Attic24

Homefront Update

Life here at home right now is busy busy busy. With less then three weeks left until the end of the school year we have entered the annual Blue-Arsed-Fly phase of frenzied, school related activity. A hot, sweaty Sports day and exciting school trips, a very important Leaver's Assembly coming up (with many associated dramas, of which I am struggling to keep up with) and various end-of year transition days, teacher meetings, report days, open-days, celebrations and farewells. It's an emotional time (Little Lady moves on to secondary school in September) and to be frank we are all completely knackered. Roll on the Summer holidays.

I'm struggling with feeling exhausted and full of a chesty type of cold just at a time when I really could do with feeling aMAzing and full of beans. I am struggling not to moan about the fact that I feel like pants, when I am so very, very acutely aware that I only have a trifling cold, and that it could be oh so very much worse.

The weather has all of a sudden perked up and we are experiencing heat and summer sunshine and it is wonderful. My cut-price geraniums are waiting patiently to be potted into bigger pots, but I need a big bag of compost and that means getting J to purchase and transport so it hasn't happened yet. Maybe Saturday? Just maybe.

Thrilling Frilly news on the home front - we have some flouncy, frothy peony action at last!! Oh happy day!!! These flowers have been excruciatingly slow to unfurl but oh my goodness, soooo worth waiting for....

.....absolutely stunningly beautiful, they make me gasp with pleasure multiple times each day.

During the last few weeks I have been taking care of my housekeeping tasks in a surprisingly efficient and dedicated manner, which has made me feel bloody marvellous and accomplished when usually I feel like a complete failure. I totally blitzed the bathroom from top to bottom (be gone cobwebs!), then on a roll of productivity I moved straight along to Little B's room and gave it the same ruthless going over. But more than that, I have been doing a little bit each day to keep it all ticking over (I want to say "ship shape and Bristol fashion" here, but that makes me sound like my Mum). Anyhow, these little daily routines are making me happy I have to say, a little bit of swishing and swiping and I am happy. Who would have thought it?

Last week I managed a little bit of daily de-cluttering and tidying in my bedroom (Zone 4), and made it around about one third of the room. The top of the chest of drawers was hilarious of course, I am too ashamed to show you the "before" picture, but here is a rather gratifying "after" picture, with the 200+ stray objects evicted. It's the Living room this week, are you impressed by my dedication? I'll keep you posted.

I have been planning and writing lists and trying my hardest to keep on top of home, work and family life. All those dates and to-do's and reminders, crikey, no wonder I am under the weather. I've got a story to tell you about my newly discovered love of Planning Activity, I'll share that with you a little later in the week.....I'm ridiculously excited to do this actually (!)

And in amongst all the hectic activity and lengthy to-do lists and busy schedules I have been reminding myself to slow down every so often. To breathe in the gloriousness of summer and remember to walk around with eyes wide open and appreciate the here and now. Life is good. I need to slow down and remember that.

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Three Sweet Things

Three sweet things that have made me feel happy this week....

Thing #1 :: sweet anticipation ::

Waiting none too patiently for these big fat peony buds to open, oh it's sweet torture! I've already done the soaking in warm water thing to try and release the sap, and the petals are now veeeery sloooowly beginning to loosen. I absolutely cannot wait to see them in full floral froth.

Thing #2 :: sweet shortbread ::

I baked yesterday afternoon, partly as a reward re tidying the Corner of Doom in my bedroom and partly as an avoidance technique re some tricky admin work that needs doing rather urgently. This beautifully thin, buttery, sugary shortbread tastes divine, so crisp and sweet and bite-able and the perfect accompaniment to an afternoon cuppa.

Thing #3 :: sweet kindness ::

oh my stars, this heart-meltingly sweet handmade card nearly had me weeping into my toast and marmite this morning. Little B delivered it to me in the kitchen, and honestly I was lost for words and could only hug and squeeze his dear little five year old self very tightly whilst stifling the emotion. I had felt lousy yesterday, crawling into bed at 6pm, overcome with some virus-like shivery, achy, bone-tired nastiness. I'm very rarely ill and I guess it must have up-skittered him a bit as he seemed so concerned for my well being this morning.

Fear not though, I am feeling loads better today, still dog tired but nothing that a bit of shortbread and caffeine can't cure.

Wishing you all plenty of sweetness in your days xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

Summer Solstice 2015

Today I enjoyed pottering about the house with the family, celebrating not only midsummer, but Father's Day too.

Today I put my apron on over my pyjamas, turned the radio on and baked a cake.

Today I decorated my cake with rice paper butterflies and made a promise to myself to make a Summer Solstice cake every year from now on.

Today I packed up a speedy picnic and we journeyed into the countryside to enjoy an impromptu al fresco lunch.

Today I loved the way the grasses looked so utterly summery.

Today I loved the babbling sound of the river as I ate my lunch.

Today I celebrated this beautiful midsummers day eating cake and fresh strawberries beside the river with my family and felt blessed beyond words by this life of ours.

"As the sun spirals its longest dance - cleanse us, As nature shows bounty and fertility - bless us. Let all things live with loving intent and to fulfil their truest destiny."

Wishing you all a blessed Summer/Winter Solstice, wherever you are on this gorgeous planet of ours. I hope your day has been filled with happiness.

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C.h.a.o.s.

It's official :: the Attic24 household has c.h.a.o.s written all over it. Do you know this phrase? It's a Flylady thing and stands for "Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome". It describes the state of affairs when one's house reaches a level of such untidiness that it's embarrassing for all concerned. Yeah, things here are really that bad right now.

This is not by any means a sudden revelation as for quite some time now I've experienced that heavy-hearted feeling when I am at home surrounded by the clutter and mess of everyday life. Every single room is a disaster zone, there is just such a crazy amount of stuff absolutely everywhere. There is clutter in every nook and cranny of absolutely every room in the house (excepting the bathroom, thank heavens for small mercies). It's overwhelming, and to be truthful, a touch depressing. 

But you know me, I'm generally pretty upbeat about most things and not one to sink into any sort of depression....so I have summoned up some optimism and motivation and made a tentative start. On Monday I sat down with my Book of Days, some colourful little stickers and my favourite writing pens {gorgeous Staedter Fineliners, find them on Amazon UK & Amazon US}, and I made a Home-Loving plan.

For the next five weeks I am going to attempt to tackle the main areas of the house, using the Flylady's Zones to form my basic plan. The timing is just right as we have five weeks left of the school year before the summer holidays start. And I am really in LOVE with the idea that maybe-possibly-perhaps I stand a chance of having a much more loved-up home by then. Ever hopeful, that's me!

I really quite like the Flylady approach, although at the moment I am only extracting the bits that feel like they will work for me. I am going to do a little bit each day, and try not to feel overwhelmed. BabySteps and all that. So this week, we are in Zone 3 which is the bathroom. As this is the one room in my house that is remarkably tidy (hallelujah) I didn't have to spend time de-cluttering in here. So I simply made a five-day bathroom cleaning plan for myself, and get this - I HaVe StUcK tO tHe PLaN!!!!!!! I really have!!

This week I've spent a little bit of time each day getting on with the job of cleaning in here. I've put on my Home Loving apron, donned my Easy to Wear Household Gloves with a Luxury Comfort Lining, gathered together my cleaning cloths, scrubbers, sponges and sprays and set to work. I can tell you that it's been >>OK<<, truthfully I haven't much enjoyed the scrubbing and cleaning, but I have felt a weirdly satisfying sort of rising contentment at making progress and doing some pretty physical work for a change.

I've got two more days left in this little room, which will involve cleaning out the small cupboard, cleaning various dusty decorative objects, eliminating cobwebs from the ceiling and finally, scrubbing the floor.

I really hope I can keep it up, especially as the other rooms in the house are waaaay worse than the bathroom. Next week we move to Zone 4 : The Master Bedroom, where I know there will be a fair bit of work involved. Crikey, I still clearly remember the 225 objects from 2011 (this post, in case you are wondering what I am on about). Oh well, I shall remain positive and give it my best. Fifteen minutes of decluttering a day, how hard can it be?

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Harmony Home Stretch

Last night when I uploaded these pictures, I realised that I haven't really talked very much about my current Blanket-In-Progress (my BiP?!). Which is a bit strange as I usually like to talk a LOT about every single bit of crochet that passes through my hands. So I thought that as I'm giddily galloping along the Home Stretch now, perhaps it would be a good time to show you a bit  more of this beauty.

I started working on the squares for my Harmony blanket in early April (just in time for my Easter jollies down in Dorset), and it has proven to be a wonderfully absorbing project. A touch addictive, these cutesome squares really have had me entranced right from the word go. Unusually for me, I approached the making of this blanket in a very methodical way, which I think has really helped the journey to feel relaxed and pleasurable. I started out by making all the middles first (the fiddly first round), then I worked on rounds 2 - 5 in batches of fourteen at a time (which is one vertical strip) so they never felt overwhelming. There are 126 of them in total (14 x 9) and I can honestly say I never once got bored of them. 

Round 6 is the joining round, and I devised a variation of the join-as-you-go method for this round. I joined in vertical strips and loved being able to watch my blanket grow in this way, it's been very satisfying and has delivered rather a lot of hooky feel-good. Also, I've actually remembered to take photographs of my making process so in due course I'll be able to share a full tutorial for making both the Harmony squares and the joining method. In fact, I've been miraculously organised with this blanket, it's really not like me at all as I'm usually flying by the seat of my pants!

On Friday, I finished the last of the joining, quietly folded up my blanket and immediately began to ponder the business of designing a border for it....

....oh those colours!! Yum, yum, yum!!!!!!! The Harmony colour pack has fifteen colours of Stylecraft Special DK in total (14 main colours, plus the soft Parma Violet shade which I used for joining). I knew I wanted to make quite a deep border to frame the squares, so I set about choosing 8 beautifully harmonious colours to do the job. I took aaaaaaaaaaaaages choosing these colours, endlessly swapping them about until I felt truly delighted by the way they play together. 

Working on the border is pure pleasure, I am in love with making these long, easy rows. Being on the Home Stretch is really rather exciting you know, and needless to say I am feeling rather ridiculously excited by the imminent ta-dah moment. I've got that tingly feeling in the pit of my stomach :)  

This was me on Sunday afternoon, stretched out on the sofa enjoying some peaceful hooky. Funny isn't it, the above photo does look very peaceful and tranquil and for a moment I almost convinced myself that that was the reality. But nooooooo - you can add to the above image the soundtrack of "Guardians of the Galaxy" intermingled with the sound of several noisy children playing. And while you're at it, you can also picture me getting up and down numerous times to help build a Lego Batcave/provide refreshments/see to the laundry/find a lost Lego piece/answer the door etc etc. So not peaceful, but at least crochet has the advantage of being easily pick-up-and-put-downable. It's very accommodating like that, tolerates the interruptions of family life rather well in fact.

And in related home-front news, we have a new sofa. It's grey, but that fact is growing easier to live with each and every day. Our old sofa took us valiantly through fifteen years of tough family life, and after three (failed) repairs to it's sagging underparts it finally gave up and died on us last week. It was rather comical at the time as J was sitting on it when it completely collapsed and swallowed him up, man, I laughed so hard I nearly had an accident.

Anyhoooooow, we took a trip to Ikea on Saturday and chose this Tidafors Three Seater which was pretty much the only sofa available that would a) fit in/on the car and b) fit into the house. I can confirm that this is a very comfy piece of furniture, and I predict many hours of happy hooky time will take place right there. Bring it on xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 EDIT TO ADD for those of you asking about the HARMONY colour pack, I'm hoping to have everything ready by the middle of July, so not too long to wait xxxx

This Time of Year

 

We have entered early Summer and I am totally in love with it all, it's just so delicious, nostalgic, light, golden and down right lovely. This week has been delightful, with day after day of sunshine and actual warmth, I have flip-flopped about town with my red painted toenails and bare arms and felt properly in love with the seasonal warmth and beautifully long, golden days.

The fairground came to town this week as it's our annual Gala tomorrow, it's all so nostalgic and I am filled with memories of my own teenage years growing up in a seaside town with a summer carnival and fairground. Last night on a whim I took Little Lady and we walked to the park just to catch a whiff of fairground spirit and the scent of a beautiful warm summer evening. I had a sudden memory of the golden buttercup meadow from last year and felt compelled to go seek it out and drink in the colour and light. It was truly beautiful - these photos were taken around 9pm last night, I absolutely love love love love our long summer daylight-filled hours at this time of year, such happiness and optimism in the air.

Wishing you much happiness this weekend, I hope it brings you light, love and laughter in abundance xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

Colourblock Cushion :: Ta-dah!

For quite a while I've wanted to find a satisfying project to use up the yarn oddments I've gathered after making so many blankets in the past year or so. I wanted to make something bright and joyful that used a mixed palette of many colours, but using only small quantities of each colour. A quick, portable project that could be popped into my bag and taken with me on holiday, to the beach, to the cafe, to friends houses.

I enjoyed winding up these small 20g balls of yarn using my trusty yarn winder, arranging them into on old plastic tub to create a pleasing colour palette to work from. And then I got busy with my 4mm hook.........

.....and made a whole stack of these small three-round Solid Granny Squares.

It's a very easy pattern used by crocheters all over the world, a variation on the classic granny square. I didn't create the pattern (It's been around in the public domain for a long time), but I did write up a tutorial to show how I make them {here}.

I also shared my method of joining these squares which creates an almost invisible seam and a very neat finish. The secret is to leave 30cm tail ends when you finish crocheting each square, then use these ends to methodically stitch the squares together. I wrote a full tutorial to explain this process which you can find towards the end of the Solid Granny Squares pattern.

I just love seeing all these colours together, the harmonious and cheerful look makes me very happy :)

I didn't labour over these squares at all, I simply made a few here and a few there, working my way through my yummy box of colours until I had made enough. I made 63 squares in total using 36 different colours of Stylecraft Special DK, arranging them in a 7 x 9 block and joining them by stitching them together row by row....

....^^^very pleasing, wouldn't you say?!

Each square measures approximately 7cm across, and I made enough to be able to fit round a rectangular 30 x 50 cm cushion pad {I bought mine from Amazon here}

The idea was to simply fold the crochet in half....

...with right sides together and use the same stitching technique to join the two short sides together square by square. The crochet then becomes a tube, which is ready for a bit of edging around the two open ends.

After a fair bit of deliberation, I kept the edging very simple, working three rows of treble crochet and a final row of double crochet (UK terms).

Colourclock Cushion Edging

:: ROUND 1 :: start in any stitch, chain 3, then work 1 treble in each stitch around. When you come to the bit where two squares join, you need to space the trebles out as evenly as possible when you work over the stitched seam (as in the above picture).

Remember you are effectively working in a big circle around the edge, so you will end up arriving right back to where you started. Slip Stitch into the 3rd chain of the beginning chain-3 to close the round, then fasten off and darn in the ends securely.

I took the above photo to give you a visual idea of how the cushion cover should be looking at this stage - your cover should fit your cushion pad quite snuggly, with only a tiny bit of overlap over the two short sides.

:: ROUND 2 :: the second round of the edging is a simple round of treble stitches. So start in any stitch, chain 3, then work 1 treble into each stitch around. Slip Stitch into 3rd chain of beginning chain-3 to close the round, then fasten off and darn in the ends.

The third and fourth rounds are worked in the same colour.

:: ROUND 3 :: start in any stitch, chain 3, then work 1 treble into each stitch around. Slip Stitch into 3rd chain of beginning chain-3 to close the round, but don't fasten off.

:: ROUND 4 :: chain 2, then work 1 double crochet into each stitch around. Slip Stitch into 2nd chain of beginning chain-2 to close the round, then fasten off and neatly darn in the ends.

Work the second edging at the other end of the cushion cover in exactly the same way. Now it's time to Button Up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I opened up my button tin and picked out a colourful selection of 15mm buttons, you will need 14 x 15mm buttons in total for this project. I already happen to have a mixed collection of different sized coloured buttons for just this sort of thing, but if you wish to buy some then search for "mixed craft buttons" on eBay or Amazon. I did a little search and found these ones (I like the mix of colours) but there are loads to choose from on the internet. Don't go off on a button-buying frenzy now, tempting as it might be, and please don't blame me if you end up with a sizeable button stash.....

....right, back to the cushion. The idea for the button closure is very simple and very effective. First job is to get some pins and mark out the spacing for your buttons. Fold you cushion cover neatly in half, then open up one end slightly - you will be stitching the buttons to the INSIDE/WRONG SIDE of your cushion cover. Start by finding the centre and mark with a pin, then evenly space 3 more pins on either side (seven in total). Mine worked out as being one pin every 8 stitches.

This is what it should look like - pins pinned along the inside edge, evenly spaced and centred. Choose seven 15mm buttons.

I managed to find a darning needle that had an eye big enough for the yarn to thread through, but small enough so it would fit through the holes in the buttons. Secure your thread at the base of round 3, exactly where your first pin is. Stitch the button in place (remember it will be on the inside/wrong side of your cushion cover!)

Work your way along, securing your yarn at the base of round 3 where the pin marked the place, then neatly stitching on a button using yarn.

If you can't find a darning needle to accommodate the yarn and size of button hole, simply use a sewing needle and sewing thread to stitch on your button instead.

ooooooooooo, looking beautifully neat and buttony!

Now do you see what's going on here, have you worked out the cleverness of this button closure yet?

You simply use the gaps between the treble stitches in round 3 as button holes, ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nifty or what????!!!! The simplicity of this idea pleases me hugely, and it is just soooooo neat!

Sweet, sweet cushion cover with your buttony edging, oh I do rather like your charming good looks and your happy colour combos!

You may have already noticed that I deliberately arranged the colours in two halves. So the first half (picture above) has a definite rainbow effect....

....and the second half has a more random patchwork effect. You can also see in the above picture that the buttons aren't visible on the reverse side.

I absolutely love the buttons, I know it's all very predictable, but I just can't help my button-loving heart ♥

I also really love how p-l-u-m-p the cushion turned out to be, this cushion pad has a polyester hollowfibre filling so will probably flatten a bit as the cushion gets used....

....but right now I am loving the plumpety-plump look and feel of it.

I finished making my cushion this morning at the studio where I happen to have seven (seven!) dining chairs plus two (two!) old Lloyd Loom chairs. That's a lot of chairs ready and waiting to star in a little photo shoot....

...but I think this particular chair took to the job in hand the best.

I dearly, dearly love this chair, it has a lot of sentimental memories attached and I wrote a little story about it here on my blog. Hard to believe that was six years ago now, my my, how time does fly when you're having lots of creative fun :)

I've loved making this cushion and sharing the journey with you, I wonder if you might feel inspired to make one for yourself one day? It's a great holiday project (those little squares like to travel you know) and I would really enjoy hearing about it if you do give it a go.

Here is a round up of the pattern information and materials used for this project ::

♥ Solid Granny Square pattern (including a how-to for the joining method)

♥ 30 x 50 cm polyester hollowfibre cushion pad

♥ 14 x 15mm coloured buttons

♥ 4mm hook (Clover Amour, my favourite), perfect for using with DK weight yarn.

♥ HAPPY HOOKING my friends!

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Gorgeous Sweet William

I called into the supermarket to buy a banana on my way to the studio this morning and came out with a banana and a bunch of Sweet Williams in my bag.

I hadn't even been aware that I needed flowers, and there was nothing floral on my mind at all (I was in banana mode), but almost against my will I found myself drawn to the flowery bit of the supermarket. I circumnavigated it once, taking in the colours of tulips, roses and the big mixed bouquets. I bent to sniff a bunch of stocks and that was when I caught sight of the sweet williams. I didn't hesitate for a second, this bunch was up and out of the bucket in the blink of an eye, dripping water all over my trousers and blinding me with that gorgeous, glorious vibrant colour..........

.........oh the heat!!! Those red hot pinks and fiery magentas are so loud and beautiful, I love them!!!!!!! I really like that these lovely flowers are seasonal and grown in English soil at this time of the year making them a very affordable luxury (£1.80 for this little lot).

I take great pleasure in dealing with my frequent fresh flower hauls, taking my time and really enjoying the whole experience. I love carrying them from the shop and bringing them home or to my studio. I enjoy selecting a jug if I'm at home (I always use this stripy one for flowers on my studio table), and I enjoy unwrapping them and releasing the stems from their packaging. I snip and arrange the individual stems, placing each one into the jug with care. I really, really enjoy this process very much.

I remember reading a book by Tricia Guild once, a book all about enjoying flowers in the home {this is the book on Amazon}. She talks about the "intense joy" of selecting and arranging flowers, of the way they evoke emotions and encourage you to live in the present moment. I so get that, do you?

Once my sweet williams were all arranged on my table this morning, I sat down with my coffee and feasted my eyes.

Often we only glance at an arrangement of flowers as we walk into a room, give them mere seconds of our fleeting attention as we pass by. Every once in a while it's such a wonderful thing to sit close and pay attention for a minute or two. You know, really look at each petal, drink in the intense colours and study the tiny little details.

Such a simple, beautiful way to start the day, I can highly recommend it.

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Square-tastic!

♥ SOLID GRANNY SQUARES ♥

How to make them and how to join them....

THE COMPLETE TUTORIAL IS READY!

{SOLID GRANNY SQUARES}

H a p P y ♥ H o O k y!!

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Friday

Oh the sun came back yesterday my friends, we have had blue skies and warmth, I went out without a coat on, I painted my toenails red and wore my flipflops!!!!! Happiness to be found in all of that, how I have missed the feeling of gentle early summer warmth, I had almost forgotten what it was like.

I've had a super-busy week, working hard in my studio on various projects, meeting friends and welcoming lovely visitors. I've arrived here at Friday evening and I am absolutely pooped. I had hoped to sit and work on the tutorial for the solid squares tonight, but after uploading all the pictures I'm sorry that I am just too tired to write it.I will work on it tomorrow for you if I am able to fit it in amongst family stuff.

The above picture is my cushion cover, I'm awaiting delivery of the 30 x 50 cm rectangular cushion pad so that I can check I've made it the right size and finish it off with an edging and some buttons. I've worked it in one piece but it will be folded in half and fastened along the two short sides, which is why it looks big for a cushion cover. I've loved making it - can't wait to see how it comes together.

Hoping you've enjoyed a lovely week, and thanks SO much for all your wonderful comments on my holiday posts, thank you.

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