Attic24

Summer Snippets {one}

☀ It's the start of the long six week summer break here, and just as I did last year I thought it'd be nice to share some little snippets of life as we pootle gently through our days. I woke up late this morning completely disorientated, not knowing what day of the week it was or what on earth I was supposed to be doing. It was a blissful feeling when my brain finally woke up and I realised I could take my time and nothing much was needed of me for a while. I adore this feeling so much! It's relief mixed with an overwhelming sense of calm. All is well, it's the summer holidays and we will be operating on a completely different schedule for the foreseeable. Yippeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!

☀ Summer holidays for me generally means a lot of juggling. As with most mums of school age children, I'm used to multi-tasking and mixing my parenting with work commitments, and this summer holds a fair amount of both for me. I'm cracking on with lots of Yarndale stuff, working on the content for the printed brochure as well as the big Creative Community project that I organise each year. I designed and made these little "treasure bowls" last week as a project for the Yarndale brochure - they are made from pure wool which means I can put them into the washing machine and felt them.......so much fun! I'll show you more in a separate post as I've got another felting project on the go right now too. 

☀ Luckily for us our allotment is only a couple of minutes walk from our back door so we are easily able to nip up most days and check on our small but precious crops. These are my minuscule, super-dwarf beans which I am so in love with - they are ever so cute! Despite their diminutive size they are starting to deliver us some delicious beans and I couldn't be happier. it's like having a row of really well behaved little children all performing over and above what is expected of them. Gold star award for the teensy bean plants, top of the class.

☀ The sweet peas aren't producing a whole lot of flowers to be honest, and look a bit on the spindly side. I have a feeling I forgot to pinch out the growing tips at the seedling stage, so the plants never bushed out like I expected them to. Ah well, I'm happy to be picking small posies each week which are scented to perfection, even if there isn't the abundance I was hoping for.

☀ Our small tenty green house is working out really well and keeping our plants nicely protected from the winds that whip across our sloping hillside plot. We've got cucumbers, tomatoes and chilies growing in here and I love seeing how well they are doing.

☀ This was yesterday's harvest, gathered with a great deal of happy enthusiasm by myself and Little B. We had to carry out a fair bit of adventurous hacking to get to the teensy raspberries through the riot of brambles in the overgrown soft fruit bed. It was rather painful and our haul was a little on the small side, but still, the excitement was unrelentingly high. I let Little B eat the raspberries with some greek yoghurt and honey and he said they were super-yummy. And check out my cucumbers, how good do they look?! So proud of my veggie babies.

☀ I'm working on the printed patterns for my new Summer Ripple blankets this week, which is quite hard going. Taking step-by-step photographs as I create the borders and writing up the patterns isn't nearly as enjoyable as the hooky itself which has been hugely pleasurable. But I'm making good progress and hope that everything will be ready to go by the end of this week. Maybe even Thursday.

And in other news, I know I am late to this particular party but I've just discovered frozen smoothie packs at the supermarket. Wow, they are brilliant! They nestle in the freezer between the massive selection of lollies and ice creams and the bags of ice cubes, so you have to kind of know to go and look there for them. There isn't a huge choice in Morrisons, but the above concoction was made from a Red Smoothie pack (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and mango), blended with a dollop of greek yoghurt and some milk. Yum yum yum, sooooooooo good. The Little People are ecstatic that I'm willingly offering to make these for them without thee need for begging or nagging on their part. 

We've had this multi purpose blender for almost a year now (it's a NutriPro 1200) and it's fantastic for general blitzing jobs in the kitchen (making breadcrumbs, chopping nuts, blitzing soup, making curry paste, hummus, dips etc) but I've never been bothered to make smoothies with it. However, it really is the bees knees when it comes to blending chunks of frozen stuff, I've been very impressed. 

☀ The curious mixture above came out of the Green Smoothie pack and consists of frozen kale, banana and mango. And in case you're wondering what that bitty sawdusty stuff is, well, that's lemongrass. Took me a while to actually read the packet and work out why everything was covered in sawdust. I divided the pack up into individual bags so that I can easily make up one smoothie at a time (that isn't all kale and no fruit)  - it gets mixed with apple juice and water to produce this.........

.....mmmmmmmmmm. It looks a bit overly health conscious, but actually tastes delicious. Little B couldn't be persuaded though, he took one slurp and said it made his tummy hurt and could he please stick to the pink one. Guess I'll be the one drinking the kale smoothies then.

☀ A photo of our Big Chair, just because I love it so. It's an oversized chair-and-a-half that we inherited from J's parents who were throwing it out and it fits an adult and willing small child quite nicely for film watching and snuggling. I change the blankets over regularly as they get a lot of wear and tear on this chair, and I'm really enjoying the bright pop of colour that the Sunny Granny Stripe is delivering right now. In case you were wondering about the cushion, that's the Water Lily cushion I made last year using Stylecraft Batik yarn (see here for yarn and pattern details). It's grown on me considerably since I first made it, and I do appreciate the more subtle colouring set against the exuberance of all my blankets.

☀ The Big Chair is where I sit when I can't sleep and come downstairs in the very early hours of the morning. I'm generally a good sound sleeper, but due (I suspect) to my hormones, I'm having some very disrupted nights just lately. I wake at 3am feeling as if someone lit a fire under me, and then find it almost impossible to get back to sleep again. I feel anxious and a little panicky, with a racing heartbeat and a mind that refuses to switch down a gear. I've learnt not to struggle with this any more, and instead of tossing and turning I get up quietly, come downstairs, make a cup of tea, sit quietly with the cat and read or crochet a little until the rest of the household wakes up. I was surprised when I got up yesterday morning to see that it was still dark at 4am. So I switched on my my fairy lights and lit some candles, and waited for the sun to wake up. It was so peaceful as I yawned my way through those darkened early hours of the day.

☀ Little B - so very, very happy to be on his summer break home from school. His happiness radiated out of him today as he loafed about listening to music, playing with his lego and watching insane cartoons on Netflix. He played outside too, kicking a ball around with his friends on the street and riding his bike up and down and up and down. The start of the summer holidays always feels so light and joyful, with endless days stretching ahead to be enjoyed and filled with good things. Oh, I'm hopeful for many Good Things. Always hopeful, that's me.

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Summer Plodding

✿ a walk to the farm shop on my own one morning last week, just because I didn't feel like going home. I bought a bar of my favourite chocolate and a take away milky coffee, then walked back through the park to my favourite bench to sit in the sun and consume the aforementioned refreshments.  It was a small window of relaxation in my busy week that I would probably have forgotten about if I hadn't just come across the above photo of my bench view. These are the same cherry trees that I photographed in this post back in May - in fact if you look at the 2nd to last photo in that post you'll see my favourite bench right there under the trees.

✿ pegging out the laundry and having a little tussle with the clematis. It's flowering beautifully this year whilst attempting to grow it's way along my washing line. I've decided to leave it be and peg around it as best as I can.

✿ A Sunday morning walk along the river - this is Linton Falls looking incredibly dry and depleted (you can see this same spot in my November post when the river was in full flow). 

✿ the heatwave continues here in he UK, with temperatures reaching 29°C (this is around 84°F which I know isn't at all hot for many of you in other parts of the world, but it is for us Brits!). I love the hot weather (love love love it) but it sure looks like hard work for those wearing a woolly fleece.

✿ plodding along the riverside, listening to the banter going back and forth between J and Little B. It was just the three of us on this Sunday morning as the two Teens were both off doing other things.

✿ a little bit wowed by this enormous tree fungus, it was as big as a stack of dinner plates. Somehow I always associate fungus with the Autumn season, but this summer-loving one was seriously impressive.

✿ love love loving a continuous succession of summer posies in various jugs and bottles on my table. Sweet peas, cosmos, lavender and lady's mantle looking unbelievably pretty. I've got sweet peas growing at the allotment and in a large pot in the back yard too - I can't say they are really producing an abundance of flowers just yet, but there are enough for me to pick small posies every week. I've got a little bottle of flowers beside my bed at the moment too, which makes me so happy.

✿ a family jaunt out on Saturday to the RHS gardens near Harrogate where it was all very beautiful, sunshiny and refined. In complete contrast to the calm, serene surroundings our youngest child decided to behave like a wild thing.  

✿ luckily there are parts of the gardens that are very suitable for wild-child behaviour, thank goodness for the open grassy slopes (roly-polys galore) and the woodland play areas (cue much wild running). I think all that restrained behaviour on the terrace at Betty's tearoom (not to mention the sugary drink and cookie that was consumed on said terrace) simply needed an outlet. It was simultaneously worrying and inspiring watching that child deal with his excess energy.

✿ the last time we came to HC was many years ago when I was carrying Little B inside my tummy and it was Autumn time then. The gardens are an absolute delight in the height of summer, I was on visual overload for a while.

✿ I adored this wild flower meadow planted next to the kitchen garden, it was humming with bees and was such a feast for the eyes and the soul.

✿ there was so much about the gardens that I enjoyed - the alpine house, the kitchen garden, the ginomrous terracota pots overflowing with summer flowers, the willow sculptures....it was all very, very lovely. I wish I'd taken more photos, especially of the kitchen garden which was totally inspirational and made me wish for more time and energy to give to our allotment plot.

✿ J and I have been walking in the countryside every chance we get and I have so enjoyed being out and about making the most of the weather and the summer season. On Sunday all three of our offspring happened to be busy with friends so we took ourselves off to Bolton Abbey and walked the whole length and breadth of the estate. From Barden Bridge at one end down to the Abbey at the other end, crossing back and forth over the three river bridges in a big loop. I think it was around 7 or 8 miles in total and was such a lovely walk.

✿ at the start of this week we had our first proper downpour of rain in almost two months. A muggy grey day of low cloud and light drizzle, followed by heavy rainfall in the evening. The air smelt amazing and was the very definition of the word petrichor. It was just the most calming and relaxing thing to be sat quietly in bed with the window wide open, listening to the sound of the rain falling.

✿ keeping up the watering regime at the allotment has been a struggle in this dry hot weather but we are plodding on with it. Our small number of crops are hanging on in there, some doing better than others. The spinach gave up early on and bolted, but we have high hopes for cucumbers and tomatoes which are looking very promising growing in the shelter of a small plastic tenty-type greenhouse thingy. I planted a row of dwarf beans and they are the smallest bean plants I have ever seen, barely reaching above my ankles. However, they are producing flowers and beans..........and yesterday I harvested the grand total of nine beans which was very exciting in a rather small, modest way. We ate them for dinner, sharing them out two each which was a bit of a joke but the Little People made the appropriate enthusiastic noises to keep me happy. Bless 'em. In case you were wondering, I added shop-bought sugar snap peas to the 2-bean offering so it wasn't quite as desperate as it sounds. 

✿ been playing with sweet peas this week, arranging them, faffing with them, photographing them and just plain enjoying their colourful beauty, like you do. 

✿ I really want to have a go at designing a crochet sweet pea flower so that I can make some to twine around a Summer wreath.  They are very three-dimensional flowers so I've found it hard in the past to look at photos of them and work out how the petal construction might work. But having the real thing to look at makes it very much easier, and the colours are really inspiring me and my summer loving heart. 

✿ not homegrown potatoes, but the mint is growing exuberantly in one of my many back yard pots. Yesterday's dinner offering was the nine allotment green beans (with added sugar snap peas), salmon filet marinated in olive oil/lemon/honey/garlic then pan fried, and baby new potatoes tossed in butter and fresh mint. It was light, tasty and utterly summery. I hope the Little People look back on their childhood family meals and remember how blinkin' good they were. I cook from scratch with fresh ingredients most nights, and having the five of us all sit down at the table to eat our evening meal together is one of the true highlights of my day. I may be totally rubbish at housework in general, but I do always try my bestest to do a good job with the food thing.

✿ a little bit of after dinner hooky in the back yard, crocheting the last run of ripples on this gorgeous summer cotton blanket. I think I've only got around 6 stripes left to make, then it's onto the border. I'm so looking forward to telling you more about the yarn (which I've totally fallen in love with) and the two summer blankets that I've been steadily plodding away with since February. Not long to wait now.....I'm really pretty flipping excited to share, it drives me a bit bonkers to keep things under wraps for any length of time. I'll be feeling a whole load better once this is all out there, I can't wait!!!

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Feels like Summer

The past few weeks have felt like a dream, a tantalising taste of exactly what Summer should look and feel like as our days continue to roll out all warm, bright and full of sunshine. I have been like a flower, constantly turning my face up to the sun, drinking in the clear blue skies and feeling a deep down gratitude for this season of light and warmth.

The effort I put into sorting out my back yard at the end of May is making me so happy now as we jig along through June. Truthfully it wasn't a huge effort, although it somehow felt like it was in the weeks I spent procrastinating over tackling it. All it took was a couple of afternoons emptying out all my pots of old soil and dead plants, re-filling with fresh compost and planting some cheap and cheerful supermarket annuals to bring an instant hit of colour. J also helped me clear some broken garden furniture and a heap of miscellaneous outdoor debris (plenty of rotten and broken things) so that our outdoor space suddenly feels very much tidier and bigger somehow, even though it's still teeny tiny. We need some new seating, and I am hankering after a small painted wooden storage shed, but for now we are making do.

My flowers aren't really established enough just yet to provide me with much in the way of pickings for indoors, but that didn't stop me.  

I snipped a few small stems....

....and thoroughly enjoyed having my first little back yard posy sitting in a small jug on the dining table. This to me is a sure sign of summer and I absolutely love it.

I've used my backyard a lot during the past few weeks, it provides me with a weeny bit of peaceful solitude at times when the house just feels rather noisy and chaotic with children, television, constant comings and goings. I enjoy it most in the early mornings when I can quietly sneak out through the kitchen door without anyone knowing where I am for a short while. 

I've been crocheting outdoors a fair bit of late, turning my outdoor table into a little bit of a working space. I've been experimenting with crochet using non-machine wash pure wools that felt beautifully when the crochet is popped into the washing machine. I'll show you more of my experiments very soon - it's very exciting I can tell you! 

We walked up to the farm shop at the weekend, a slow stroll for J and I with Little B zooming around us on his bike. I couldn't resist this pretty summery chocolate from Yorkshire based company  Choc Affair, oh you just have to know that the taste was something else - so, so good!

Cherries came home in our bag too, one of our favourite summer fruits and always a delight when they are in season. 

I've been working in my studio, even though the weather has constantly called me to be outside instead. I've got a lot on at the moment with various deadlines fast approaching, so I very much appreciate having my studio to go to as it puts my mind firmly in get-on-with-it mode. Ooooo, I had a super-exciting meeting on Monday with a very lovely lady who traveled especially to see me. I can't tell you anything about it just yet, but lets just say I was squeeeeeing inwardly (and maybe a little bit outwardly too, it was unavoidable) at the ideas and possibilities she put forward. I am keeping digits crossed.

I've got a jug of sweet williams on my studio table this week, they make me sneeze a bit but I can't resist their charming colours and old-fashioned nostalgic looks. 

June brings forth the elderflowers, and my goodness this is a bumper year for these frothy white flowers. They are growing in abundance in my neighbourhood, the trees laden down with so many flowers in full bloom.

We went out at the beginning of last week to gather in some floral booty, Little B and I snipping and gathering and getting dusted with fragrant pollen. 

I shared my elderflower cordial recipe a few years ago (here it is, if you wish to see how to make it), and this year we picked enough flowers to make 3 batches. I've frozen quite a bit of it in small plastic bottles, but we all love to drink it so it doesn't tend to last long. J and I have discovered the delights of an ice cold gin and tonic with an added dash of elderflower cordial, oh, you need to try it, trust me, it is absolutely sublime on a sunny late afternoon.

Bubble blowing - I'm not sure what to say about this except for how lovely it is. All of it. The excitement never fades for me where big, blowy bubbles are concerned, they just make me insanely happy.

My hill view is wearing it's beautiful green summer outfit, and the cold, brown days seem far behind us. We've had rain this week for the first time since the start of the month, so the countryside is looking (and smelling) especially fresh.

Quite often I will find a reason to walk down to the supermarket in the evenings, to purchase something completely random that absolutely cannot wait until the morning. I like the feeling of being out and about in the evenings whilst it's still light, it gives me a brief feeling of freedom to escape the house at unexpected times. I like when the days feel longer than normal. I like it a lot.

Work at the allotment continues, I wish I had some better pictures to share with you. My sweet peas are doing well, and so far the beans and spinach seem to be surviving the mollusks. We've seen some enormous frogs hopping about on our plot, so I hope their bellies are full of slugs! I was late putting the sweet peas into the ground (nothing new there) and now feel desperate for them to grow big and tall and flower at warp speed. I absolutely cannot WAIT for the flowers! 

J and I did a shortish walk at Bolton Abbey on Monday, stopping a while on the beach opposite the abbey ruins to eat a picnic lunch. It was peaceful and quiet, and unusually I missed the Little People on that day. Mondays are usually all about relishing our child-free hours together, but there was something about being on that beach that tugged at my heart strings and made me wish for the kidlets to be there. Not that the Teens would want to do that sort of thing nowadays, but I remember them so vividly enjoying this place in years gone by. 

Another evening stroll on a still, warm day - I think it was Sunday evening. I had an urge to walk in the woods as it had rained earlier in the day and I fancied a bit of "Shinrin-yoku" would be a good thing before bed.

I had the pleasure of both Little B and Little Lady with me on this walk.....

...chattering loudly as we walked in the cool damp woodland. It did indeed smell gorgeous, just as I hoped it would.

By the time we returned home it was 9pm and the sun was well on it's way down, shining low and golden through the trees and reminding me for the zillionth time how much I adore the feel of summer. I hope you are loving these mid-year days and finding lots of little things to make you feel happy.

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May End

Last week it was half term and I tell you we were all so ready for a change of pace and a break from routine. I'm sure it's the same in every household with school age children, that deep-down need for some respite from the clock watching and the nagging that comes with trying to get the offspring ready for the day and out the door on time.

On top of the usual school stuff we're in the midst of GCSE exams with The Teen, so the slight ease up last week was especially welcome for him, and for me too. I'm trying really hard to trust in his very laid back approach, trying my level best not to keep questioning his commitment or the amount of time he's spent revising. 

All will be well, I'm sure. 

So last week was all about laid back relaxation, which I'm happy to say that we all rather excel at here. However for me personally, I would have dearly loved a trip to the coast in amongst all the laid-backness, I'm feeling a strong emotional pull to be beside the sea at the moment. But when I put the idea forward to the family I was met with a complete lack of interest or understanding. I even offered to down-grade my expectations to a day trip to the West coast instead of an overnight stay on my favourite East coast, but nobody wanted to go and I have to be honest, it broke my heart a little. My Little People are growing up so fast, and most of the time I absolutely love to see their independent and strong spirits thriving. But every so often, oh I do so long to have them little again, when trips to the seaside would be met with such joy and enthusiasm.

Once I got over my disappointment and realised that we wouldn't be going anywhere at all, I settled down into our home space and made the most of the warm sunny days. We did some more to Little B's bedroom which is still an ongoing thing, and we had a bit of a clear out of rubbish in the cellar and the back yard which was very therapeutic. We bought bags of compost and I refilled all my back yard pots before planting them up with some colourful annuals. We worked at the allotment, cutting back overgrown pathways, weeding the main growing beds and preparing to plant out various little pots of veggies and herbs that we've collected from kinds friends and the garden centre. I saw an idea on Pinterest for creating a trellis for sweet peas out of bamboo canes and twine, and that's going to be my next project. I've already got the seedlings waiting patiently to put down their roots into deeper soil - gosh my to-do list really is humongous. 

As well as all the Doing, there was plenty of idling for us all and I guess that's the whole point of these short one week holidays at home. To rest, recharge, and to seek out the little things that make us deep-down happy. I spent lots of time in my back yard, either crocheting or reading, or sometimes (especially first thing in the morning) just sipping coffee and listening to the birds.  My reading was all about drinking in the May and June magazine issues which I had been saving especially for this week of down-time. These are my most favourite issues of the whole year (well this it my favourite time of year in general) and they did not disappoint. Such a lot of visual happiness in those pages, all light, fresh, summery colours to inspire and bring on the happy vibes. Just lovely in a dreamy, slightly unreal kind of a way.

Although I had hoped for some days out last week, in the end we didn't venture further than where we could walk. We walked in the woods, walked to the farm shop and we spent quite a lot of time at the park. 

One evening I took Little B with me on one of my regular buttercup appreciation walks, and on the way there he'd asked me how many buttercups there were in the meadow. I told him to guess how many he thought, to which he answered "maybe around two hundred?" His face was a picture when he saw the true scale of the meadow, it really is breathtaking and his wide astonished eyes reflected it perfectly.

I love the light at this time of year, most especially at the end of the day. I love that a walk in the park at 8pm feels so special when the sun is low and golden and night time still feels a long way off.

Last week I picked my crochet banner back up, and after a few weeks break from it I know straight away what I needed to do for the border. During the school holidays we try and keep our Creative Coopers group going on a Friday morning at the cafe, and I think I appreciate those happy hours even more during the holidays than I do during term time. It's just a fabulous way to round up the week and I dearly love spending time with my creative friends and any visitors who happen to drop in to join us. 

Once I'd finished the 6 border rounds it was time to stitch on the letters. This didn't go smoothly, in fact, it was probably the hardest part of the whole project and took for EVER to complete. My fingers protested at all that stitching (I used back stitch around the outer edge of each letter, so it was very labour intensive), but I stuck with it and am so so happy with the outcome. I'm crocheting an additional piece all along the top now so that I can insert a piece of wooden dowel for hanging purposes, but I promise to show you very soon when it's all done.

So that was the end of May, and although I'm a little sorry that my most favourite month is over for another year, it's been absolutely spectacular. I've never known a month to have so much continuous sunshine and so little rain and I've loved every minute of it. I've loved the abundant greenery and the flowers (how can you not love a month that contains blossom, bluebells, wild garlic, cow parsley and buttercups?!) and most of all I've loved the length of these warm golden days.

Here's hoping that June is just as lovely all round!

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May Delight

I think possibly the word "delight" doesn't wholly apply to the above photo, given that underneath that pile of colourful hooky is a stubborn eight year old boy, completely in the buff, refusing to get dressed and ready for school. This was Friday morning with ten minutes to go before we needed to leave the house. I seriously felt like yelling, could feel the annoyance and frustration bubbling up ready to explode forth, but instead I talked myself down, got out my camera and captured the moment, reminding myself how fleeting these childhood days really are. And in case you were wondering, we did eventually make it out the door - we were late but not disastrously so.

Friday afternoon, and I realise that J and I have adopted something of a little weekly woodland routine, which I rather like the idea of. This is the third Friday afternoon in a row that we've decided to walk through the woods during the gap of time we have after lunch and before the school run. It's such a beautiful way to spend an hour, kind of a gentle decompression after the ups and downs of the working/school week. The scent of the woodland makes me giddy with delight at this time of year, the garlic is powerful and intoxicating and I love it.

I really do appreciate the floralness of May - the bluebells, the blossom and then the wild garlic, and very soon we will enter buttercup and elderflower season. I am so thankful to live in a town where I can find all these flowers within a short walking distance.

Friday 5pm and I'm relaxing with a glass of wine and a spot of mandala finishing. The back of our house faces west and for a short time each day we are treated to a golden stream of sunshine pouring in through the dining room window. It doesn't last long as the sun quickly dips behind the rooftops, but it's beautiful while it lasts.

Another mandala hoop finished, and Tilly gives it the once over. I was playing with the hoop, trying to capture the shadow on the table, but naturally she assumed I was doing it all for her benefit. Diva kitty.

I love these dream catcher mandalas, they work up quickly and the colour play is gorgeous fun. You can find the free mandala pattern here.

I don't have any photos from Saturday except for a solitary bowl of salad. It was a day of laundry and errands and sweat and toil at the allotment plot. Later on there was chilled white wine and hoards of children coming and going, a barbecue dinner in the back yard and this rather yummy Greek salad thrown together to accompany the outdoor cooked meat. 

Sunday morning I decided to set myself up at the front of the house which faces East and gets a full blast of sunshine from early on. We have a teeny tiny front garden with very little level space, but it's a real sun trap when the sun is actually out and doing it's thing. We have a minuscule patch of grass and an equally minuscule patch of old stone paving outside our lower/cellar front door, so there I sat with a coffee and some hooky, listening to the bees buzzing and the birds chirping. The kitty came to join me, the Little People and J were also in and out, reading, playing, chatting, sitting for a while then moving on. I chatted to neighbours passing by, and all the while my hands and hook were busy making colourful stitches in the May sunshine. It was lovely, it really was.

I took this photo just when we came home from school this afternoon, as miraculously the sofa didn't look like a small tornado had swept through the house. People often ask me What Do You Do With All Your Crochet Blankets? Well, they are all here at number 24 keeping us warm and cosy when the weather is cold, and bringing lots of colourful homemade cheer to the furniture all year round. They are draped over sofas and chairs and beds and I can't imagine living in a home without them. It makes me profoundly happy to have them around the place and to see them being used and loved.

This weather we are continuing to have, my oh my, it is a sheer delight. Sunny and hot with glorious clear blue skies day after day after day. It's a rare gift for us to have this number of sunny days one after the other, and it's making this month feel very special indeed. Little B has changed his swimming group and his after school slot has been replaced with an early evening one. This means that we have a little bit more breathing space and can choose to walk to the pool instead of leaping in the car and racing against the clock. It's made a huge difference, and the walk up the hill and through the park this evening was just gorgeous.

Don't you just love this time of year? The long hours of daylight suit me so well, my soul is happy when there is golden light streaming across the grass at 7pm.

And now it's 9.24pm and I am suddenly very sleepy after a busy day dashing here, there and everywhere. The moon is out but the sky is still light and blue, gosh I love this time of year, these long, precious sunny days, did I day that already? I love it all, right down to the depths of my bones.

Wishing you moments of delight and tranquility wherever you are and whatever you're up to. Enjoy the little moments won't you?

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Outdoor Loveliness

❤ Stepping out into a glorious, sunny Spring morning on Friday and noticing  how beautiful the treetops looked with their fresh new leaves against the bluest of skies. 

❤ Loving that I am lucky enough to have this woodland only a ten minute walk from my front door, enabling me to seek out some tree-induced freshness when the mood takes me (see my previous post) 

❤ Walking home from school on Friday afternoon, the canal beginning to busy up as lots of boats arrive into town for our annual Waterways festival. 

❤ Every day we walk past the ice cream tug boat on our way too and from school, and Little B knows that if he's done well at school then Friday afternoons will often bring about an ice cream treat.

❤ Mr Ice-cream makes Little B "his usual" on Friday afternoon which is a single scoop of Yorkshire farm vanilla ice cream topped with chopped nuts and chocolate sauce. We stop a while on a bench beside the canal to enjoy the afternoon sunshine and wait while Little B devours his cone. Pleasure all round.

❤ I am used to seeing canal boats come and go along our school run route at all times of the year, but during the first weekend in May when boats are arriving for the festival there is so much visual pleasure. I love to take in the small decorative personalities of each boat.

❤ Often it's the domestic homeliness of the boats which really capture my attention - neat piles of logs, laundry dying in the sun, a dog sprawled out on the warm deck, pots of herbs and flowers blooming on every available flat surface.

❤ This beautiful boat window cover immediately caught my eye - a combination of lacy crochet and delicate cross stitch, I might have swooned a little right there.

❤ Walking down the hill to the canal past this long beech hedge on Friday evening, a quick trip to the supermarket with Little Lady. I brush my fingers gently through the soft green leaves and chatter to myself, marveling at their softness and that particular lush shade of new-leaf green. Little Lady tries to pull my hand away, telling me not to turn into "the neighbourhood crazy lady who talks to the leaves". She actually tells me (with some mild horror in her voice) to "step away from the leaves!!" Never...I love the look and feel of their newness and they beg to be touched and cooed over.

❤ Saturday morning, more blue sky and bright sunshine. For the first time this year it's warm enough for me to sit in my little back yard and eat breakfast while still in my pyjamas....such a simple pleasure, but a hugely enjoyable one.

❤ Onward from my al fresco breakfast and it's mid morning now. I'm still in my pyjamas, slurping fresh coffee and listening to the gentle sounds of the neighbourhood going about it's business. I'm absorbed in my own wonderful hooky world making  little blue squares to add to my banner. It's absorbing and delicious and I feel like I could honestly sit there for the whole day working those rounds of blue.

❤ 6.30pm now, and I'm walking down to the train station to meet my Dad and Lady B who are arriving from Dorset for a week's stay. The early evening light is sublime, so clear and bright and uplifting. I love how the trees are showing their bare branches one minute, then in full leaf the next, and I can never, ever seem to catch the transition in action. It happens so fast! When did the leaves happen? When??

❤ Sunday evening, after a hot lazy day of hanging out with my Dad and socialising with the neighbours on our friendly street, followed by a seriously yummy barbecue dinner, I took Little B and Little Lady down to the canalside to join in with the boating festivities. There is live music playing on the temporary stage and a jolly party atmosphere as more and more people arrive. 

❤ I adore the long days we are have at this time of year - these photos were taken at 9.30pm as the crowds gathered beside the canal to wait for the "Illuminated Cruise" to start.....

❤....the first of the boats cruises into the canal basin just before 10 pm - it's been a long day for Little B so we only stay a short while before walking slowly back home to the comforts of bed.

❤ The first Monday in May is a national holiday in the UK and gives us a much anticipated Long Weekend. The weather can really make or break any weekend plans, but this year it was utterly glorious for the whole three days. For the third day running I'm sat eating breakfast in my back yard and enjoying the gentle warmth of the early morning sun. I love seeing those little wispy clouds (we call them "mares' tails" ) that arrive when the air is warm and clear.

❤ I am so so so happy with how my banner is coming together!! I absolutely cannot wait until I get to stitch on the white letters and see how they look against that beautiful patchwork of blue. These colours keep reminding me of "The Starry Night" painting by Vincent Van Gogh, kind of a patchwork of summer night blues dancing together and making me feel joyful.

❤ Monday lunch time, and I'm walking with Lady B. My Dad is feeling a bit flattened by the heat from the day before (we spent all day outside eating, drinking, chatting in the sun on Sunday), but Lady B and I are off on a stroll through the park.

❤ I am stopped in my tracks by these trees in full bloom, gosh the sight of them honestly took my breath away.

❤ I so enjoyed standing underneath them, gazing up through the layers of delicate white and pink flowers to the blue sky beyond. Absolutely stunning.

❤ My favourite bench was calling to me, but we couldn't stop as we were walking to the farm shop to buy fresh produce for our evening meal. We bought bright red cherry tomatoes still on the vine, a tub of herby olives, seeded flatbreads, butchers lamb and mint burgers (yay, another barbecue dinner!), and best of all........................

❤ ..........locally grown asparagus. Oh my goodness, how I LOVE these green stalks!! I toss them in a little olive oil, season with fresh ground black pepper and Maldon sea salt, then cook on a hot griddle pan until they go all toasty and lightly charred. Fresh parmesan grated over the top and eaten with fingers whilst still hot. Yum yum yum.

I love this time of the year so so much. I love the first real warmth of the year, the frothy blossom, the greenest of leaves, carpets of wild garlic, bluebells and local asparagus. It really is a season of all round outdoor loveliness.

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Spring Tuesday

So my black embroidery thread arrived in the post yesterday and my very first thought was how very, very black it looked. My instinct was to quietly pop it back in it's bag and pretend that I hadn't ordered it. No black here. But then I thought about the flowers that I'd meticulously embroidered, and how cutesome a little buzzy bee would look hovering above the petals and told myself  to stop being such a wuss and deal with the black. And I'm glad that I did because I love the bee, I really do.

This morning I was all set to start making a tutorial for you (the pattern for my latest mandala hoop, which I'm naming the Positivity Mandala), but I'm afraid to say that I got completely sidetracked with essential spring time pootling activities. I set about finishing up my Hello Spring hoop as yesterday I'd sponged off the blue marker ink and dried out the fabric so it was ready for the final finishing stage. After a good press on the reverse side I trimmed the fabric into a circle leaving an extra inch all around the finished hoop size.

I took a length of embroidery thread and stitched a running stitch right around the edge, then pulled it tight to gather in the fabric.

This isn't an especially neat finish, but I like the honesty of it. I think the original embroidery instructions suggested gluing a circle of felt to the back of the ring to cover up the back completely, but I happen to really love seeing the reverse side of stitching work. It's a reminder that this is something hand made, that there were snags and knots along the way but the finished piece is all the better for it.

Today is the first day of May and here in North Yorkshire it is finally starting to feel like we can let go of our long Winter and welcome in Spring. Thank goodness, because I've been ready for many weeks! 

I haven't really faffed with my mantel all that much for the Spring season just yet, so it's still a work in progress. But I'm so happy to have my hoop on display. I think I might tie some ribbon around the hanging loop to finish it off.

It's been chilly cold still today but the sun was shining this morning and I had my flip flops on, yippeeeee!!! Mind you, as I've been sat here at my desk writing I realised that my toes are flippin' freezing so I've kicked off my flip flops pulled on a pair of my hand knit woolly socks. Oh the blissfulness of that is not to be underestimated, it feels sooooooo good! 

This morning when it was bright and sunny and feeling a weeny bit Springlike out there,  I popped outside to pick a few of these gorgeous little pansies to bring indoors. 

I only picked 5 small stems to pop in one of my favourite old glass ink bottles (I love that I found this bottle dusty and forgotten, hiding in a box under a table in the collectors centre. I paid 50p for it). Having a small posy of flowers in the house is one of my deepest joys - there is something so endearing about the simplicity and the small scale of it all. I would much rather have this than a big fancy bouquet in a posh vase, any day of the week.

Whilst we're here chatting, I'd like to gently introduce you to the amazing work of Emma Verner. She creates the sweetest little decorations out of old pencils and rulers which tweaked my heart strings the second I first came across them. They are just delightful - do go and peek in her shop on Etsy to see more of her designs. I have such a major soft spot for little houses and I've absolutely no idea why?!

The four legged residents in the Attic have been enjoying the sunshine today - the kitty took full advantage of a sunny spot in the Big Chair....

....and out little piggy Lola appeared to be rather ecstatic when I deposited her into our very overgrown, unruly patch of  grass. A lush al fresco banquet, for sure.

This afternoon was all about the blues for me, as I sat in the cafe with my yarny ladies and hooked up some more solid granny squares for an ongoing project. I'm a long way from being finished, but I'll show you a bit more of what I'm doing very soon. I keep forgetting that it's OK to show projects that are still in progress, more than OK in fact. I've always enjoyed documenting and sharing my creative journey and feel like you might like to see this particular project in it's early stages, even though it's all a bit abstract at the moment. I tell the ladies at the cafe what I'm making, and see them trying hard to understand my vision, but only I can know what I can see so clearly inside my Creative Mind. And I can see this project soooo clearly, it's as if I have a photograph of it already. I'll show you soon, I promise.

Actually, I was thinking earlier that I really, really want to be here in the Attic more, I want to make time to chat and share more of the little things that make up my days. At the weekend I was reading through some old blog entries from way back in the depths of my archives. Back then, my blog entries were often quite short and fairly insignificant in the big scheme of things - just little snippets of ordinariness, things that caught my attention, made me happy, sparked off ideas, filled up my mothering hours. But they provide an absolutely priceless view back in time, and I've found that the blogs of mine that I enjoy re-reading the most are the ones that are about nothing in particular. Just ordinary day to day life bobbing along. 

And on that note, I need to go see to the laundry and chivvy Little B away from cartoon insanity and upwards towards his bed. Ordinary life calls....xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

Easter 2018

Hello!! I can't explain how happy I feel to be back here in the Attic, sharing photos of this and that and sitting down to chat with you all. Life has been slightly strange for me of late in that quite a bit of what I'm up to can't be shared just yet, and the knock-on effect is that it's made it harder for me to blog. But I've really missed being here, my weeks just don't feel right without this precious outlet to share and chat about what's going on in my life, so I really want to make time to be here more. 

Behind the scenes I'm working on Yarndale things and some exciting design commissions as well as two new blankets, so I'm busy busy but in a Secret Squirrel kind of a way which doesn't really suit me all that well to be honest. I'm so looking forward to the sharing bit of all this creativity, in fact I absolutely cannot wait to unzip myself and blurt it all out. Hmm...is blurt even a word? I think it absolutely should be, don't you? 

This week the Little People returned back to school and J took himself back to his desk after a whopping 18 days of Easter holidays. It's felt like such a long break from routine but in a deliciously good way. As we did last year, we decided to stay home for this holiday, enjoying some much needed relaxation and family time on the home front. Little Man (who is really not very little any more) will sit his GCSE exams next month so we needed to give him time, space and encouragement to focus on some revision.

For the rest of us, the focus of the past two weeks has been mostly about lazy enjoyment of home comforts, with a little bit of out-and-about thrown into the mix when the weather was right. We also made a start sorting out Little B's bedroom, which included all sorts of juggling of furniture, a mass clear out of old toys, books and clothes and the building of a new High Sleeper bed. It's a work in progress still, but it feels wonderful to have finally made a start on sorting out this rather tired, cluttered, chaotic old house of ours.

As the Little People grow into themselves, it's becoming very much easier to find guilt-free time for myself during our stay-home holidays. The two Teens are both very independent young people with very active social lives, so much of their Easter holiday revolved around going out with friends. Or sitting in their bedrooms talking to their friends. And at eight years old, Little B is more easily able to please himself for longer periods which has opened up some rather delightful little windows of opportunity for Yours Truly. I've mostly filled the resulting me-time with obsessive stitching and hooking, and honestly I have love love loved it.

Continuing my adventures in cross stitch, I sat myself peacefully and stitched little crosses endlessly into black fabric to complete my second Zodiac hoop (Pisces design by Jody Rice of Satsuma Street on Etsy). I need to photograph it properly so that I can overshare the beauty of the design and colours with you all, I'm so so pleased with it and it was an absolute joy to stitch.

On a roll with the stitchin', as soon as I'd finished the Pisces hoop I couldn't help myself and immediately prepped a piece of Fiddler's Aida (yes, it really is called that) in a 7 inch hoop ready to create this super-sweet cross stitch by Zindagi Designs on Etsy. I fell in love with this design during one of my marathon searches to fuel my new found cross stitching obsession. I really like the sentiment as I'm quite the coffee addict, but truthfully it was the flowers that I was really itching to stitch. I made good progress during the two week Easter break - I'll show you very soon how it's turning out. 

After a whole week of being pretty idle at home, we woke up one morning to blue skies and sunshine and decided it would be a good idea to head out and take in something of a watery view. I really wanted to go to the coast but I was outvoted in favour of a closer trip to inland waters. So I went with the flow and we set forth to wander around the perimeter of Grimwith Reservoir. I was relieved to see it looking pretty full of water after our visit there in August when the levels were worryingly low.

It was an interesting walk this one, mainly as it was just the three of us for a change. Oh I did miss my Little Lady very much (she was staying with friends at the time), and I think Little B did too. He was in a slightly whiny mood, deliberately dragging his feet and complaining that he was bored. Yeah - not a huge amount of fun to be honest, but we made the best of it and did what we could to cheer him along.

I love the above photo! It's hard to make out what's going on with the scale/perspective, but the gorgeous greenery in the foreground is actually the top of a wide mossy wall. I tell you, I find moss completely irresistible. 

It's four and a half miles around this reservoir, and all I can say is I'm so glad I insisted on packing refreshments to bring with us. Thank goodness for flasks of hot beverages! Stopping at the half way point to rest a while and have a hot drink put an instant halt to Little B's whinging - I mean, cups of milky hot chocolate, what's not to like?

I've come to really like this walk - I think this might have been our fourth or fifth walk here in the past year or so and it grows on me a little more each time. 

There is a peacefulness to the open landscape/waterscape and a reassuring sense of calm that comes from walking along a very clearly defined circular route where you can see exactly where you are headed at all times. 

I really love this time of year for the absolutely gorgeous floral joy it delivers. My table hasn't been without flowers upon it since the New Year when cheap and cheerful daffodils and narcissus began appearing in supermarket buckets. Just recently I've opted to pay out a few more pennies so that I can snag the "fancy" varieties of daffies on offer, oh they are so worth it! Sometimes these will be beautiful pale, creamy white flowers, and sometimes (like the above ones) there are bright orange petals tucked up inside each flower. 

I always buy the bunches with the buds tightly closed up so there is an element of surprise when they finally unfurl and show their petals. The sight of a jug of daffodils sitting on the table makes me feel so happy, especially when I first come downstairs in the early morning. 

I've got some pots of bulbs flowering away on my mantel too, and I love to watch their daily progress as they grow, bloom and then gently fade. 

The hyacinths have grown a lot since I took the above photo and right now are in full floral swing, oh they are spectacular! Four flower stems grew and produced the most beautiful bright pink flowers. Our days are really long and light now since the clocks changed at the end of March and put us forward into British Summer Time, but I do still enjoy my fairy lights and candles in the evenings. I've got a green candle burning right now which is "bergamot & green tea" - the scent is gorgeously fresh and uplifting for this time of year.

I did a little bit of baking during the Easter holidays, partly for the pleasure of pottering in a warm kitchen and getting to inhale the aroma of cookie dough and mixed spice, and partly for the pleasure of having a sneaky homemade biscuit with my afternoon cup of tea. I love these biscuit cutters and every time I use them I think to myself that I really should make many, many more biscuits just so that I get to use them more often.

I made Easter biscuits for the first time, and they came out OK although they were a little bit on the dry/soft side. I thought they would come out a little crisper somehow, and with a bit more flavour too. Although it could well be that my jar of mixed spice was a little on the ancient side and perhaps needs to be replaced. I should maybe check the sell by date.......

We had a lot of chocolate in the house over Easter which was to be expected - the Little People certainly weren't complaining but it did make me feel like I needed to put my Mummy hat on and provide some healthy stuff to balance out all the sugar. We always have a big bowl full of fruit in the house which I'm happy for the Little People to dip into whenever they like, but there is something really extra yummy about a plate of  fresh fruit prepared and chopped up into bite sized pieces. I really need to do this more often. I mean, it's not that hard to peel and slice kiwi/mango/pineapple or chop up some strawberries but it's surprising how often I tend to feel like I just can't be bothered. Bad Mummy. 

I also made some batches of baked kale crisps last week, oh my word this stuff is blinking good! J and I devoured it fresh out of the oven - I found myself absolutely shoveling great handfuls of it into my mouth as if I'd been starved for a week, quite ridiculous behaviour really. I can highly recommend making some if you are partial to salty, savoury snacking material, it'such a good way to eat green veg, it really is.

In other green related news, the woodland is looking mighty fine right now with its carpet of wild garlic looking and smelling divine.

We took a short walk through our local woods one Sunday morning, it was quite early and we pretty much had the place to ourselves with only one or two dog walkers out and about. I do really love this time of year - the early greenery is such a welcome sight after what has felt like a very long drawn out winter.

It'll still be a while before the treetops burst into leaf - that'll happen in May and I absolutely cannot wait of for that. 

I've really, really enjoyed my hooky time during the holidays, it's been the perfect cosy thing to occupy my lazy self during the cold days we had at the start of the month. We had the fire lit for a while when it still felt very much like winter and it was all so very hygge with the flames flickering and my toes all warm inside my hand knit socks and the kitty draped across my lap as I hooked up some beautiful ripple rows. I know I haven't told you much about the blanket I'm currently making, but I was trying to wait a bit as there will be a new Summer yarn pack coming but not until late July/early August. I'm wary of peaking too soon with my blanket induced giddiness so was trying to wait until Summer felt a bit closer, but what the heck, a sneak peek just needed to happen at some point so why not now?! The colours I'm using are extremely light and full of summer freshness, I'm so enjoying the playfulness of it all.

I think one of the very, very, very bestest things that happened to me during the Easter holidays is being demonstrated in the above photo. Little B, begging me to teach him to crochet until I made space in my self indulgent day to give him my full attention. He is a very tenacious, determined and focused little boy and not one to give up easily once he sets his mind to doing something. The flip side to all this strength of mind is that he can often get very frustrated and upset if he can't manage to achieve what he has set his sights on. So with the whole crochet thing, I had a feeling it could either go brilliantly or end in an absolute melt down. In the end it was a bit of both. The meltdown happened quite swiftly when he quickly realised that crocheting was actually a lot harder than he had originally thought. However his determination won through and once he'd gathered himself together he came back to the table to try again. The second attempt went much better and it didn't take him long to master chain making. He was so happy!!

I let him choose what colours he wanted to use and he decided to make a rainbow.....

....it just made me so happy to see him sitting and crocheting, I can't tell you the depth of emotion that passed through me that day. 

He was so proud of his rainbow chains - I ended up tying them all together at the top to make a tassel that he could hang on his school bag.

We had a little go at learning double crochet rows, but I think the excitement of actually being able to crochet had worn off a bit by then! Still, I think he did remarkably well for an 8 year old.

The sequel to this story  is even sweeter - the very next morning, Little B woke me up, full of excitement, telling me that he'd taught his Dad to crochet. My poor sleepy brain didn't comprehend what he was telling me at first, but once it clicked into place and I figured out that Dad=J (J???? J is crocheting?????!!!!!) I couldn't get out of bed fast enough. I came downstairs to find that J was indeed sat in the Big Chair casually crocheting a chain, taught by Little B. Well I never. This would be the equivalent of me attempting to write some computer code, so yes, I was very impressed. I do love my sweet, crazy family.

The second bestest thing about the Easter holidays happened at the weekend, when in a fit of a spontaneity I booked us a very short holiday which required passports and sea travel. We set sail on Friday evening, returning on Sunday morning so less than 48 hours away but still, it was absolutely brilliant. BRILL-i-ant.

Holiday Tales coming soon................!

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Making the Seasons :: February

It's the last day of February today and we're slap bang in the midst of a supremely wintry end to the month here in my patch. The freezing snowy weather which blew in from Siberia had been widely forecast and we were expecting it ("The Beast from East is coming!"), but it still felt like a bit of a shocker yesterday. The temperature dropped to -6° and the snow whirled in, bringing enough of the white stuff to lay down a 4 inch carpet, slow the roads to a near standstill and cause the schools to close for two days. Snow days home from school are such an excitable treat for the Little People, honestly, it's like their Birthdays and Christmas all rolled into one!

Here in the Attic, the cold, snowy weather has felt rather perfect for this exact time of year - it's precisely what springs to mind when I conjure up seasonal images of late February. So I am embracing it and delighting in these slow, lazy days when I can get away with existing for a while in my own creative bubble. During these times when the rest of the family is busy doing their own thing (Teenagers positively excel at this, don't they?!), I've either been crocheting or stitching. 

As many of you know, the Woodland Blanket CAL finished on Friday, although I actually finished making my blanket during the week before that. And so, well, you know, I erm.....well I may have started a new blanket in order to cope with my Woodland Bereavement. So far so good, it's working beautifully and I can report that I am coping with the loss of the Woodland Ripple rather well with a new set of stripes flowing off my hook. I'll show you what I'm up to once I've made a bit more progress.

In amongst the obsessive hooking I've been stitching, and I've been really, really enjoying it too. You might remember in my last MakingTheSeasons post I showed you the start of the Winterberry embroidery which came in the Winter Craftpod subscription box? Well I found a small window of time a few weekends ago to pick it up again and create some more berries......

....just look at those cute little blobs of seasonal scarlet! This embroidery was quite finicky to do (very fine and precise) but I found that the more I stitched, the easier it became. There were even a few times when I found myself gently lulling into that state of complete Mindfulness that can sometimes happen with repetitive, rhythmic crafting. I get this a lot when I'm crocheting, but it was a new thing to find it with stitching. It feels like a little bit of magic when it happens, it is such an unbelievably calm feeling where nothing else seems to register except for the gentle pull of the thread through the surface of the fabric. I've never tried meditation, but I guess this is what it must feel like. It's marvelous!

I finished my little embroidery hoop and just love the simplicity of it so much. It is perfect for this time of year. It's sitting sweetly on my mantel along with some other seasonal bits and bobs (which I'll show you more of in a bit) and making me very happy. Do you like the card too? This is actually a Christmas card, but as it seemed like the perfect partner for my Winterberry embroidery I decided to buy it for myself to celebrate February. The artist is called Clover Robin and is a recent discovery via Instagram. Oh, I love her work so much! You can read more about her {here} and find some of her delicious cards and prints in her Etsy shop {here}. Do go see, her work is a visual delight.

I really enjoy the inspirational nature of Instagram I have to say, and there is a heap load of creative talent to be found within those little square photos. I came across a stitchy lady a few weeks ago,  and boy was I in for a deep tumble down that particular rabbit hole.....crikey! I surprised even myself with how obsessive I quickly became when I decided to jump in to the world of Counted Cross Stitch with both feet. Who knew???? Certainly not me!! I've been embroidering and stitching since I was eight years old, yet I've never, ever been drawn to cross stitch. I've never in my life felt inspired by any cross stitch designs enough to commit to all those hundreds and thousands of repetitive little crosses. Far too boring. EH???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well I'm eating my words now, that's for sure!!! 

So this ↑↑↑↑↑↑↑ is the thing that did it for me - all that C O L O U R!!!!!!! This lady creates her (very un-boring) cross stitch designs using the most glorious, amazing palette of colours, and I  just could. Not. Resist. It took me a nano second to be convinced that this Cross Stitch malarkey would be a Good Thing for me,  and before I knew what was happening I had downloaded the pattern, purchased the required 22 shades of DMC stranded cotton (all those colours, swoon) and tracked down the black fabric with special little cross-stitchy holes. Yes, you read that right - BLACK fabric!!! I know!!! See how powerful that colour must have been to convince me to purchase black fabric???!!!

So I had to learn quickly about all this - the holey fabric especially designed for cross stitch? Well that's 14 count Aida of course! Yup, I'm all in the know about cross stitch now. I am desperate to show you the excellent progress I've made, but I took so many photos that they really do need to be in a post of their own. 

I've found the business of sitting and slowly stitching somebody else's design so enthralling, and it struck me that embroidery is the perfect activity for these stay-home, freezing cold winter days. I can't wait to show you - more about the little crosses very soon.

Back to Winter white - the above photo was taken yesterday at 5.22pm as we walked home through the park after Little B's swimming lesson. After a day of white-out snow blizzards, we were blessed with a truly beautiful early evening. The light was so glorious, and I loved the pinky-golden glow to the whitened landscape. The past few days I've been thinking a lot about seasonal colour palettes - well , I think about this sort of thing pretty much all of the time to be honest, but this week I've been thinking specifically about what would make up a perfect Winter colour palette. You might remember my Winter Wreath from 2 years ago...oh actually, it was three years ago, well I never!! You can read all about it {here}. The colours I chose for my winter wreath are a very pretty representation of Winter I think - soft frosty blues, pale greens, delicate mauves and pinks, with a smattering of pearly grey and a dash of cream. That says Winter to me, probably more than white does.

Inspired by the thoughts of frosty winter colour, I gathered a collection of yarn balls into my yarn bag in order to make a seasonal garland for my fireplace. I've really missed my Autumn garland, and decided I would like to have something for every season to hang along my mantel. I was inspired by Instagram again, this time it was the re-connection with an old friend from my stitchy art student days. I saw a picture of her fireplace with a simple garland made from little crochet balls and loved the look of it - then realised that she had used my Little Balls pattern! Isn't that funny, that we managed to inspire each other without realising it?! So I've spent the past two days feverishly crocheting a stash of Little Balls in soft, wintry colours.

The pattern for these Little Balls is very easy amigurumi style (dc stitches worked in a spiral), first making a little half sphere.....

....then filling with a weeny blob of toy stuffing before decreasing to close the shape into a ball.

They are super quick to make (six little rounds of crochet), and insanely addictive. It's simply not possible to make just a few - you need handfuls! Bowls full! A whole hoard of these darling little things!

I thought you might like to see my colours - these are all scraps of Stylecraft Speical DK left over from past blankets. It's pretty much what I would think of as a Winter colour palette, with a subtle nod to the beautiful colours of Hellebores which flower at this time of year. 

❄ Cream ❄ Parchment ❄ Silver ❄ Grey ❄ Parma Violet ❄ Mushroom ❄ (winter neutrals)

❄ Lavender ❄ Grape ❄ Pale Rose ❄ Vintage Peach ❄ Soft Peach❄ (hellebore flowers)

❄ Sherbet ❄ Duck Egg ❄ Cloud Blue ❄ Storm Blue ❄ Denim ❄ (winter skies)

❄ Sage ❄ Meadow ❄ Lincoln❄ (frosty leaves)

I started out with 24 balls, although quickly realised this wouldn't be enough - I think I ended up with around 40 in the end. I used Storm Blue to crochet a simple chain, picking up a single loop on the side of each ball and working a slip stitch to attach it. I spaced my balls 8 chains apart. And I do find myself smirking as I am talking about my balls!! Tut tut, so childish.

I love what I ended up with - the simplicity and the speed of it made  this garland the perfect project for me this week.

Ohh...........cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cutesome little Winter Balls to add a dash of seasonal whimsy to my fireplace......

......look!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What do you think?

My fireplace is very rustic and not very photogenic with its dark carved wood and brick effect surround (my friends fireplace is gorgeous, with a white painted surround and elegant ceramic tiles.) But I try not to be overly bothered by the brown and concentrate on adding prettiness instead. 

I'm so happy with my Winter fireplace, it really makes me feel all sorts of contentedness right down into my soul. When I think about Gillian and I going about our "Making the Seasons" creative things each month, it's not always the actual making that springs to mind. Often it's more along the lines of Creative Faffing that Gillian and I both love to do in response to the seasons. I suppose in posh designer terms you might label this activity as "styling". There is so much of this over on Instagram - styling has become such a trendy thing to do in recent times, creating visual content especially for the purposes of  sharing on social media. Huh. Well for me, it's more a case of gathering together a collection of small things that make me feel happy and in tune with the seasons, never mind how photogenic it all is. If it means something to me, then that's what counts.

Want to see some more bits of my Winter Mantel Faffery?

Let me show you!

Awwww, lets just take an extra moment to oggle those Little Balls - don't the colours look lovely (please pretend the brown wood is in fact a lovely painted white, just for now)

I mentioned earlier that I'm enjoying having seasonal cards on my mantel which get changed around with the months, well I think I am going to make this is a Thing this year. It's such an easy way to bring a little bit of handmade into the home and there are some fabulous artists out there making beautiful images that look great on cards. I think it's brilliant to support these small businesses even if you can't afford a print or an original, then cards are almost as good. Up above is another Christmas card which was given to me by friends, and I later found out that the artist is Claire Henley. The little snowdrop print is by Clover Robin. I've got a pot of hyacinths looking gorgeous too - the label said they would be white, but they are opening up to be a stunning buttery yellow colour which I've never seen before. The washed pottery and glass was gathered on a recent trip to Silverdale in Lancashire - I took some lovely photos that day, I'll share them here soon.

I've got a few twiggy stems of blossom on my mantel too this week, the buds were tightly shut little green bobbles when I picked them. Slowly they are opening in the warmth of the room to reveal the most delicate little flowers.......

......so, so very pretty.

I've no idea what blossom this is, it's from an overgrown tree on our allotment plot which the neighbouring house is desperate to have cut down as it's growing right into the side of their house more or less. The lady said she thought it was an almond tree, but I'm not sure. I'd love to know if anyone has blossomy knowledge?!

Hyacinths and twiggy blossom stems are all accompanied by twinkly little fairy lights and candles at this time of year. I bought a couple of inexpensive candles in glass jars from the supermarket - they were supposed to be scented but disappointingly they haven't really performed any scenting activity as yet. The glass jars were plain so I decorated them using stickers which came inside the Winter Craftpod.

These stickers are so lovely! They are printed on a transparent background so are perfect for sticking onto glass jars - the illustrations are by Ukranian illustrator Nastias Leptsova, oh you do need to go see her work, it's so unusual and extremely cosy! I've been captivated by her Instagram feed (@nastiasleptsova) which has almost no colour in it whatsoever - a world shown in sepia tones, which I find strangely comforting somehow.

I've spent a lot of time in this room during February, sometimes sat in the light of the bay window stitching (black fabric, oh my word, a true test for the eyes), or sometimes sat on a floor cushion right next to the fireside with my crochet. I've run out of tall candles for my candelabra ( I need a trip to that big blue and yellow shop!) but aside from that, my mantel is making me very happy indeed. Oh Little Balls, I do so like having you dangling there!

Hmmm.....I'd love to know what your Winter colour palette would be, do tell! Would it be chilly whites and blues? Would it have any pink or purple in it? White vs. cream?

I've just peeked out of the window and there is still a proper snowy blizzard blowing around the house, so I'm wondering whether tomorrow will be another no-school day for us, with some vigorous sledging followed by some gentle fireside creativity. Sounds rather good if you ask me.

I hope that you are enjoying the season you're in whatever the weather you've got, and that you might feel inspired to pop a few seasonal cards on a shelf or hook up a simple little garland in seasonal colours. A little seasonal making/faffery is very good for the soul and I can highly recommend it.

✿ All my Making the Seasons posts have their own category so you can find them easily - {Making the Seasons}

✿ I'm really enjoying doing these monthly posts alongside my friend Gillian - you can find her Making the Seasons posts  {here}

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Mandala Therapy

As much as I love and adore crocheting blankets and am passionate about designing and making them,  there are definitely times when a quick, creative fix is needed. Oddly enough, I mostly get hit by the urge to drop everything and make something small when I am part way through making something large - it's as if my Creative Mind craves a little bit of a detour when I'm on a long journey.

Over the past few years, mandalas have become my go-to solution when this kind of creative itch needs to be scratched - circles are quick and easy to make and a lot of fun. Plus, mandalas deliver plenty of opportunity for colour play which I find therapeutic, joyful and completely irresistible. 

Around the middle of January, on an ordinary sort of a Wednesday afternoon, I suddenly felt compelled to make a fresh mandala for my dining table. At the start of the year I began buying small bunches of daffodils and narcissus from the supermarket, and I fancied that my jugs of bright blooms needed something super-pretty and a little bit Spring-like to perch upon. I dived into to my bag of Stylecraft Classique Cotton and pulled out the following six colours ::

✤ Sunflower ✤ Shrimp ✤ Shell Pink ✤ Wisteria ✤ Sky Blue ✤ Soft Lime ✤

Ooooooo...........so pretty!

As I was doing this on a complete whim and I needed my fix to be instant, I didn't waste time searching for a pattern. All I had to do was go to my own list of tutorials and find the pattern I wrote back in 2014 and get hooking. Instant gratification!

I designed the Attic24 Mandala Wheel  to be a quick and simple make, something decorative that could be pinned to the wall or laid on the table to bring a flash of colour to the room. There are 12 rounds in total, so there are twelve colour decisions that need to be made when making this mandala. You could plan it all out in advance, or you could make each choice as you go along (which is what I do) - either way, the colour play is an important part of mandala making and I absolutely love it for that.

Mandalas can look quite complicated as they often use a whole combination of different stitches to create the rings of pattern. But I promise you that it's possible to take a very simple pattern (which mine is) and make something very beautiful and inspiring. Complete satisfaction right there in those stitches!

I have a whole collection of small jugs which I use purely for flowers, collected over many years. The one I'm using here was bought more than twenty five years ago from a craft fair, at a time in my life when I had very little money and £12.50 seemed like a huge amount to spend on a hand made jug.  But I have used it and loved it dearly for over a quarter of a century and it brings me such a lot of pleasure, so I'm very glad I gave into my heart and made this jug mine all those years ago. 

Do you like the idea of having a little bit of crochet on your table, or do you think it's a bit pointless? I'd love to know what you think of mandalas - they are such therapeutic, mindful, satisfying things to create even if you don't necessarily know what to do with them afterwards. 

If you've been following my blog for a while you'll know about my involvement with Yarndale, and you may well know about the large Mandala Hoops I've made which get displayed outside under the trees at the festival. You can read all about the making of these big mandalas (including pattern links) in the following posts :

✤ Starflower Mandalas

✤ Mandala Hoops

✤ More Mandala Hoops

This year I want to make a collection of smaller hoops to join the big ones at Yarndale, and after I  stumbled upon a beautiful pattern a few days ago I just had to give it a go.

I'm using Stylecraft Classique Cotton DK (my go-to yarn for mandalas), in the following colours  (from the outside of the mandala inwards ::

✤ Soft Lime ✤ Peppermint ✤ Sky Blue ✤ Wisteria ✤ Plum ✤Busy Lizzie ✤ Mauve ✤ Shrimp ✤ Fondant ✤

These thin metal rings are perfect for making mandala hoops - you can find them easily on Amazon and they come in all different sizes. The ones I'm using at the moment are 30 cm diameter which is the size of a large dinner plate. 

This pattern is called the "Spirit Mandala" designed by Tatsiana who writes a crochet blog called Lilla Björn Crochet. It was was gorgeous to make and I enjoyed the challenge of working some different stitches (hello popcorns!)

I used Tatiana's video tutorial to learn how she crochets her mandala to the hoop (which is a very neat method I have to say) and I am thrilled with the result.

 

One thing to remember when making mandala hoops - the finished crochet will need to be quite a bit smaller than the hoop you are using as you will need to stretch the mandala to open out the stitches and make it nice and taut. I find that the easiest way to do this is to use locking stitch markers (like these little plastic ones) to attach the mandala to your ring before you try and crochet that final round. 

The end result is so pleasing to look at, I just love the way the stitches open out and breathe once the crochet is stretched out into it's hoop. I can highly recommend a spot of Mandala Therapy, it's a perfect, colourful quick-fix project for a dreary Winter's afternoon. Tempted????? Go on........you know you want to!!

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