Attic24

Winter Garland Progress

I've been working on my Winter Garland today and thought it would be fun to have a play and take some photographs to record my progress and show you where I'm up to. I love taking pictures of my crochet work-in-progress because there is a lot of creativity involved in this kind of flat-lay faffery. It honestly gives me just as much pleasure to arrange and photograph my crochet as it does to actually design and make the stuff. 

Just to mention that it's been another very low light and rainy kind of a day, so I apologise for the poor colours in the photos today. My background is actually white, but in every photo it looks decidedly grey which is a shame because the lovely colour palette is not showing at its best. I promise I'll take lots more photos when the light is better. 

I mentioned my winter colour palette a few weeks ago when I first began to think about making a garland. I chose ten shades of Stylecraft Special DK to crochet a collection of seasonal flowers, leaves and berries and you can read more about my inspiration in this post. When I've made garlands in the past, they have generally evolved and grown over a period of time as I've slowly played with ideas and designed new patterns. For this winter garland I'm mainly using existing patterns that were created for my Winter Wreath but with a few tweaks here and there. When I come to share the final garland ta-dah with you, I'll give you all the pattern details and tweaking info so that it's recorded all in one place.

Winter Leaves - I followed the same pattern as for the Autumn Leaves ((here)) but I added some subtle shaping to the outer edge to make them ever so slightly spiky.

Blossom - this is also an existing pattern from last year and they are ever so quick and easy to make. You can find the pattern at the bottom of this blog post ((here)). 

Snowdrop - this is the new pattern I've been working on for the winter garland and I don't mind telling you it's been a tough one. For such a small bit of crochet, it's taken more hours to arrive at this point than I care to mention but I got there in the end. I'm actually thrilled with it, it's perfectly snowdropish and was worth the considerable strain on my brain. I'll be attempting to write up the pattern and make a photo tutorial in due course.

Remember me showing you this delightful hellebore a few days ago? Well, I already had a pattern for a crochet version ((here on my blog)), so it was lovely to be able to go to my own tutorial and hook one up today.

These flowers definitely need a little bit of pinning and steaming to set the curl of the petals just so....

....isn't it lovely? I used the colour "Hint of Silver" for the petals, with Pistachio and Cream to create the centre stamens. I then used a watercolour pencil to add a little bit of subtle pink shading to the petals and I love love love the finished effect.

Funny enough, I don't actually own any watercolour pencils and it was just by chance that I found one lonely pinky-purple coloured pencil sat in my pen pot, I've no idea where it came from. So I decided to invest in a set because they work so, so well for adding little bits of detail and shading to crochet. I bought {this set from Amazon} and I'm pretty sure my young self would think these were a gift from Heaven Above, they were everything I fantasised about owning when I was a child. I can't wait for them to arrive so I can try them out, I am majorly excited about it. I must give credit to Kate of Just Pootling for the idea of using watercolour pencils on crochet, she posted about it on instagram a few years ago and I am forever grateful for that very worthwhile piece of inspiration.

Fern Leaf and Berries - as well as the winter leaves, I fancied making some more delicate ferns and I already have a pattern on my blog for them ((here)). I made these ones much shorter than the originals, and decided they would look cute paired with some winter snowberries. I know snowberries don't have ferny leaves in real life, but I think it's OK to use artistic licence every once in a while.

And that's where I'm up to so far. Don't the colours look super pretty??

I've got all of the designs worked out now - hellebore, snowdrop, blossom, winter leaf, fern leaf and berries - so it's just a case of making more. This is what I'll need for my winter garland ::

16 winter leaves

16 blossom flowers

8 snowdrops

8 ferns, plus 24 berries

4 hellebores

I've just calculated that this equates to 76 individual crochet pieces in the garland, and right now I'm just over half way. I'd better get a wiggle on!

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Small Mindful Moments

It was such a beautiful day here yesterday, most especially in the early morning when I went out for my daily walk with J. It's a wonderful feeling to walk in the early mornings before many people are out and about and definitely worth the early alarm clock. I've got a great morning routine going at the moment and I'd like to talk more about it at some point in a separate post -  I've been meaning to update you on my wellness and give you some feedback on the SAD lamp and my HRT journey etc. I'm never quite sure how much of this personal stuff is appropriate for public bloggy consumption, but if there is a chance that my own experiences might help even just one other person, then I think it's worthy of a short chat.

Making time to walk in the early mornings has been a game changer for me and it's had a massive impact on my general health and wellbeing. Even in the winter months when we were walking in darkness I felt the good that it was doing me, and now that we are walking in daylight again it feels bloomin' amazing.

Walking with J does remove the opportunity to allow quiet thoughts and mental mindfulness and I miss that sometimes, but on the whole I feel lucky to have the company. I still find myself very aware of my surroundings and always practice what I call "visual mindfulness" when I walk with J. I often stop dead in my tracks to take in the beauty of the scene playing out in front of my eyes, I mean, how can you not stop and stare when the park looks like a beautiful watercolour painting?? 

I paused beside the canal yesterday morning to watch the reflections for a minute or two. I am quite obsessed with reflections in water, there is something so mesmerising about them that I find I just have to stop walking and appreciate them. Yes, it really was a lovely day yesterday, cold, sharp and bright, and I drank it in right down to my toes.

Today however, it was yucky out there and our morning walk was an unpleasant, drizzly-wet affair. I try really hard not to let the weather influence my mood but my goodness me it's hard work at times. I'm very affected by low light levels and I also really dislike it when I can't see my hill view, but living here in the north of England, this kind of weather comes along often. In a weird way I do think it's important to stop and lean into the discomfort from time to time - mindfulness doesn't always have to feel like rainbows.

I'm still experiencing major Blanket Bereavement now that I'm no longer crocheting my harbour blankets, gosh I do so miss those easy, therapeutic rows of ripply colour. I've been faffing with some bits for my Winter Garland during the past week, I made some frosty leaves and worked for a good many hours on the Snowdrop design over the weekend. It's so very nearly there, but still needs a bit more tweaking. I'll create a proper photo update to share with you very soon.

I went looking for some easy crochet therapy yesterday, and dug out my pile of little Harbour Sampler squares which needed 8 more making to complete the 15 colours in the palette.

This afternoon I sat with my needle and began the slow, methodical process of stitching them together which I actually enjoy very much. It's soothing work, a bit like hand stitching a patchwork quilt or working on a cross stitch design - there's an unhurried, methodical rhythm which is very meditative.  One day I'd love to make a whole blanket like this (a much bigger version of my Attic24 banner, do you remember that?). Maybe I should just start it right now, you know, crochet a few squares here and there and slowly stitch them together in a random patchwork of gorgeousness over a long period of time. A slow burn blanket which spans a year or two. What do you think? Should I? Should I really???!

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Goodbye February

February is usually a month that I'm happy to see the back of, skipping into March and leaving all dark and dismal wintry thoughts firmly behind me. This year feels different and I'm not sure how to explain it - very unusually I have really enjoyed February and I'm about as shocked as you would expect! I think a good part of my enjoyment came from my addictive blanket making, I love having my crochet-a-long at this time of year because it helps massively with my overall mood. The colours in the Harbour blanket were so unapologetically bright and cheery that I couldn't help but feel uplifted every time I picked it up. Now that the blankets are finished they're in use every day and continue to make me very happy, you just can't go wrong with the kind of project that keeps on giving. Blanket obsessed, and proud of it.

I'm sure many of you were aware that last Tuesday was a very special day indeed, the 22nd of the 2nd month, 2022. I find this kind of thing impossible to ignore and was convinced that the whole day was full of magic from start to finish. I didn't stop going on about it allllll day which gave the family plenty of eye-rolling moments I'm sure. There was an especially momentous minute at 20:22 in the evening {22:02:2022@20:22} when I sat and made some wishes for the year ahead, so we'll see in time what comes of it I guess. There was a weeny part of me that hoped I could perhaps see 22:22 on the clock as that would have been an even more magical minute, but it just wasn't happening. I'm far too sleepy in the evenings to schedule anything past 9pm.

Last week it was half term here, a chance for us all to relax a little and take a break from work and school. I find that half term provides a great chance to prioritise rest and recharging and we don't usually make too many plans for these weeks in February, May and October. The weather wasn't especially good (yet another storm which brought lots and lots of rain and local flooding) but we did manage a few short walks here and there.

I noticed in the woods that the very first shoots of wild garlic are beginning to peek up through the soil....

....and despite spending half a day covered in snow, the crocus in my front garden are now blooming and looking fabulous. I needn't have worried so much about their welfare, I'll try and remember that for future.

More cheap and cheerful daffies on the table to round out February and lead us beautifully into March...

....a really lovely mix of bright, cheery yellow and the palest creamy white this week. They are such a pleasure to bring home with my groceries and two bunches for £2 is money well spent. Food for the soul.

Talking of flowers and groceries, Morrisons has some really beautiful plants for sale at the moment - just look at this  Hellebore, isn't it a beauty?? I photographed it as I was passing by on my way to get yoghurt because I'm going to crochet some for my Winter-Spring garland and wanted to take note of the subtle colours. In case you ever have the pressing need to crochet yourself a hellebore, I have a pattern all ready and waiting, which is kind of ridiculous and brilliant at the same time. It's ((here)) if you're curious.

It was J's birthday last week so we are now the same age again until the autumn. He didn't want any fuss or to do anything out of the ordinary, but we did manage to go out for dinner - all FIVE of us. It was quite the occasion, it's literally been years since we all went out for a meal together as the Big Teen currently works most evenings. I took the above photo as we walked our way into town (it was 5.30), so happy to observe that the daylight is now extending into the early evening once again. So hApPy about it!

I fell a little bit in love with that cute little pink-tinged cloud, so sweet and pretty reflected in the canal as we strolled past. The meal we had out was at an Indian restaurant (J's favourite) and was extremely good I have to say. It was a lovely treat for me to sit on my behind with a glass of wine in hand and wait for somebody else to bring dinner to the table. 

On Sunday, we woke up to the promise of sunshine and decided to head out of town to walk at Bolton Abbey. The Little People could not be persuaded (last day of the holidays, they really wanted to stay cosy in pjs and I understood).

We were there as soon as it opened so it was very quiet, just the way I like it. We walked past the money tree, and as always I remembered all the times we've stopped to make wishes with the Little People when they were very much littler. 

I am very happy to report that I managed to persuade the sand-hating Husbundo to come down onto the river beach with me for a little pootle. It was so scenic there at that time, very cold, and I don't know if you can tell from the above photo, but there was frost on the sand which made it sparkle.

The river is unbelievably clear and fresh looking - you can barely see the water in the above photo but I'm stood right next to the gently lapping edge of it.

B-e-a-u-tiful.

It was a super morning, so peaceful and restorative and I'm really glad we got out there to breathe it in.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention one other thing about last week...............

..............the seaside!!!!!!!!! Yup, Saltburn called us yet again, and we jollied over for a very short but sweet little mini break and it was absolutely wonderful. Of course I took far too many photos, way too many to shoehorn into this post, so I'll save those for another time.

And that's February all done and dusted for another year, I wonder what delights March will bring? There is the Spring Equinox on the 20th which is always a highlight of the seasonal calendar for me. And there's also another short jolly to the coast......well the stars aligned and there were a lot of two's in the month so I took a chance and booked it a few weeks ago. Hoping you won't mind that March blogging will have a dash of sea salt sprinkled here and there? I'm really looking forward to it. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx