tutorial for the stitch pattern this weekend, then I can get back to re-sampling my new bag design. Lots to do! And it feels rather good.
We've had resident germs here all week, with Little B being the worst hit. The other two Little Peeps have not been unwell as such, but have obviously been in need of some slow, restorative stay-home time after a busy half term at school. We ended up cancelling our plans to go away for a few days and instead have embraced the comforts of home. I think all five of us have benefited from this quiet time, it has suited us all for various reasons. For the Little Peeps, it has given them time to play, to hang out with friends, to lounge around watching films, to just relax and recharge their batteries. For J and I, it has given each of us time to indulge in our hobbies.
As a result of this stay-home-time, I've been enjoying a lovely, happy creative week, with lots and lots of unadulterated hooky going on. This morning I was down at the café for my usual Friday knit n natter morning, I confess it was the first time I had left the house in half a week. It was such a pleasant morning! The sun beamed in, the latté was fabulous as ever, ditto the freshly baked, still warm chocolate twist. I worked on my chunky rainbow stripes whilst chatting with friends and felt wrapped in a warm cloud of happiness.
I received buttons through the post yesterday, gosh, what pleasure I had opening that boring looking brown envelope. I can highly recommend ordering buttons if you fancy delivering yourself a bit of colourful feel-good. I just adore these colours, they remind me of my favourite Rice melamine cups.
They will be perfect for my current project which is destined to become a cushion by the way. I wanted to make something easy to test out this new stitch, and a cushion seemed like a good idea. Currently half way through, and I think I've finally cracked the pattern (the start and end of each row was causing me some problems as it was pulling to the left and getting all skewed, but all sorted now). I'll be writing it up for you soon, it's a very, very simple pattern, kind of a bit like a spike stitch, but with a few differences. The results are visually very lovely, and create a beautiful, textured dense fabric, perfect for cushions and bags.
My second order of chunky yarn arrived this morning (I've a third and final one on the way), and it is rather divine. It's a lot more expensive than the (100% acrylic) Stylecraft as this is a pure merino wool and only 50g balls, but oh it is lovely. The third chunky yarn I'm going to try is a mix of the two, an acrylic/wool blend. I can't wait for it to arrive, isn't mail order just amazing these days? I do try and use my local yarn shops where possible, but after trying both the ones in my town neither had what I was after.
I'm searching for the *perfect* chunky yarn for bag and cushion making...I have a number of designs percolating away nicely in my Creative Mind just waiting to be unleashed. I'm in a very happy creative place right now, it's buzzing around here!
Ooooooooo I'm having a bit of a crush on this new chunky yarn, it's just so squidgy and bouncy and boingy and smooch-worthy!
I am also rather loving these bright sunshiny colours, they are singing me a Happy Song and lifting my spirits rather beautifully on these wet, grey February days. You might recognise the colours, this is Stylecraft Special Chunky (100% acrylic), and the colours are identical to the DK range, although there are considerably less to choose from (18 in total).
I'm having a lot of fun experimenting with it, trying it out with different hook sizes, and playing with different patterns and stitch ideas to get a feel for how it works up. I haven't a clue what to call this stitch pattern, the idea came straight out of my head. Does anyone recognise it, or know if it already exists in Real Life crochet, and if so does it have a name?
I've ordered some other chunky yarn too and am eagerly waiting for it to be delivered, although I can't actually remember now what it is called. It's more expensive than the Stylecraft as it's a wool/acrylic mix. I can't wait to try it out. I've got sooooooo much stuff busting to get out of my Creative Mind at the moment, it's kind of exhilarating and exhausting all at once. My new bag design (which will look FAB in these bright summer colours) is causing me to have palpitations and I've got ideas for some bright chunky cushions too which I think will be wonderful.
Sigh. So much going on! And I love love love it.
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ps are you a Chunky Yarn lover? Do you have a favourite brand of chunky that you smooch with? I'd love any recommendations, do tell?!
Edit to add :: I've just had a look at Moogly's Leaping Stripes and Blocks pattern, thanks for the info. Mine looks similar but is constructed differently, although both of our patterns are a variation of "spike stitch". I will have to write it out before I forget how I did it, I NEVER ever learn to make notes as I go!
I can't believe I've never, ever thought to seek out frozen berries before. Why ever not? How come these affordable little punnets of juicy goodness have never entered my life before now? A friend told me about them a few weeks ago, told me to get myself to the freezer section in Aldi and purchase myself some frozen berries for £1.49. Absolutely delicious, she said, stir them into Greek yoghurt and top with granola for a yummy breakfast. I was kind of expecting a mix of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, but when J came home with them ticked off the shopping list, I discovered he had bought Black Forest Fruits. This is a mix of blackberries, sour cherries, blue grapes and blackcurrants, but still very delicious looking and perfect for the indulgent breakfast I was craving.
Yes, the Muffin Craving hit me this morning with absolutely no warning, bam! just like that. I had fully been intending to make toast, but before I knew it I had the oven on, my apron over my pyjamas and was busy baking up my breakfast. First of all I took a generous handful of the frozen berries, popped them into a bowl and gave them a quick 30 second blast in the microwave to semi-defrost them. You can put frozen fruits straight into muffin batter, but as the cherries and blackberries were rather large I defrosted them a little first so's that I could scissor-snip them up.
I used my fabulous Easy Peasy Muffin recipe, topping each fruit laden dollop with a sprinkling of oat granola breakfast cereal (with slivers of almond) before popping them into the oven. I twiddled about for 25 minutes while they baked, I honestly couldn't wait to get them out and inhale my freshly baked fruity, muffiny breakfast.
Oh, sooooooooooooo good. They looked just so SO good when they came out of the oven! Light, golden and fluffy, and bursting with juicy fruit.
I immediately set about making myself a mug of coffee to accompany my warm Berry Muffin. I get asked a lot about my coffee you know, about how I make it and so forth. Well.....I use my wonderful, extremely fantabulous Nespresso machine (a present from J which I love to bits and press into action multiple times a day), and my low-tech bit of milk-frothing kit. The milk frother is called the Bodum 1446 Latteo Milk Frother, and it really does just what it promises. That is, it produces a thick, frothy milk, perfect for adding to freshly brewed coffee, plus it gives your upper arms a bit of a mini workout at the same time (we're talking vigorous, manual pumping here, jigging those bingo wings!). So now you know my coffee secrets ;)
The muffin was delicious. It was quite sharp tasting (a funny thing...I gave one to Little B, telling him it was a weeny bit sharp, and he looked at it alarmingly asking if it was going to cut him, awww bless!). This is a low sugar recipe anyways, and the berries weren't particularly sweet (well duh, sour cherries, I kind of forgot that when I added them in, that they would taste sour). But as a breakfast muffin, accompanied by a mug of good coffee, they were pretty perfect. Certainly no complaints from the Little People either, they thoroughly approved of this type of breakfast fodder.
A yummy start to the day. Might even have to do the same again tomorrow.
It's half term here this week, so I am home slobbing about with the Little Peeps, relaxing and unwinding and generally trying to be as lazy as possible. J is home from work for the week too, although he isn't quite as good at slobbing as we are. This morning, despite the grey skies and threat of imminent rainfall, he managed to chivvy us all out of our pyjamas and out into the cool of the morning to Take A Walk. It was good actually, the right thing to do, and there were only a few spots of rain. We stopped at our favourite local bakers up the road and purchased paper bags of sweet baked treats, then walked up the hill, past the chickens, behind the castle and into the damp woodland. A stop beside the pond to tuck into those paper bags (mmmmmmmm caramel shortbread), then on up the steep steps to emerge in the open. I didn't have my camera with me or else I would be showing you pictures of twigs and green moss and waterfalls and a beeeeeautiful carpet of snowdrops. You'll just have to imagine all that, see it in your minds eye, if you don't mind.
What I can show you are the things I brought home with me. Some little twigs of sweet catkins plucked from the fallen branch of a tree. Such shocking storm damage, it was heart breaking as the tree was quite considerable in size and had been completely snapped in half. But I didn't feel bad about bringing the catkins home in my bag to make a lovely little posie with some snowdrops from my front patch and some of the bendy-droopy narcissi from my mantel. I love assembling a little posy of seasonal stems to pop into my old ink bottle, it really does give me such a lot of pleasure to do this simple thing.
I also brought home these scrumptious leafy clementines that I picked up from the market on our way home through the town. Ten for one pound, their incredible colour and fresh zesty presence on the table gave me a little heart flutter. And oh my, the taste. It's the taste of sunshine for sure, so juicy and sweet and a fabulous antidote to a grey English winter.
Mollie Makes arrived through the post this morning too. I have been a subscriber from the very first issue, but to tell the truth I am about to end my subscription as I don't always find a lot in those pages that makes my heart leap these days. It is a tad too On Trend for me, lots of cool, quirky designery people doing cool, quirky designery things. It is a bit too over-styled for my taste too, but that's just my personal opinion and I can see that it's still a very well loved magazine for many. Funnily enough, the thing I most like about browsing this magazine is the advertisements. I love to find new people, new shops, new sources of creative inspiration, and today I felt like I unearthed a diamond.
The diamond is delightfully called The Homemakery, an online shop selling yarn, fabric, haberdashery and papercrafts. This is a truly beautiful wesbite. Very visual, charming, wonderfully designed and inspiring from the start. The products for sale at the Homemakery are really scrumptious, just look at these ribbons!!!!!!!
And this wonderful bakers twine too, oh yum yum! There is so much to tempt in this gorgeous place, and it gave me such a lift just skipping from item to item, drinking in the colour and the creative possibilities. There is a sweet blog too. I love making new discoveries like this. Do you have any favourite places on the www that you can recommend? Anywhere you routinely go to when you want to feel inspired? Do share!
Well no mistaking, it is most definitely, completely and utterly mid Winter here. Last week we were hit with the the most horrendous weather with day after day of howling winds and lashing rain. It was just horrid, and going about our daily routine was pretty hard going. When the weather gets mean, I always try and adopt the same attitude that Little People are blessed with, as it constantly amazes me how unfazed they are by Bad Weather. Not sure that I managed to fully embrace the layers of soggy clothing, the shivery bone-deep cold, and the bedraggled wet-hat-induced hairstyling. But I tried, really I did.
Our first snow of the season landed on Wednesday too, in a whirl of freezing icy white winds. Here in town, it only amounted to slushy wet pavements but the surrounding hills looked beautiful. The Little People were high with excitement then low with disappointment all in the space of an hour, when it became apparent that this was not going to be sledging snow after all.
I've had a busy week out and about doing Yarndale stuff and Studio stuff, but I have really relished the little bits of time I've had at home. Coming in the door and stripping off layers of wet clothing, getting some warm fluffy socks onto my feet and making myself a hot cup of frothy coffee has felt wonderful. I just love the aroma of fresh coffee, it has become such a familiar and comforting smell both at home and out and about. So much of my life seems to revolve around cafés these days, not that I would ever complain about that!
I've been immersing myself in the comforting routines of domestic home life, which I am ThRiLlEd to tell you still includes making bread. Since the beginning of the year, I've been making three or four loaves of this wonderful no-knead bread each week, and I just love it so much. I use 300g white bread flour, mixed with 100g of a very seedy flour and the resulting bread is just the best stuff for making toast. Add a poached egg on top and oh-mmmmm, you have a very wonderful lunch indeed.
Mid February, and as you would expect for this time of year there is absolutely no whiff of Spring in the air yet. Not a whiff. It is still 100% winter out there, but indoors my sweet little narcissi are blooming their gorgeous sunny little hearts out and reminding me that it won't be long.
Pure sweetness, how I love these little flowers!
Today has been altogether different on the weather front, the calm after the storm. Still air and blue skies, with shafts of welcome sunshine streaming in and alighting on my dusty surfaces. I've been cleaning today actually, but not in a general dust-the-surfaces kind of way. No, today has been more the intense sort of extreme cleaning that I associate with my hormonal cycles, where I tend to scrub things with vigour. Like the side of the toaster. And the inside of the grocery cupboard. And the draining board. I think that possibly my very next purchase will be a new feather duster (my old one was broken by a naughty visiting child who used it much as you would a jousting pole). I noticed this morning that I have an alarming number of dusty cobwebs dangling about the place, and I think I would rather enjoy swooshing them away with some brightly coloured feathers. I can feel a deep Spring Clean coming on.
I know this post is probably a bit random, from feather dusters to crochet in the blink of an eye, but that's kind of how mid February is feeling. Sort of busy but slow, flitting here and there between projects and commitments. This week I had such a hugely strong urge to create, to make time in my days (and evenings) to sit with paper and pen and do crochet-maths, to work out a pattern for something that has been swimming around in my Creative Mind for a very long time. I began on Wednesday (possibly, but it could have been Tuesday) and this morning, done. Well that's to say, my first prototype is off the hook and making me veeeeery fidgety with happy excitement.
This is the first time I have ever used Chunky Yarn. Yeah, six years a hooker, and my first time with chunky. It's been a fun experiment! This yarn was pretty pants though (King Cole Big Value Chunky, a cheap acrylic) but it was there in my local shop when I just HAD to get started so I went with it. I've ordered a couple other brands of chunky yarns to try out, so looking forward to them arriving in the post this week. Then I can get started on my second sample (it needs to be bigger, with moderation's to the attachments and finishing). By the way, it's a bag, I'm working on a new bag design. More of that coming soon. I'm resisting the urge to squeeee at you, but the thought of a great new design coming out into the open is making my insides feel rather squiggly and I really do want to squeal!
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ps. I reached 150,000 "likes" on my Attic24 Facebook page yesterday, quite the milestone. Thank you so much to all of you who visit me there, truly appreciated ♥
Do you remember when I started this project? It was at the very end of last year, ten days before Christmas. It has been a magical project, seven weeks of crocheting bliss, and everything about it has given me pleasure. The yarn, oh the yarn! Such a beautiful, luxurious yarn to work with. I used many colours for this creation (19 ish, possibly more), it's Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, the leftovers from my last ripple blanket with the addition of two shades of soft grey. I would love to give you exact shade details, but alas so many of the colours have been discontinued and aren't available any more.
I have been toying with the idea of making a poncho for some time now and have a few poncho images saved to my Crochet Dreams board on Pinterest. The decision to finally make myself one this Winter came about through necessity ie I am often very chilly here at home in the evenings and early mornings! My wish was for something warm, cheerful and blankety that I could wrap myself up in, to keep warm when the house is cold. It has never been my intention to wear this poncho out and about, it will stay here in the Attic I think, much as my blankets do.
I have loved making these rows, truly I have. The bigger they became, the more I loved immersing myself into the rhythm of pure crochet pleasure. Stitch after stitch after stitch after stitch, all that brilliant colour play and repetitive hooky action was extremely pleasurable.
The pattern for this poncho (which I have named the "Home Poncho") is of my own devising. It is simple but effective, and a little different from the usual "granny stripe" type ponchos that are out there. In a nutshell, the pattern consists of two rows of trebles, followed by a more open row which is a {1 treble, skip 1 stitch, chain-1} repeating pattern. There are two increase points at the centre front and back which creates the classic poncho V shape.
It didn't really take me all that long to get through the rows (seventy in total), but the edging took quite a while especially as I was very indecisive about what exactly I wanted to do there on the edge. I did quite a bit of sampling, flapping about with a complicated lacy scallop idea until the maths drove me crazy and I threw the sample in the bin. I knew I didn't want tassels, but I did want something pretty and delicate.
In the end I came up with a combination of chain loops and a flattened out bobble type stitch. There are 230 bobble-type stitches in my edging, that's quite a lot! And as they all ended up a little bit curly and tight I decided to put in the effort to pin-and-steam each one. Uh-huh, each and every one.....
This is the reverse side, and you can see the method here. A folded up towel on the ironing board, a box of Very Useful T-Pins, some careful pinning out, then some gentle steam action with a cool iron. This method of blocking really does work, it's absolutely fabulous and a little bit miraculous. You can read more details about it in this post, the main thing to remember is that the iron DOES NOT touch the crochet! No iron contact!! It is all about the pfffffffff of the steam.
Oh look, see how pretty it looks? Lets have a little Edging Moment shall we........
.......Ta-dah!!!!!!!! Love it, love it.
The other bit of detailing I decided on was a simple cord to thread through the spacey crochet rows at the neck edge. The cord is made with a foundation chain, then a whole load of slip stitches down it's length, although I did add a little something at the ends look.....
....I made two little flat bobble leaves which echo the edging pattern, then added some teeny-tiny flowers. The tie doesn't actually do up or gather or tie anything, it is purely for decoration.
I am really excited to show you now how it all came together. I just love it so.
I love the pretty duck egg blue edging.....
....with it's neat little flat bobbles.
And I love the neck edge too with it's decorative flower cord.
All in all, this is a very happy, warm, snugly, cosy, homespun creation.
Shall we take a look at it in it's entirety then?
Shall we look from the top to the bottom and take it all in?
I spread it out look, so you can really see the shape of it. It's quite big actually, measuring 100cm from top to bottom and 110cm across the widest point. I wanted it to feel snugly and generous when I wear it, covering up my lap and arms when I sit at my desk to write during these cold winter evenings.
I managed to take a few pics of myself wearing it, even though I really didn't much want to. But I felt I wanted to show you the scale of it, and to give you some idea of how it feels to wear it.
So funny really, this business of blogging. Mid afternoon yesterday, there I was out in the back yard with our old decorating step ladders dragged up from the cellar and my little point and shoot camera set on a timer. I had ten seconds to dash from the step ladder to the wall, to get myself in position and not look like too much of an eejit. I kind of managed it. And I've had my hair cut!
Wide arms now please Mrs Attic, smile for the camera, work that poncho!!!
Ahhh that's better, lets use the chair instead, and take some lovely colourful, detailed pictures now....
....ooohhhhh, mmmmmm, I like that one! Yummy scrummy!
About the colours, cos I know someone will ask....chosen totally at random as I went along. I picked one colour after another as I went, no planning whatsoever, other than with the pale duck egg blue (my favourite colour, sadly now discontinued, boohoo). I had three balls of that colour so deliberately saved that for the edging. Some colours I ran out of part way through so they only appear a couple times, remember this was a stash-bust project so I had to work with what I had. But overall, I am delighted with the way the colours worked, even the greys pleased me (shock horror!)
So. I think that's about all I have to say about the Home Poncho. I am wearing it right now as I sit and write at my drafty cold desk, and it feels divine. I have already been asked loads-and-loads of times about writing up the pattern. All I can say is that I will try, but I am not promising. This is a complex design with numbers and stuff, and truthfully my head hurts a little just thinking about trying to actually write the pattern out. My priority now is to make a new tute for the Bower Bird, I will do that next before I do anything else. But thank you for all the interest you have shown in this project, it's been a fun share for sure.
Lots of love, thanks as always for calling in to see me x
:: saying hello to the swans on our walk to school this morning ::
:: spending the morning in the studio, tidying up a little after the weekend and sorting out my yarn colours so I know what to re-order ::
:: smiling to myself every time I remembered Saturday's workshop, it was such a super day and I can't wait to do it again next month. Eight lovely ladies gathered around the table, hooking away and counting like fury! ::
:: this image kept coming back to me today, a happy memory of a wonderful day. Eight beautiful little birdies flew out of the studio on Saturday, I was so proud and very, very happy. My first workshop was a great success ::
:: starting out on a new hooky project today, this is the beginnings of a Winter Wreath. Nine beautifully soft colours of Drops Merino Extra Fine DK ::
:: I picked up a lovely little old chair this morning from the collectors centre across the road. It's such a beautiful shape, and is destined to be smothered in yarn...a funky companion for my Yarndale Lamp ::
:: such a happy relief to be treated to a dry, sunshiny day today. We've had so much rain lately that I had forgotten the joy of blue sky overhead ::
:: a warm little hand in mine. We walk about a mile each lunchtime on our way home from nursery, it's a time of chattery laughter and lots of Mummy happiness ::
:: fresh coriander from the market for tonight's dinner (this recipe) and a bunch of cheerful daffies in my bag today ::
:: the cheerful bunch of daffies went straight into a glass jar and onto the table. Lovely, lovely ::
:: saying hello to my little tete a tete's which are speeding their way upwards on the mantel (which really needs dusting I think, tut tut!) ::
:: sorting out a load of clean laundry to pack away into drawers, my stripy socks made me smile ::
:: sitting a while in the Attic window seat this afternoon with Little B, looking out over our town and enjoying our familiar view ::
:: pottering about in my sunny back yard this afternoon, I noticed with a leap of my heart that there is still a marigold flowering in one of my pots! How hardy these sweet flowers are (we had a hard frost last night), I wanted to kiss it's sweet little orange face! ::
:: much of my outdoor pottering this afternoon involved a set of step ladders, my trusty little camera, and my glorious poncho. I had a fab time photographing my latest hooky make, it is a very superly photogenic little number. I think we'll have a bit of a Ta-dah-moment to look forward to tomorrow! ::
:: a really lovely stroll to school this afternoon, it was cold, but the bright sunshine made me feel very happy indeed ::
:: the fresh scent of jasmine & lemon balm as I sit and write this evening, wrapped in my cosy, multi-coloured stripes ::
It's been a rather ordinary, lovely day, a gentle, happy start to my week. Poncho time tomorrow then, (squeeeeeeeeeee!), see you soon xxxxxxxxxxxx
Gosh, what a busy week! I've been working each day preparing for my first workshop, getting everything ready for my lovely group of hooky ladies who will come to my studio tomorrow. I've been winding, winding, winding lots of yarn cakes, soaking up all that glorious colour. It's not been a bad job, quite satisfying actually. I see now that I am a little short of greens, darnit, I should have ordered more green. But I made a yarn rainbow today! I had this tiny bit of time to myself in the studio after our knit and natter session this morning and I arranged my yarn cakes. Deeply satisfying.
In quiet moments during my week, I've been winding all my odds and ends of leftover yarn onto little cardboard bobbins. We'll use these to do bits of embroidery on the birdie and crochet up some small flowers and leaves to decorate the bower. I have been bagging up stuffing and eyes, printing out sheets of patterns and instructions and hoping (really, really hoping) that all my visiting lovelies will enjoy a wonderful time tomorrow. I am very much looking forward to the day, but confess I am ever so slightly nervous. It's good to tiptoe out of one's comfort zone every so often, isn't it?
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(a present from J which I love to bits and press into action multiple times a day), and my low-tech bit of milk-frothing kit. The milk frother is called the 
