On and Off my Hook

Morning my lovelies!Gosh, it's good to be back here at last! I'm having a hard job carving out enough time to bob into the Attic to chat, my days are so full of Little People and work-related activity that personal ramblings have not managed to find much of an outlet of late. I'm not going to apologise mind you, my blog is my personal little patch of  time and space and it follows the true course of my life. Which happens to be busy and full up right now, the usual story of a summer spent juggling like a clown.

I really miss my studio, but we are still holding our weekly social at the café on Friday mornings. The Little People come with me which they are fine about, providing I am forthcoming with fizzy drinks and sweet treats to sustain them through the morning. It's been great to welcome some lovely visitors during the past few weeks too - anyone is welcome to come and join our free and friendly group, just rock up with something stitchy in your bag and sit yourself down [Coopers Cafe Bar, Skipton : Friday mornings : 9.30-11.30]

It seems like a long while since I shared anything crochet related here on my blog, but behind the scenes my hook has been busy.

A few weeks ago I dug out this bag of zingy bright cottons to make a cheerful floral garland (my contribution for this year's Yarndale brochure, we like to include free patterns in amongst the festival blurb). This yarn is lovely to work with (although it's quite stiff) and is perfect for small decorative projects where you need the finished crochet to hold it's shape well. It comes from a local mill here in Yorkshire, but you can find it online, it's called Texere Double Top Cotton. The yarn comes in 50g balls, but also the lovely peeps at Texere Yarns wind it onto dinky little 20m spools which means you can buy up lots of colours for small projects (I wish more cotton yarn came like this).

I made 12 layered flowers, then strung them with a crochet chain of green yarn. I made the little leaves as part of the crochet chain so there was no fiddly stitching or darning in ends....

,,,,ta-dah! I've strung it over the big mirror above the fireplace in the dining room, it looks lovely actually (I gave the toilet roll family a little dust off at the same time, they are still perched on top of the mirror almost five years after being born!). I'll try and remember to take a photo to show you it in situ.

I'm busy working on the Yarndale calendar at the moment too. This year we are photographing a collection of yarny accessories (all made by local designers) to illustrate the months, and the calendar will also include the patterns for knitting/crocheting the projects which I think is pretty nifty, although quite a lot of work to pull together. It was decided that the images should have a very slightly vintage vibe, so I abandoned my usual multicoloured brights and toned it all down a bit for my project....

....I know, just look at that!! I've used one single colour (probably for the first time ever) and it's a beautiful, subtle duck egg blue. Wowsers. I've had this idea for a circular cushion in my head for ages, so when I came to make it, I managed to whizz it up over the course of three days. In the picture above, the green line of neat double crochet stitches is being worked into the front loops of round eleven (round 12 was worked into the remaining back loops, does that make sense?)

Then I stitched on some crochet leaves.....

....to make a circular stem type thingy. Do you like where this is going??

I made roses using a variation of my May Rose pattern and stitched them in place.

The cushion fits a small 30cm circular cushion pad, and guess what - the back of the cushion is completely plain, one colour, duck egg blue, no stripes! Would you believe it?! I crocheted the two circles together around the cushion pad with a simple round of double crochet, then made a pretty pink scallop edging to finish it off.

Ta-dah! One vintage "Ring-O-Roses" cushion.

It came off my hook on Sunday, and has already been integrated into the Attic24 household, which is a bit perilous as it has yet to be styled and photographed for the calendar. And it has already had coffee spilt on it (cue some exasperated words from me and some apologetic words from J, followed by some emergency dabbing with a baby wipe)

I do really love it actually, although it does somewhat remind me of an iced cake.

Oh, forgot to mention the yarn, silly me! I used Stylecraft Life DK in Mint, Fern, Rose and Fuchsia. The Life yarn is a 75% acrylic / 25% wool yarn, the colours are lovely and quite beautifully soft, perfect for a vintage inspired project. The yarn is a weeny bit "itchy-woolly" for me and truthfully I don't think I would use it for blanket making, but it was lovely to work with.

So the pattern for my rosy cake cushion will be included in the Yarndale 2016 calendar, which will be in the online shop after the festival in early October.

One more thing to mention.......my beautiful Harmony blanket. That too has been fully integrated into family life and has become a favourite with Little Lady for early evening sofa snuggle time.

This week I'm working flat out on photographing and writing the tutorial for making the Harmony blanket, as well as working with J to create the printed version of the pattern which will be included with the yarn kit. We are making good progress and all being well we are aiming for a Friday Ta-dah. That's the day after tomorrow! I am full of nervous excitement for sharing this lovely blanket, it's been one of the hardest and most complex patterns I've ever tackled and I hope very much that I've done good with it. It's not been easy to do the pattern writing with a background of Little People (far from harmonious at times!), but I have done my best. Fingers crossed.

So..........see you soon.............long awaited ta-dah moments are so worth getting excited over aren't they just?! Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Comments

[Robin Summers]

Oh Lucy my dear you totally rock my boat! I am head over heels in love with your rose (cake)cushion. Oh it is just vintagey lovely. I am gonna earmark that one for a christmas gift for my mom. I will have to change one or two roses with at least one yellow as those are her favorites. Thank you for your time and talent that you so freely share. If I were close I definately would share some hookin time with you and the lasses at Coopers. Much luv my friend!xxxxx
Robin from across the pond. :)

[Faith]

YAY Harmony blanket pattern!!! I've been admiring your blanket forever - can't wait until Friday!

And your cushion is divine - surely not made for sitting on??

[Gillian]

Lovely to see what you've been up to. Summer must be extra busy for you as you're preparing for Yarndale as well as looking after your children.

Coffee on the new cushion though - agh!! But cleaning it with a babywipe, I love it, that did make me chuckle... xx

[Susan Smith]

I adore that cushion! Hope the photography and pattern writing goes well and I think I'll try and purchase the calendar as I have this years, (a gift from a friend and sent here to Oz)and love it. Take care.

[Erica]

I was waiting to see if the rose cushion was going to have a multi-coloured back.....it didn't happen!.....what is going on?😊
It's gorgeous.
I've promised myself a trip to Yarndale next year and look forward to the calendars being put on sale after this year's show just for the lovely patterns.

[Pip]

Bring it on! What a fabulous cushion and I'm itching to start the blanket. After many enjoyable small projects this will be my first large blanket. Very exciting! I 💗 Lucy! Pip x

[Marianthi koronellou]

I like the cushion very much! Everything you make is just so perfect...

[Katherine. NZ]

Your cushion is so pretty! Another thing to add to my list of projects for me (which unfortunately comes after a long list of projects for others).

[Kaholly]

I'm very excited to learn you are working up a tutorial and will have a yarn kit available for the Harmony Blanket because it's the one I want to make next!

[Angela-Southern USA]

A fun project to do with the kids...or not.
http://www.coredinations.com/index.php/2015/04/06/blooming-dahlia-wreath/
I'm thinking mini ones too for the Christmas tree.Maybe with a photo in the center of a few with less rounds/fullness.

[Kath]

Cute cake - er cushion I mean! I can see it becoming a favourite in Connievan too! Roll on Friday, been aching for the harmony ta dah. How do you do it all, and with 3 little peeps too? Must be the coffee and cake keeps you going, sounds good to me!

[Rural TN]

Very beautiful, Lucy. Love your blog and your work. From the Phony Farm in the southern United States.

[Linda Mize]

You make me want to come for a cup of tea and some
hooky goodness but sadly I'm too far away
in Virginia!😫

[Alison Cherry]

Love the cushion and cannot wait to get the calendar.

[Ally]

I can't wait to see the blanket instructions. I think I may have a new addiction lol

[Dizzy]

I love that rosy cushion, and the colours are fab...great to have you back Lucy :)

[Evelyn]

What brand of hook is in the photos of the cushion?

[Andrea]

Love the cushion! I'm not much of a crocheter, but I think I might just be able to manage that. I'll keep an eye out for the calendar ;)

[Darlene Martensen]

Good morning lucy. I love this pillow. What size hook did you use?
Can't wait for the ta da moment. I find myself looking for your blog when I find a moment to myself with a good cup of coffee. Have a good day

[crafty mema]

just got back home from baby sitting grandkids and love the projects

nice surprise and great ideas

oxoxoxoxox crafty mema

[Shirley Kelly]

Lucy,I'm so glad you are back! I loved the cushion(and everything else), too! I really would love to see a photo of the flower garland over your mirror. I found someone who is going to teach me to crochet this Fall! At 80 I believe it's never too late to learn something new! Shirley

[marie claude SULPICE]

ho comme il est joli votre blog ..
tellement chaleureux
et toutes vos belles couleurs ...
je ne sais pas faire le crochet , mais grace a vous je crois que Septembre sera le mois de mon début avec le crochet ...
merci pour votre générosité
je mets le texte en français et traduit par un translate car je n'écris pas bien l'anglais
vous avez la chance de vivre dans une très belle région que j'aime beaucoup et ou je suis venue deja trois fois
a bientot
.........................................................ho as it is beautiful your blog ..
so warm
and all your beautiful colors ...
I do not know how to crochet, but thanks to you I believe that the month of September will be my debut with the hook ...
thank you for your generosity
I put the text in French and translated by translate because I do not write English well
you have the chance to live in a beautiful area that I love and where I am coming three times already
See you soon

[Claudia]

You are so talented !!! Love all your projects.

[Susan Conklin]

Wow, you have been busy. I like your pretty rosy cake cushion. It's nice having the decoration out toward the edge instead of in the center; it saves you from waking from a nap with embossed roses in your cheeks.

[Daphne]

What a gorgeous, gorgeous cushion.