Attic24

A Little Village by the Sea

On Monday morning we miraculously managed to get ready (with a picnic and everything) to leave the house at 8.15 am. We kept our fingers crossed for  fine, dry weather and set out to spend the day pootling and pottering at our closest seasidey place on the Fylde coast.

Our first stop was at this delightful little village - doesn't it look quaint?

This is no ordinary village, as it is very teensy-small indeed. So small in fact, that you can walk the streets and feel like a great big lumbering giant.

Yes, you probably guessed right away that this is in fact a model village. And maybe you might also have guessed right away that I absolutely loved it to bits! I was soooooo excited to visit as I adore model villages - I was that child who obsessively played with her dolls house for hours and hours on end and was in love with the whole idea of miniature houses. Still am actually. 

So this is Blackpool Model Village, and it's a very quirky little place that's been here since the 1970's. I've wanted to visit for ages, and managed to persuade J and the Little Peeps that we really needed to go see it. Oh, it was really good! It's quaint and ever so slightly faded, but I just fell in love with it all. As we arrived early we were the very first visitors so pretty much had the place to ourselves (only one other family arrived whilst we were there). We had a quiz sheet which led us around the little twisty-turny pathways, and we had loads of fun answering all the questions. The was plenty of gentle humour too - for example, one of the questions on the quiz sheet was "who's in charge of the school?" and the answer was Mr. Terry Bull and Mr. P. Brain. We had to work a little to explain the names to Little B, but when the penny dropped he nearly wet himself laughing.

 This is a family outing very well suited to those with Little People (or adults who still have rather childish minds), and it's all very simple indeed with no gimmicks and nothing extraordinary. Its old fashioned charm certainly pleased me no end, and it was  a lovely start to our day.

Blackpool Model Village is on the edge of Stanley Park which is absolutely huge (over 300 acres). The formal gardens are spectacular, with exuberant, colourful flower beds designed to wow.

I particularly loved the dahlias - these fiery coloured ones with the dark foliage were amazing, and made me want to scoop them up and run back home with armfuls of blooms to fill my house with.

I'd heard about the famous art deco cafe in the park, and was keen to see it for myself. It really was stunning inside, quite grand and very 1920's stylish. We chose to sit outside on the terrace.....

....to enjoy a morning coffee and a little bit of a breather. Gosh, I realise that so often a good strong milky coffee is one of the true pleasures of my day. Not sure if I need to worry about that or not?!

After the village and park (and coffee) excitements, we drove the few miles to the coast, choosing as usual to leave the bustling crowds at Blackpool behind and head a little further south to St Annes instead. As you can see, the day was grey and overcast, but that certainly didn't stop a good many families enjoying the vast sandy beach.

We found a bench on the busy promenade and sat a while to eat our picnic and partake in a bit of people (and dog) watching. It fascinates me to visit our rather old fashioned British seaside towns and ponder on the fact that families have been promenading and taking in the sea views for over a hundred years. According to Wikipedia, St Annes was a 19th-century planned town, officially founded on 31 March 1875. Eighteen Seventy Five!!!

After lunch, we took to our feet and leisurely promenaded along the promenade before dropping down to the beach and slowly strolling back again. 

By this time it was mid afternoon and the weather had dramatically improved since the morning. The low grey clouds had completely blown away to reveal these perfectly summery white wispy ones.

As with all of our previous visits, the tide was waaaaaay out, exposing the vast open sandy beach. It was decided between us all that we weren't all that bothered about trying to reach the sea this time, it was enough to simply kick off our shoes/flip flops and enjoy the sand between our toes. There were lots of kites flying - some really simple ones flown by children, as well as bigger two-string stunt kites flown with varying degrees of skill by adults. 

I enjoy the atmosphere so much in St Annes, there is something incredibly tranquil about it. It feels calm and peaceful, a town built purely to provide gentle leisure and pleasure. We sat a while on the beach, then walked out onto the end of the pier to eat ice cream and take in the views. 

Our walk back to the car was through our favourite Ashton Gardens which was looking as beautiful as ever. We flopped around on the grass for a bit, watching the oldies play bowls on the green whilst keeping an eye on Little B who was flinging himself relentlessly down the slide in the playground there. 

It felt like a perfect little slice of English Summertime, and all was content in my summer-loving world. Even the fountain was making rainbows as we walked past, which just added to the quiet charm of the whole day. 

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Designing and Writing

 

A little while ago I contributed to an article for Simply Crochet magazine which was all about yarnbombing. After the magazine was published, I came across a question on the Simply Crochet facebook page asking me whether I'd mentioned the article here on my blog or whether I'd intentionally kept it quiet. It made me stop and think about the things I do which don't always get shared on my blog, especially in recent months when I've been kept quite busy with various designing and writing commissions. But to answer the question, no, no, I really don't keep these things quiet on purpose! Mostly it's simply a timing thing - the world of magazines has a way of working which is quite different from the way I like to write and share on my blog. Commisssion work for magazines happens many months in advance of publication, whereas here in the Attic I like to share things pretty much as and when they happen. As you know, I have an atrocious memory and often by the time a magazine comes into the shops I've forgotten all about the work I might have done four or five months previously. 

Anyhoooo.....I thought perhaps it might be good to have a little catch-up sesh and share a few things that I've been up to "behind the scenes" so to speak. The magazine in the photo above is Simply Crochet issue sixty, which was out last month and no longer current. I'm so sorry I am late to tell you about it as it's a fab issue with some great projects in, but you can still get a hold of it as a back issue, or as a digital download. You can find all info about SC issue 60 {here}

I was asked back in February if I would like to work on a design for a Simply Crochet magazine summer collection, and I answered yes straight away. Back then in the depths of winter I found the idea of working on a summer project hugely appealing, especially as I was asked to choose the colour palette as well as designing a pattern.  I chose the above 7 shades of Stylecraft Classique Cotton DK, responding to the brief which had asked for "something summery and fun". In the above picture, the colours I chose (from left to right) are :

Azure : Sky Blue : Soft Lime : Wisteria : Shell Pink : Fondant : Hot Pink

There are six crochet projects (by six different designers) in the summer collection, all using this beautiful soft colour palette. From dragonflies and pebbles, to a whole amazing tee-pee....

.....these makes are all about having some creative fun and adding a bit of hooky decoration to your outside space.

My contribution was a mandala hoop, and I just love the way the team at Simply Crochet styled and photographed it for the magazine page. 

Designing and making my Boho Chic Mandala was really, really enjoyable, and I consider myself extremely fortunate (almost beyond words) that I get to do this and call it Work. Lucky, lucky me. I am so grateful for my crochet and colour addiction and all that it brings to my life!

You might possibly recognise the centre of this mandala - I started out by making the first five rounds of my Happy Flower, then continued to add enough rounds to form a 35 cm circle.

A 35 cm crochet circle should stretch quite happily to fit a 45 cm hoop - this stretching out of the crochet as you attach it to the hoop transforms the design, opening out the stitches to create a lovely neat, taut finish.

When I've made this size of mandala before, I've attached the crochet to child-sized hula hoops, you know, those brightly coloured plastic ones you can get (see my blog post here). But I've since discovered that you can  buy lightweight plastic-coated metal hoops which are very much thinner than hula hoops, making them much easier to crochet around. They come in various different sizes, from teensy 10 cm ones up to the 45 cm one that I've used here. If you are looking online for these hoops (eg on Amazon UK) , you need to search for "metal craft ring" - they are sold for making things like dream catchers I think. 

I just love the way this pattern turned out, and I've got a second mandala in progress which is crocheted in much brighter colours, more like my previous mandala hoops. I must remember to dig it out and finish it - in fact I've got a couple of large mandalas which are half way done, so I'll be finishing them off very soon and attaching them to hoops ready for this year's outdoor display at Yarndale.

Talking of Yarndale, as I mentioned at the start of this post, issue 60 of Simply crochet magazine also contains a really great article all about the joys of yarnbombing. I was interviewed for this write up (with my Yarndale hat on) and it's really interesting to read about the inspiration and motivation behind some other amazing community yarn bomb projects.

I also contributed to a beautifully written article all about choosing colours for crochet projects which you can find in Simply Crochet magazine issue 59. Again, I did this interview months ago now, and it had slipped my mind until recently. 

I don't know - sometimes I confess I feel a little bit uneasy about sharing these things, as I don't want it to seem like I am shouting out about myself or trying to sell or promote anything, does that make sense? I enjoy writing and designing very much, and although mostly I keep things contained here in the Attic, occasionally it feels rather good to see my words and images out there in print. 

Oh, what do we have here then? Something else crocheted in a pretty palette of summery cottons! I designed these little heart key rings as my contribution to this year's Yarndale brochure (you might remember the owls from last year?). I used five shades of Classique Cotton > Sunflower : Shrimp : Fondant : Sky Blue : Soft Lime (aren't the colours pretty?!)

These are quick and easy to hook up - I made two hearts then crocheted them together around the edge in a contrasting colour, adding a small hanging loop at the top. The little flower is crocheted separately and stitched on.

I love designing and making small decorative things as I think it's always great to have a stash of patterns that you can pull out when you need to whip up a last minute little crochet gift. If you are coming to Yarndale, the pattern for these hearts will be in the brochure which is given to all visitors. 

And finally before I leave you in peace, a quick shout out for the British Knitting & Crochet Awards. As per usual I'm very late in putting this on my blog as the voting closes today (30th August)....typical me! These awards are a great recognition within the industry, and to be nominated is considered an honour. This year I have 4 nominations (yes, four!) which I am so happy about!

★ Favourite Crochet Blog
★ Favourite crochet Designer
★ Best Website (for WoolWarehouse/Attic24)
★ Best ready-to-use kits (for WoolWarehouse/Attic24)

also Yarndale has been nominated in 
★ Best Knitting Show Event

Votes are open to both UK and Worldwide peeps this year (although only UK residents will be eligible for the yarny part of the prize draw). It's worth mentioning that you don't have to vote in all the categories (especially regional ones which may well mean nothing to you) - only categories with an asterisk* require an imput. So if you'd like to give it a go, I'd be very grateful - click on the image above, or go {here}. Closes midnight 30th August.

As ever, I am so thankful for you all, for your ongoing visits to the Attic and for the kind words you write to me. I appreciate it very very much xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Reflected Landscape

We ventured out into the misty grey yesterday morning to take a walk around Grimwith Reservoir. We are generally an early-to-rise family (with the exception of The Teen, who's body runs on teenager time these days), and it's fairly easy for us to be up and out the house by 8.30am in the summer.

I have to confess that I have mixed feelings about this walk. It takes just short of 2 hours to do the 4 mile round route, and there is a part of me that finds the whole thing ever so slightly dull. There, I said it. I try not to voice this in front of the Little People, because really this is a great walk for them and us as a family - very easy footpaths, a known distance/time that they can cope with, toilets in the car park. 

So yesterday I did my best to adjust my mind, and I set out to appreciate the scenery, feel the benefits of the fresh air and exercise and enjoy some chatty-time with the Little Peeps.

I took the above photo to show you the water levels here in North Yorkshire which are still desperately low despite us having a very wet summer. It's odd to think that our drinking water may very well come from right here (this is one of five reservoirs in our area owned by Yorkshire Water). It makes me not want to moan about the summer rain quite so much!

This time around Grimwith (our third time walking here), we decided to walk the reverse way around the water and see how it felt. For some reason it worked a treat and I enjoyed the walk so much more than in previous times. Maybe it was the fact that we walked the most boring part first, or maybe it was the weather which although grey was blissfully still and just the right kind of warm. But perhaps it was simply the fact that we enjoyed our time together as a family, making the absolute most of these last days of the summer holidays. 

There is definitely something about being beside still water which is extremely soothing and restful. You can feel the peacefulness seeping into your soul, and although I generally prefer to feel invigorated by crashing waves and salty surf, I am finding a new appreciation for quiet, still waters.

We saw very few people yesterday as we walked, just a few dog walkers and a few sheep taking in the morning air.

The surrounding landscape was looking beautiful, with a purple blush of heather across the hilltops and so many shades of green all around. I stood still and breathed it all in. So so good.  

There are several of these carved stones set into the walls around the reservoir, but the poetry of this one is my particular favourite. I've just made a quick Google search and found out that this is the work of local artist Fiona Bowley. 

"A reflected landscape of shadows calling out from under the water" - isn't that such a lovely thing to ponder as you wander around the waters edge?

At this point in the walk we were about 2/3 of the way around, and the light and weather was beginning to alter almost minute by minute. 

The low grey cloud was beginning to lift a little, allowing a gentle brightness to creep into the morning.

The swaying summer grasses, as usual, stopped me in my tracks and made me hold my breath. I have no idea why they affect me so much - I feel like there is an old, old childhood memory tucked deep down just out of reach. I love how tall they are at this time of year, so delicate yet strong at the same time.

This was quite some hill, an unexpected climb which took us by surprise. Of course, as we were walking this route in reverse we would've been jaunting downwards not upwards when we walked here before. It felt good to get the blood pumping though - Little Lady and I proper power-walked up this bit, flopping down on the grass at the top of the hill gasping for breath. So unfit - jeez. I really could do with improving my fitness.

The light was extraordinarily beautiful as we neared the end of our walk, and the contrast of colours was just incredible. The water had turned a dark shade of grey under a heavy grey rain cloud, whilst the sun lit up our little patch of high ground. It was absolutely breathtaking. 

Ragwort (that yellow flower) is a funny plant, mostly ignored as an annoying weed (a bit like dandelions) and hated by land owners as it is poisonous to animals. But the colour of it on this grey day was nothing short of magical.

That grey and yellow colour combo is pretty powerful don't you think? It instantly reminds me of my dear friend Vanessa who used to love seeing yellow and grey together......I really do miss her very much. I think I might take a pootle through her blog archives later, she left behind such an inspirational treasure trove of words, images and ideas for us to dip into. Blogging at it's very best.

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Summer Moments {four}

☀ Humid, hazy weather here right now, with low slung cloud and the constant threat of rain in the air. It feels warm and muggy, and I find myself lacking in energy and slowing down to a lazy dawdle. I fantasize about loafing around on a well padded garden lounger sipping chilled wine and taking afternoon naps, but that really isn't happening at all, in any way, shape or form. Well, possibly the chilled wine might be happening a little later on.

☀ Drinking a mug of fresh coffee out in the back yard in the mornings, listening to the  rooftop jackdaws calling to each other and the neighbourhood gently going about it's business. We bought our Nespresso coffee machine almost five years ago now and I love it more than ever. The ritual of making and drinking my morning coffee is something I enjoy very, very much. I add quite a bit of lightly frothed up hot milk to my lungo coffee shot, then finish with a liberal dusting of chocolate powder. Deeeeelish. 

☀ Stripping off my bed and pegging out the freshly washed bedding on the line, keeping fingers and toes crossed for the rain to stay away long enough for it all to dry. I absolutely adore these Cath Kidston pillow cases, for some reason it really pleases me that each side has a different design. Gosh, there is honestly nothing nicer in the summer months than climbing into a bed made up with freshly laundered, sun-dried bedding, it's one of life's pleasures for sure.

☀ Tilly kitty, curled up on my Moorland blanket enjoying the quiet warmth of a sunny spot. I don't think she appreciates the constant noise and movement which comes from the Little People being at home during the holidays, but in the times when all is quiet downstairs she definitely makes the most of it. 

☀ This was a bit of a bitter sweet Summer moment as I drank the last of the homemade elderflower cordial this week. Oh, the cordial tasted soooo good this year, the perfect combination of fresh/sweet/zesty and I am missing it now that it's no longer around. Commercial elderflower just isn't the same.

☀ We walked through the park to the farm shop one afternoon last week, partly to  buy some fruit and salad which we needed, but mainly just for something to do when the sun suddenly came out to play. It's about a 20 minute walk each way, and we always stop in the park on the way back. I loved this view from the picnic bench, the sunshine and shadows along the tree lined pathway reminded me a little of a Van Gogh olive tree painting. 

☀ Part of the trip to the farm shop generally includes a small treat for the Little People, which always goes down well. There is an amazing bakery at the shop and these cookies are a real favourite. These short local jaunts with a pit-stop-picnic are so simple and summery, but I love how much the Little Peeps seem to enjoy them. 

☀ Ahhh, let me introduce you to my latest salad crush - fresh pea shoots. Actual pea shoots!! Who would have thought you could really buy a bag of these tasty little morsels from the shops, they are so yummy and I could honestly eat a whole massive handful straight from the bag. They taste so good that I'm quite happy to devour them in the nude (the shoots that is, not myself), but I'm thinking this Asian inspired salad dressing sounds amazing. Or perhaps a simple lemon vinaigrette would be good. 

☀ A little fruit haul from the *eh-hem* untamed section of our allotment plot. Much like the elderflowers, the blackberries seem to be especially good this year, maybe due to a very dry spring followed by a shockingly wet summer? Whatever the weather whys and wherefores, the brambles are producing some mighty fine fruit right now, and we are loving it. We tend to eat them as nature intended as they don't last long enough for me to contemplate turning them into cooked up food stuff.

☀ A morning walk around the reservoir on a day when it was warm, grey and moody-looking. The low light levels and pervading shades of grey weren't particularly inspiring, but it always feels good to get out a bit with the Little People and remind them of the natural gorgeousness we are so blessed to have on our doorstep. Plus, the summer grasses swaying in the breeze made me happy!

☀ This is such a beautiful old tree tucked next to a dry stone wall that runs alongside the reservoir, its trunk is huge.  I always feel like I want to wrap my arms around it and give it a hug when we visit, although I'm sure J would have a fit if I became a tree-hugger. The colours of the bark are so soft and lovely, and I find myself beginning to think of a tree-inspired colour palette (the new Lincoln green is right there!)

☀ A second outing for Little B's pocket kite, this time up on the windy tops of Barden Moor near to where we live. We took a short walk up there last weekend so that we could see the heather at it's peek - oh, it did not disappoint. In fact, I think this year is the best display of moorland purpleyness that I've ever seen, it is absolutely breathtaking. As you would expect, I took a mahoosive amount of photographs......and I took my Moorland blanket up there for the first time too, for a little bit of a photo shoot. Oh yeah! I realised a short while ago that I never wrote up an official Ta-dah for the Moorland Blanket after I finished it, so I really think I need to put that right pretty soon. It's the right time of year to do it, for sure!

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Summer Harmony Blanket :: Ta-dah!

As you are probably very well aware, I absolutely love to document my crochet projects here on my blog and I get a great deal of pleasure from sharing all elements of my creative journey with you. There is something so satisfying about the process of explaining and illustrating the inspiration behind my blankets, sharing the colour and pattern choices, photographing the entire making process and then finally dancing a grand ta-dah jig. It makes me really happy to write all these little chapters that make up a blanket story, and to ponder on the whole idea of being a Provider-of-Inspiration (which is something I am secretly rather proud of). I love every little bit of putting together these posts and I can honestly say that they are very well worth the time involved in creating them. Thank heavens for this super-precious blog space of mine which gives me such a perfect outlet for my overwhelming need to put it all out there for public consumption!

The idea of making the Summer Harmony blanket popped into my head around the beginning May at a time when I was looking for something joyful and colour-filled to take me over the summer months. I needed a happy, easy-going and portable project which would result in a gorgeous family picnic blanket/throw, so combining a familiar, well-loved colour palette with an already tried-and-tested pattern seemed like a good way to go. 

I decided on my "Original" yarn pack which contains 17 colours of Stylecraft Special DK, using it to crochet 100 colourful Harmony Granny Squares.

The idea was a simple one - to crochet one hundred squares, changing colour every round so that each square would be made using six different colours. I also wanted to make each square different which gave me rather a juicy colour challenge, and I absolutely LOVED the whole process of working out the colours needed for each round of crochet. It's a good job I really enjoyed this bit, as there were 600 colour decisions in these squares!!

I hadn't originally planned for this blanket to be made as a CAL (Crochet-A-Long), but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of sharing regular progress updates as I went along. As the Harmony Square pattern was already written and shared here on my blog, these updates were purely colour focused. I wrote them in such a way that anyone wishing to make a Summer Harmony blanket of their own could follow my exact colour choices for every single round.

You can read about the start of my Summer Harmony blanket {here}.

As the summer got under way, my one hundred little squares began to slowly grow. You can read Part 2 of my Summer Harmony blanket journey {here}.

Part 3 is {here}.....

....part 4 is {here}....

....and finally at the start of July I had one hundred beautifully bright squares ready to be joined together. You can read Part 5 of my blanket journey {here}. 

I really, really enjoyed the joining process - it's a huge amount of fun to turn a stack of individual squares into an actual blanket. I used a join-as-you-go method which involves attaching the squares at the same time as the sixth/final round of each square is crocheted. You can find the Harmony Square joining tutorial {here}. ....

During July the weather was often warm enough for me to crochet outside in my little back yard, and gradually the blanket began to take shape. 

It took me three weeks to join all one hundred squares, and it was soooo exciting to see the result of my careful colour choices creating a "colourwash" effect across the blanket.

Finally, on the 24th July I darned in the very last ends.....

.....and got all giddy about spreading the blanket out and getting to finally see my colourwash design come to life.......

........yeeeeeeeeeeee-haaaaawwwwwwww!!!!!!

It worked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Such a special moment, I honestly felt so, so, so chuffed that I managed to create something that looked even better in real life than it had in my mind. So happy!

Once the one hundred squares had become a blanket, it was time to design and make a border. I knew that I wanted to create a deep border using every one of the 17 colours, and after a bit of playing around I came up with a pattern and a colour scheme that I hoped would make the perfect finish. You can read about my border design {here}

I absolutely LOVED making the border and I think it was my favourite part of the whole blanket. Making and joining squares is a huge amount of fun, but there is no denying that it involves quite a bit of faffery. There is a fair bit of snipping and darning that goes on, and a great deal of stopping and starting as you work your way through six hundred colour changes. So by the time you reach the border, those long, long rows suddenly feel like absolute bliss. It's hooky heaven!

This border is made in 17 rounds, and measures a fairly substantial 10 cm. I am so very pleased with how it worked out, it's everything I hoped it would be and as you'll see in just a moment, it does a perfectly amazing job of framing the squares and stopping them from feeling too chaotic. I've called this border "Skinny Block Stitch" and you can find the tutorial for it {here}.

I get asked frequently on social media about blocking my blankets, so I thought it might be useful to tell you how/why/when I go about it. Truthfully I don't often block my crochet blankets, as I find that they just don't seem to need it. Particularly when working striped designs, the stitches generally sit quite flat and the rows behave themselves and keep their shape. However, square designs do often benefit from a little bit of blocking, mainly to help neaten out any ridges or unevenness that occurs along the joined seams. You can see in the above photo (before blocking) that the join-as-you-go method created little ridges, which was mainly due to my tension being on the tight side. In time and with use, these ridges would have flattened out by themselves, but I felt I wanted to give my blanket a little bit of a head start on this process.

I'm lucky to have a reasonable stretch of furniture-less blue carpet on the Attic floor which is generally big enough for me to lay out small blankets for blocking. This old carpet strangely resembles the flocked boards that we used to use for fuzzy-felt, which means that I can flatten, smooth and gently stretch out my crochet directly on the carpet and it will stick fast without the need for pins. It's rather amazing, although it is an absolute mare to vacuum as every little bit of fluff sticks hard and fast.

Anyhow, once the blanket is gently stretched out with it's joins smoothed flat and it's corners straightened, it's time for the Steam Treatment.

I use a low to medium heat, with lots of water in the tank and set about moving the iron over the entire surface of the crochet so that the steam huffs and puffs right down into the yarn fibres. 

The iron stays about an inch above the surface of the crochet and it's all about the heat and moisture from the steam. It's not about putting any pressure on the crochet at all, remember that the iron does not touch the yarn at any time!

You should find that the surface of the crochet feels quite damp when you've finished, so you need to leave it resting for a full day if possible to allow the crochet to dry completely. It's so tempting to just whip that baby up off the floor and snuggle it to bits as soon as you've switched the iron off, but honestly, the wait is really worth it.

The results of blocking not only improve the look and shape of the blanket, but the actual drape/feel of the crochet is altered as well. It's like all the twisted tension held  in the stitches completely disappears and the whole of the blanket relaxes and breathes out. It feels pretty wonderful!

So....you've already seen the one hundred squares in all their joined-up blankety-ness....

....and you've already seen my 10 cm deep border.

But I'm thinking that now might be the time....

....to show you....

....how the squares and the border....

....look when they come....

....together.

The combined effect of one hundred Harmony Squares contained within a Skinny Block Stitch border.

Shall we take a look?

Are you ready to see?

Okeee-dokeeeee...

....here we go.........................................................................

Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Oh, my heart skips a beat when I look at this image, I just love the colourwash effect so so so much!

As I've been crocheting this blanket here at home this summer, I've really enjoyed sharing snippets of the journey with the Little People. They've been curious about it and have asked lots of questions about my process of choosing the colours, which has happened mostly on the living room floor or out in the back yard. My crochet is really very much a part of family life here at number 24 as I sit at the dining table, on the sofa, or out in the yard to crochet, and I use the living room floor to photograph on. By default, the Little People (and the kitty) become involved in the whole creative process, which is something that isn't always easy but does make me feel happy. 

And of course, by the time the blanket is declared finished it's already been assimilated into family life as if it was always here. It joins with all the other blankets and our worn out furniture and messy home life, and so the blanket story goes on. Memories of time and place caught up in those colourful stitches.

I love my Summer Harmony blanket so much, and the making of it has been hugely therapeutic for me as I've come to terms with life's ups and downs in recent months. It really has been the most joyful project from start to finish, and I am so grateful for the creative joy and colour therapy it has given me when I most needed it.

Thank you ever so much for joining me on this journey, I hope you've enjoyed watching the story unfold.

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ps I created a special page for this blanket in my list of tutorials over in my left hand sidebar, so that all pattern details and colour information can be easily found in one place. It'll remain here on my blog for you to access at any time, for free.

{SUMMER HARMONY INFO PAGE}

 x

 

 

New Stylecraft Special Colours

I'm pretty sure I don't need to give any sort of introduction to this yarn, it's been my main go-to yarn for blanket making since 2010. Over the seven years that I've been using Stylecraft Special DK, there have been 22 new shades added to the already impressive colour palette, and now I am thrilled to tell you we are being spoilt with three more.  That means there are now 88 shades in total (made up of 8 variegated colours and 80 solid ones)

The lovely peeps at Stylecraft love keeping us on our toes I think, and they don't seem to have any real set times for introducing new shades. You might remember earlier this year I showed you the three new colours that were launched in the Spring ? They were Buttermilk, Vintage Peach and Mushroom and I was lucky enough to be in the know about these colours waaaay before they appeared on the shelves. In fact I had been holding onto this top-secret intel for soooo many months it almost did me in! 

This time around however, these three new colours came as a complete surprise and the first I knew about them was when the yarn landed on my doorstep in a cardboard box last month. 

So let me introduce you to Blush, Lincoln and Lapis. Hello, pretty new colours!!

Now unless you have access to the whole range of Special DK, it can be hard to tell exactly how these new colours might fit in. That's where me and my trusty yarn pegs can help you out - shall we take a closer look?

First, lets look at Blush. This is an incredibly pretty mid-tone pink, very girly and gorgeous. As you can see in the above picture it's very similar to the existing Fondant shade, but with a little bit more subtlety about it. I would say it's a bit more floral inspired rather than candy-sweet inspired! It sits beautifully next to Vintage Peach (although it maybe makes the V-Peach look a wee bit dirty?!), and I think will be easy to work with in a lot of different colour schemes.

Next up we have Lincoln, and I have to tell you I absolutely LOVE this colour. It's one that has been on my personal wish list for quite some time, and I think Stylecraft has really given us something inspirational with this colour. It's soft and pretty without being wishy-washy, and fits so so well with many of the current soft/vintage shades (oh, you should see it next to Duck Egg - so so good!!). When I looked at this colour on it's own, I thought at first that it looked very similar to Sage, but as you can see from the above picture, there is actually quite a difference between the two. It really is beautiful and I can't wait to have a play with it.

Finally we come to the new Lapis, which is a strong and vibrant shade of blue. This one is probably my least favourite - it's quite a knock out colour, and would need some strong partnering shades to sit with it comfortably. Also, as you can see above, it's very, very similar to the existing Lobelia colour which seems a shame to me. I think there is a bigger gap between Aster and the paler blues which could have been filled with something very pretty and more versatile.....but maybe that might come next time??!!

I get so much pleasure from playing around with these colours and dreaming up new palettes and colour-stories. SOoooo. Much. Fun!! I find I am very drawn to this soft palette which instantly takes me back to my young childhood, and these colours remind me of my beautiful Grandma. I have memories of a soft pouffy floral eiderdown, the scent of lavender, pretty hand embroidered table cloths, afternoon tea, a walled rose garden, running in damp grass with bare feet, walking quiet country lanes picking wild flowers.  These colours are soft, pretty and highly nostalgic for me, and you can see how well Lincoln and Blush fit in with this palette...sooooo pretty!

Lapis needs strong company, and mixes well with a vibrant palette of rich jewel colours. These are cold-weather colours to me as they remind me of Christmas baubles and tins of foil-wrapped chocolates, log fires and candlelight. They are cosy and joyful, and make me think of all that is good about the cold season - celebration, family and home comforts.

And in other colourful news.....my Summer Harmony blanket is finished and I cannot wait to show you! I took some time to block it, and it's now ready for a little bit of a photo shoot, I am so excited to show you how those squares look with the border added.  Come back tomorrow and join me for a gloriously happy Ta-dah Moment??!!!!

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ps in case you are wondering, this is not a sponsored post.

 

Dorset Summer 2017

During the first two weeks of the Summer holidays, I wasn't really on holiday at all. The Little People were home from school and J took a break from work, but me? I was absolutely flat out still working here at home, juggling my many balls in the air and desperately trying to finish up all sorts of things that had deadlines and decisions attached. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE what I do and am so so grateful that I can be at home in the school holidays amongst the chaos of family life, but sometimes it can get a little stressful. 

By the time we set off on our three hundred mile journey south, I was absolutely shattered and oh-so-ready for a good rest and a break away from my computer. I craved the sea air, the change of pace and the relaxation that comes with a holiday spent in a familiar and much loved place.

Our first day in Dorset, and we stuck to our usual holiday ritual of brunch in the cafe on the beach, followed by a stroll around the harbour and out along the west pier. I don't ever tire of doing this same thing year after year as I am always so glad to just Be There. This nostalgic and familiar morning jaunt always seems to gently settle my soul and makes my heart kind of swell and breathe out. Ahhhhhh.......I am home.

As per usual, we didn't make a single plan for our time in Dorset - we had five days to pootle, potter, rest and relax, and our decision making was pretty much dictated entirely by the weather. Ahhh....the great British weather....what can we say? It was completely unpredictable of course, and very changeable from hour to hour. There were some times when it was absolutely awful (pouring rain, wind, cold), but for the most part, I think we had it pretty good. 

We enjoyed a few lovely picnic lunches sat on the sun warmed shingle of Chesil Beach - I love beach picnics so much, the simplicity of it all makes me very happy. Good, easy-to-eat food (french bread, goats cheese, salami, baby plum tomatoes, apples, grapes, strawberries, crisps, cookies), a yarny blanket to sit on, sunny warmth on my skin and the sound of the waves crashing onto the shore. That makes for a very happy me.

The Little People were content to just lounge about on my blankets, stuffing food down and entertaining themselves by continuously throwing little pebbles at each other. We did eventually persuade them to set up a non-breathing target to throw pebbles at instead of aiming for sibbling body parts, so it was all good in the end.

We had an afternoon mooch around Abbotsbury Subtropical gardens - this is like our Dorset equivalent of Bolton Abbey as we have an annual family season ticket and visit whenever we are down in Dorset. It's such an easy, relaxed place to go for a pootle with a great cafe too (not that I would judge it for the cafe at all. Ok, yes I admit I would totally judge it based on it's cappuccino). The Gunnera was absolutely spectacular this year and Little B looked teensy-tiny stood underneath these giant leaves.

It made me laugh this year as we decided to walk the gardens backwards - well, we weren't actually physically walking backwards, but we ignored all the little white arrows and signs and went in the opposite direction to everyone else. I don't know why but this little act of rebellion pleased me enormously! 

I loved the beautiful new sculptures made by willow artist Jo Sadler (the "rutting stags" up above, and this peacock) - they were so beautiful and captivating to look at. 

The gardens are glorious in mid summer, and I found them so peaceful, even with the Little People charging about and being their usual noisy selves. And oh, the cappuccino was top notch too, as were the little tubs of local ice cream. Just saying.

One of the things that gives me the most pleasure when we are down in Dorset is the amount of time we generally spend outdoors. Late one afternoon we had to travel to the County Town to go and collect my Mum's ashes from the funeral director, and in truth I was feeling quite low after that. As the day was still warm and bright, J suggested we stop at the nearest supermarket and gather some food for an impromptu picnic on our way home. We all agreed that was a great idea, and at 6pm we parked the car high up on the hills and settled at one of the most scenic picnic tables ever.

The Dorset landscape was looking glorious in the early evening light and I had completely forgotten that there would be heather growing up here in August. I was so delighted to be reminded of my Moorland blanket when I was least expecting it, that beautiful purple haze really lifted my spirits.

There is a whacking great big stone monument up here {Hardy's Monument}, and this place holds many happy memories for me. I used to picnic up here with my grandparents when I was  a child and can so clearly remember the giddy feeling of utter freedom - we were allowed to run wild around all the pathways and it felt so exciting to be allowed to go off and explore without grown-ups!

Gosh, it was quite something to see my own Little Ones doing the exact same thing. There is a particular smell that these heathlands have - dry grass mixed with sandy earth and fresh sea air, it smells like childhood summer to me.

On the evening that we were up at Hardy's Monument the air was particularly clear, which made the far reaching views spectacular. It's not all that often that you can see the lighthouse right around the coast at Portland Bill, (can you see it? You can click on the above photo and make it larger)

Last weekend when we were in Dorset, it was the first ever Bridport Folk Festival. The little rural market town where I grew up was at it's absolute summer best, full of happy visitors and locals all out enjoying the sunshine and the ambiance. There was live music and dancing in the streets, it was fabulous! We stayed a while watching these traditional Morris Dancers do their crazy thing - if you don't know what Morris Dancing is, you can read more about this very old folk tradition here. There were some Border Morris Dancers too, they are quite scary looking with their black faces and raggedy outfits (see here) but it was brilliant fun to watch.

In the late afternoons we would most often find ourselves in Lady B's beautiful secluded back garden (Lady B is my Dad's other half), listening to the seagulls squawking from the rooftops and enjoying a glass of chilled white wine with the last of the day's sun. I love cooking when I'm at home and pretty much every day I pull together a proper home cooked meal for us all. But isn't it just soooooooo lovely to sit back whilst someone else does the cooking for a change? It was such a treat to have a break from the business of providing food (slinging stuff into a cool bag for a picnic doesn't really count), and I appreciated it very much.

One sunny afternoon when we were sat around in Lady B's garden, a spontaneous decision was made to head to the sea. We didn't all take to the idea (my Dad, J and the Teen opted to stay put), but the Little People, myself and B were happy to head out on foot. It's not that far really (2 miles) and took us about 50 minutes following footpaths across fields from the town. It's a walk I've done dozens of times myself, and I just love the nostalgic familiarity of walking these same steps over so many years of my life. 

When we arrived at the sea, it was declared unanimously that we all needed ice cream. So I treated us to some delicious proper West Country ice cream cones which we ate sitting on the beach, oh it was sooo good! Even the plain ol' vanilla was a buttery yellow coloured Clotted Cream Dairy Vanilla, it was seriously yummy.

We didn't spend long on the beach as Little B had rubbed a blister on his foot (the downside of walking 2 miles across fields wearing Crocs) so we decided to catch the bus back into town.

 But we had long enough to paddle a little in the surf, breath in the salty fresh air....

....and wander back around the harbour to the little bus stop on the green.

It was a very memorable walk for Lady B as she found a lucky four leaf clover growing at the side of the footpath - oh I was so jealous!!! All my life I've been searching for one of these (I actually began to think they were a complete myth), and there she went and just somehow spotted it growing amongst all it's three leafed brothers and sisters.

I'd love to know if you've ever found one, and if it brought you good luck? Do tell me your four-leafed clover stories!

Our last morning in Dorset, and J wanted to head up to the hills instead of down to the sea, so off to our favourite Eggardon Hill we went.

There was great excitement as not only did we have chocolate in the bag, but we also had a kite! Little B was given this "pocket kite" by his Grandad for his Birthday and this was to be it's first outing. These kites are great as they fold up into a teensy little zip-up bag and will supposedly fly in even the lightest of winds. There is only one string, so they are a doddle to fly and Little B was beside himself being in charge of his very own kite.

We started out flying it the large open field until we got it right up high in the sky....

 

.....then Little B "walked" it all along the ridge with a huge smile on his face.

I wandered about taking photos and drinking in the lush summer scenery....

....the distant views across fields and out to the sea.....

....and the close-up views of the wild flowers growing in abundance. We stopped a while to sit on a blanket with a snack and a drink (well Little B refused to sit as he was still flying his kite), and breathed it all in.

So so good.

Packing up, saying goodbye and heading back north is always hard, and I haven't really found a way to ease the transition for myself. Over the years I've learnt to just accept that it'll always be hard, and some times I feel the wrench more than others.

My visits to Dorset have been heavy with sadness and loss this year, and this trip was no exception. I've showed you lots of nice photos and told the story of a happy summer holiday, but between the lines there was a fair bit of emotional struggle for me. I know it will get easier, and I know there will be a time in the future when the heaviness will start to lift. I'm looking forward to it already.

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Summer Moments {three}

☀ The upside to the rainy downside is that  sometimes we get to see the most beautiful colours arcing across a stormy grey sky. 

☀ A bunch of sunflowers gifted to me by my lovely friend and neighbour as a thank you for popping in and feeding her goldfish for ten days. The fish amazed me by acting like they were on the brink of starvation every single day, and the flowers amazed me because they just look so impossibly unreal. 

☀ A hand written note passed to me whilst the Little People were engaged in some sort of a who-can-go-the-longest-without-speaking challenge. This was Little B, sweetly (and silently) asking for a hot chocolate. How could I refuse?

☀ Still loving my weekly get togethers with friends and visitors at the cafe on Friday mornings. It feels like a blissful full stop after a rather long and rambling week-long sentence, a time to sit still, breathe out and just take time for myself. I look forward to these precious few hours soooo much.

☀ A lovely walk at Bolton Abbey a few weekends ago, it was a rare morning where we woke up to blue skies and no rain. It was a great walk, the Little People were in good spirits and we enjoyed our coffee/cake/ice cream at the cafe afterwards.

☀ Stopping to appreciate the way the sunshine was lighting up these leaves and making them look like they were glowing. Loving that Little Lady also stopped with me and instantly "got it" when I told her what I was looking at. It delights me that we seem to look at the world in a very similar way.

☀ Ahhhhh, that very first mug of coffee each morning, how I love it and look forward to it! Such pleasure in the gentle ritual of making the coffee whilst inhaling the aroma, then sitting quietly, sipping, thinking and savouring the start of a new day. 

☀ Sofa snuggling - me at one end of the sofa and Little Lady at the other in the early morning before the day properly gets underway. There is something so precious about these quiet, ordinary little moments of calm.

☀ Baking with Little B, partly to keep him occupied on a rainy afternoon, and partly giving in to my craving for a cookie with an afternoon cup of tea. These Oaty Cookies are so quick and easy to make (perfect for baking with children), the recipe is on my blog {here}. 

☀ The kitty loves sleeping in this chair, but especially when the sun streams in through the large bay window and creates a very cosy, warm spot for her to snuggle in. 

☀ I brought my yarn pegs home from the studio so I could work on a new colour palette idea that I've had in my mind for quite some time. As ever, I am hugely excited by the thought of a new blanket in it's early stages of design and planning, I just love the start of a new blanket journey so so so much. This will be my Autumn/Winter CAL blanket which I'll be able to tell you about in November.

☀ We were away last week down in Dorset, and my holiday photos tell a tale of many lovely Summer Moments spent pottering over hilltops, through gardens around harbours and along beaches. I'll share some Dorset Tales with you in a day or two, it'll be lovely, as always, to have your company. See you then!

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Summer Harmony Blanket :: part 6

So today in part 6 of this colourful journey, it's all about creating a gorgeous border for these squares. But before I get stuck in chatting about all things border-ish, I'd first like to say a huge thank you for all the lovely comments you've written about this blanket of mine. It's been such a pleasure to hear your collective thoughts about the blanket in general, but I've especially loved to see that quite a few of you have been inspired to begin your very own Summer Harmony blanket. That makes me so so happy!! 

So - it's border time! I always enjoy creating blanket borders and edgings - from a design point of view I love the challenge of coming up with just the right thing for each of my blankets. I really get a buzz out of combining stitches with colour choices until I arrive at something just right. Sometimes (especially with stripe blankets), the border only needs to be narrow to be enough, but I've found that squares seem to appear less "frantic" if there is a nice deep border surrounding them and keeping them all in check. 

For this blanket, I thought it would be good to borrow some of the stitch pattern from the Harmony Granny Square itself and repeat it for the border. See in the above picture? I took rounds 3 and 4 of the Harmony Granny square design and had a play with this pattern around the edges of my spare squares to test it out. I loved the simplicity of the design and quickly realised that this would provide me with another fabulous opportunity to indulge in some more colour play.....

.....see what I mean? See how the colours are working, isn't it pleasing to look at?!

This border will be a deep one (around 12 cm) and will use all 17 colours.

If I were to name this stitch pattern, I would call it "Skinny Block Stitch". A normal Block Stitch pattern uses groups of 3 tr's, worked into the chain-spaces between dc stitches in the row below. I'm using skinny groups of 2 tr's, and my chain-1 spaces are small and tight too, which keeps the border quite dense and not too gappy.

Block Stitch is very effective in terms of allowing colour-play, and depending on how you order your colours, all sorts of different effects can be achieved.  This blanket uses multiple colours, where as this blanket keeps the treble groups all one colour. And this blanket keeps the dc stitches all in one colour. So yes, this stitch can be used to make whole blankets, although bare in mind that if you are having Blankety Block Stitch Ideas, this is quite a slow-to-grow pattern. 

Skinny Block Stitch is a very straightforward pattern to work, alternating a row where you crochet groups of 2 tr's with a row where you crochet (dc; ch-1) stitches. All stitches are worked into spaces rather than into stitches, so you are either passing your hook between groups of stitches, or underneath chain loops. 

As with all my patterns, I'm writing using UK crochet terms, as follows : 

sl st [slip stitch] :: insert hook, yarn over, pull the loop back through the stitch, then through the loop on your hook.

dc [double crochet] :: insert hook, yarn over, pull the loop back through the stitch (two loops on hook), yarn over and pull through both loops on hook (note :: this is equivalent to the US sc stitch)

tr [treble] :: yarn over, insert hook, yarn over, pull the loop back through the stitch (three loops on hook), yarn over and pull through two loops on hook (two loops left on hook), yarn over and pull through remaining two loops (note :: this is equivalent to the US dc stitch)

SKINNY BLOCK STITCH BORDER

PATTERN

Row 1 : Use Clematis. Start in any ch-2 corner space.

Ch 3 (counts as 1 tr); 1 tr in same space; work 2 tr's in each space between 2-tr groups;

When you get to the point where two squares join, work 2 tr's into each of the two corner spaces, then continue to work 2 tr's into each space along the first side of the blanket (as above).

When you reach the first corner, work (2 tr's, chain 2, 2 tr's) into the chain-2 corner space.

Continue around the rest of the blanket edge, working 2 tr's into each space along, and (2 tr's, chain-2, 2 tr's) into the corner chain-2 spaces (as above)

When you arrive back at the beginning, work 2 tr's into the very first corner space, then chain 2 (above picture). Slip stitch into the 3rd chain of beginning chain-3 to close the round. Fasten off and darn in ends.

Row 2 : Use Sherbet. Start in any ch-2 corner space.

NOTE : when working this row, keep your tension a little looser than normal so that the stitches don't pull and the crochet stays flat. You might find it easier to switch to a bigger hook size for this row (eg increase from a 4 mm to a 4.5 mm hook)

Ch 3 (counts as 1 dc and ch-1); 1 dc in ; work (1 dc; ch 1) in each space between 2-tr groups along first side;

When you reach the first corner, work (1 dc; ch 2; 1 dc; ch 1) into the chain-2 corner space.

Continue around the rest of the blanket edge, working (1 dc; ch 1) into each space along, and (1 dc; ch 2; 1 dc) into the corner chain-2 spaces (as above)

When you arrive back at the beginning, work 1 dc into the very first corner space, then ch 2. Slip stitch into the 2nd chain of beginning chain-3 to close the round. Fasten off and darn in ends.

Row 3 : Use Fondant. Start in any ch-2 corner space.

NOTE : if you switched to a bigger hook size for previous row, swap back to original hook size for this row.

Ch 3 (counts as 1 tr); 1 tr in same space; work 2 tr's in each ch-1 space along first side.

When you reach the first corner, work (2 tr's, chain 2, 2 tr's) into the chain-2 corner space.

Continue around the rest of the blanket edge, working 2 tr's into each ch-1 along, and (2 tr's, chain-2, 2 tr's) into the corner chain-2 spaces (as above).

When you arrive back at the beginning, work 2 tr's into the very first corner space, then chain 2 (above picture). Slip stitch into the 3rd chain of beginning chain-3 to close the round. Fasten off and darn in ends.

Row 4 : Use Spring Green. Start in any ch-2 corner space. Repeat Row 2.

Row 5 : Use Wisteria. Start in any ch-2 corner space. Repeat Row 3.

Continue repeating Rows 2 and 3 (which alternate dc rows and tr rows), following the colour sequence listed above. There are 17 rows in total.

Download Summer Harmony Border

If you click on the link above, it will give you a 2 page PDF file with the pattern written out and the list of colours to work my 17 row sequence.

 

In terms of yarn quantities, if you are using my Original colour pack of 17 colours, you should easily have enough of each colour to work up this deep border. I had around 52 g of each colour left to play with after I'd made my squares.

With each row worked, the number of stitches will obviously increase, but as a rough guide I used around 21 g of Clematis (the first row of the border), which increased to 24 g of Wisteria (the fifth row). 

And this is where I'm up to right now - pootling happily along with Saffron yellow and love love loving it!

I know there will be a big part of me that will feel bereft once this happy blanket is off my hook, but I'm really, really looking forward to taking it out and about too. Can't wait to see it spread out on the beach, which should hopefully be.....later this week, yipppeeeeeeee! 

Have a happy, hooky week my lovelies!

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ps here are all the links which relate to this blanket journey. There is also a separate page for this blanket so that all the info is easy to find in one place - it's in my left hand sidebar under my list of tutorials...

{SUMMER HARMONY BLANKET INFO PAGE}

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♥ HARMONY SQUARE PATTERN ♥

♥ HARMONY SQUARE JOINING ♥

♥ ORIGINAL ATTIC24 YARN PACK ♥

♥ SUMMER HARMONY PART 1 ♥

♥ SUMMER HARMONY PART 2 ♥

♥ SUMMER HARMONY PART 3 ♥

♥ SUMMER HARMONY PART 4 ♥

♥ SUMMER HARMONY PART 5 ♥

 

 

Creative Hearts

As you are all probably well aware, crochet blankets are my true passion and never fail to be at the top of my crochet feel-good list. But my second best favourite kind of make is anything small, colourful and decorative, and these hearts are exactly that kind of project. I've been feeling so excited during the past few weeks as I've researched and pattern tested these colourful crochet hearts, picking out my favourite colours and getting to grips with written patterns. I don't find it easy to read crochet patterns (one of the reasons I generally design my own things), but I figure it's always good to exercise the old grey matter every once in a while.

I'm really pleased with how each and every one turned out, and crikey, talk about satisfying! These hearts are insanely pleasurable to make and crazy-addictive, much in the same way that mandalas are. There is something so soothing about working in rounds of colour, allowing the shape and pattern to form in your hands, giving in to the creative process purely for the pleasure of doing so.

I made my hearts using a DK cotton and a 4.5 mm hook, which seems to be my standard for this kind of project. I'm a tight crocheter, so a 4.5 mm hook is the one I use most often for DK weight yarn. As you can see from the above photo, these hearts are roughly large-hand sized, measuring around about 5.5 inches / 14 cm across the widest point.

As for the patterns that I used, well lucky for all of us there is a huge amount of generosity in the crochet world, and all of the hearts I made came from patterns that have been shared for free on the internet. I dearly love our global crochet community, the inspiration, talent and friendship that exists across the globe makes me truly happy and bursting with gratitude every single day. 

If the idea of hooking up a heart or two tickles your fancy, let me give you a rundown of the patterns I found......

Grandma's Heart by Carola Wijma

This is a gorgeous little pattern, and once I'd gotten to grips with how to make Puff stitches (WHY have I never made puff stitches before, they are amazing!), the pattern was a breeze to follow.

This pattern is written in UK crochet terms, but US terms are also given in () as well as a drawn chart.

Sunburst Granny Heart by Jacquie (Bunny Mummy blog)

Jacquie has written a beautifully simple pattern to turn a classic sunburst motif into a really lovely heart shape. As with all Jacquie's patterns, this one is clearly explained and very straight forward to follow. The only thing that confused me was the US terms she used - UK hookers will need to translate to UK stitch names.

Daisy Heart by Lauren (Daisy Cottage Designs blog)

Now this is interesting - this heart design takes Jacquie's original Sunburst Granny Heart pattern, but replaces the sunburst centre with a daisy motif. Lauren also added a neat little extra round to edge the heart shape which I think it a lovely finishing touch. This pattern is written using US crochet terms, so UK peeps need to translate.

Granny Sweet Heart by Nancy L Drew

I found quite a few variations of this heart design on the internet, but this written pattern seemed to be the original. It's written in US terms, and if you follow the pattern link through to Nancy's blog there is also a graphic chart.

Sweet Heart by Bella Dia

This pattern may well be familiar to you as it's one that I used many years ago to crochet my own heart bunting. This pattern might suit those of you who prefer to work in rows instead of rounds, and the tutorial is really excellent. I decided to experiment with adding a few extra rounds to make the heart just a little bit bigger....

...I added three extra rounds to make a more decorative edging and think it turned out beautifully. The rose is from my May Rose pattern.

Heart Doily by Chinami Horiba

I love this one, but haven't had a  chance to try it out yet. The pattern is written in Japanese, but there is a graphic chart to follow. It looks quite lacy, so I thinking a 4 ply cotton would work well (other wise it might turn out massive!)

Heart Coaster by Atty's Blog

Now this gorgeously plump heart grabbed my attention due to it's beautiful shape, it just seemed to me to be so perfectly hearty! Atty has written her pattern in US terms, and there is also a graphic chart on her blog to help.

Similar to the Bella Dia heart, I felt that maybe this simple heart shape might look good with a bit of a decorative edging - partly to pretty it up a little, and partly to make it just a smidge bigger.....

....and this is what I came up with. Atty's heart is made in 5 rounds (a 3-round circle, with 2 rounds to create the heart shape). I then added three extra rounds which I loved doing, mainly because it allowed me to play with even more colour (more is more!)

Running with the more-is-more-is-more theory, I also had a play with adding some little flowers and leaves....

.....oh, be still my beating heart!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just love this so much!!! So many of my decorative projects are prettified with crochet flowers, I never tire of them and always feel a flutter of happiness once there is a floral element involved.

The decorative and colour-play possibilities for these hearts are endless, and as they are pretty quick to work up (only 8 rounds of crochet) it's hard not to get carried away. So I made this heart in shades of blues and greens.....

.....then decided on a bit of a fruity addition! If you popped by to read my blog yesterday, you'll know that I've already made a  tutorial for the strawberry appliqué  which includes the ultra sweet little "micro flowers" which I use often alongside some of my other flower patterns.

I really love how this heart turned out......

.....in fact both of these Heart Decorations make me so happy! You can see I added a little hanging loop to the top so that I can hang them on the wall - I love this image and this one too .....so inspiring.

As I did with my Mandalas and my Happy Flower Decoration, I've used white PVA craft glue painted onto the reverse of the crochet to stiffen the hearts. This is such a simple method which has great results, and it means no floppy decorations!

SO..........crocheting these hearts have kept me very busy and happy of late, and I've loved diving into my stash of Stylecraft Classique Cotton which is such a joy to work with. This yarn works up into super-neat stitches, doesn't split or hurt my hands and has a soft, matte finish which I love. But best of all.......the colours! Oh, I know....it's always ALL about the colours for me!

Hmm.....I am wondering if you would perhaps like to see a little tutorial for making Atty's beautiful plump heart and then adding a cute edging to it? You Would?

Well......................................................

.............I had a little chat with Atty and asked her if it would be possible for me to translate her lovely heart pattern into UK crochet terms and provide some step-by-step photos to go with it. You know, just to help along with those of you who are "visual learners" and appreciate some pictures to go with the writing. Atty is such a sweet heart and very kindly agreed to let me go to town with her pattern - Atty - THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please do go and pay Atty a visit, her blog is a feast for the eyes, and she has lots of stunning projects and crochet patterns to share with you. Tell her I sent you tootling over from the Attic :)

Oh, almost forgot - my heart tutorial!! Yes, it would be helpful if I gave you the link wouldn't it?! Haha, feeling a bit bleary eyed here at the moment after spending so much time at the computer this week......

Here you go ....

{HEART DECORATION TUTORIAL}

You may have noticed that the title of this post is "Creative Hearts"? Well this is the name of the Creative Community project that I'm organising for Yarndale this year. Last year we had amazing success rounding up a huge flock of Woolly Sheep to raise money for our local Children's Hospice, the year before it was all about the Flowers which raised money and awareness for the Alzheimers Society. Both of these projects were enormous fun to be a part of and the resulting creative displays were just breathtaking. It's a beautiful visual way to celebrate of the love, joy, friendship and creativity which exists within our yarny community as well as doing something worthwhile for charity. It thrills me to know that we can all connect through our love of yarn and bring about a huge amount of feel-good.

I would love it if you felt like making a heart for your own home, or to give to someone special, that would make me very happy to think of all those beautiful hearts being created, gifted and displayed where they can be enjoyed and appreciated.

If you would like to make a heart to join in with Yarndale's "Creative Hearts" project, that would be amazing too. This year, Yarndale's creative project is raising money and awareness for the mental health charity Mind. 

You can find all the details about the project (including postal address, dates etc) over on the Yarndale website...

{YARNDALE CREATIVE HEARTS}

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ps. I hope you don't mind me posting about Yarndale here on my blog - it's a big part of my life at this time of year and I do like to share what's inspiring me and keeping me busy! I am proud of my involvement with Yarndale - I am one of the five organisers of this fabulous yarny gathering and it will be our fifth festival this year. To be clear, I do need to mention that Yarndale is a for-profit organisation - you can read more about it here.