Attic24

2015 :: Year End Review :: twelve months

Join me for a little pootle through the past twelve months.....enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This collection of images tells  a gentle story of a quiet, happy life, and for that I am ever so grateful. I have come to realise that there is a lot to be said for a peaceful existence, a life without too many ups and downs, a life filled with happiness and creativity, love and simple pleasures.

This is my eighth year-end round up, and blissfully very little has altered since the first. We are still taking the same kind of simple holidays, I am still pootling at home, still crocheting, still mothering my brood, still appreciating the seasons, the weather, the views. It's all reassuringly familiar and rhythmic and I really am full of gratitude for it all. I love love love this life of mine, I am truly blessed.

I would like to wish you all a super-duper, Happy New Year, I hope 2016 brings amazing things your way. Thank you so, so much for being here, your friendship is one of my true blessings.

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✿ 2014 ✿  2013  ✿  2012  ✿  2011  ✿  2010  ✿  2009  ✿  2008  ✿

 

 

 

Sunny Granny Stripe Blanket :: Ta-dah!

Every time I look at this yarn rainbow the very sight of it makes me soooooooo happy!!! Isn't happy colour a wonderful, wonderful thing? I think so, I really do, I feel like I can gaze at these colours and absorb all the vibrant, happy brightness into my soul and feel the warmth radiating. Simple pleasures.....

I've had this Sunny yarn in my yarn bag for many months now, 18 shades of Summer Sunshine looking radiant right there. Some of the colours individually could be quite tricky to work with (bright in-your-face Citron, I'm looking at you here!), but once nestled in with their sunny neighbours, all is thankfully well. There is  a very pleasing balance between the cool of the blues/greens/mauves and the heat of the reds/yellows/pinks/purples. I love this hot/cold balance very much, and I find I naturally make this happen in most of my colour palettes. Yum yum, it's all so delicious and tasty looking in that bag!

I just had a look at the time stamp on the above photo to see when this blanket journey began - it was the 5th of October {5:10:15}. I was spending the morning at a local café with my friend Sarah, hooking up the first few rows whilst drinking coffee and photographing bits of my progress for the tutorial (hence the white sheet of paper). It just goes to show how portable and sociable this crochet lark can be, providing you choose a good, light airy café and the right kind of understanding friends!

You can see in the above photo that I had already chosen the colour order for the first set of stripes - this is a great method if you are making a striped blanket with random colour order. Have a really good play with a set of yarn pegs and work out a colour order that you are happy with, then tape little strands of yarn to a small piece of paper and keep it with your hook - this is your "colour map". Then if you are going out and about with your blanket, you need only take 2 or 3 balls in your bag with you if you already know which colours are coming up next (I found I could make 3 stripes at a chatty two hour café session).

I love it when a stripy blanket reaches the length when you think it could possible make a pretty good scarf. I was hooking up these early rows when we had our wonderful weekend at Robin Hoods Bay in mid October, and believe me, I really did consider wearing it around my neck. So jaunty!

These stripy rows of "granny trebles" are so easy, so relaxing and so meditative, addictive too. Just one more row, it's impossible to stop mid row, it's against all the hooky rules you know. Just a bit more till I get to the end, then I'll be able to finish. But ooooo I wonder what the next colour will look like added in? I'll just give it a go, get started with a new colour, you know, just to make sure it looks right. But I can't stop mid row, I'll just have to make it to the end before I stop....and on and on. That's how those rows grow so quickly, as if by magic ;)

I mentioned earlier about playing with yarn pegs as a way of working out a random stripe order. This is such a nifty way to do it, so satisfying but also highly successful. I had 18 Sunny colours in my yarn bag, so it made sense to order the stripes in groups of 18 each time. I tried not to go too rainbowy, not to be afraid of unlikely colour combos cropping up (Gold next to Bright Pink? No problem!), not to put any two colours too close together and to keep an eye on the balance of the dominant shades (Citron and Claret in this case). It's what I call "planned random" - there is a certain amount of brain power and instinct behind the apparently random selection, but truthfully not too much.

This blanket went all over the place with me as I worked on it during the weeks of October and November. Sometimes I was at home with it draped over my lap on the sofa, but often I was out and about at a friends kitchen table or in various local cafés....

.....cafe + coffee + cake + chatter +crochet = complete bliss! You can picture me as happy as a pig in muck here on this ordinary Tuesday afternoon in October, indulging in a spontaneous hooky sesh with good friends.

Oooooooooo it's growing look, becoming rather blankety now wouldn't you say? Couldn't get away with the scarf thing now, that's for sure.

Into November now, and the cold weather has arrived. The blanket is now the perfect size to provide some cosy fireside snuggling whilst hooking those rows. Colour and comfort to cheer even the dreariest of Winter days.

By the end of November, eight weeks after beginning, I had made 90 stripes and the blanket measured 120cm x 175cm. Just the right size to call a halt to the rows and attend to The Edge.

As you can see, I had become a bit lazy with my darning in my ends. I tried to do most of them as I went along, but towards the end I just kind of lost the will to deal with them. You may remember the above picture from Part 6 of my Crochet-A-Long, it was the week that Little B had his surgery and we spent day after day installed on the sofa together. I shall never forget this time, the quiet hours spent darning and crocheting to calm the anxiety and banish the worry.

I get so excited and giddy arriving at The Edge of a blanket as it's a part of the creative making process which also doubles up as the finishing process.

A kind of fidgety excitement sets in as the edge of The Edge gets under way. You will your hook to hook faster, faster! Speed up those stitches, we are so very nearly there!

And there is a certain satisfaction when an edging pattern produces such neat, pointy corners. It's all looking rather lovely and.....

.....oooooo, rather suddenly finished!

The 3rd of December and my Sunny Granny Stripe blanket had it's last ends darned in and was declared ready for family approval.....

....cue Little B who stepped up to the job without even being asked. Testing out the softness with his dancing feet....

.....and helping me to fold and drape so that I could take some photos.

 I have to say that I truly love the way the Spot On edging looks with these stripes, it's such a beautiful finish with just the right amount of detail. It does a superb job of neatening the edges and containing the stripes without being in any way overpowering.

I'm sorry to tell you that I haven't been able to take very good photos of this blanket in it's entirety. What with the Christmas tree and the resulting weird furniture alignment, combined with Storm Frank making the day feel like perpetual twilight, it's been a weeny bit challenging.

I spread it all out and smoothed the edges and corners as best as I could. I teetered on the edge of the sofa and snapped a few above-my-head pics with my camera, hoping for the best.

The images aren't great, but at least you can get some idea of how the ninety stripes look from bottom to top.........

....................ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One Sunny Granny Stripe blanket in all it's colourful, stripy glory.

I love love love love love it.

I love the simplicity of the pattern and the delightful exuberance of the colour play.

I love the size and drape of the finished blanket. I love the snuggly softness and the pleasing weight of it when it is wrapped and cosied around me in the early mornings and evenings.

And I absolutely LOVE the way it looks so at home on my grey sofa, like rays of bright sunshine after a heavy rainstorm. Sometimes it is neatly folded over the arm of the sofa or draped across the back of it, but mostly it is slung any old how, thrown off by one of us after a period of blankety snuggles. And there it sits, waiting for the next person to come and tuck themselves under it. And so this Sunny blanket is already very well loved and used, a cosy part of family life here in the Attic, a fragment of childhood memories for my Little People.

If you joined in with my Autumn Sunny Crochet-A-Long, you may already have your very own Sunny Granny Stripe blanket (hooray for you!). There are full tutorials here on my blog for making this complete blanket ::

{GRANNY STRIPE BLANKET PATTERN} and {SPOT ON EDGING}

If you are using the Attic24 Sunny yarn pack, you can follow my colour order, as follows:

Sunny Granny Stripe Blanket colour order (remember two rows for each stripe)

♥ 1. Aster (the chain, starting dc row, granny rows 1+2) ♥

♥ 2. Sage ♥ 3. Wisteria ♥ 4. Magenta ♥ 5. Lipstick ♥ 6. Plum

♥ 7. Fondant ♥ 8. Spice ♥ 9. Citron ♥ 10. Lime ♥ 11. Turquoise

♥ 12. Violet ♥ 13. Petrol ♥ 14. Meadow ♥ 15. Claret ♥ 16. Gold ♥

♥ 17. Shrimp ♥18. Bright Pink ♥

♥ 19. Plum  ♥ 20. Violet ♥ 21. Sage ♥ 22. Turquoise ♥ 23. Lime ♥

♥ 24. Gold ♥ 25. Fondant ♥ 26. Bright Pink ♥ 27. Spice ♥ 28. Claret ♥

♥ 29. Magenta ♥ 30. Meadow ♥ 31. Wisteria ♥ 32. Aster ♥

♥ 33. Petrol ♥ 34. Lipstick ♥ 35. Shrimp ♥ 36. Citron ♥

♥ 37. Meadow  ♥ 38. Wisteria ♥ 39. Violet ♥ 40. Claret ♥ 41. Spice ♥

♥ 42. Fondant ♥ 43. Magenta ♥ 44. Turquoise ♥ 45. Petrol ♥ 46. Lime ♥

♥ 47. Bright Pink ♥ 48. Shrimp ♥ 49. Plum ♥ 50. Lipstick ♥ 51. Gold ♥

♥ 52. Citron ♥ 53. Sage ♥ 54. Aster ♥

♥ 55. Magenta  ♥ 56. Spice ♥ 57. Claret ♥ 58. Bright Pink ♥ 59. Violet ♥

♥ 60. Turquoise ♥ 61. Sage ♥ 62. Lime ♥ 63. Citron ♥ 64. Fondant ♥

♥ 65. Wisteria ♥ 66. Aster ♥ 67. Petrol ♥ 68. Meadow ♥ 69. Gold ♥

♥ 70. Shrimp ♥ 71. Lipstick ♥ 72. Plum ♥

♥73. Aster  ♥ 74. Violet ♥ 75. Lipstick ♥ 76. Spice ♥ 77. Magenta ♥

♥ 78. Fondant ♥ 79. Turquoise ♥ 80. Meadow ♥ 81. Plum ♥ 82. Wisteria ♥

♥ 83. Bright Pink ♥ 84. Petrol ♥ 85. Lime ♥ 86. Gold ♥ 87. Citron ♥

♥ 88. Shrimp ♥ 89. Claret ♥ 90. Aster ♥

Some of you may know that this is the second Granny Stripe blanket I've made - I crocheted the first one (on the left in the above picture) way back in 2010 using my Original colour yarn pack which is 17 balls of Stylecraft Special DK.

This first blanket has different dimensions as it was made for my caravan seat - it is short and wide with a different type of edging. The starting chain is 239, it measures 150cm x 110cm and has only 60 stripes. If you would like the colour order for my original Granny Stripe blanket, you can find it in this post.

The Sunny Granny stripe (the blanket on the right in the above picture) is much bolder with stronger, deeper colours and I much prefer the dimensions of this one (starting chain 200, it measures 120 x 175cm and has 90 stripes) . 

It's been really great sharing my creative process with you all here on my blog, I've enjoyed it hugely. Thanks as ever for coming along for the ride, your company is much appreciated..

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♥ Granny Stripe Blanket tutorial

♥ Spot On Edging tutorial

♥ Sunny Yarn Pack (18 x 100g Stylecraft Special DK)

 

 

 

 

 

A Post Christmas Post

Today is my "breathing out" day, the day when post Christmas life slides into an easy, lazy blur of nothing-in-particular. I never really allow myself to get stressed over the whole Christmas thing, despite my very slap dash, last minute approach to it all. I've come to realise that everything always comes together somehow, even on those frantic few days before the twenty-fifth when the to-do list is rather scary. Having said that, it still feels bloomin' great to land on the other side of Christmas and indulge in a quiet, personal bit of satisfied breathing out....pheeewwwwww.....another year, another happy few days with family, another gratefully received slice of Christmas delivered.

Little B was super-excited opening his Christmas presents this year, and at one point he dramatically threw himself full length on the floor, unable to find the words needed to express his immense delight with one of his gifts. We bought brand new fluffy onesies for our three (which they were allowed to open on Christmas Eve evening), plus books and some bits of clothing for each. Father Christmas delivered selected items from the handwritten Christmas Lists, including a game for each (as much as I personally can't stand the whole gaming thing, I can't deny the pleasure it seems to bring them, or the hours it can fill with ease). There was also a pleasing number of gifts not requiring batteries or electricity - Lego featured high on Little B's wish list and it really did hit the spot for this industrious five year old this year.

Little Man (age 13) was the hardest to buy for, although he did luck out when his Dad Father Christmas found an Xbox One at a bargain price and decided a true surprise would be the order of the day. Funny how teenagers express happiness and surprise isn't it? We witnessed kind of a warm half-smile, some self conscious fidgeting, some jokey banter and then a whole lot of technical talk. I think he was pleased as punch underneath all that cool.

Little Lady had put the following things on her list : Fine Liner pens (like Mum's), Notebook and Stationery (any), Sweets, Money for a shopping trip. So easy to deliver that little lot, truly it was a pleasure. The pens were such a big hit {Staedtler Triplus} and as a surprise, Father Christmas also delivered a really beautiful new colouring book {Enchanted Forest: An Inky Quest and Colouring Book}. Oh what I would have given for something like this when I was eleven years old! We have been colouring it together actually, which has been super lovely. Clever Father Christmas :) And we still have the shopping trip to look forward to (with money to spend), all good stuff.

 

The weather here over the Christmas period has been cruel. The past two years we've had sunshine which tempted us to venture out for a Christmas morning walk - not so this year, no chance. It rained, and rained and rained. Rain poured from the sky for days on end and water levels in local rivers, becks and canals rose alarmingly fast....

....we took a short walk out on Boxing Day afternoon after trying and failing to drive to my lovely in-laws, their town cut off by flooded roads. The above picture shows the beck close to my Studio at Coopers Café, the water barely contained by the wall there. This is usually a low-lying, quietly babbling  little beck with a small grassy island in the middle where birds hoppity hop about. The water rose a staggering 2.9 metres here, gushing down in a raging torrent and flooding the road and shops a little further down. It's been heartbreaking to hear so many stories in the news of destruction and emergency in our local area, so many communities affected by the huge volume of water everywhere.

So when we woke to dry air and blue skies yesterday, my heart was filled with relief. Phewwww, at long last. No rain and sunshine, Happy Christmas to me!

We rounded up the Little People and drove to Bolton Abbey where the River Wharfe was huge, swollen and noisy.

Instead of our usual jaunt through the woodland to The Strid, we decided to walk the opposite way to the Money Tree.....

....oh I love this magical tree so much! It is rather strange and rather special and it fascinates children and adults alike.

The Little People used to love this tree when they were smaller (I wrote about it back in 2008), and yesterday Little B was in absolute raptures over it.

The pathway along this side of the river climbs quite steeply above the level of the river below, with beautiful views through the winter tree branches as you go.

Eventually, the path takes you down out of the trees, back down to the riverside opposite the Abbey ruins.

Due to the very high level of the river, the beach here was very much smaller than usual. But on this sunshiny morning there was only one other family here (a small boy running his grandparents ragged, quite literally. Poor Grandad, I did feel for him a bit).

We pootled about on the beach, writing our names and making drawings in the sand, skimming stones and searching for river treasure.

The unusual depth of the river meant that the water was rushing past really fast, which meant there were actually waves lapping onto the beach. Real waves, that looked and sounded just like they do at the seaside! I couldn't believe my good fortune, to be able to close my eyes and fill my mind with seasidey dreams, it was lush!

I was super lucky on the treasure finding front too, picking up some lovely pieces of river washed glass to add to my treasure collection (remember the glass bottle stopper found almost a year ago?)

Little Lady drew this in the sand for me - well actually, she drew it for you. She said "I've drawn something in the the sand, please come and take a picture and share it with your blog readers", so of course I am doing as I am told. Snapped and shared, from her via me to you xx

Winter Sky, how I love it when you dress up in blue! Please wear very many more shades of blue and ditch the shades of grey, thank you so much.

There is this bit of the return walk back towards the car where the footpath runs down a long grassy slope. It was quite muddy and slip-slidey due to all the rain, but the lure of this downward run was just too much for Little B to resist. Off he hurtled at full pelt, mud splattering everywhere as he went. Such simple joy in stretching ones legs and airing ones lungs, and being the first to reach the bottom!

Blue, blue, blue. Love, love love.

After the walk was ended, we took ourselves into the mighty fine café and ordered up some refreshments. Cappycheeenos for the grown ups, Coke (in old fashioned glass bottles) for the Big Little Peeps, and a cup of hot chocolate smothered in cream and marshmallows for Little B. A cookie bigger than your hand for Little-big Man, a swirly iced cupcake for Little Miss, a packet of crisps for Little  B  and a slab of dark chocolate millionaires shortbread for the Mister and me to share. A scrumptious end to a pleasurable walk, mud splatters and all.

J is back to work now for a few days until New Year arrives, he went off silently this morning whilst it was dark and we were all still asleep. When I woke and found him gone, I missed him very much, it's been wonderful having him home for two whole weeks. Me and the Offspring are hanging out at home today, passing the hours doing not a lot. Lots of play with friends is going on up above in the bedrooms, there was a very short spell outdoors on scooters this morning which ended with bumped knees and tears. There has been lots of blankety snuggles on the sofa watching weirdly noisy kids tv, the stuffing of Christmas selection box chocolate into appreciative little faces. All good post-Christmas stuff. Me - I've been seeing to the laundry, drinking coffee, sock knitting and darning in ends mostly. Oh those ends - I am trying to love the process but honestly? It sucks. No two ways around it, but the thought of getting to the Joining Bit is spurring me on. Back to it......

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Sunny Blanket CAL :: Part 9

Hello my Sunny Hookers! Sorry for being a little late to the Attic with Part 9 today, we've been out soaking up some much needed sunshine and (dry) fresh air this morning after so many days cooped up sheltering from the rain and floods. We attempted our annual Boxing Day visit to my lovely in-laws yesterday but had to turn back as the road into the town was under water and not passable in the car. It's been terrible to witness such devastation in our local area, so many homes and buildings damaged by overflowing rivers and rapidly rising flood water. I've been glad of some gentle, colourful hooky these past few days, I often wonder what do other folk do when they need to occupy their hands and minds in order to find peace and relaxation? Crochet is such a fabulous feel-good thing to pass the time with, it has magical therapeutic properties and I truly love it for that.

So here we are with part 9 of the Sunny CAL, time to crochet up the last two squares of this blanket.......eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep! So exciting to be almost there with these squares! I am itching to begin the joining process but I confess that I've still got rather a lot of ends to darn in first. For that reason, I'm going to give us all two weeks now before we begin the joining and border, enough time to tidy everything up and make sure all squares are nicely blocked and ready for joining. Part 10 will be on Sunday 10th January.

SQUARE 15  (pattern HERE)

♥ 1.Spice  ♥ 2. Sage ♥ 3. Petrol ♥ 4. Magenta ♥

♥ 5. Lipstick ♥ 6. Lime ♥ 7. Meadow ♥ 8. Shrimp ♥

♥ 9. Plum ♥ 10. Wisteria ♥ 11. Aster ♥ 12. Claret ♥

♥ 13. Fondant ♥ 14. Violet ♥15. Turquoise ♥ 16. Bright Pink ♥

SQUARE 16 (pattern HERE)

♥ 1.Petrol  ♥ 2. Claret ♥ 3. Plum ♥ 4. Sage ♥

♥ 5. Aster ♥ 6. Bright Pink ♥ 7. Lipstick ♥ 8. Turquoise ♥

♥ 9. Meadow ♥ 10. Shrimp ♥ 11. Spice ♥ 12. Violet ♥

♥ 13. Lime ♥ 14. Magenta ♥15. Fondant ♥ 16. Wisteria♥

Make sure you keep your marker in place to tell you which is strip 1 - when we come to start joining the squares it'll be very important to get them all the right way up! I hope you have a really fabulous few weeks ahead and enjoy taking these Sunny colours into the start of a sparkling New Year. See you with part 10 in 2016! 

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Useful links ::

♥ SUNNY YARN PACK - 18 x 100g Stylecraft Special DK.

♥ Sunny CAL Introduction

♥ Sunny CAL : Part 1

♥ Sunny Cal : Part 2

♥ Sunny Cal : Part 3

♥ Sunny Cal : Part 4

♥ Sunny Cal : Part 5

♥ Sunny Cal : Part 6

♥ Sunny Cal : Part 7

♥ Sunny Cal : Part 8

♥ Granny Stripe Blanket pattern (includes Edging Base Round)

♥ Spot On Edging pattern

♥ Sunny Granny Square pattern

♥ Log Cabin Blanket pattern

 

 

 

 

All is Calm

It's 4pm on Christmas Eve and I thought it would be nice to pop up here into the Attic for a quick chat. How you all doing? All ready? All set?

I did my last round of gift-dropping and shopping at lunch time, braving the rather bracing weather to stroll along the canal and up into town. I arrived home windswept and relieved - that's my final outing done and dusted and I am bedding down into the warmth and comfort of home for the duration now. It feels so, so good.

This week has been absolutely fabulous, day after day of relaxation and great family time. I've loved having everyone home and the house full of children, my own and various others coming and going.

I've found time to tiptoe through the festive pages of my two favourite magazines - Country Living UK and Country Homes and Interiors. I'd been saving these issues since early November and they didn't disappoint....

...*sigh*, its always so inspiring in Magazine Wonderland!

On Monday we spent a whole day doing jigsaw puzzles, we have these two 500 piece puzzles called "Christmas Eve" which I bought last year  (see here for the complete images) and it was fun to be absorbed in them again. I especially enjoyed it as Little Man joined me for much of the time, a rare occurrence to have his company and quiet chatter as we pieced these images together.

Although much of this week has been spent indoors, pyjama clad and in full slobbery mode, we did manage a family stroll to the woods on Tuesday morning.

It was raining and everything was very brown and soggy....

....but we were rewarded with the woodland pretty much to ourselves and an unexpected Heron sighting.

There was also chocolate involved of course, it's the only way I can soothe the moaning that occurs when a wet, muddy wellie walk is on the cards. Cripes, I love the above photo of Little B's hands with his Festive Nails - you can tell he hangs out with girls a lot round here!

Our old faithful Christmas tree is in situ, I think this tree must be getting on for fifteen years old, maybe more, and we've had the same decorations on it for the past twelve years or so....

....I love the bright colours and eclectic look of it all, I don't feel the need to change any of it in future years.

A few days ago I was told off by Little B, proper told off. He was most upset that I hadn't put real candy canes on the tree this year, he couldn't believe that I had forgotten. Actually I hadn't forgotten but I somehow thought that the Little Peeps wouldn't notice them missing or be bothered about them as they are getting older. I guess I was wrong about that (all three Little Peeps were thrilled when they eventually appeared), and it made me realise that not all Christmas Traditions are parent-led. Must remember that next year.

I have a few of my own little personal Christmas Traditions, small things that I do each year which make me really happy. Red tulips for one, gosh I so love having these fresh flowers on my table for Christmas.

These tulips appear every year in the supermarket for just a few £'s, complete with a little bit of gold-sprayed foliage. I love that.

Something else I love to do is to treat myself to new pillowcases for Christmas, an idea totally inspired by the lovely Jane who used to write her blog Posy and did this exact same thing. J and I don't buy gifts for each other at Christmas, so this is kind of a Happy-Christmas-to-Me-from-Me kind of a thing. It's quite cool buying for oneself at Christmas!

Aren't these just so pretty?? I love that they have a different print on the reverse, I only found that out when I unpacked them. They are now freshly washed, ironed and waiting to go on the bed in a little while - ooooo freshly laundered bedding to look forward to tonight, I am rather giddy about the pleasure that thought is giving me!

I've got an easy dinner planned for tonight, a kind of fireside finger-food type thingy. You know, crisps, bits of pork pie, little sausages, olives, cured meats, a cheese board, some spicy chicken wings.....the Little Peeps are really excited by the prospect of eating dinner on their laps in front of the fire/tv. Afterwards I'm going to sit with Little Lady and paint our toenails golden, we do this simple thing together every Christmas Eve, and I love that we do. Aren't these small, simple traditions precious? I think they really are worth so much, makes me feel quite emotional. I think because my memories of my own childhood Christmases aren't that great (some are downright awful to be completely truthful), it makes me wish hugely for it to be different for my own children.

Tomorrow we are home just the five of us, we may or may not go out for a walk, depends on the weather really. I am so looking forward to the day unfolding, to be cosy and close with my sweet family.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, I hope you have everything you wish for....

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Sunny Blanket CAL :: Part 8

After a week full of Christmas shopping, catching up with friends, school commitments with the Little People and not an ounce of hooky time to be found, yesterday was earmarked as my crochet day. It was delightful - I parked myself in the Big Chair which has been squished up to make room for the Christmas tree, and settled down to work those Sunny rows. I had Christmas tunes playing, a scented Winter Wood candle flickering on the mantle and all was fine and dandy in my woolly world. Oh those colours - so in tune with my own personal Colours of Christmas, it made me smile to think of my blanket co-ordinating so beautifully with the Christmas tree!

So this week we are on with squares 13 and 14 which are going to be sitting next to each other along the bottom of the blanket. Can you see the subtle diagonal stripe that appears when the two squares are placed together? I am loving the colour-play of this blanket very, very much, it's scrumptious. Right then, lets not waffle, lets get right down to the colours for this week......

SQUARE 13 (pattern HERE)

♥ 1.Wisteria  ♥ 2. Claret ♥ 3. Violet ♥ 4. Spice ♥

♥ 5. Turquoise ♥ 6. Plum ♥ 7. Sage ♥ 8. Bright Pink ♥

♥ 9. Petrol ♥ 10. Shrimp ♥ 11. Aster ♥ 12. Lipstick ♥

♥ 13. Meadow ♥ 14. Fondant ♥15. Lime ♥ 16. Magenta ♥

SQUARE 14 (pattern HERE)

♥ 1. Bright Pink  ♥ 2. Lime ♥ 3. Spice ♥ 4. Violet ♥

♥ 5. Shrimp ♥ 6. Aster ♥ 7. Fondant ♥ 8. Wisteria ♥

♥ 9. Lipstick ♥ 10. Meadow ♥ 11. Plum ♥ 12. Turquoise ♥

♥ 13. Magenta ♥ 14. Sage ♥15. Claret ♥ 16. Petrol ♥

Even though I am going to be very busy doing Christmassy things this week (hello Christmas cards that still need to be written and posted!), I'm really looking forward to making the last two squares for my Sunny Log Cabin blanket. Sitting down in front of the fire with my hook and colourful bag of yarn to hand gives me so much pleasure and relaxation at this time of year. I often find myself giving quiet thanks for the accidental way that crochet came to me eight years ago, and how much it has changed and shaped the course of my life. Wherever would I be without yarn and hook?

Have a truly splendid festive week my lovelies, enjoy everything this season has to offer. Wishing you love, light, peace and happiness, and a whole load of joyful hooky xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Useful links ::

♥ SUNNY YARN PACK - 18 x 100g Stylecraft Special DK.

♥ Sunny CAL Introduction

♥ Sunny CAL : Part 1

♥ Sunny Cal : Part 2

♥ Sunny Cal : Part 3

♥ Sunny Cal : Part 4

♥ Sunny Cal : Part 5

♥ Sunny Cal : Part 6

♥ Sunny Cal : Part 7

♥ Granny Stripe Blanket pattern (includes Edging Base Round)

♥ Spot On Edging pattern

♥ Sunny Granny Square pattern

♥ Log Cabin Blanket pattern

 

I Went to the Sea

This time last week I was in Dorset. I travelled solo, getting up ridiculously early last Saturday morning to wrap presents, write Christmas cards, sort school uniform, make lists, make a flask of coffee with packed lunch and stuff a few clothes into a case on wheels. It was ever so slightly manic and I only just made the 06:50 train, arriving hot and bothered, exhausted and somewhat relieved to have actually made it. The train journey to Dorset takes 7 hours which includes a jaunt across London on the underground, it's a pretty good way to travel and I passed the time reading, daydreaming and knitting a bit of sock.

I had four days and three nights away from home and it was a huge luxury for me to take off by myself whilst J held the home front together. He is a very capable man on the home front, effortlessly taking over the parenting reigns which allowed me to go spend a few days with my folks. My parents are doing ok, it was good to see them and be able to spend time with them by myself for a change. I have an uneasy relationship with my parents and at times I confess it really was quite hard going. But still, I am glad I made the journey south and back again, yes, I am glad, despite the emotional difficulties.

One major upside to my Dorset visit was the draw of the sea, I absolutely couldn't wait to take myself down to the water's edge. Dorset in wintertime is really, really lovely, so quiet and beautifully empty and bleak. I've always had a soft spot for seaside locations in winter, they are calm and invigorating all at once. All that pounding surf and salty air, the sounds and scents of the winter beach are intoxicating. I loved being there very, very much.

This past week since I returned from my travels has been hectic, as any Mum of school age children knows only too well. There is so much crammed into these last days of school - a Winter concert, a pantomime, a Christmas play, a Church carol service, Christmas jumpers, non school uniform days, Secret Santa gifts, Christmas cards, assessments and reports, high jinx and exhaustion. Times three. Having three Little People at three different schools has tested my organisational skills to the max this term, but we survived intact and here we are at the welcome start of a two week respite from school routine. Hallelujah, we are all so, so ready for it.

I hope you are all doing good in the run up to Christmas, I hope you are happy and that all is calm and bright in your days. Go gently my friends xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

 

Sunny Blanket CAL :: Part 7

A few days ago I folded up my freshly made Sunny Granny Stripe and added it to the top of my freshly stacked blanket pile, just because. Because I suddenly really wanted to see how the Sunny colours looked alongside the others, and because I really wanted to see what two years of blanket-making looks like. I love my blankets so very much, this small collection of patterns and colour palettes represents a great deal of my creative energy. But more than anything, I enjoy seeing my blankets used. I love seeing that picture perfect pile toppled and dismantled so that Little People can be snuggled cosy and warm. Aren't crochet blankets just the Best Thing Ever??!!

More colour planning and scheming this week as I've worked on squares 11 and 12 (only four more to go!!). I am feeling pleased/relieved as the yarn quantities are working out well and there should be plenty enough left for the joining and border once all the squares are made. I am so excited to see this blanket come together, to make 16 squares into 1 square. What a terrific way to end the year :)

So without further delay, let me give you the colour sequences for this weeks squares...

SQUARE 11 (pattern HERE)

♥ 1. Aster  ♥ 2. Spice ♥ 3. Shrimp ♥ 4. Meadow ♥

♥ 5. Sage ♥ 6. Claret ♥ 7. Magenta ♥ 8. Petrol ♥

♥ 9. Lime ♥ 10. Lipstick ♥ 11. Fondant ♥ 12. Violet ♥

♥ 13. Turquoise ♥ 14.Plum ♥15. Bright Pink ♥ 16. Wisteria ♥

By the way, I am terribly sorry about the really poor photo of Square 11 above. I took pictures this afternoon before the Friday school run (I am writing this on Friday evening as I'll be away from home for the weekend), but when I came to upload them for some reason picture 11 was missing. So I was forced to take an emergency evening photo in the yellow light of the Funky Lamp, and it didn't turn out too well. Please forgive me!

SQUARE 12 (pattern HERE)

♥ 1. Fondant  ♥ 2. Lime ♥ 3. Spice ♥ 4. Turquoise ♥

♥ 5. Claret ♥ 6. Violet ♥ 7. Bright Pink ♥ 8. Meadow ♥

♥ 9. Magenta ♥ 10. Sage ♥ 11. Plum ♥ 12. Petrol ♥

♥ 13. Shrimp ♥ 14. Wisteria ♥15. Lipstick* ♥ 16. Aster ♥

*sorry for the error - too much to do and too little time! Strip 15 should be LIPSTICK xxxx

Did I mention only four squares left to make???...............yippeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a fabulous week my lovelies, Part 8 will be next Sunday 20th.

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Useful links ::

♥ SUNNY YARN PACK - 18 x 100g Stylecraft Special DK.

♥ Sunny CAL Introduction

♥ Sunny CAL : Part 1

♥ Sunny Cal : Part 2

♥ Sunny Cal : Part 3

♥ Sunny Cal : Part 4

♥ Sunny Cal : Part 5

♥ Sunny Cal : Part 6

♥ Granny Stripe Blanket pattern (includes Edging Base Round)

♥ Spot On Edging pattern

♥ Sunny Granny Square pattern

♥ Log Cabin Blanket pattern

 

 

Advent 2015

Pretty much every year I am at least a week late with celebrating Advent. It's not that I forget - this is simply not possible with three Little People nagging for weeks on end about their pressing need for chocolate filled Advent calendars. I am always bang on time for that particular Advent tradition, woe betide me if I forget to purchase the precious chocolate giving bits of cardboard. This year I went the extra mile and jumped on the train for a twelve minute ride to a nearby town which still has a Thorntons shop (sadly the Thorntons in our town closed down last year), and procured three beautiful Advent calendars with the LP's names iced beautifully on each chocolate name slab (see here for what I'm on about!) Thorntons chocolate really is rather yum and and the Littln's were suitably impressed that a) I bought them in time and b) they weren't being fobbed off with the last minute purchasing of inferior supermarket offerings.

I fetched the rest of Advent out of the depths of the Attic eaves on Monday, so only six days late this year. We have two whole boxes dedicated to decorating bits of the house in advance of the Christmas tree making an appearance, and once I get stuck in I really love doing all this in the quiet of the day whilst the Little Peeps are at school. First thing to be installed was my Christmas Wreath, it's always such a  joy to unwrap it each year and reunite myself with it's colourful pom-pom loveliness.

This was the first seasonal wreath I made (three years ago) and is delightfully over the top, a celebration of colour and exuberance. You can read all about it in my archive post {here}, which contains links to many of the small patterns I created for this wreath (holly, flowers, stars, balls etc)

Next up was another crochet favourite of mine, my star Advent garland. For some reason I don't think this made it out of the box last year as I was ridiculously late doing any sort of Christmas decorating, so it was extra lovely to unpack it again this year.

My star garland is very simple (no chocolate or hidden gifts with this one), just a visual marking of the days to help with the constant question of "How many more sleeps until Christmas?". The answer from me is "Count the Stars!", it works a treat. You can read more about this garland {here}

If you look closely at the above picture, you may spot a little bit of creative activity in progress at the coffee table. Glue, pegs, cardboard.....

....I was sat here yesterday, indulging in a little bit of easy creativity. I didn't even need scissors as all the delightful little cardboard decorations are pre-cut and just needed popping out of their sheets and folding/gluing/pegging.

I absolutely LOVE these angels, they were gifted to me a few years ago by my bloggy friend Nancy Nicholson. Nancy designs stitch kits and an appealing range of "interactive stationery", with some wonderful designs made especially for Christmas. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I actually "lost" these angels for a year or two in the piles of paper mountains here around my desk (yes, I am blushing). I re-discovered them earlier this year and put them somewhere a little more memorable ready for this Christmas.

Oh so cute! These angels are really nostalgic for me, they evoke a little snippet of hazy childhood memory and I'm certain we had some similar ones on our tree when I was little. You can find them on Nancy's website {here}

I decided to perch my angels amongst the sweet smelling hyacinths that are in full bloom on my mantel, they look very at home there I have to say. Sweet indeed.

I made up some of Nancy's robins yesterday too....

....and they flew over to the mantel to perch amongst the little bits of Christmas there.

I haven't added a huge amount of Christmas decor to this mantel, I decided to keep most of the things that usually reside here (hyacinths and little houses mainly) and add a few Christmassy bits to it.

I replaced my everyday candelabra with my wooden Christmas Nativity one, hung up my cloth angels (made by Tracy of Handmade Over Yonder), added in a few little silver Christmas trees and miniature pom pom snowmen. And then my Snowflake Garland also came out to play - a crochet make from five years ago. If you're looking for an easy-peasy crochet snowflake to whip up a hooky garland, I've got a simple pattern {here}.

Over at our other fireplace, I have much the same decorations as in previous years. It took me a good morning to clear and clean this mantel which was in complete disarray and dusty disgrace. Once it was free of clutter and dirt, I unpacked some favourite Christmassy things from years past and really enjoyed being reunited with the memories they hold.

Awwwww I just melt when I see these little pom pom critters and characters, honestly, they are hilariously handmade by the hands of my Little People in years gone by and I love them dearly. Those robins crack me up every year, they are just so wibbly looking!

I enjoyed decorating my twigs with the little mini baubles I bought from Paperchase a few years back, the colours of them make me so happy. I have these same twigs in a ceramic jug on this mantel all year round, decorated with crochet flowers and hearts, and festooned with mini eggs and chicks at Easter. I love their Festive transformation very much. The happy mouse couple are another Handmade Over Yonder make, it was lovely to unwrap them from their tissue paper nest and bring them out to sniff the air again, sweet things that they are.

I saved the wooden Christmas tree for Little Lady to decorate when she came home from school (she does this every year)...

....ditto the setting up of the wooden Nativity scene. And there is our Christmas House tin with it's wind-up musical box inside, stuffed full of little foil wrapped chocolates for an after-dinner treat. All these things are years old now and very much a part of what I hope the Little People will remember of their childhood Christmases.

And so the season of Fun and Joy is upon us once again, I truly can't believe we are so close to Christmas already. Where have the weeks gone? I hope you are feeling the fun and joy in your own household at this time of year, and that your days are happy. Lets just slow them down a bit though, I've still got soooo much to do!

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Winter Skies

Our days are very short at this time of year with a late sunrise and early sunset meaning not a whole lot of prime daylight in between. In fact, the recent storms and daily rain has seen us under constant heavy grey clouds of late, and often it has felt like we've been living in a weird kind of continuous twilight. I am counting down the days (twelve) until Winter Solstice on the 21st, I do really enjoy celebrating the shortest day of the year as it's all uphill from that day forward in terms of daylight minutes. Bring it on, it can't come soon enough for me.

Walking to school at 3pm to collect Little B and the sun is almost down already. There is beauty in the light at this time of day, but it is so very fleeting.

I've enjoyed being reunited with my daily walks along the canal this week, it has been good to see Little B recovered and back to school. Last week was quite hard going, I had so many days one after the other without setting foot out of the house that I think a little bit of cabin fever set in at one point. This week I have appreciated the simple pleasure of walking one way and then back again, a short commute on foot from home to school and back. This is my routine and I missed it last week. Missed breathing in the damp, chilly air.

Wintertime is here, although it has been mild, stormy, wet, grey, and soggy so far. I can't wait for a good hard Winter frost to land on us, bring us some proper seasonal weather.

I know there are folk who absolutely love bare branches and winter trees (Gillian, I am looking at you here), well I am simply not one of them. I am such a Summer soul, I look at the winter trees and try really hard to love their pared down beauty, but truthfully I really, really miss the greenery up there.

We had some rare blue sky yesterday, oh it did feel good! There was even some teensy patches of sun too for a while, I wanted to plug myself in to those golden rays and recharge my flattened batteries. Top me up, sunshine.

I realise I do write about the weather and the sky an awful lot here on my blog, I even have a well used Weather category for those posts that contain sky and clouds, sunshine, rain, frost, snow, fog etc. I don't know if that makes me  a bit of a weirdo but I will continue to sky gaze and photograph up above my head. It makes me happy, especially when there is blue up there.

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