Attic24

Spring Bank

We've just enjoyed a long weekend here as yesterday it was Spring Bank Holiday in the UK. I love this time of year so much, I love the lush green landscape, the deliciously long hours of daylight and the feeling of being on the very cusp of summer. These days at the end of May always feel luxurious and precious to me - even if we simply stay at home, it feels special somehow.

On Saturday, Little Lady and I went off on a short jaunt, just the two of us. We journeyed by train to the nearby town of Saltaire to visit the Saltaire Makers Fair which is part of a larger arts event called Saltaire Inspired. The fair was taking place in the magnificent Victoria Hall, and when we arrived mid morning the atmosphere was very festivalish indeed.

I'd never been inside this grand Victorian building before, it was really lovely!! I found myself as fascinated with the walls, windows, ceilings, lights and stairs as I was with the event itself and spent much of my time gazing around in awe. Little Lady and I snook upstairs to the balcony area to take the above photo, oh it was so grand!

The Makers Fair itself was absolutely superb, showcasing the work of some very talented local designers and makers. The standard was exceptionally high and the rooms were filled with so many beautiful things it was almost overwhelming - the instant I set foot in the first room I was oooohing and ahhhhing with pleasure. Printmaking, jewellery, ceramics, glass work, textiles and woodwork were beautifully displayed, with the added advantage of having the super-clever makers right there on hand to chat to.

One of the main reasons I made the journey to the fair was to see the work of mixed media artist Shirley Vauvelle  - that's Shirley looking very lovely in the above photo (Hi Shirley, it was so nice to finally meet you in person!!). I've been a fan of Shirley's work for years after discovering her on Facebook, but have never been lucky enough to see her work in real life before. Shirley's mixed media pieces are very sought after by private collectors and art galleries and even though she has an online shop it can be devilishly difficult to buy from her as her pieces are snapped up so quickly.

So to say I was excited about feasting my eyes on the above display was a bit of an understatement, I was beside myself with the loveliness of it all. Shirley's charming sculptures and wall pieces are so unique and full of detail, they really are stunning. I love the mixture of materials she uses (driftwood, metal and old maps combined with beautiful handmade ceramic and porcelain pieces), the whole effect is very pleasing on the eye. I treated myself to a couple of wonderful little sculptures which have made me so happy, I know I shall treasure them.

I also fell in love with the most beautiful hand made jewellery by a talented maker called Catherine Woodall. Catherine's work is inspired by the Yorkshire countryside where she lives and works, and although I loved pretty much all of her jewellery, it was these beautiful acorn and oak leaf necklaces which captured my heart. The delicate silver leaves are imprinted with real skeleton leaves, and the acorns are hand made from lamp work glass. Glass!!!! I couldn't believe the glass bit, but it was the whole effect of glass, silver and semi precious stones combined which made these necklaces so breathtaking. Catherine has a well stocked Etsy shop, and you can find her on Facebook too.

After all the giddy excitement of the fair, it was lovely to step outside into the gloriousness of a lovely sunny May day and take a wander. We bought filled rolls from the village deli and took ourselves down to the park for an impromptu picnic before flopping onto the train home again. What a lovely, lovely outing.

Often the weather can be a disappointment at this time of year as it doesn't always do the required warm sunny stuff. However, on Sunday it was a really glorious day and so we set out to take a walk. Up the hill we went.....

.....stopping for a rest at the top to catch our breath and take in the view. I love that we can see our house from up here (we are one of the terraced houses in the far right of the above photo), it gives a wonderful perspective on the place I now call Home.

The woodland is looking gloriously green now, and the dappled sunlight streaming through the leafy canopy was a delight.

Newly unfurled oak leaves instantly reminded me of Catherine's acorn necklaces....

.....oh how I love these fresh, vibrant shades of green!

The wild garlic is in full bloom now and the scent of it in the air as we walked was intoxicating. The sight of such large swathes of it in full throttle was spectacular....

....but also the individual flowers are so pretty and delicate when you stop and look closely.

It was a beautiful family walk and we came home feeling refreshed and relaxed.

The good weather continued throughout the afternoon and by 4pm it was decided that a Street Outing was in order. I love it when an already lovely day takes on an unexpected turn, and on Sunday it was great fun to head out with our neighbours from number 18, 17 and 14. We didn't go far, just a few minutes down the road to our local pub to enjoy a few drinks outside in the sunshine. The Little People all played together, and even our Teens arrived for food and drink before heading off again on their bikes. The afternoon turned to evening and eventually we wandered back to our street to carry on our impromptu party a bit closer to home. I feel blessed to live in such a friendly, close community, and the fact that our neighbours have become good friends over the years that we have settled here is a lovely thing indeed.

Amongst the visiting, walking and partying, I've also enjoyed some quiet time this weekend, sitting in the warmth of our sheltered back yard with yarn and hook. I'm making great progress on this stash-buster granny square blanket and enjoying it so so so much! This blanket is feeding my colour addiction beautifully,  I'll tell you lots more about it very soon I promise. Forty four colours my lovelies, forty four !!!!!!!!!!!!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little Mouse Wreath

At the weekend I swapped the hills of the Yorkshire Dales for the equally beautiful and equally hilly hills of the Derbyshire Peak District. I travelled with a good friend on Friday morning, and after three hours and three train journeys filled with chatter and a bit of sock knitting we arrived at the lovely little town of Buxton. This girly weekend away had been many, many months in the planning, a gem of an idea hatched last Summer and finally we were there......

.........this is the house with the rolling green view which became a veritable Hooky Haven for the weekend. Actually, it was a bit more than a house, it was huuuuuge! Quarnford Lodge is a rambling ten bedroomed detached residence on top of a high hill, a perfect venue for a large bunch of rather crazy hookers to hunker down for a few days. It was absolute bliss. Nothing to do except chat, eat, drink, sleep and crochet.

The living space at the lodge was large and open plan, with a wood burning stove separating the living and dining areas. As there were nineteen of us, the large space suited us perfectly and those chocolate brown leather sofas provided a wonderful place to while away the day with hook and yarn. The whole weekend was very informal - no workshops or schedules, just a huge amount of laughter, cake, wine, crochet and hilarious banter. Oh, we did laugh, I laughed so much and so hard I thought I would either stop breathing or pee my pants. Or possibly both. Such a beautiful bunch of lovely, vibrant, charming and funny ladies. As I only knew two of them in real life, it did make me feel ever so slightly nervous about spending a whole weekend with virtual strangers. I am quite a private person, verging on the shy really, and sometimes I do find social situations a little tricky. But I needn't have worried, everyone was so lovely and by the end of the weekend I knew I had made a whole big bunch of great new friends.

It's one of the things I most love about crochet - it is such a warm, creative and sociable hobby, and the friendships that grow from sharing a love of hook and yarn are just brilliant. I experience this every single day as I write my blog and share pictures and chatter on Facebook and Instagram, but there is something extra special about taking an online community and springing it into real life. Those of of us that shared our weekend together had only previously known each other via a small online group, but you would never have guessed it in a million years. The friendship was real and instant.

One of the things we had decided to do for the weekend was a hand made gift exchange. We didn't know who we would be making the gift for or who's gift we would be receiving (we did it a bit like a raffle), it was loads of fun. I was so lucky with my gift and received a really beautiful crochet shawl - can you believe I have never had a shawl before, whatever was I thinking???! It was hard to photograph to show you the pretty silver sparkle that runs through the yarn in my shawl, tis rather glamorous to have this beauty draped around my person. Warm and cosy too, I am most definitely a newbie Shawl Lover.

I pondered over what to make for my gift for all of about 20 minutes, and then as if by magic an image popped into my Creative Mind like a photograph. I could see it so clearly......and I saw a little mouse!

Actually, I decided that one mouse looked a little bit lonesome so I made him a little mousey lady friend, awwwww! I found a really delightful little free mouse pattern designed by Lucy Ravenscar, so sweet and very easy to make. I used 4ply baby merino yarn and a 2.5mm hook, and they came out quite dinky and very cute looking.

Now my little mice needed a place to live, and my Creative Mind had already provided me with a very clear picture - I needed to make a Flower Bower.

So just as I did for my Bower Bird, I used a 7 inch Flexi Hoop {you can find these on Amazon} which I covered with a length of crochet. This is very easy to do, and I've given a full explanation as part of my Bower Bird tutorial.

Once I'd made the green base, it was time to decorate............

..........I had loads of fun here and really, really enjoyed making this pretty mini flower wreath. I used some of my own small flower patterns (Teeny Tiny Flower and Daisy Flower) and added some simple leaves. I also made a few smaller/shorter versions of my fern leaf, as well as having a little go at making some approximate lavender-ish type flowers in shades of purple. 

Everything was carefully arranged, pinned, then stitched in place and finally the wreath was ready.......

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

I am so pleased with this little decoration, it turned out pretty much exactly as I saw it in my mind. It was a pleasure to wrap it up and know that it would be going to a lovely new hooky home too.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

ps I want to say a huge THANK YOU to the 18 fabulous hooksters who made my weekend so special and so memorable, especially Sarah C and Mel who organised it all. It was amazing and I hope we can do it again next year. And special big hugs to Sarah S who made me laugh so hard and for so long that I came very close to having an accident. Mwah x. Hooky friends are the bestest kind of friends there are x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loving the Sticky Things

Question of the Day >> What is it about sticking things that makes it so enjoyable????? Anyone????? Is it the nostalgic link to childhood activity do you think?? Or is it the simple pleasure of indulging in a speedy spot of creativity?? I just love to stick things, like reeeeeeally love it. So satisfying, so absorbing, it makes me so happy! Remember my Decopatch craze? I sincerely hope you are reading this and nodding with recognition, please tell me you get the sticky thing?!

I bloomin' love stickers, I've had a love affair with them since being a child. Having my own brood has allowed me to indulge in this pleasure by actively encouraging my offspring to engage in all manner of stickerating activity over the years. We have a mahoosive tin of stickers as well as a large pile of sticker books here in the Attic. Oh, and then I discovered washi tape.......lordy, that was a momentous day indeed. For those who don't know what washi tape is, it's a thin, decorative paper tape (a bit like a thin masking tape) from Japan. It comes in a variety of widths from super skinny 4mm to super wide 30mm, and the variety of colours and patterns would stretch to the moon and back probably. I've never really known what exactly to do with it, although there is a tonne of washi inspiration in Pinterest if you want to hurl yourself down that particular rabbit hole. I just like to have it to hand, you know, in case I need a quick sticky fix.

My washi stash (above) is modest, in that it sits happily in a small plastic tub and doesn't require multiple drawers or complex shelving to contain it. But oh, I do love it so. I bought some very pretty rolls a while ago from Kate at The Homemakery, she has a rather drool-worthy section full of sticky things on her gorgeous website.

More recently, I've discovered that washi tape goes hand in hand with using a Life Planner, and no respectable Planner Girl is without a stash of this pretty sticky stuff. It's an easy way to add a band of pretty colour and pattern to planner pages, and has added a lot of stickerating pleasure to my Sunday evening planning sessions.

There are a tonne of Etsy sellers who peddle washi tape and stickers, there are oodles of them all over the world. If you go to Etsy and search for 'washi tape', you get 56,076 results. Seriously. I love to support small businesses and although Etsy is a global market place, I do especially like to buy from UK sellers if I can. Today I want to share a good'n' with you, a lovely lady called Dominika who is based near me in Yorkshire. Her shop CwlCrafts boasts an amazing array of stickers and tapes.....oh it is rather heavenly to stroll through those virtual shelves of sticky products!  I came across Cwlcrafts by pure chance and was so delighted by the designs which appealed to my colour-loving soul. I went for a standard 15mm width (Domnika currently has 170 designs in this width, haha, I know!!) After a delicious amount of browsing, I chose the six tapes shown above. Aren't they just a bit lovely?!  If washi tape and cute stickers are your thing, I can highly recommend this shop - it's worth keep an eye on her Instagram too {@cwlcrafts} for discount codes and news of new products.

Since I started using my Erin Condren Life Planner almost a year ago now, my passion for stickers has definitely moved up a notch. I try hard not to go completely bananas with it (not easy) but every so often I do allow myself a weeny splurge. I get all my functional planner stickers from EllieBethDesigns (a lovely UK seller and my Planner Guru) as I LOVE the colours that Rachel uses and she has everything I need to keep my week on track. But my creative heart does love a bit of pretty-pretty and I can't resist adding colour and pattern to my planner pages.

I fell in love with these floral banners from CartaPrintea (I'm having a major crush on all things folk-floral at the moment), and it tickles me that they come all the way from Poland! How cool that we have such a magnificent global market place to shop in, Etsy really is amazing. 

These ones are a bit closer to home, from UK Etsy seller Dream Big and Plan. More flowers and bunting to decorate my pages, I am very predictable I know.

Rachel at EllieBethDesigns is still my favourite sticker-provider though, she does seem to have a knack of reading my mind and designing stickers that tap into my Personal Sticker Wanties. The above stickers were part of her new Summer collection released earlier this month, and made me ooooooohhhhhh with pleasure when I first saw them. They are perfect for celebrating my forthcoming holiday jaunts (nothing exotic, the usual UK seaside stuff for us again this year).

My Life Planner delivers me a huge amount of pleasure these days, it's become a wonderful hobby (yay for sticking hobbies!!) as well as giving me a super friendly online community to be a part of. But aside from the love of sticking stuff and creating pretty pages, I'm finding the habit of planning my days is becoming a very useful thing indeed. My health continues to be a bit up and down (still got some brain fog going on, and shocking lack of memory), so aside from enjoying my planner, I actually really need it.

I know from reading your comments and messages on social media that a good many of you have been inspired by my planning story and have taken the leap to find your own planner heaven - I'm so happy for you all!! The brand new Erin Condren Life Planners launch next week, on Wednesday 1st June, which is an exciting day for planner addicts all over the world. The 18 month planners will run from July 2016 to December 2017, if you are thinking of going for it.

Also on 1st June, EllieBethDesigns will be holding a big one day sale to celebrate Erin Condren Launch Day, I've marked it in my planner already of course. 

Right my lovelies - I'm stepping away from my computer now and picking up the hook for a bit - I've started a new blanket and am completely in love already. More of that soon. Please do pop back tomorrow though, I'm going to show you more of the teeny mice and their flowery bower - squeeeeeeek!!!!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

ps, just in case there is any doubt, this is not a sponsored post.

 

 

 

 

Slow Down May!

Oh May, May, May, you are going past waaaaay too fast and need to slow down!!! May is my absolute favourite month and it is is rocketing past at such a rate that I just can't seem to catch my breath. Sometimes life is like that isn't it? It's like the days have been installed with high speed jet boosters which leave you spinning and reeling as they zoom past under your nose.

I'm relishing the school run at this time of year, loving the clear light and gentle warmth of our morning jaunts along the canal.  I'm not entirely sure you can call 11 degrees warmth, but it'll have to do and I'm not complaining. Compared to the frigidness of April, May is turning out to feel positively balmy around here.

The blossom came and went in it's usual whirl of speed this month. It was totally fabulous while it lasted and the pink petal blizzard that rained down on us last week as we walked to school was wonderful too. I am alternating between flip flops (with turquoise painted toenails, yay!) and my beloved hand-knit-socks-and-boots combo. Some days it's just too bloomin' cold still for bare toes, and besides I do so love love love the feel of my feet in hand knit socks.

Last week I had some little mice on and off my hook, oh I did so love bringing them to life! I used scraps of 4ply baby merino with a 2.5mm hook and the resulting mousey cuteness made my heart melt. I also made a little floral bower to provide a house for the mouse(s), I'll show you that in a day or two once I've gathered together my photographs. I love hooking up little decorative gifts, such creative fun to be had with yarn and hook.

I hope your days are happy and bright and that they are not leaving you in a spin! Take it gently my lovelies.....

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

Head Above Water

Walking home after the school run this morning, the shopping bag on my shoulder suddenly felt hugely heavy and I realised I was struggling. So I sat myself down on a nearby bench to rest a while in the dappled shade of a large tree. Breeeeeaaaaathe. Inhale, exhale. Stop rushing, just sit still and catch my breath for a moment.  

I looked up and realised with a start that the trees are now full of green leaf, so when precisely did that happen then? I've obviously not been looking properly around me recently, and that realisation gave me a bit of a jolt. It seems that in the bustle of daily routine I've forgotten the importance of slowing down and being mindful of my surroundings. It's all been rush, rush, rush. Tut tut Lucy, that will never do!

I've had family staying with me for the past week, my Dad and Lady B journeyed up by train in order to celebrate my Dad turning 70. Before they arrived I spent two whole days like a mad woman, racing around sprucing up my back yard, tidying and cleaning the house. It was shocking how bad things had gotten around the house, how messy and yup, how dirty. Cobwebs everywhere, piles of stuff everywhere, oh so much stuff. And dust. Piles of stuff and dust. Cripes. But hey ho, I did my best and after two days of slightly manic clearing and panic-cleaning it came together as passable.

As an extra surprise for my Dad, my brother also journeyed up from Kent, so we had quite a jolly family time of it here last week. We took them to Bolton Abbey to take in the bluebells.....

....and had a trip out to Brimham Rocks too. I have to say it was most odd to be at the rocks without the Little People, to be able to stroll around without a permanent knot of anxiety caused by scrambling, climbing, jumping children. Lovely, but odd! The drive there and back was spectacular for my visiting family, the first time my brother had been to the Yorkshire Dales. I saw it through their eyes and felt so blessed to live in such a beautiful area.

Back to normal this week, I waved goodbye to them yesterday morning, running along the platform grinning at the train which caused some elderly ladies to wave and laugh through the train window at me. I've noticed that people keep asking me if I'm OK and I wonder if I wear a look of permanent tiredness on my face? I am desperately trying to keep my head above water as work, home and family responsibilities pile up and up around my ears. It's end of year exam time for Little Lady right now, with all the associated strains, and The Teen is also needing some close parenting as he pushes at the boundaries. The Little People grow and change so fast, don't they? So so so fast.

Ahhh my beloved planner, it is pretty much keeping me grounded during these full and hectic days. I am convinced that pages lined with washi tape and filled with stickers are the way to a harmonious life. I must just try harder to actually look in the pages and act on my lists though. I am hopelessly forgetful at the moment, still a bit below par it would seem.

I've got lots going on in my back yard right now, lots of seedlings and little plantlets growing away like billy-o. Strawberries, chillies, cucumbers, tomatoes, broad beans, french beans, sugar snap peas. Cosmos, nasturtium, marigolds, zinnias. So much growth, so much potential!

My sweet peas desperately need planting out now too, I've been babysitting these seedlings since they arrived in the post back in March. Out in the day, back in at night. Out, in, out, in. They are looking strong and healthy and I am excited for the flowers to come.

So all these seedlings and plantlets, and a book about allotment gardening. Oh ho ho ho, yes indeedy my friends!!!! After eight patient years on the waiting list, we finally made it onto a small half plot. Lots of work to do mind you, it's a weeny bit daunting at this stage. More soon, I have lots of pictures to show you!!

I'm knitting in the early mornings, these are the stripy socks that I'm making for my Mum {the yarn is Opal Viridian Schafpate, colour Thelma} 

In my crochet bag I've got left overs from the re-make of my Granny Stripe blanket (which I must remember to show you, do remind me?!)

I'm using these scraps to make a small string of Summer Bunting for the caravan, and I'm really enjoying it. This is an easy project which I can bring out at knit and natter mornings when more nattering than crochet happens and my hook pretty much works by itself without needing my brain to engage. 

I've also got a new stash-buster blanket in the planning stages........

..........I have this vision in my Creative Mind, I can see it very clearly. The idea has been itching away and demanding attention, so I finally gave in and planned it all out. Scratched that creative itch (which felt so good). I've got in mind a simple colour-block blanket to use up all the odds and ends of yarn left over from recent blanket makes. I'm going to start it on Friday as I've got a train journey and a special weekend away with friends.

My days are full up, and I don't always feel like I cope very well, bobbing around on the wide surface of my life, keeping afloat as best as I can. I could do with a rest, a respite from the daily bobbing. I'll just keep my head above water and hope for the best eh........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bluebell Appreciation

I absolutely love and adore this time of year when Spring is in full throttle and there might even be some teensy whiffs of early Summer in the air. The days are long and light and the trees are slowly starting to green up again after their sleep. It's all so uplifting and beautiful out there!

A trip to Bolton Abbey to take in the bluebells has become something of a May-must-do for us, and despite the long winter and slow start to Spring the bluebells have arrived pretty much bang on time this year.

Over the years, I've noticed that not one member of my family appears to care much about whether bluebells are flowering or not. They don't arrive at the start of May with Bluebell Anticipation at the forefront of their minds like I do.

Year after year they look completely baffled when I tell them it's Bluebell Time and therefore it is completely imperative that we go forth into the woodland to Appreciate them.

They are happy enough to indulge me though, and on Saturday we did indeed take a beautiful stroll through the woodland to breathe in the scent of wild garlic and the incredible shades of bluebell blue.

As in previous years I manage to achieve walking harmony by having a large bar of milk chocolate in my bag, and delivering a firm promise of refreshments in the cafe afterwards. I promised all sorts of fizzy drinks and sweet treats, and do you know what? We enjoyed a really peaceful stroll with only the minimum of stick fighting and associated tantrums. Boys eh, the stick thing is only to be expected. 

Walking along this quiet pathway through the trees gave  me such a jolt of happiness, and made me so glad that we made the effort to get out there amongst it all.

It's not always easy for us to walk as a family of five these days, but gentle persistence (along with edible bribery) does indeed pay off. It was such a lovely way to spend a Saturday morning.

I love bluebells. I love May. Happy me.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's All About the Socks

 

It's been almost two months since my last sock-knitty update back in March, and this morning I decided I have a burning need to show you what's been on and off my needles since then. I've been busy, and have managed to produce five complete socks which I'm rather proud of. My little pile of cosy comfort is growing slowly but surely and I remain delighted with my humble efforts.

When I last talked all about the socks, I was half way through this pair, oh how I loved making them! 

This yarn is scrumptious to knit with {West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply, colour Peacock}....

....and the resulting stripes are really, really lovely. These socks wash beautifully and come out very soft - I'm super pleased to have peacock feather colours on my tootsies! 

After the peacock socks were done, I started straight away (like the very same day) making another pair, this time for my Mum. You might remember back in November I gifted a pair of socks to her for her Birthday? Well, she fell in love with the cosy warmth of hand knit socks and asked if I might make her a few more pairs. I decided to try a different brand of yarn and went for this hand painted beauty in colours of the sea {Cascade Heritage Paints, colour 9770 Celtic}.

Wow, this yarn is sooooooo soft and gorgeous, made with 75% merino yarn, it feels quite different to the Opal/Regia/WYS that I'd got used to knitting with. For one thing, it was really smooth and slippy on the needles, which resulted in some fairly speedy knitting. I loved feeling like I was flying through the rows.

The colours are soothing and very easy on the eye, although I did find myself thinking about green vegetables quite a lot whilst I was making them. They became known as The Pea Socks. And then the Boring Pea Socks...............there, I said it. I realised, not for the first time, that I am a stripe addict and one of the main appeals of knitting socks (aside from getting to wear them on my feet), is the visual joy of the colourful stripes emerging before my eyes.

So I diligently worked the Pea Socks for my Mum, enjoying the speed and softness of the yarn whilst lusting for some visual excitement............

...........oooooo, bring on the Opal Stripes!

 This is {Opal Sweet & Spicy 3, colour 9127 Fruchtgummi}

Oh hello stripy, colourful loveliness, I have missed you!

Aren't these just a weeny bit beautiful? I was in stripy heaven knitting up this pair, it was so much fun discovering how the yarn worked especially after the yawn of the Peas.

I knitted this pair of socks a little differently, in that I worked on both at the same time instead of completing one and then the other. I find that even though I use a little clicker thingy to keep a track of my rows I often get distracted and forget to click. Or else I do click but then immediately forget that I've done it and end up clicking twice. So I bought myself a second small circular needle and worked both socks in sections, checking at the end of each section to make sure the stripes on both socks were matching up with each other. Does that makes sense? I divided the knitting into six sections (rib, leg, heel flap and turn, gusset, foot, toe), and it somehow made the knitting process seem faster and more enjoyable working two socks together. I think I'll do it this way from now on.

This particular Opal yarn didn't feel all that soft when I was knitting with it, but the socks softened up a treat after they'd been washed and blocked and are wonderful to wear. I love them very much, well I love all my socks....

I've knitted six pairs of socks now, which is roughly a pair a month. The Pea Socks will be posted off to my Mum next week, and I've got another ball lined up to make her a super-stripy pair next. I just want to mention that my Mum wears purple Dr Marten Boots which have been hand painted all over with flowers, so super-stripy socks won't faze her in the slightest.

Do you know something amazing? I think this might be the very first time ever, ever, ever that I'm arriving at the end of Winter and not craving my flip flops! I've loved wearing my socks and red boots so much this winter - the joy and the comfort of having warm, cosy feet tucked up inside all those itty bitty hand made stitches is not to be underestimated. It feels absolutely, stonkingly wonderful.

I realised this morning when I was taking my sock photos that I am building a little collection of left-over sock yarns, of course! For some reason I hadn't really given much thought to the left overs as I've been stashing them away in a small wicker basket and had forgotten all about them until today. I think I might have a go at some 'happy scrappy socks' (inspired by these ones made by Susan Anderson).

Now before I go, let me just quickly show you two inspirational sock drawers............

 

{sock drawer found on Flickr}

{sock drawer found on Ravelry}

Sigh. #operationsockdrawer is really rocking my boat.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 ps I use Christine's fabulous Basic Sock pattern which you can find for free on her blog {Winwick Mum Basic Sock Tutorial}

If you want to find out more about my own sock making journey, all my posts are archived in the Sock category {my socks}

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx