Attic24

Canalboat Blanket Cal :: Part 1

Helloooo!! A happy new year to you all, and welcome to another colourful blanket journey! As always I am so thankful to start the year with a wonderfully absorbing and relaxing crochet project, and if you've decided to jump on board and sail down the canal with me this year, then I hope you're going to enjoy every minute of the journey.

I was talking to you about my boaty ideas for much of last year because I have been obsessed with this design right from the start. I spent the year walking the tow path and photographing the boats, gathering visual inspiration and colour ideas for the Canalboat blanket. If you missed it, I wrote a blog post to share my design inspiration and introduce the blanket design to you, you can find it by clicking on the following link >>

CANALBOAT BLANKET INTRODUCTION

As you can see from the above image, canal boats make for a very bright and playful colour palette and there is a lot of beautiful folk-art inspiration and painterly details to get excited about.

This week as I've walked daily along the canal tow path, it's been much more subdued. We are in the depths of a winter freeze here in the north of England, with temperatures dropping to well below zero. We had snow last weekend and now everything is completely iced and frozen - it's been beautifully wintry, very very cold and a weeny bit slippery! As you can see, the canal is frozen over which doesn't happen all that often....

....and the poor swans have been displaced from their watery home. These three beauties casually strolled past me yesterday as I was walking to the shops, taking a little peck into my shopping bag as they went past.

As you would expect, there has been zero movement on the waterways here for many weeks, with most boats choosing to moor up and stay put for a while. As we progress through the crochet-along during January and February, I'll take you on some walks with me along the tow path to hopefully inspire you on your own creative journey. It's going to a beautiful way to spend a little mindful time during the next few months and I'm really excited to share my observations with you.

Canalboat yarn packs went into my shop with Wool Warehouse in early December and I have been beyond thrilled to see so may of you preparing to join in with this years CAL. Thank you, thank you - from the bottom of my heart, I am so grateful to have your company.

Despite some very severe yarn shortages during recent weeks and months, Wool Warehouse have been very well prepared and there are still some yarn packs available for the Canalboat blanket. It's not too late to gather in your yarny supplies and you are welcome to join in with the CAL at any time. I'll be here every Friday through January and February to chat and give you weekly colour instalments, and the Canalboat pattern will remain free on my blog for you to access at any time.

This year I've created two yarn packs to support the CAL, and for the first time I'm really delighted to give you a choice of fibre.

You can find the packs online, with worldwide delivery by clicking the following link >>

SHOP CANALBOAT YARN PACKS

I'm making my main Canalboat blanket using Stylecraft Special DK, and there is also an option to use Yarnsmiths new Merino DK if you're feeling fancy and wish to make a gorgeous, luxurious blanket. As you can see from the above photo, the colours are pretty similar with just some minor differences (SSDK is the top row of pegs, Merino DK on the bottom)

I've loved hopping about on social media during the past month and seeing so many of you getting excited about starting this blanket with me. I always like to remind you that once you have your yarn balls gathered together, it's a good idea to make some sort of a record of the colour names so that you can remove the paper ball bands. I like to use my yarn pegs as you know, but just writing the names on a piece of paper and taping little yarn strands alongside would be absolutely fine.

I have discovered there is a lovely small business making and selling these wooden shade cards via Etsy. The above photo was shared on Facebook (thank you Eleanor), and you can find the wooden yarn-keepers online at "UKTheWoodStore". You can buy them for all my yarn packs, and there are separate listings for the Stylecraft Canalboat and the Yarnsmiths Canalboat colour palettes.

I know many of you have dived into your stash to pull together colours for the Canalboat blanket, and that makes me really happy. Using up what we already have is to be embraced, and I love to see you gathering together your yarns (thank you Vicky for sharing the above photo). Some of you have been able to bring together my exact colour choices, but I see many of you are going your own way and using alternative folksy colours from your stash, and as always I'm excited to see the variations and creativity emerge.

OK.....lets now take a look at the Canalboat pattern. You know I always like to help beginners and give you all as much visual guidance as I can, so as well as a written pattern that you can download/print, I've also made a full photo tutorial to talk you through.

This pattern is straightforward easy to learn and uses just two stitches (UK treble and double crochet).

I would say the trickiest thing is getting the tension right at the start, and making sure you use the correct hooks to suit your own hooky tension is very important. I would urge you to take a little time to make a tension sample - I've photographed mine above to show you as it's only 31 chains and is quick to do, but it'll help you to find the correct hooks to use as well as giving you some familiarity with the pattern.

NOTE :: Special DK and the Merino DK work up with a different gauge to each other. Within the pattern I've given measurements and starting chains for both, so do please make sure you follow the correct information for the yarn that you're using.

The Canalboat pattern requires you to use TWO different hook sizes. You will need a bigger hook to crochet the starting chain and the first row, then you will switch to your usual DK hook size for the rest of the rows. This is important to keep your bottom edge flat and stop it from forming a rainbow. All is explained fully within the tutorial.

Once you've completed your tension sample and are happy with your hook sizes, you can get going with your blanket. Please take your time with these first rows, count carefully, keep a mindful, even tension and use stitch markers to help you. I place markers every 25 stitches so that when I inevitably get distracted and lose count, I only have to go back to the last marker!

You can find the Canalboat tutorial in the usual place in the left hand sidebar, it's in alphabetical order so just look for "Canalboat Stripe" in that big long list. Here is the direct link >>

CANALBOAT STRIPE TUTORIAL

Depending on where you are in the world, you will either be cosying up keeping warm, or staying cool with air conditioning, isn't that a funny thought? I know a good many yarn packs have whizzed off to the other side of the world, so I hope you'll be enjoying these cosy stripes even though it's your summer. I'm almost permanently by the fireside with my crochet, my poor hands have been very miserable in this freezing cold weather.

Right, I think we should take a look at the first part of the canalboat blanket now, and I'll give you the colour info to get going....

......oooooooooooooo........there you go!! We are off on our journey with 33 rows/stripes this week, and they are gloriously jaunty and vibrant.

Unlike my previous stripe patterns, the Canalboat blanket is crocheted in narrow one-row stripes. So each week I'll be giving you around 32 stripes to complete (we've got 33 this first week).

It's a gorgeous colour-fest and I feel sure you're going to enjoy some surprises with these stripes, they are quite unpredictable and a lot of fun. Please don't be alarmed by the bold clashes - try and remember that I can see the bigger picture and as the blanket grows, everything will sing and settle beautifully. Trust the process!!

J has helped me create worksheets for each week, so that you have something to download/print. As well as the colour info, I've also included right side/wrong side info, and a little note to tell you what stitch pattern you'll be working for each row. This is just a little helpful reminder, but I promise you this pattern is easy and you'll very soon know your way around it. Click on the following link for the PDF worksheet>>

 DOWNLOAD PART 1 WORKSHEET PDF

Now for something extra.....

.....oHHH!!!!! How lovely is this???!!! I decided very last minute to give into the idea of creating an alternative way to use the Canalboat colours. I wasn't going to do it (it's obvs a lot of extra work) but in the end I just couldn't seem to stop myself!

This is my idea - I've created a colourwash/colour repeat variation which will run across two weeks (64 stripes) before repeating. So today you are seeing the first half of it, shown above, made using Yarnsmiths Merino DK.

It's a beautiful, harmonious placement of the colours which still allows the shell rows to pop and stand out, but has a beautiful flow to it.

You can see in the above photo that the Merino yarn blanket will be smaller than the Stylecraft one, measuring 100cm across instead of 120cm. This is because there is less yarndage in each ball of merino, so I had to reduce the sizing to accommodate. If you want to make this version in the Stylecraft yarn, you absolutely can - just follow the starting chain numbers given in the pattern for the Stylecraft and your blanket will measure 120cm across.

Click on the following link for the Colourwash  PDF worksheet>>

DOWNLOAD PART 1 COLOURWASH WORKSHEET PDF

Now I know this is a lot to take in, but I am so excited to share this third idea with you today. My very talented hooky friend Kaz Hall has created a truly stunning Canalboat Harmony blanket using my colour palette of boaty colours.

She chose to use Camel as her joining colour, and as you can see, it was an inspired choice. It acts as a calming background to the very playful, folksy boat colours and makes everything pop and sing in a way that seems truly magical to me.

It was a bit of a WOW moment when she shared her progress on Instagram....just WoW!!! Isn't it stunning?

And here it is, the finished Canalboat Harmony blanket, having a fabulous Ta-da moment with Rosie and Jim.

Kaz has put together a colour file for you to make this blanket using Stylecraft Special DK, and you can find it for free in her online shop Insomnia Crochet, click on the following link >>

CANALBOAT HARMONY COLOUR INFO

You will need to have the Canalboat yarn pack, plus TWO EXTRA BALLS OF CAMEL yarn. The pattern for the Harmony Granny Square is free here on my blog >>

HARMONY GRANNY SQUARE

You might also be interested in joining the Hooked on Attic24 facebook group where Kaz helps out as there will be others making this square harmony version and sharing progress there.

xx

Well I think I have talked myself out now, and all that's left to say is ..... ENJOY THE JOURNEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wishing you a fantastic week of happy, joyful, colour-soaked hooky time.

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♥ DOWNLOAD CANALBOAT PATTERN PDF

♥ Download Part 1 MIXED STRIPE worksheet

♥ Download Part 1 COLOURWASH worskheet

♥ Canalboat TUTORIAL (with lots of photos)

♥ CAL Introduction post

♥ Canalboat yarn packs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canalboat Blanket :: Introduction

Good morning!! If you want to hop straight over to my shop to snag a Canalboat yarn pack before reading today's post, here is the link to Wool Warehouse >>

♥ CANALBOAT YARN PACKS ♥

I am fairly certain that this particular blanket doesn't need a huge amount of upfront explanation as you've no doubt heard me talk/obsess about canal boats for much of this year. In fact, I was thinking about this a few days ago - as far as I can remember, I don't think I've ever discussed the theme of my Crochet-along blanket with you so openly in advance before?! I usually prefer to keep my ideas pretty well wrapped up until I am absolutely sure of them. As I've spent more than a year collecting photographs of canal boats through all four seasons, I'm sure you can image how painful it would have been for me to keep it all under wraps, I just don't think I could've done it! So thank you for sharing my ideas with me as I've walked and photographed and written about the canalboats, I've loved being able to share with you.

In any case, I think it would be impossible for me to write my blog without sharing my walks along the canal as they've been a part of my daily life for many, many years. I walked with the Little People to school along the tow path for more than twelve years, and then once I no longer had that routine in my life, I still found myself walking that same route almost daily because it's the quickest (and most scenic) way to get to the town and the supermarket. 

I walk along this stretch of the Leeds-Liverpool canal in all weathers and all seasons, and absolutely love to see the narrowboats which come and go along the water. As I began to think about the colours and creating a design inspired by the boats, I really started to pay a lot more attention to the details.

Many boats are painted with brightly coloured diamonds, circles and stripes, and then of course there are the famous Roses and Castles....

These decorative motifs and scenes are very traditional and I absolutely love it when I see them adorning the boats. They played a big part in influencing my colour choices for this blanket (especially the roses), and it's been a lot of fun for me walking the canal every day and getting excited about new boats arriving that would inspire me with their colours and patterns.

During the past year I've collected over 150 images which have all helped shape and inspire the final colour palette and design for my Canalboat blanket....

....and as you can see, I decided to embrace the folk art influence and create a design that's bold and playful, and that all started with the colour selection....

....isn't it lovely?? It's exactly the kind of folksy look that I had in mind and I'm so happy with how these colours make me feel when I look at them. They are bursting with happy vibes!

This year I'm really excited that I can offer you a choice of yarn to make the Canalboat blanket. It's something I've been wanting to do for many years but there has never been a suitable (affordable) natural yarn that has the same broad colour range as my beloved Stylecraft Special DK. Yesterday I wrote a special blog post to introduce you to Yarnsmiths Merino DK which is the natural wool yarn I'm using for one of my Canalboat yarn packs. You can read that blog post ((here)).

I've been able to match the colours pretty closely across the two yarn brands amd I'll give you both sets of colours below for reference.

Stylecraft Special DK (premium acrylic, 100g balls) :

French Navy : Royal : Turquoise : Teal : Bottle : Green : Sage : Lime

Gold : Camel : Powder Pink : Fondant : Tomato : Lipstick : Claret

♥ STYLECRAFT YARN PACK ♥

Yarnsmiths Merino DK (superwash merino wool, 50g balls) :

Deep Ocean : Royal Blue : Light Turquoise :  Teal : Bottle Green : Clover :

Spearmint Green :Olive Green : Antique Gold : Vanilla Fudge : Peachy Pink 

Fondant Pink : Burnt Orange : Crimson : Claret Red

♥ YARNSMITHS YARN PACK ♥

↑↑ I think you'll agree that I managed to match the colours very well across the acrylic and merino, and both sets are beautifully vibrant and colourful.

↑↑ A few people on Facebook asked me if I thought the merino yarn was as vibrant as the acrylic yarn, and I can honestly say that yes, yes, yes it is!! Natural yarns take very well to the dyeing process and this gorgeous wool is in no way muted. If you are curious but unsure, you could maybe buy a couple of individual balls to see it in real life before committing to a whole yarn pack. Have a play with it, squish it and give it some love and then decide if you think it has a place in your hooky life. It most definitely has a place in mine, I adore it. The photos can't convey the utter squishy softness of it, it really is a delight.

Size-wise, my usual go-to blanket size is 120 x 175cm (roughly single bed size) and the Stylecraft Special yarn pack will easily be enough to make this size of blanket. The Yarnsmiths Merino has less yardage per ball, so a blanket made using this yarn will be a little bit smaller. When we come to work our sample and get ready to begin the blanket in January, I'll give you all the sizing and starting chain information then. Remember that if you want to make a bigger sized blanket (eg a double bed size) you can absolutely do that, but you'll need to purchase a second yarn pack.

I spent a long, loooooong time in the sampling stage for this blanket, partly because I had so many ideas it was hard to separate them all out at first. Eventually I settled on this very bold design which is a simple four-row repeat and showcases the folksy feel of the canalboat colours perfectly. It's a nod to the decorative paintwork on the canal boats - the stripes, diamonds and painterly flowers, beautifully bold and arty.

The pattern uses simple UK treble crochet and double crochet stitches and as with all my designs it's suitable for beginners. I'll be making my usual photo-heavy tutorial to help you along the way and I feel sure you're going to LOVE it. There is enough pattern interest to keep you absorbed, the quirky colour changes make it a lot of fun, but it's still a very relaxing and therapeutic crochet experience.

OK, lets talk about the CAL details now, just in case this is all new to you and it all seems a bit daunting. I promise you it's easy-peasy and crochet-alongs are a lot of fun.

Firstly there is no need to sign up for this CAL - it's all very relaxed here in the Attic so all you need to do is gather your yarn together and join in when the free pattern is released on Friday 10th January.

♥ The Attic24 CANALBOAT CAL will will run for 8 weeks in total, beginning on Friday 10th January - that'll be the day when the pattern will be published here on my blog and I'll give you all the information you need to get started. I'll then give weekly updates every Friday throughout January and February 2025 so that we can make the most of weekend hooky time.

♥ There will be a full picture tutorial here on my blog for the new Canalboat stripe pattern. Weeks 1-6 I'll share the colour order for a set of stripes (around 8 sets of 4-row repeats each week). Week 7 will be a catch-up week (darn in those ends!), and the final week 8 will be all about the border.

♥ The CANALBOAT YARN PACK contains 15 x 100g balls of Stylecraft Special DK or 30 x 50g balls of Yarnsmiths Merino DK and is enough to make one blanket/throw. The blanket will measure approx. 120cm x 175cm (slightly smaller for the merino version). You will need two packs if you wish to make a larger/double bed size blanket. I'll give starting chain/pattern guidance for those of you wishing to make larger (or smaller) blankets. 

♥ There is no printed pattern included in this pack, all pattern info will be here on my blog, with updates every Friday throughout January and February 2025. 

♥ All CAL instalments (pattern and colour info) will remain FREE on my blog into the future so that it's there for you to access at a time that suits you. You don't have to squeeze your blanket journey into 8 weeks if you don't want to - take your time and work at your own pace.

♥ Something I often get asked - can you use your own colours, or use one of my other yarn packs and still join in with the CAL? The answer is YES, of course you can! I appreciate that many of you will probably already have yarn that you want to make use of, and I really look forward to seeing your creativity with stash busting. 

All in all, you've probably guessed that this is a relaxed crochet-along project and the main aim is for us all to enjoy crocheting together. It's such a lovely way to start the New Year, and I hope you'll look forward to it as much as I do. Any questions, please ask in the comments and I'll do my best to answer.

If you hadn't already guessed, I am really in love with the whole theme of the canalboat blanket and the folk arty colours, and I hope you love it just as much....thank you as always for your support and enthusiasm around my creative ideas, it really means the world to me.

Finally, before I sign off I just want to say how wonderful it is to be working with Wool Warehouse, we've been partnering together for over ten years and they truly are the nicest people who genuinely care about the yarn community. The whole team has been working ever so hard preparing my yarn packs, and they will  work even harder to get yarn orders out to you as soon as possible so that you have it in time for Christmas. The CAL begins in just under six weeks so there is time for it to get to you if you are far away from the UK. And for full transparency, I do earn a commission on all Attic24 yarn packs, so thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support.

And now finally, finally..........roll on January!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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♥ STYLECRAFT YARN PACK ♥

♥ YARNSMITHS YARN PACK ♥

 

Lovely Little Snippets

♥ early morning walks around the hilly streets before the sun rises

♥ late November frosty chill, wrapped up warm with scarf, gloves, woolly hat

♥ atmospheric morning light and still water, the smell of wood smoke in the air

♥ warm café & yarny chatter with friends, colourful crochet, frothy coffee and that Friday feeling

♥ a Saturday train trip to Leeds with my girl, starting with a fabulous Laynes coffee

♥ enjoying the unique buzzy atmosphere of Leeds Corn Exchange

♥ this old oval building is really beautiful, both inside and out

♥ I loved the colourful christmas tree very much, a tree after my own heart

♥ enjoying a slice of sunny city life, beautiful architecture and blue skies in Leeds

♥ twinkly lights and festive spirit - a quiet lull, but later heeeeaving with people!

♥ appreciating the stillness of the past few days, no wind, just calm and reflective scenery

♥ spotted a pretty lacy porthole cover, I love this traditional narrowboat crochet craft.

x

Just a few snaps from the past four days, some beautiful quiet morning walks and slow, reflective days contrasted with a busy shopping trip to the city on Saturday. Little Lady asked if I would go with her as she wanted to get another ear piercing and goes to a place inside the Corn Exchange. We caught an early train to beat the crowds and had coffee at one of our favourite places (got lucky and didn't have to queue, yes, it's that popular), and then mingling with the crowds for some shopping. A little bit of christmas present buying but I wasn't really prepared and didn't have the right shopping head on. I bought myself a jumper, does that count?

And now it's Sunday evening and I am warm and comfy and full, I made a terrific lasagne for dinner. J cooked the bolognese in the slow cooker, and I made the bechamel sauce and pulled it all together. As it's the first day of December we lit our Advent candle at the table and after dinner the Little Peeps opened their advent bags that I'd painstakingly put together for them. Stickers and numbers and sweet treats inside 72 individual paper bags, I'll try and remember to take a photo and show you. I know they are big Big Kids nowadays but I do still like to hold onto traditions for as long as they seem to enjoy me doing it.

I've spent aaaaages this weekend  sorting through all my canal boat photos that I've taken during the past year, and feeling so incredibly inspired by the joyful colours and decorative details. It's that time of year again where I'm preparing to share my annual Crochet-Along blanket with you, a little later than usual due to the yarn delays. My friends at Wool Warehouse have been working super hard to get yarn packs made in double quick time and we are almost ready....above is a little taster of the colours I've had swimming in my mind for the best part of this year....

....and here is a first look at the stripe pattern I've designed. It's quite jaunty and playful with a folk art feel to it, inspired by the traditional colours and painted patterns I see on the narrowboats when I take my daily walks along the tow path. I am so in love with it!!

As with all my patterns, this stripe is designed with beginners in mind and is a simple pattern repeat that is easy to learn and delivers some very relaxing crochet time. The colour contrasts are bright and breezy, and really make me smile - every time I change colour I get a little jolt of surprise and pleasure!

Yarn packs will be available from Tuesday, and the Canalboat CAL will begin on Friday 10th January. This will be my 11th crochet along, and I really hope that many of you will decide to join me,  I'll give you all the information and more details on Tuesday. You'll be able to order the yarn from Wool Warehouse and there is a choice this year - my usual Stylecraft Special DK, and also a pack made with the brand new Yarnsmiths Merino DK for those who might want to try a lush natural yarn for a change. It's exciting and makes me long for January, which is absolutely something to be happy about.

I hope you are all doing OK, and I'll be back here on Tuesday morning to share some more canalboat joy. See you then!

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Cosy Autumn

I've had such a lovely few days here at home, fully embracing the cosy autumn season and feeling very content with it all. My weekend was luxuriously slow paced with no major plans in place, just a general idea to take it gently. We took our usual jaunt into town on Saturday morning for the market and food shop followed by breakfast at the café, and the afternoon was mostly spent doing jobs around the house and then some delicious crochet time (more on that at the end of this post).

We had talked about going for a walk on Sunday morning but somehow I ended up lounging around in bed drinking coffee and reading blogs for far longer than I usually do, and all of a sudden it was almost eleven o'clock. Wow...I can't remember the last time I loafed around in bed for that long, it was wonderful!

The kitty is very happy when her humans are in lounging mode - the above photo is her sprawled out full length on Little Lady's lap on Sunday morning. 

After lunch yesterday I walked along the canal to the supermarket, it was chilly and grey but it was nice to get some fresh air and gently stretch my legs after the morning of laziness. 

Coming back home, I had a little chat to my violas on the door step, they are still looking pretty and make me smile every single day.

Something else that made me happy yesterday was this box of tissues, sometimes it's the littlest pleasures that really stand out in a day. I bought them from Tesco because I liked the box (pretty Cath Kidston design), and at the time I had no idea that the actual tissues were printed with the cutest little hearts and flowers...I mean, could tissues be any cuter?? Such an unexpected joy that keeps on giving. 

Today has been cold and very, very gloomy and it felt like exactly the right day to light the first fire of the season. I cleaned and polished up the mantel then spent a happy time decorating it with my collection of autumn guff. The fire made the whole room come to life, not just the warmth (which was needed today) but the cosy glow too. Oh, how I love love love having an open fire, and now the season of Hearth Worship has officially begun.

I felt a surge of joy when I unpacked my little handmade autumn treasures, I love them very much and have many fond memories from making them over the years.

The embroidered toadstool hoop from Craftpod ((here))

The cutest crochet pumpkins ((here))

The Autumn cross stitch canvas from Cotton & Twine ((here))

And of course my beloved autumn garland ((here))

With all the fireside excitement I felt a bit peckish so I made myself a little mid afternoon snack. I'm very happy that persimmons are in season again, and the clementines are also very good at this time of year.

For a few hours this afternoon I sat beside the fire and applied myself to my canalboat blanket sampling, picking up where I had left off yesterday with a serious amount of frogging. Making these stripe samplers is very much two steps forward-one step back kind of progress, and I'm OK with the back and forth of it. The more times I re-do, the better I get to understand how the colours like to play with each other, because this is a bright colour palette with bold contrasts and it's taking some careful handling. I can't wait to share more with you, I hope you're going to love it. 

3pm and it's time for a brew, as they say here in Yorkshire, and how lovely to be sat right next to the fire to enjoy it.

So, about this square.........I swear I was NOT going to touch it until I'd made more progress with the canalboat sampling, but weeeeelllllll.....it was being VERY shouty indeed and I just had to give it some attention to quieten it down.

As you can see by the above evidence, I not only cracked the maths but I fell completely in love with the idea of this eventually becoming a blanket design. It was such a pleasure to make and positively flew off my hook - pure hooky joy.

I think I explained on Friday that currently this is just a pattern experiment, and these colours are random choices taken from a basket of little scrap balls. I was thinking that the pattern would be wonderful with the new Made in Yorkshire colours, although I do love this pretty random stash-bust colour palette too. 

It feels unbelievably good to have my crochet spark back again as well as my blogging bug, and both things in tandem are lighting up my days. Happy in my soul, this cosy season is treating me well so far.

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Stylecraft Special :: Made in Yorkshire

Today's post is all about my favourite blanket making yarn :: Stylecraft Special DK. It probably doesn't need any introductions as I would bet almost every single one of you who reads my blog and follows my creative yarn adventures will know that this is my go-to yarn for making blankets and has been for the past fourteen and a half years.

Back at the very start of 2010, I went through quite a life change with the birth of my third child (Little B). That spring when Little B was just a few months old, we bought an old retro Swift caravan and at the same time my love affair with Stylecraft Special yarn began. I had seen it on the shelves of my local yarn shop but at that point in time my preference had always been for natural yarns - wool, cotton, bamboo etc. As I found myself wanting to make a brightly coloured blanket to cheer up the dull beige caravan interior, I decided that a cheap'n'cheerful, hard wearing and washable acrylic yarn would be the sensible choice.

I chose the above seventeen shades in double-quick time, pulling them down from the shelves and arranging them on the shop floor to create a bright and happy palette. It was back in the day before I had any idea that I might be designing colour palettes or creating yarn packs to sell, and I had the freedom to be spontaneous with both my colour choices and my projects. No need for themes or titles or any type of forward planning, I just picked colours that made me happy and off I went with my hook!

I mentioned the birth of Little B, because that's how I remember the timing of it all, it was 2010.

Awww, just look at him in the above photo, the sheer cuteness!!!!! He was around five months old, just starting to be grabby with his little hands and very demanding of my attention. I started the granny stripe blanket towards the end of May....

...and finished it two months later at the end of July. I think it's safe to say I was absolutely smitten with the yarn right from the start. I love the generous big squishy balls, the choice of bright colours, and the joy of making something that's very child-proof and family friendly which doesn't have special laundry needs or cost a fortune. I love my early cashmerino and wool blankets dearly, but my goodness, talk about high maintenance and eye wateringly expensive.

Since that first joyful creation, I've crocheted four picnic/stash-bust blankets, plus created another twenty blanket designs using Special DK which have Wool Warehouse yarn packs to go with them.

So that's a bit of background info for you, and I do apologise if you already know all this and you really just want me to OPEN THE BIG WHITE BOX ALREADY.

A few days ago I showed you a big white box, a gift to me from Stylecraft yarns which held a tightly embargoed secret. If you've been around on Instagram during the past few days you will have seen many crochet and knit designers sharing a similar box, and today was the day for the Big News reveal. So I'll waste no time in telling you the first part of the news.....

....Stylecraft Special is coming home to Yorkshire!!!! Although Stylecraft has always been a Yorkshire family business, up until now, all of the yarns have been manufactured in Turkey. For well over a year now, the company has been investing in new technology and working towards bringing production of their popular range of Special yarns home to Yorkshire. 

The old mill building in Yorkshire has been spinning yarn for over a hundred years, and currently produces a range of commercial yarns used in upholstery and apparel. Now with an incredible investment of time, money and expertise, the company have adapted the mill to be able to spin, dye and ball their range of Special premium acrylic right here in Yorkshire.

It's a fantastic innovation which has some very sound eco credentials - not only will the transport distance be vastly reduced (Slaithwaite is a weeeeny bit closer to home than Turkey!) but cutting edge technology means that the production process will use less water and energy and be far more efficient and environmentally friendly. They have invested in a combined heat and power plant at the mill which produces electricity more efficiently than a normal gas fired power station and reuses the heat from the exhaust gases in the dye house. This is what Stylecraft has to say :

"As a family business we are always mindful of the impact we have on the environment.  With our new set up we can be more efficient with our resources, use less water and energy, and reduce our carbon footprint. By manufacturing in Yorkshire, we are also reducing transport distances, cutting both fuel consumption and pollution. "

It really is the most wonderful news for all of us who love and use this yarn.

Now for the second part of the news - and it's all about ♥ CoLoUR ♥

I first knew about the "coming home" developments at the end of last year (yes I've held it in for that long) and was very, very excited about what I was hearing. It'll make a big difference to me in terms of the planning time needed for my blankets, as well as helping to reduce stock shortages and improve quality control etc (good news for all of us really). But the icing on the cake came early this year - some of you may remember me mentioning that I visited Stylecraft mill way back in January? Well the team at Stylecraft decided to create a brand new "Made in Yorkshire" colour palette to celebrate the new Yorkshire production and I was asked to go and have some input into important colour choosing decisions. Wooohooo!! There is nothing I love better than some hard core colour play, I was soooo excited!

Colour choosing on a commercial level is a serious business, and way, way harder than you could imagine. There is a universal colour system called the Pantone Index which is used worldwide to select and reference colours across fashion, textiles, interiors, branding, graphics, products etc. Every colour in the index has a unique code, and there's a collection of reference material  - this is a range of cards, swatches, colour chips and huge folders of colour-coded pages used by commercial and professional creatives to select and cross-reference colours across various materials (including yarn). Pantone adds new colours every year, and as far as I know there are currently 2,390 to choose from. Yes, that's right.....over Two Thousand colours to choose from, it's honestly mind blowing.

The creative team at Stylecraft is led by a small and highly skilled team of people who really know their stuff when it comes to colour, and it's always an honour for me to be included in any sort of decision making. When choosing new shades for the Special range, they take into account a few different things - firstly they look at any gaps that need to be filled in the existing range, as this is the obvious place to start. They also do listen to requests from the public, and from designers/creators and yarn shops who work closely with the Special range, so if you ever have a burning wish for a particular colour, do let them know! I always have a running list of "wants", and I'm thrilled to say that pretty much all of my recent wants have been fulfilled with this new collection (with the exception of a beautiful burnt orange, maybe next time).

Above are the twenty brand new shades of Made in Yorkshire Special DK which were chosen and curated to work well with the existing colours, but also to look amazing as a stand alone collection. And here are the colours in yarn form....

...aren't they beautiful? it's a very balanced mix of soft, subtle pastels and stronger brights, with a lovely cohesive and sophisticated signature. Many of the new colours were chosen to compliment existing ones, and I'm going to be putting together a whole other blog post to show you this in action.

I did attempt to photograph it this week but the light has sadly been too grey for the colours to be represented properly.

Now we've talked about location (Yorkshire) and we've talked about colours (lush), but the final thing to have a quick chat about is the yarn quality. During the course of this year I've been asked by the Stylecraft team to blind-test various cream-coloured balls of sample yarn and give feedback. As you would imagine, I am very familiar with SSDK yarn and so I was able to give very detailed and honest feedback about how it was looking, feeling and hooking. The team at Stylecraft really did go above and beyond to create a yarn of exceptional quality that very closely matches the existing yarn, and I've been very impressed. It handles in an identical way to the SSDK we know and love, I think you would be very hard pushed to tell any difference at all. Except.....I would say that possibly the Yorkshire version does feel ever so slightly softer and plumper once it is crocheted up. The gauge is identical, and I'm told the yardage is identical too (we'll have to trust Stylecraft on this). 

In the above photo, the two circles on the left are the original SSDK, and the two on the right are the Made in Yorkshire SSDK.

I think the fact that the team at the mill can have a much better overview of quality and consistency is great news for all of us who create with this yarn. We desperately need for it to be of the highest quality, all of the time, don't we? We need to be able to trust it, adore working with it and love the things we make with it. 

I'm really looking forward to getting properly stuck in with some crochet colour play very soon, and to see about planning something lovely to make with the new MIYorkshire shades. I've been asked a few questions on my social platforms today (it's been buzzing on Insta and Facebook, so much excitement!) and I thought I'd answer a few of them here.

Q: Will I be doing a crochet-a-long again this year, and will any of the new shades be included?

A: Yes I'll be doing a CAL which will run with its usual timing, so you can expect yarn packs mid November (date to be confirmed) with the CAL starting in January 2025. Sadly the timing didn't quite work out for me to include any of the new shades in my CAL blanket design, I've picked colours from the existing range.

Q: Will I be designing a new blanket using the new Yorkshire shades?

A: Nothing is planned at the moment, but I'd very much like to, because quite frankly the colours are gorgeous and follow closely along with a general colour palette idea I've had in my mind for a while now. Sort of soft, faded, vintage florals and paisley patterns, like old patchwork quilts or poufy faded eiderdowns, that kind of thing. Possibly I might organise something for the Spring, to pick up after the CAL finishes? Let me know your thoughts, if you'd like a Made in Yorkshire blanket design from me?

Q: When can I get my hands on these new colours?

A: from Friday 18th! Wool Warehouse will have them in stock to order from tomorrow, and local yarn shops should have them coming in too. You'll have to order individual balls (no box sets or yarn packs) but all twenty colours will be available to order online.

Q: Will there be a price increase?

A: No, is the simple answer. The price remains the same.

Q: Will all of the 120 Special DK colours be made in Yorkshire?

A: yes they will, eventually. As existing stocks run out, production will move to Yorkshire so it will be a gradual process. The same goes for all four yarn weights of Special (4ply, DK, Aran and Chunky)

The lovely folks at Stylecraft kindly included a few extra goodies inside the Big White Box, and I've been enjoying them today - a mug of proper Yorkshire Tea, and a generous helping of Yorkshire Parkin cake....mmmmmm......was luverleeeeey!

Well I think that's all from me for now.....I am quite all excited out of energy for today. If you have any questions about the yarn, do please ask in the comments and I'll reply. Also, don't forget I will be creating a comprehensive post to show you the new colours in more detail, in combination with existing colours. I need to get yarn pegs together and wait for a good light day for the photography, but I promise I'll make time to do that. And a Spring blanket, yes? Possibly using an existing pattern of mine with these new colours, or maybe a brand new design? Talk to me in the comments, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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Stitchtopia Morocco Retreat :: crochet and colour

Have you all heard of Stitchtopia craft holidays? I began working with them in 2019 as one of thier textile experts, I think they have around 25 experts in total, covering crochet, knitting, patchwork, quilting and embroidery. The holidays and retreats vary from short weekend breaks in the UK, to week-long trips in Europe, and now also include longer holidays and tours worldwide. Sometimes there is a full touring itinerary (eg travelling by train or cruise ship), and sometimes there is a specific focus to the holiday (eg a large textile event) but mostly the holidays I've been on revolve around spending time in a relaxed workshop setting (always in a beautiful hotel), with various day excursions planned into the week. The groups are kept small (maximum of fifteen) and as well as the teaching expert there is also a tour manager present the whole time, and local guides who oversee the excursions. It's a great way for guests to meet like minded textile enthusiasts, and is ideal for anyone wishing to travel alone. In fact lots of ladies come on these holidays as a first time solo travelling experience (which is a very brave thing to do), and as soon as we all meet at the airport/hotel there is instant friendship and cameraderie - it's wonderful!

I've been lucky enough to teach five retreats this year (three in the UK and two overseas) and today I'm going to share the project I designed for my trips to Portugal and Morocco. I haven't talked much about my Portugal retreat back in June/July as I was taking a break from blogging over the summer, but it was absolutely amazing...maybe I'll share some Portugal travel diaries with you soon, if you'd be interested in seeing some photos?

Today though, it's mostly all about crochet and colour.....

....lots and lots of colour!

When I'm planning my Stitchtopia projects I get complete freedom to design any type of crochet item I like and then create bespoke kits for the guests using a yarn of my choice (within an agreed budget). My projects always focus on colour teaching, and for this year's retreats I chose to use these very cutesome little 20g balls of cotton yarn. This is Sirdar Happy, a DK weight yarn which has a lovely matt finish and is wonderful to crochet with, and the range currently has fifty shades which include colourful saturated brights, muted vintage shades and pretty soft pastels.

As I would be teaching the same project in both Portugal and Morocco, I had the idea to focus on the bright shades found in ceramic tiles as my inspiration. Both countries have very colourful and decorative architechture with lots of mosaic and tile work and there is a wealth of inspiration to draw from - it was a tough job picking out colours, but I am dedicated to my craft and gave it my all ;)

As I knew I wanted to teach certain aspects of colour theory with my project, I built my colour palette with those lessons in mind.

Firstly I like to focus on using the colour wheel to create harmony in our projects, and I teach how to balance out a palette of colours by splitting the wheel in half - equal hot and cold shades.

Secondly, my design would need to have some decent contrast, so I picked out a good balance of light and dark shades to make this happen, while still keeping a harmonious balance.

These are the three key things I like to teach with my colour projects - harmony, contrast and balance. It's deceptively difficult to achieve these things in practice, but I try and deisgn my projects to help my guests gain colour confidence, and for them to learn about the properties of colour. For example,  learning about advancing/receding colours, and tehniques to create a "pop" where it's needed most, also colour proportions and how to balance them over a whole project (again, this can take some doing but it's such a good learning curve).

This is the "Sunny Days" square I designed - it measures 15cm / 6 inches and is crocheted in ten rounds.

The first thing we did on the retreat was to crochet the square using just two colours. This meant that the guests could get to grips with the pattern without having to worry about colour choices straight away, and it also helped me to advise about any tension/gauge queries and hook size etc.

This blue and white sqaure also acted as a useful "blueprint" for making the full coloured squares - it helps to know which rounds need heavy contrast, and to learn about which rounds have the most impact in the design. All the guests agreed that this part of the workshop was really useful, and they enjoyed easing into the project without too much worry! Also, keep in mind that in Marrakech it was a very hot 37° C (99° F) degrees, so a slightly slower, easier start to the workshop was appreciated by us all.

After the blueprint square, we worked on two different colour lessons using just the first five rounds of the pattern. This was quick and fun and gave the guests the chance to start playing with the colour palette while learning more about how the design needed to work in terms of colour contrasts and using the hot/cold dynamic of the colour wheel.

This particular project was mostly focused on the colour teaching (and the joy of relaxed crochet) rather than completing a finished item, so I kept things simple and created a 12 inch square panel.  It meant the guests could experiement with colour combinations across their four squares (keeping the balance, harmony and contrast lessons in mind), and working on a small square in cotton yarn wasn't too tricky in the heat.

I love how my square looks on this lovely tiled Moroccan table ^^

....in fact, I just love my Sunny Days square any which way! The colours are very happy and joyful and bring back so many good memories.

I thought you might like to see our retreat setting in Morocco - this certainly isn't a boring classroom situation!

In Marrakech we were staying in a very beautiful old riad within the city walls (you can see more photos of it ((here)). We took over part of the huge rooftop terrace and the owners very kindly went to a lot of trouble to construct a fabric awning for us as it was so deadly hot in the afternoons.

When we moved location in the second half of the week, we travelled west to the Atlantic coast which was a lot cooler (around 25 degrees there, which was perfection). The hotel was more modern but still inceredibly beautiful with lots of Moroccan decorative touches. We were given a beautiful space to work in - it was airy and cool with very comfortable chairs and a large sunny terrace just through the glass doors to the left there.

It was lovely to be able to spend a little more time on our crochet while we were here, as our days in Marrakech had been very hectic with a full itinerary and our crochet time was more limited.

I love the above photo, taken towards the end of the week when one of the guests had transferred her yarn to a gorgeous woven bowl she'd bought on a visit to a local Berber market.....

....and here you can see the choosing process taking place! Aren't they all so beautiful??

I took a lot of photos in the market (it was an incredible epxerience) but I'll save those for another day.

Now I'd like to show you some photos of  finished Sunny Days projects shared with me since our return to the UK....it makes me so happy to see, and I'm sure you'll agree, the most excellent colour choices, they did me proud!.......

↑↑ This is Sandy's finished cushion - she finished the front 4-square panel while we were in Morocco, and made the reverse once she got home. She took my ten round Sunny Days square design and continued the pattern repeat to enlarge it, then added a lovely wide, stripy border.

↑↑ This is Janet's finished cushion looking very lovely with her Fireside blanket, they go really well together, don't they?

↑↑ This is Ann's beautiful cushion - for the reverse side, she took the ten round Sunny Days square and added some bright treble rounds to make it bigger - great use of alternating hot and cold colours to create the contrasts in those bigger rounds (proud teacher moment :)

↑↑ Judith took her four squares and doubled them up once she got home, making this fantastic centre piece for her table....it's delicious!

↑↑ Here are Veronica's squares, beautifully blocked and carefully stitched onto the front of a canvas tote bag, it looks so cheery and happy!

↑↑ Another stunning tote bag made my Jill, she made a second panel when she got home so there is crochet on both sides, it's super lovely.

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Ahhhh, it was such a lovely week, the ladies were all good hooksters and worked really hard to say that we only had three days to spend on our project. I love teaching and sharing my passion, and with such a happy and good natured group it was an absolute pleasure.

Now before I go, I thought you might enjoy just a few photos of the colour inspiration I gathered during my time in Morocco. It was honestly ridiculous the amount of colour and pattern that was everywhere you cast your eyes. I've got lots (lots and lots) more to share of the souks and the markets and the amazing excursions we took, but for now, here is a little snippet of some things that caught my eye.......

What do you think, isn't Morocco a colour-lovers dream??? Such an amazing trip, I shall never forget it.

I hope you've enjoyed a little look behind the scenes of my project planning and an insight into how my Stitchtopia retreat workshops are run. There is more Morocco content to come (I'll plan another post for next week sometime), but I think tomorrow will be back to normal everyday Yorkshire-style stuff, the essence of Blogtober.

Thanks for your company, I hope you've enjoyed todays post xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

And Now Autumn

All the Monday feels here today as I'm home from my amazing trip to Morocco and slowly picking back up with normal life once again. I can't say I missed the domestic day-to-day business of tidying, sorting, cleaning, laundry-ing, shopping, cooking, parenting etc etc while I was away, but it's good to be home and back to it all the same.

Morocco was absolutely mind blowing...wOw, what a country!! The whole week was pretty full on, very hot, very busy, unbelievably inspiring, a weeny bit crazy and just way more intense than I could ever have imagined. I'm still processing the whole experience but it really was wonderful and I loved my time there. As you'd expect, I took a lot (a lot-a-lot) of photos and it's going to take me some time to go through them all and order them into a visual story to share with you.

I flew back on Thursday night after a fair bit of travel and airport delays, so by the time I'd made the train journey north from Gatwick to Yorkshire on Friday I was pretty pooped. It was lovely to be home again though, the family made me feel cherished and I know I was very much missed after my ten days away. The kitty on the other hand did not make me feel cherished at all, she was soooo cross with me for being away for so long and gave me the widest of wide berths for two whole days straight. She literally sulked, turned her back on me and refused to let me touch her, it was hilarious! You'll be pleased to hear that I'm no longer an outcast and she is back to shadowing me around the house, so order has been restored.

I have half unpacked my giant pink suitcase and was thrilled to find that the lovely big bowl I bought home with me had survived the journey. Isn't it a beauty? It's a heavy, chunky earthenware bowl, handmade and hand painted by the artisans of Safi (the Moroccan pottery capital) on the Atlantic coast. 

The shopping possibilities in Morocco are out of this world if you value hand crafted things, but the overwhelm and sheer volume of stuff on offer is quite extreme. You'll see what I mean when I share some of my photos with you - I was content to absorb it all through my eyes and take some careful photographs for memory, without the need to bring much of it home with me. Aside from my gorgeous bowl, I bought three other things......

....two sweet little beaded necklaces and a small pot of saffron. I could have gone crazy and bought so much more, it was all so beautiful and appealing and wantable! But I generally tend to only buy one or two very small things on each trip I make, just small souvenirs to keep and treasure. 

I spent the weekend catching up with myself, easing back into domestic life and coming to terms with the change in season.

Yesterday was the Autumn Equinox, so that's it, summer is over for another year and now we are in a new season. J and I went for a walk along the canal and through the woodland and it was green and damp and cool - all the things that Morocco was not - and I felt a rush of appreciation for this little patch of North Yorkshire that I call home.

Nature is already changing her colours for the season and when I went outside to the back street this morning I spotted these gorgeous leaves growing in one of my neglected back yard pots. This is a self seeded wild flower (we call it herb robert, it's part of the geranium family) and I've got plenty of it. I picked three stems and brought them inside.....

....they look very sweet in these little pots, the first little bit of seasonal decorating I've done on my mantel since Christmas. Yes, Christmas. This year has been a very strange one for me and I realise looking back over the past nine months that I haven't been myself at all, and have felt quite lost for much of 2024.

Take this bunch of flowers on my table for example......I bought them for myself on Saturday, a cheap £3 bunch from the supermarket and oh my, they are bringing me SO much happiness!! But they did make me realise that I cannot remember the last time I bought myself flowers, (and this has been a long standing weekly habit of mine) - another sign that I have been in quite a low place in my soul for a while. In fact, I just looked back at my photo archives and the last jug of flowers that I photographed was 10th April...five months ago. What??!!! 

I'm not going to dwell on all this, but please do know that I am really feeling good at the moment, with good energy and a happy soul, and my creativity is simmering and bubbling again, so all is well with me it seems. 

I rested quite a bit at the weekend, I've been sleeping very well lately but travelling does tend to make me extra weary. Sofa time with an abundance of blankets (we should think up a good collective noun for crochet blankets - a cuddle of blankets?) and some peppermint tea...note the absence of the kitty, she was still giving me the huff treatment at this point.

I managed one row of knitting yesterday (just the one) but I took a photo to show you the colours. Aren't they lush? I'm knitting a pair of socks using this stunning yarn which I bought from a little yarn shop in Leeds in the springtime. It struck me how similar the colours are in the sock yarn and the Flowerpress blanket, they're in perfect harmony with each other. At the time I bought the sock yarn I had just finished making the 16 Flowerpress flowers, so I was obviously deeply in that soft colour zone, matching my projects without even realising.

The yarn (if you are interested) is a German brand called Schoppel, and this is their popular Crazy Zauberball range. There are fifty colourways to choose from, and it's called "crazy" because the colour changes are quite random in each ball so that no two socks will ever be the same (no matching pairs). You can find it online, Wool Warehouse have a good stock of the colours so you can swoon a little at all the colourful possibilities......! My colourway is number 2355 : "gartenparty"

Speaking of Wool Warehouse, they have Flowerpress blanket kits back in stock after the super speedy first sell out and they continue to be shipped out all over the world. Even after 10+ years I still have to pinch myself at the reality of my wonderful partnership with WW, I am so thankful I get to work with them and do this creative crochet thing for you. Feeling very grateful for my life right now.

I'll be finishing up the Flowerpress photo tutorial in the next few days, so hopefully that'll be ready to publish online on Wednesday for you. If you are currently immersed in the pleasure of these squares and this delicious yarn, I hope it's giving you all the good feels? And if you are waiting for the photos to help you along the way, thank you so much for being patient while I zoomed off to Morocco....you're in for a treat with this sweet pattern. It's such a joy.

Thanks as always for visiting and keeping up with my stories, I am very happy to still be here after all these years.

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Flowerpress Love

Good morning my lovelies, I hope all is well in your little patch of the world? I'm sat here this morning in a large, comfy white bed (I'm in a hotel) with a cup of peppermint tea and my laptop, thinking how wonderful it is that we can access the world wide web so easily these days and stay connected. I have to tell you I've felt so happy to be back here in the Attic this week and to thank you all for the loveliest comments you've written to me here and also on my Facebook page. I have soaked them all in and feel very lucky to have your positive energy boosting my own, so thank you, thank you. We walk a two-way street here in Blogland, don't we? I give you my words and images and creative ideas, and then your words of encouragement and support come back to me in return, it's a true blessing in my life and I am so very thankful for our online community.

So, I am currently in a hotel at Gatwick airport as later this afternoon I'll be flying out to Marrakech to teach my final crochet retreat of the year with Stitchtopia Holidays. As I'll be away until the end of next week, I really wanted to chat to you before I go, to update you on a few things to do with the recent launch of my new Flowerpress Blanket.

The first thing to say is WOW - and THANK YOU !! It seems you all fell in love with this blanket and the yarn kits completely sold out yesterday, you caught us all a bit by surprise! The team at Wool Warehouse have been their usual wonderful, efficient, hard working selves and many of you will be receiving your yarn packs in time for the weekend. If you missed out, I'm told there is more stock on its way from the Stylecraft mill, and that if you add your email address to the waiting list (there is a notification box on the Flowerpress shop listing), then you'll know as soon as they are ready to order.

Secondly, I have an IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT THE FLOWERPRESS PATTERN.....

If you've purchased your yarn pack from Wool Warehouse (thank you, thank you if you did), there is a 12 page printed pattern included. Unfortunately, due to my brain not really being fully co-operative of late, I discovered (just after it went to print) that there were a few errors in the printed pattern. I am really, really sorry! So what I have done is to add the amendments very clearly (in bold red type) to the pattern written here on my blog so that you can reference that and know it is correct. 

You can find the pattern in my left hand sidebar, it's listed alphabetically, so comes under "F" for Flowerpress, or click the following link >

FLOWERPRESS PATTERN (with correct amendments :))

Also to let you know that there is a full photo tutorial coming (plus the joining and border instructions), I just didn't quite have time to complete it before needing to pack and prepare for my Morocco trip. So if you are a visual person, or a new crocheter and need the photos to help, I promise they will be coming once I'm back in the Attic. 

For those of you starting out very soon on your own Flowerpress journey, I am curious to know if you will make each of the sixteen squares one by one, or if you might be tempted to make all the flowers first like I did?

Maybe you might make Square 1 first to get the measure of the pattern and make sure your tension/sizing is working out, and then begin hooking up your flowers? I can highly recommend making all your flowers in one go, simply because the visual joy and sense of satisfaction is a real delight....it's FUN, and I really think you'd enjoy it.

Even after round 2, the colours are already looking good....

....and after round 4, well, you will have sixteen blooms all ready for the press.

Once all the flowers were done, I then added rounds 5 and 6 (the Champagne squaring-off rounds) to them all at the same time. I happened to be away from home for a few days when I was doing this, so I was able to take the Champagne ball of yarn and a little pile of flowers in a project bag and crochet them when I was out and about (train journeys, a hotel bed, café lunches with friends). It made for a beautifully portable project and I so enjoyed this part of the making process.

When your flowers are set on their blotting paper, you'll then have 10 more coloured rounds to complete for each square, and I can tell you that these easy rounds crochet up very quickly. You will of course need to make time to darn in your ends (I know you'll listen to my voice and hear what I'm saying - darn-your-ends-!!). Mostly I darned my ends after each colour change because that's a habit I developed a long time ago, but sometimes I would finish a whole square with the ends hanging and darn them all in before moving onto the next square.

Now then, I have some additional creative thoughts to share with you, and I felt like this couldn't wait, just in case it might spark some ideas for you. 

When I was first thinking about using Stylecraft ReCreate yarn at the very start of this year, I started out thinking I might like to use it to make another large square blanket following the Yuletide pattern. So my very first sample was actually the circle shown above which is the Yuletide Mandala pattern. Looking at this image now, I'm finding that my fingers are itching (honestly, they are twitching as I type) to actually make another Yuletide square in these pretty vintage shades, because I think it would look absolutely wonderful and I LOVED making that large, therapeutic square so much.

I thought it would be interesting to share this with you as I always think it's good to ponder on ideas and share creative thoughts - I may even carry this through and make a start on a large ReCreate square when I get home from this trip - if I do, then I will certainly share my colour order as I go along. You never know, this might be floating your boat in the same way that my fingers are itching and twitching?!

Something else that I want to share with you today is the possibility of making the Flowerpress design using our beloved and familiar Stylecraft Special DK. I've read a number of comments on Facebook during the past week from those of you who are either allergic to wool and can't use ReCReate DK, or else you have a stash of SSDK yarn already that you really wish to use up, or you simply prefer SSDK to any other yarn.

There was one comment on Facebook, and I'm really sorry I can't remember the name of the lady who wrote it, but I would like to say that this was her idea (if you know who it was, please leave me a comment so I can give credit). She said that the Flowerpress colours really reminded her of the Hydrangea blanket, because of course they both have the same inspiration behind them - dried flowers! Of course!!

Yesterday I went to revisit the Hydrangea colours and as I could instantly see the similarities to the Flowerpress palette, it occurred to me that the Hydrangea yarn kit could be used to make the Flowerpress blanket.

Shall we take a proper look at the colours and I can share my thoughts?

In the above photo, the top row of pegs is the SSDK Hydrangea palette (15 colours), the bottom row of pegs is the ReCreate Flowerpress palette (10 colours). I managed to match them up with ease - a few differences but the overall feel of the SSDK palette works a treat.

So for an SSDK substitution, I would match them using the photo above, from left to right as follows :

Champagne = SSDK Mushroom (see notes below on this shade)

Blush = SSDK Vintage Pink

Rose = SSDK Pale Rose

Sky = SSDK Duck Egg

Teal = SSDK Cypress

Pistachio = SSDK Pistachio

Avocado = SSDK Meadow

Dijon = SSDK Camel

Cherry = SSDK Raspberry

Grape = SSDK Grape

The one colour I thought might possibly need a tweak is the Mushroom. I think if you you were being picky, then Parchment or A Hint of Silver might work better for the neutral to surround the flowers and edge/join the squares. 

The other thing to mention is about yarn quantities. Obviously I haven't had the chance to sample SSDK with this pattern yet so I'm not able to give any accurate information on hook size or tension/gauge, or yarn quantities. Although these two yarns are both DK weights and both 100g balls, the meterage does differ, so you would need to keep that in mind.

ReCreate DK has 350 metres per ball, whereas SSDK only has 295 metres per ball.

It means you might possibly need an extra ball of Mushroom (or whichever neutral colour you choose) and you'd have to assess quantities for the border too, maybe only working single rows for each colour if your yarn is running short?

I know this all sounds a bit vague, but at this stage I just wanted to help those of you who were thinking of going down the SSDK route. There has been quite a bit of discussion in the Facebook groups, so I felt it would be helpful to give you this information to help, and then leave it to you if you want to stash dive or purchase the Hydrangea kit. Incidentally, you will of course have 5 extra shades in the hydrangea kit and could easily add those into your squares and border rounds (although personally I'd leave out the Parma Violet, to let the Mushroom really do its job as the one neutral) - the colours are all very compatible with each other and you can't really go too far wrong using this alternative palette I don't think.

I hope this blog post has been helpful and inspiring (hmmm, the lure of a large square is positively ShOuTinG in my brain now). Do let me know in the comments if you have any questions, or suggestions, or requests, or just let me know your own creative plans. I always really enjoy reading your comments and never miss a single one (two way street, remember?)

Sending lots of love and light and colour and creative vibes to you....have fun!

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🌸FLOWERPRESS YARN KIT

🌸HYDRANGEA YARN KIT

🌸FLOWERPRESS PATTERN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flowerpress Blanket :: Ta-dah!

Good morning! If you want to go and grab a Flowerpress yarn pack, here is the link to Wool Warehouse >>

🌸FLOWERPRESS YARN PACK 🌸

Please do read on if you'd like to find out more about the blanket design and the inspiration behind it....

I've been crocheting blankets for seventeen years now, and the excitement of a new project is still just as high as it was all those years ago when I was a hooking newbie. Seeing my big baggy yarn bag bulging with beautiful new yarn colours awaiting the start of their journey is one of the great loves of my life, it really makes me unbelievably happy.

Today I want to tell you about this bag of yarn and share the inspiration behind my latest blanket, so lets start with some intel about the yarn itself, because as you've probably already guessed, this isn't my usual premium acrylic choice, but it is a very yummy yarn made by Stylecraft.

This yarn is called ReCreate DK which launched with twelve shades in 2021, with four additional shades added in March of this year to make 16 in total. Aside from the very pretty colours, Stylecraft ReCreate is a blended yarn that is made entirely from recycled fibres....yes, yes, this is a 100% recycled yarn!!!!

The composition of the yarn is 40% wool, 30% acrylic and 30% polyester. The wool and acrylic are recovered from garments that would have otherwise gone to landfill and the polyester component comes from recycled bottles which are shredded and then spun into yarn. How a-maaaay-zing is that??!!

Stylecraft says :

" We are dedicated to adding yarns to our collections that have less of an impact on the environment, so we only work with expert spinners. The company that makes ReCreate for us work to the Global Recycled Standard, which monitors the entire production cycle from collection to reclamation and finally production to make sure the materials used are traceable and are recycled to a very high standard and no chemicals that are harmful to the environment are used "

Here are some of my thoughts about this yarn :

• The 100g balls are wound in a neat donut shape (making them very easy to centre-pull and work from) and as you can see, the yarn contains some pretty multi-coloured flecks which give a subtle tweedy look.
• The very matt appearance gives a look and feel of soft cotton or washed linen - in fact everyone who has seen me working on this blanket in real life has been very surprised when I've told them this isn't cotton. If you've struggled crocheting with cotton before (it can be quite hard going on the hands as it has no stretch) then you will definitely be glad of the natural bounce in this yarn which makes it so, so nice to crochet with.
• The wool content makes for a warm fibre when it is crocheted up, even though the crochet feels airy and light weight.
• The yarn is quite fine for a DK weight, so you will need to be mindful of your guage if using it for the first time and experiment with hook sizes - I dropped down half a milimetre from my usual DK hook size.
• The finished crochet washes well in the machine at 30 degrees and can take a cool spin in the tumble drier. In fact I think the appearnace and feel improves after a wash as the wool fibres bloom slightly making the crochet feel much softer.

All in all, I think this is a truly wonderful and innovative yarn which has really pleased me endlessly as I've been working with it! It's soft, light, and warm, and altogether extremely likeable and charming with it's tweedy flecks and slightly muted, vintage appearance.

I've put together this very pretty colour palette using ten of the ReCreate DK colours and I think they look amazing together.

From left to right, the colours are as follows :

🌸Teal 🌸Avocado 🌸 Pistachio 🌸 Sky 🌸Champagne 🌸Dijon 🌸 Rose 🌸 Blush 🌸 Cherry 🌸 Grape

You can find the Flowerpress yarn pack in my shop at Wool Warehouse, click on the link below...

FLOWERPRESS YARN PACK*

*the yarn pack contains a 12 page full colour A4 printed pattern

When I chose these ten colours and began to have a play with them back in the springtime, I was still at the stage of wondering what sort of blanket to make. I definitely wanted to crochet squares, but at that early stage the blanket didn't really have an identity or a theme. I just knew that I LOVED the colours and the yarn, and that I wanted to make a very pretty, vintagey style blanket with a slightly sun-faded look and feel to it.

It was actually my lovely daughter who happened to mention that the colours reminded her of dried flowers, and from that moment onwards I couldn't stop thinking about the small, old fashioned wooden flower press I used to have as a child, with squares of corrugated cardboard and blotting paper stacked between two wooden squares, and silver wing nuts to tighten it all up...do you remember those??? I AdOrEd pressing flowers as a child and used to do it with my Mum a lot - we made many pressed flower pictures and cards to gift to relatives when I was young, gathering flowers from the garden and the hedgerows in Dorset where I grew up.

In the above photo you can see some old postcards of mine - I dug them out of my very full box-of-lovely-cards as the colours and pressed flowers captured everything I had been reminiscing about (postcards from Ikea, circa 1999)

I also want to share something very special with you, the above journal which belonged to my Mum and was recently discovered in a big bag of her belongings that were left to me when she died.

This is my Mum's gardening journal from over twenty years ago, where she wrote about her love of flowers and creating a garden from scratch. The photo is of the small cottage where she lived with her partner for thirty years (my parents were divorced when I was a teenager so I never lived here but I visited often). She wrote...

"I take immense pleasure from my garden and gardening activities. The amount I spend in both my time and my finances I consider to be of enormous value".

She really did love her flower garden!

There are more pages where she has written about her own childhood and the gardens she had helped to nurture over the years, but can you see the pressed flowers and petals she glued to the pages? Oh, my heart.....so precious......the sight of them really did send me right back to my young childhood self. When I found these pages I had already started crocheting the flowers for my new blanket, so this unexpected connection to the past suddenly seemed very poignant somehow.

Flowers are naturally at the heart of the Flowerpress blanket, and I designed them before I really had an idea of how to make them into squares, or how the blanket was actually going to look overall. I had a lot of fun with the colours, they really made me happy (above photo taken at the end of April - springtime flowers blooming).

If you are thinking about giving this blanket a go, then I can really recommend working all the flowers first - it means you get the slightly more fiddlesome bits done and dusted, but also, you get the joy of playing with them too - haha - I'm serious about this!! It's so much fun seeing these cute blooms grow and fly off the hook!

↑↑ And then the flowers are placed on their blotting paper squares, ready to go into the press....well that's how I began to think about this blanket in my mind. A bit fanciful maybe, but that's honestly how my Creative Mind works. The story spins itself around the stitches and the colours....

...and just like that a beautiful sqaure is made. There is nothing complicated about the Flowerpress pattern, and like all my designs I use simple stitches with a therapeutic, easy rythmn to the rounds. Once you've made your inner square (the blotting paper rounds) you can enjoy some easy trebles to build out the larger square.

This is a fast make, with 16 rounds in each square coming together very easily. And only 16 squares to make in total before the joining and the border....it's a really, really satisfying blanket to work on I promise.

I've been making this blanket very quietly and gently since the spring, keeping it to myself and using it to soothe the rough edges of the difficult days, and honestly I don't know what I would have done without it. I believe the soft colours and sweet vintage feel of them together took me on some sort of nostalgic journey and brought forth some wonderful memories in the process. It's been such a pleasure!

The final round of each square is a narrow round of double crochet worked in this delicious off-white shade....

....it adds an element of graphic detail as well as an easy final round which forms the base of the joining seams.

The squares are seamed with long rows of slip stitches on the reverse side (no join-as-you-go this time), and I've given a full explanation of this process in the printed pattern which comes in the yarn packs, as well as in the photo tutorial.

I decided to go with a lovely wide stripy border to finish off....because the squares are full of detail and lots of colour changes, I wanted something calming and soft to frame everything and add a gentle finishing touch. The wide, stripy border works beautifully to do this, and then.....

....a pretty scallopped edge to finish it all off.

The finished Flowerpress blanket measures 120 cm square which is the same size as the Fireside blanket I made two years ago. The two blankets look so lovely together, and it struck me a few days ago that I've now made an Autumn/Winter blanket (the Fireside) and a Spring/Summer blanket (the Flowerpress) - one rich, earthy and snuggly, and the other soft, light and airy.

4 ft square blankets are a lovely size - they make good lap blankets, or throws to go over the back of a chair. I also love to fold them in half into a triangle and wear them around my shoulders like an oversized shawl when I'm sitting to read in the evenings - the ReCreate yarn feels lovely next to the skin, not at all woolly/itchy, even thought he 30% wool content makes it beautifully warm.

↑↑ The kitty.....well.....what can I say??! She has adored this blanket right from the very start and often when I was making the squares, she would sit herself down on one if it was on the table, it's like she just couldn't help herself. I took the above photo of her one day - the blanket was still in progress (I was working on the border at the time) and it was folded up on the sofa waiting for me to choose a colour for the next round. Almost as soon as she saw me place it down she was sitting upon it, and not long after I found her in full snooze mode.

During the past month, you'll be pleased to hear that we've given the Flowerpress blanket a thorough testing and it has passed with flying colours.

And now, I do think it's high time we had a better look at the finished article, so you can see how lovely the squares look, and the beautiful wide border too.

I used seven colours to make the wide border and I love the gentleness of it.

The scalloped edge is an echo of the rounded flower petals at the centre of each square, and I knew quite early on that this would be a great edging for the Flowerpress blanket. It adds such a pretty finishing touch, and I'm super happy with how it all came together.

When I'm designing a square blanket, I find that I can fairly easily visualise how it's going to look because my Creative Mind has had a lot of practice. So much of the making time is spent crocheting the individual squares, so I need to have real faith in the way that it will all come together because I only get to know for sure right at the end once all the squares are made and then joined.

With the Fowerpress blanket, I loved the individual squares so much when I was making them and really hoped that once they were all joined together that they would look as good in real life as I had imagined them.

Would you like to see?

I think we should take a look................

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

I am delighted to tell you that the finished blanket is even more lovely than I imagined it in my mind, and as a designer, this is such an amazing revelation (and a huge relief if I'm honest). It's the moment of truth, and comes at the end of many, many hours, days, weeks and months of work.

I adore the Flowerpress blanket, it has such a gentle feel about it, and for me personally, it connects me to the past with some lovely memories from my childhood. It's been an absolute pleasure to make, and I hope maybe you might feel inspired to crochet your own Flowerpress and enjoy the soothing colour therapy.

Talking of colour therapy, while I've been making the Flowerpress squares I have of course been using my big baggy yarn bag to carry everything around. This bag is still going strong after sixteen years of constant use (you can find the pattern and read about it on my blog ((HERE))

I took the above photo yesterday to share with you - can you see how amazingly similar the Flowerpress colours are to my yarn bag? Made sixteen years apart with two completely different yarns, but my signature colour palette has obviously not changed one bit!!!

So there we have it - the story of the Flowerpress Blanket......I really hope you've enjoyed the visuals and an insight into my design process.

I want to talk to you now about the Flowerpress pattern which I'm really proud of because honestly, it's a challenge to design an original crochet square that is easy enough for beginners to have a go with. A lot of large crochet squares end up being complicated things, and as you know, I like to keep things simple so that there's an element of relaxation and joy in the making process.

If you like the look of the Flowerpress blanket and buy a yarn pack from my shop at Wool Warehouse, you will get a 12 page full colour printed pattern included with the yarn.

I am also publishing the Flowerpress pattern for FREE here on my blog, for those of you who wish to support your local yarn shops and buy yarn from a bricks and mortar store. I also think that this pattern would make a great stash-buster project to use up yarn you already have. Please keep in mind that the guage will be different if you use a differnt type of yarn (ie Stylecraft Special DK) but I think it would be a fun creative adventure if you wanted to use yarn you already have and choose your own colours.

At this time, the free Flowerpress SQUARE pattern is available here on my blog, written for you as a traditional pattern. There is a full photo tutorial coming, but it isn't quite ready to share with you just yet, and I'm so sorry that I have had to take my time with it. I've had a lot of difficulty concentrating lately, and it is only me here doing all the things (well my lovely hubby does help by making my charts for me), so I do hope you'll understand. I shall of course let you know as soon as it is ready and published.

If you are eager to get going with yarn you already have, then you can find the Flowerpress pattern on my blog in the left hand sidebar in the long alphabetical list.....or click on the following link :

🌸FREE FLOWERPRESS PATTERN 🌸

Well I think that's about all the Flowerpress blankety chat for now, I hope you've enjoyed a peek behind the scenes into my creative process and have enjoyed seeing my blanket journey take shape.

Thank you as ever for your enthusiasm and support of my work, it really does mean the world. THANK YOU!!!

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Here are a few useful links >>

♥ FLOWERPRESS YARN PACK (includes a 12 page full colour printed pattern)

♥ FREE FLOWERPRESS PATTERN

 

PS, a few additional things to add, after reading all the comments on my Facebook page...

• Stylecraft ReCreate yarn contains 30% wool, and some of you have mentioned that you are allergic to wool. At this time, I don't have colours put together in Stylecraft Special DK (premium acrylic) to match the ReCreate colours, but of course you are free to do this yourself if you wish.
• Some of you have also said that you would prefer to make a striped blanket, and I'm sorry that I haven't got a stripe order to give you right now. The guage of ReCreate is different to Special DK so I'm not happy giving out instructions to make a striped blanket until I've worked samples myself and am confident with how the size and yardage will work with ReCreate DK. Again, of course you can do this yourself if you wish, and at some time in the future I may well work on this for you, but not just at the moment.
• I know many of you rely on my photo-heavy tutorials to help you with the patterns and I'm so sorry that I haven't had time to complete the tutorial for you today. As soon as it's ready, I will of course let you know.

 

 

Dorset :: March 2024 (part 1)

Travelling from the north of England to visit my family in Dorset (south coast) is a 600 mile round journey I've made countless times since I left home as a teenager. I've lived in the north of England since my Manchester student days in the 80's, so I've experienced many decades of north-south-north travel and it's become a familiar part of my adult life.

Last year I made more Dorset trips than ever before (seven? eight?) and without a doubt, each and every one of those visits was stressful and difficult. Most of you will know the story here - my Dorset visits last year were about caring for my Dad who has mid stage mixed dementia, and after a huge amount of worry and stress we were eventually able to move him into a care home in October. The last time I was in Dorset was in late October, a trip made with J so that we could sort out my Dad's house and prepare for it to be cleared and vacated. It was an emotional end to forty five years of attachment to the home where I grew up through my teenage years and then stayed as an adult with my own family.

So I had high hopes for this latest trip to Dorset - I wanted it to be a fresh start of sorts, a way to revisit a much loved and familiar place without feeling the constant weight of worry or stress. I wanted my days spent there to regain something of a light and happy feel, and to start to heal from the past few years which have been so emotionally hard.

Two things were different about this latest visit to Dorset. Number one, I chose to stay somewhere new, deciding on Weymouth which is a seaside resort twenty miles along the coast from where I grew up and call home. I wanted to be near the sea, take early morning walks on the beach and feel like I was on holiday while still being close enough to my Dad's care home for easy visiting.

Number two, I wasn't on my own this visit, but travelling and holidaying with a close friend who also has family connections in Dorset. It's a totally different vibe travelling with a friend - lets just say she has a lively, outgoing personality (the opposite to my quiet, introverted one), and the train journey was chatty and we drank prosecco out of plastic cups - say no more!

We stayed our first night in a small and very lovely guest house, but for the next three nights we had booked a holiday apartment with views out over the harbour. That first morning by the sea was absolutely beautiful, as if I had placed an order and had it delivered especially. The bluest of skies and bright, bright sunlight, the sort of high-grade light that you only get beside the sea on a sunshiny day. 

We took a slow, ambling stroll all along the central beach at Weymouth, heading east over the sands and then onto the smaller pebbly beach which is backed by pretty pastel painted guest houses and cute beach huts. 

It was so nice just pottering along the shoreline chatting to my friend, stopping often to pick up shells and take in the coastal scenery. 

By the time we walked back to the main sandy beach the morning was moving on (the time stamp on the above photo reads exactly 11:11, don't you love it when those numbers all line up for a moment in time?)

We had a train to catch, so we took a quick stroll around the harbour and then off to the train station in town. I was going to see my Dad, and the train made it very easy for me with a quick eleven minute journey and then a very short walk. The visit was short (I'll tell you more at the end of this post I think) and I came out of the care home feeling a bit deflated, so it was a good feeling to be able to get back on the train, shake off the low mood and know that I was heading to the calming influence of the sea.

We checked into our apartment in the late afternoon and it was absolutely perfect. Warm, homely and spotlessly clean with large windows in all the rooms facing out to the harbour. It was too cold to make use of the balcony, but I imagine in summertime that this little outside space gets a lot of use from visiting guests.

My friend was a life long knitter until I brought her over to the bright side and introduced her to the hook fourteen years ago. She's been crocheting ever since and is currently making the Sungold blanket. I have to say we were both very content to spend time in the apartment watching the boats coming and going  while adding rows/rounds to our Sungold projects. Crochet is such a beautiful way to spend relaxing time, I adore it for that.

Can you see on the table in the above photo there is a platter? I wanted to show it to you......

....isn't it stunning? It's made by an artist called Margaret Johnson and we saw lots of her work displayed in a gorgeous little gallery on the other side of the harbour. I loved that the apartment showcased original art work on the walls too, and it was great to be able to see more work in the gallery (Cove Gallery, if you are ever in the area, they were very friendly and welcoming in there, and had so many gorgeous things, all with a coastal theme).

Saturday morning and after a really solid nights sleep we woke up to a lovely cold, blustery, bright, fresh day. My friend and I both had our own plans for Saturday, each of us visiting our Dads. It's a strange co-incidence that we became fast friends in Yorkshire and later on found out that we shared a connection to this part of Dorset. Her Dad lives in Weymouth and she's spent many of her own family holidays here over the years, and now my Dad is only 8 miles down the road. So, a Dad-day for us both.......

.....but first.....c-o-f-f-e-eeeeeeeee. 

I picked this place out and what a bloomin' good choice it was too. It's a bikers café right on the side of the harbour, with sunny outside tables and stunning views. No, no, not the noisy bikes with roaring engines, but the silent new breed of electric pedal bikes that are all the rage these days. In my experience, where cyclists gather there is usually very good coffee and baked goods to be had, and this proved to be accurate in Weymouth. The coffee was outstanding and the views.....

.....well, they were outstanding too. Weymouth harbour is very, very picturesque, especially in this quiet part of the year when there is breathing space and no crowds. 

After my very good coffee, I walked through the centre of Weymouth town to go and track down the coastal bus. My plan was to journey along the coast to Bridport to meet with Lady B, take her out for brunch and then we were going to go together to spend a few hours in the afternoon with my Dad.

I LOVE travelling on this bus, it's called the Jurassic Coaster and sitting on the top deck gives an amazing view of the Dorset coast which I love so, so much. You can see in the above photo we are about to whizz past the turning to West Bexington, and you can see the caravan site above Chesil beach where we stayed last year.

It was lovely to see Lady B and our visit to my Dad was OK....I'll try and tell you a bit more about it at the end of this post, if the words will come. It's hard.

After saying my goodbyes, I once again hopped on the train and journeyed the eleven minutes along to the end of the line where the sea was waiting for me. What an absolute delight to be able to walk "home" along the beach and breathe in the calm of the sea.

Fishing boats were returning to the harbour after a day at sea...

....and the early evening light was ever so beautiful.

I can't tell you how wonderful it was to have this time at the coast, it really did help re-balance my soul at the beginning and end of each day.

So...my Dad. He is doing OK really, and surprisingly (given his difficult, stubborn temperament), he has settled pretty well into the care home life. He has aged considerably in the four months since my last visit, I think dementia has a way of slowly leaching away both body and mind and I thought that my Dad just seemed "less" in every way. He has lost weight, is very slow and wobbly, and generally just a lot of his character and spirit has vanished. He has never really been the chatty sort, but now he doesn't really like to speak much at all. He didn't know who I was, not one clue. Even when I told him my name and that we were family, he just didn't understand what that meant any more. I can't lie, it was dreadfully sad, but at the same time I think I did a lot of my heart felt emotional grieving last year and have now reached a place of quiet acceptance. He is safe (and for most of last year he really wasn't at all safe) and seems reasonably content, so I am thankful for that. 

I was so glad that my visit to Dorset this time was about more than just dealing with the effects of dementia. This area of the south coast where I grew up is still a place that brings me great peace and joy, and I really felt that in the days I spent there. I'll tell you about Sunday in my next post - it was such a GOOD day and I can't wait to share it with you.

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