Attic24

November Days

We went out today, myself, J and Little B, into the grey drizzle of a cold Sunday morning. First stop was coffee in town, a fairly new routine for us on a Sunday and one that I am heavily endorsing. It's just such a pleasure - family time to enjoy a hot frothy drink, and to chat about all sorts of random things. Sometimes I find myself totally surprised by my Little People growing into Big People. They are opinionated and articulate, ready to argue, debate and discuss, and often times I just can't get over the Bigness of their personalities. When exactly did their Littleness disappear?

After coffee we walked along the canal, not just our usual stretch but on beyond the centre of town to the outskirts. We walked for about a mile and a half before stepping off the tow path to go and buy some groceries. We are very lucky in our town to have two main supermarkets very close to the centre so they are very accessible on foot. We also have an Aldi which is further out, and this is where we went to shop today. I only buy certain products in Aldi, so I tend to go around the aisles and cherry-pick the specific things that I know I like and are good value. Extra virgin olive oil is one such product - this has become so, so expensive in the mainstream supermarkets now, so it's worth shopping elsewhere for it. Plus it was good exercise and an easy, un-muddy walk for us to take while the ground remains very, very wet.

On the way home we stopped briefly to watch this lady feeding the pigeons, she was completely surrounded by them and it seemed to me such a lovely scene unfolding in front of me. Often times when I'm out and about I can somehow view my life as though it's not real, like seeing it as a painting or a scene from a film. It's hard to explain the feeling, it's like a sort of visual detachment, and it's really rather beautiful at times. 

Yesterday was also wet and grey and J and I were in town quite early to shop at the market. One of my lovely US blog readers asked me a little while ago if I could show you what the market looks like, so I took a few rainy snaps to give you an idea. It's a street market which means it's linear, with stalls set up on both sides of our very wide main high street.

I found a really cool video on YouTube taken with a drone, showing you the town centre where I live, with the church and castle sitting proudly at the top. You can view the video ((here)), it's only 2 minutes long. You'll be able to see the road, but also notice that as well as the pavements there are wide cobbled "setts" along both sides of the road which are used for car parking and give space for the stalls to set up on market days.

We've stopped to buy free range eggs and locally produced dry cured bacon, and now we've crossed over the road and are on the other side. It's time for our fruit and veg....

....it's always a pleasure to shop in this way, buying from local small businesses and supporting our street market which has been here for hundreds of years.

After our Saturday shop we go for breakfast on our way home, always to the same little café which is strung with fairy lights and plays the sort of music you imagine would be playing in a Parisian café. It's charming and down to earth in here, and the coffee is extremely good.

I always eat a lot of fruit every day and enjoy seeing what's seasonal at the market. At the moment I'm loving these Russet apples, they have a very distinctive sweet flavour which is unlike any other apple. They are quite old fashioned I suppose and you don't generally see them for sale in mainstream supermarkets, so it's lovely to have them while they're in season. They go really well with thin slices of mature cheddar - a regular afternoon snack for me at the moment.

Also in season right now - pomegranates, oh, happy days!!! I AdOrE these exotic fruits and honestly get such a kick out of spending slow, quiet time taking them apart at the kitchen sink and popping out the jewel-like seeds.

Absolutely beautiful, in every way.

I can eat pomegranate seeds by the handful at any time of day, but this week I've really been enjoying them on my breakfast. A generous helping of Greek style yoghurt, drizzled with honey and topped with a little nutty granola, sliced banana, blueberries and pomegranate jewels. Delicious.

J and I continue our morning walk routine and have managed to go every day this past week. Five days out of seven it's been grey, dull and drizzly, but On Friday I was so happy to wake to clear skies - what a welcome change.

The clear skies made a huge difference to the light levels and at 7.15 it was no longer dark. I so wish we had more November days like this instead of the near constant grey wet weather we've been enduring.

I am making a great effort not to let the weather get me down, and I take myself out of the house by myself to walk every single day, even in the rain. There is always beauty to be found out there, and not a day goes by when I don't feel inspired to stop for a moment and capture something on my camera.

The dull wet weather has made the house feel even more cosy than usual, and the twinkly lights stay on all day long. I can really recommend these warm white lights on delicate copper wire, they take standard AA batteries (we use rechargable ones) and best of all they are on a timer so that they switch off by themselves after eight hours, which is so clever I think. They bring such a comforting twinkle into the house on these dull days and I wouldn't be without them.

Flowers in the house this week are these chrysanths and they are sooooo pretty. So cheap to buy at this time of year (this bunch was £3) and they stay looking great for ages. I think the last bunch I had (the dark pinky-red ones with yellow centres) lasted over two weeks

They bring such a lot of cheer into the room, I really do love having a jug of simple flowers in the house and it's not often my table is without them.

Tilly loves the cosy season when we are snuggled in blankets and she gets to drape herself all over us, she loves our company and honestly I love hers too. The weight and warmth of a soundly sleeping kitty on your legs is just the nicest thing.

Bringing colour into these grey November days is vital to my wellbeing, and my current Sungold yarn palette is doing a fantastic job. On Friday I sat at Coopers café and crocheted some simple flowers, what a joyful few hours that was. They are a bit misshapen and curly looking at the moment but once I've given them a little steam treatment they'll be ready for their photo shoot. I'm going to use them to showcase the full Sungold colour palette on Tuesday - only two more sleeps!!! Eeeeeep, I'm pretty excited to talk to you about this blanket and show you more of my inspiration photos. I hope you're ready for lots and lot of flowers, garden views, flowers and more flowers. Alllllllll the flowers. That'll cheer up an average November Tuesday, I'm really looking forward to it.

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Designer of Blankets

Hello, my name is Lucy and I am a Designer of Blankets. They are my passion and my obsession, my creative spark and my relaxation therapy. And how absurdly wonderful it is that I get to live this colourful life of mine, and that designing blankets has become the thing that I do to thrive. 

Attic24 blog started over fifteen years ago and I was crocheting blankets right from the very start. Then six years later I met the owners of Wool Warehouse and that was when we began to create yarn packs together to sell online. It was (and still is) amazing to me that I could design blankets that other people would want to make for themselves. How amazing to share my ideas and inspire people all over the world to crochet blankets!

The above photo is an old one from my archives, I really should create an updated image with all my blankets included, that would be something to see. To date I have created twenty blanket designs using Stylecraft Yarns, each one having its own beautiful colour palette inspired by things I love. I have used colour to describe my enjoyment of the countryside and the English seasons - walks over hills, along woodland paths, through meadows and along the beach. There is also my love of flowers in those blankets too - sweet peas, hydrangeas, wild flowers, summer annuals, cottage gardens and dahlias. There is sooo much gorgeous colour inspiration to be found out there in every day life!

Over the past few weeks I've been thinking a lot about my crochet and the way things have evolved and grown over the years, evaluating where I'm at with it all, and what I might want to do next. I'm very proud of what I've achieved so far because I am passionate about spreading the joy of colourful crochet and inspiring people to find happiness in being creative.

A few days ago I was reading something online which reminded me of the British Knitting and Crochet Awards. Sadly they no longer happen but they ran every year from 2014-2022. I won my first award in 2016, and do you know, I won the title of "favourite crochet designer" for seven years running. As well as the crochet designer category, I also won the "favourite crochet blogger" category many times, and last year scooped the "best ready-to-make kits" award too. 

It's a funny thing winning awards because there is a part of me which pops champagne and dances with delight, but a bigger part of me which just wants to keep my head down and not be a show off.  Trumpet blowing is not my style. But all in all, I think it's safe to say that crocheting blankets has been a good thing for me. A very good thing.

Today I want to share some crochet which literally fell out of the Cupboard of Doom yesterday and landed at my feet. I was in that precarious cupboard trying to get to my yarn winder, and suddenly there was a colourful crochet avalanche happening.

These colourful bits of crochet represent the preparation I do in the weeks and months before I embark on a new blanket journey. A blanket doesn't just happen for me, no no, there is a lot that goes into the design process before I sit down to crochet the actual blanket itself.

For every blanket I've designed, I've crocheted up one of these colour palette samplers. I spend a really long time choosing the colours for a blanket and often this process happens over the course of many weeks. Once I think I'm pretty much there with my palette, I set about crocheting a little square for each colour. This gives me a chance to get a true "working" feel of how the colours want to play together and make sure everything is balancing properly. Sometimes at this stage I will make a last minute change, but that's quite rare - usually by the time I'm crocheting these squares, I'm living and breathing the colour palette day and night and it's giving me all the shivery excitement.  By the way, I did write up the pattern for these little solid squares if they appeal to you - here it is >> ((Solid Granny Square pattern))

The second stage in my preparation is shown above - these are long, skinny stripe samplers made using rows of double crochet, one row to represent each stripe. I've found this a great way to work out the final colour order for the stripes and although it's all extra work I really think it's worth me taking the time to do it. It means that by the time I come to crochet the actual blanket, I'm one hundred percent confident that the colours are going to look magnificent.

On the right are my two festive colourways - Yuletide and Starbright. It's the first time I've seen them together and I have to say I absolutely love love love them. 

Look!! ^^ don't they both glow with joyful Christmas spirit?! Both very different, and yet they both have my trademark colour signature. It's a hard thing to define, but I do think my colour palettes are very recognisable, aren't they? They simply glow with Attic24-ness!

And finally...this is the third stage of my preparation. These are the samples which showcase the colour palette combined with the stitch pattern. Before I get to this stage, make no mistake, I've already done a tonne of work to design the stitch pattern itself. I don't tend to look in books for stitch ideas, I prefer to work them straight out of my head, a bit like doodling or making notes, but using yarn and hook instead of paper and pen. I've got a massive messy box containing dozens and dozens of trial and error stitch samples made over the years. Loads of them. It takes a while to work through ideas and there is a lot of failure in this process. 

So by the time I'm making the above samples, well, I'm already beyond thrilled with the pattern and raring to get going on the blanket.

I love these samplers, I really do. I pour so much emotion into all my blanket designs that they are like an extension of my heart.

I don't have all my samples here because my earlier ones are packed away in storage from when I cleared out my studio during covid. But these are the ones pictured above, from left to right...

♥Dahlia ♥ Dune ♥ Aria ♥ Meadow ♥ Harbour ♥ Springfrost ♥ Starbright ♥ Sungold ♥

You probably recognise them all from seeing them here on my blog over the years.....except for that last one.

Sungold...........ooooooo, that's something new!

Please say hello to the Sungold blanket, well the beginning of the Sungold journey at least. This blanket is going to be my TENTH annual crochet-along which begins in January 2024. I've designed a very pretty stripe for these colours, a soft and curvy little shell pattern which has a light and slightly open look to it.

Do you like the colours, aren't they joyful?

The colour palette was inspired by my many visits to see the famous flower borders at RHS Harlow Carr. I wanted this colour palette to be a little dose of summer perfection - colours that remind me of a sunny afternoon strolling amongst brightly coloured flowers buzzing with bees. The Sungold colour palette is rich and uplifting - beautiful floral shades glowing with golden warmth.

Just look at it compared to this year's CAL blanket (the Springfrost), what a difference in temperature! From frosty chill to golden warmth, I love that these colours literally make you feel the seasons.

My Sungold blanket hasn't started yet because truthfully I'm still caught up in the Starbright. I'm working on the border design for the v-stitch this week because I know there are those of you waiting for it. But if you look at the above photo, you can spot the Sungold stripe sampler....

......here it is look ^^, just to give you a taste of how amazing the colours look together. I'm going to be making a mixed stripe blanket, but there will also be the option to work the Sungold stripes as a colourwash if you wish. Both versions will be given as part of the CAL in the New Year.

Yarn packs are coming very soon, next week in fact. Mark your calendars - Tuesday 21st November at 8am, my shop at Wool Warehouse will be buzzing with sunny Sungold vibes. Maybe you'd like to join me making this blanket along with our wonderful worldwide hooky community? I'd really like it if you did.

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Autumn Colour

I had a slow start to my day and I welcomed it wholeheartedly, making the most of this week where I'm home with the fam and there is no school routine to dictate my schedule. J is also off work this week so it feels good for us to just be in this slow, gentle routine together. We went out for a coffee this morning, and it feels like the Autumn season really got into full swing in the short time we were away.

Later I walked into town on my own, I needed to call in at the bank to make an appointment and pick up a few groceries. I took a homemade chilli out of the freezer this morning and bought some large baking potatoes to have with it instead of rice. Perfect Autumn comfort food.

On my way home I detoured into the church yard, it was unplanned and somehow I found myself there without really realising that's where I wanted to go. I have felt a little like I've been in a daze today, a bit detached from reality. I sat on a sunny bench for a little while, watching people come and go. I chatted to the jackdaws (I was surrounded by them on all sides, seven in total like a little gang) and ate half a bag of sugar snap peas. Afterwards I wondered what I must have looked like, a lady sitting on a bench talking to the birds and eating peas. I'm obviously in my crazy bench era.

I really enjoyed my slow stroll home, wandering these much loved little pathways along the canal side. Being by water is so calming. Obviously the sea will always have my heart but I'm drawn to any kind of water - lakes, ponds, rivers, waterfalls, fountains, canals.

The colours of Autumn were looking so inviting today, I can't believe how much change there has been in the trees since last week.

^^ Isn't it beautiful? This Japanese Acer puts on such a fiery show each year - you can see the pretty leaves it sheds onto the pavement in the first photo.

I want to thank you all for the comments you've been writing to me on my recent posts, and to tell you how much they have meant to me. I know from what you write that so many of you have enjoyed my daily ramblings, and in turn I've really, really enjoyed your words written back to me in the comments. We (you and me) are a two way street, isn't that a lovely thought?

Writing a daily October blog has been weirdly therapeutic, and although at times I've felt very vulnerable sharing such personal life stuff, it has helped me a lot to be able to share my thoughts. I know for a fact that if I hadn't committed to Blogtober, you would not have heard from me at all during these past few weeks. I would have hibernated until my emotions were back in check. And yet I don't have one regret about showing up in this space and writing about my days, it's proof that no matter what we go through, there is always beauty in the world and things to be grateful for. Those small moments of mindfulness and gratitude mean so much, most especially on the fraught days.

If you followed me in past years with Blogtober you will know that I do like to put together a monthly review at the end. It's a fun post for me to create and I'm looking forward to doing it again this year. This month has been far from ordinary! I can't even remember what was happening at the start of October, it's all a blur in my mind - haha - I wish this was an exaggeration, but sadly it's true. No. Idea.

So a review will be coming, it's a mystery what it will look like, but I'll be happy to share it with you.

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♥ Blogtober 2021 review

♥ Blogtober 2020 review

 

 

Starbright Love

T-I-N-S-E-L!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! With S-T-A-R-S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If there was ever a tinsel to make me fall head over heels in love, then this is it. Isn't it glorious?

You remember yesterday me showing you all the tinsel and garlands hanging up in John Lewis and me telling you I made a purchase? Lots of you guessed the felt star garland (and that was indeed lovely), but it was this perfect "Starbright" tinsel that I fell for. How could I not? The beautiful colours and the shimmery shininess caught my eye straight away and I instantly saw my Starbright colour palette right there....

...these are the colours of my childhood Christmases and that starry tinsel took me right back to those young years.

It's been a little over three weeks since I shared my Starbright blanket with the world, and I've been blown away by the response to the colours, the design and the yarn packs that I created with Wool Warehouse. Thank you so much for loving this blanket as much as I do, your comments all over social media have truly warmed my heart.

This week I've seen the first completed blankets being shared in the Facebook groups (details of the groups can be found at the end of this post). Yes, I did say Completed!!! There have been some very fast and happy hooksters blazing a Starbright trail and I've been so excited watching the progress unfold in their photos. Elizabeth J and Heather P - your ta-dah moments were such a thrill for me! Also a mention for Lou S who joined all her squares in record time and is onto the border now I think. Bravo ladies, such wonderful, bright and happy blankets now living their best blankety lives, spreading comfort and joy.

I thought that today I would share some inspirational Starbright photos with you, a celebration of the creativity, happiness and friendship which always surrounds my blankets. I hope you enjoy the visuals....

↑↑ Lou - this lovely lady really inspired a lot of people when she shared her idea for making the Starbright squares using a "production line" method. This is when you make all the round centres of the squares (so 81 in total), then you move on to crochet all of the round 3's, then all the round 4's etc etc. It means you get into a good rhythm because your hands and brain can just enjoy making the same rounds over and over until all 81 are complete, before they need to process and work the next stage.

But the genius thing that Lou did is shown above - she used a length of cord to thread her crochet onto, so that the squares were always kept in number order....my goodness, this is so simple, but so bloomin' clever too! I never would have thought to do it this way, but it makes perfect sense. It means you can follow my colour chart and keep everything in order right up to the joining bit.

↑↑ Clare was inspired by Lou and decided to work her Starbright squares in the same orderly way. She cleverly used a long circular knitting needle to thread her crochet onto so that they stayed in number order - brilliant thinking, and so practical.

↑↑ Patricia opted to make the v-stitch stripe and has really cracked on, doesn't it look great? She is up to stripe 67, so around two thirds complete.

↑↑ Liz decided to follow my stripe order for the colourwash version of the v-stitch, and is working through the final few colours. Another super-fast blanket coming very close to the finish line.

↑↑ Mandy has also been sharing progress of her colourwash Starbright, and I've really enjoyed seeing this grow. With each new colour added, the whole feel of the blanket changes.

↑↑ Debbie used the Seashell stripe pattern and made some gorgeous Starbright minis - a pram blanket and a doll blanket which look so bright and cheery with the colours ordered in this lovely repeat.

↑↑ Natasha went even mini-er!  Her delicate little doll blanket is super cute, I love it!

I've seen quite a few Starbright blankets growing as large squares and this is very exciting for me as I really wanted to try this out myself. 

↑↑ Ann is using my very popular Yuletide Square pattern, and following the ordered Starbright repeat that I shared in the ta-dah post. It's already looking really good and I'm excited to see more as it grows.

↑↑ Elizabeth is also making a Yuletide, but she's decided to follow the colourwash order. This is going to be amazing as it grows, because the colours are going to shift and change and "glow" as they pulse outwards. Exciting!

↑↑ Another Yuletide-Starbright combination (I think we are collectively calling is "Startide" in the Facebook groups), this one is a work in progress for Lindsay. It's delightful, I love it. 

↑↑ Jo has chosen to crochet the Starbright square but has gone LARGE!! By repeating round 7, you can grow the Starbright square and make it as big as you like. It's so nice to see and very evocative of Christmas for me - it's tinsel and baubles and all the happy festive things.

↑↑ Helen is doing the same large Starbright square but with her own choice of colours. This reminds me of May time - blossom and bluebells.

If you wish to go large with a Starbright square, you need to repeat round 7, but do remember to keep turning your work after every round (alternate between working on the right side and the wrong side) to keep the sides straight and stop any distortion/twisting.

I do always love to see alternative colours being used with my designs and find it very inspiring. You know I do always support stash busting, or choosing your own unique colours, so don't ever feel you have to exclusively use my yarn packs.

↑↑ Joanna is making a v-stitch stripe using up colours from her stash, with repeating cream stripes every third row. It's super effective adding a cream or neutral in between bright colours and gives a softer, gentler look ideal for baby blankets.

↑↑ Ally is doing a similar v-stitch with cream in between her colours. I didn't realise it at first, but the colours are from my Hydrangea yarn pack and the vintage feel of it is really appealing.

↑↑ Just look at these glorious Starbright squares made by Maya, aren't the colours lush? This is a stash bust project using up oddments of brightly coloured yarn and I love the playful look of them.

↑↑ Sarah is also making her very own version of Starbright with such a beautiful palette of colours. I came across this photo she shared on Instagram (her cat Louie is stealing the show somewhat, but he can be forgiven), and loved it at first sight. The colours remind me of old fashioned vintage eiderdowns and faded patchwork quilts. 

↑↑ And finally Anja - what more can I say except WOW!!!!! This is an absolutely stunning blanket in progress, showcasing the Starbright colour palette to perfection. The pattern is the Havana Afghan which uses the mosaic crochet technique - Anja, you've outdone yourself, I couldn't love it more. 

As I mentioned earlier, the Attic24 online crochet community is thriving and I absolutely love love love it. Instagram is as popular as ever and there are some wonderful crochet creators on that platform.

But I think the best community feels happen in the Facebook groups, especially around the times when I release a new blanket design. If you like using Facebook and aren't already joined in with the groups, you very welcome to join in over there. Currently there are three main Attic24 groups that I'm aware of, as well as a wonderful Dorset group who chat online and meet up in real life. These groups aren't run by me - they are managed by super teams of admins who keep everything running smoothly and I am so grateful to them all. Here are the links if you are interested in joining >>

Hooked on Attic24

Attic24 and Lots More Group UK

Just Attic24 Friends

Friends of Attic24 Dorset

If you wish to join it's very straightforward, but do please remember to answer the questions at the start otherwise the admins won't be able to accept your join request.

I hope you've enjoyed today's post, it's been fun for me putting it together. More regular Blogtober content will resume tomorrow xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

★ STARBRIGHT BLANKET TA-DAH

★ STARBRIGHT YARN PACK

 

 

The Starbright Blanket :: Ta-dah!

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

STARBRIGHT YARN PACK 

And if you're after the free pattern and photo tutorial, here is the link to it (it's in my sidebar listed in alphabetical order)

STARBRIGHT BLANKET TUTORIAL

Please do read on if you'd like to find out more about the blanket design and drink in lots of colour!

Hellooooo, and thank you so much for being here to share this merry and bright Ta-dah occasion with me. I love to chat to you about the creative things that have been occupying my time, especially if there is a tangible source of inspiration behind the colour palette I've been immersed in. You can be sure that by the time you read my ta-dah posts, I've been obsessively designing and crocheting with these colours for many, many months - this particular colour palette has been jigging about inside my mind for more than a year now.

As you can see above, I gathered together some photos to give you an idea of the colour inspiration behind the Starbright blanket. I dreamed of a blanket inspired by those delicious weeks in December when decorations and twinkly lights take centre stage. I began to think a lot about the excitement of it all, about those nostalgic, child-like feelings that always surface when the month of December comes around and you realise all of a sudden that Christmas isn't too far away. It's everything I love about the festive season - the lights, decorations and bright colours which bring so much joy into the house. With these nostalgic feelings in mind, I chose colours that celebrate the winter season in the most joyful way I could think of. 

A lot of my inspiration for Starbright came from my own childhood memories and so there wasn't anything that I could photograph or look at. Memories of the old christmas decorations that would be unpacked year after year after year. The mismatched collections of baubles and the fairy lights with their brightly coloured plastic flowery petals. Strings of foil garlands which pulled out in a concertina of intricate folds and cuts, and brightly coloured foil stars which hung from lampshades and shelves. And a big round tin of colourful foil wrapped Quality Street chocolates (always a highly anticipated gift from my Grandad).

In the town where I grew up, every shop along the high street would display a small living christmas tree above the upper storey window, strung with brightly lit, multi coloured festoon lights. I LOVED those lights - I don't think trees are decorated like this any more, but the lights were always so bright and colourful due to the large bulbs. It meant that walking or driving through the town in the weeks leading up to Christmas was incredibly joyful, oh, I can still picture it so clearly in my mind and I absolutely adored it.

My idea for the Starbright colour palette was to create a background of deep blues as a nod to the dark winter skies, then light up those blues with all the bright shades that exist in my memory of childhood Christmases.

Lights in the dark if you like. 

You can see my colours here - heavy on the blues because I wanted that feeling of cosy nights and clear starry skies. I added in some greens for the evergreens and trees that we associate with christmas, and then a handful of festive brights to really bring the whole idea to life. Taking these rich, bright shades and setting them against the deep blues of a starry night sky makes this a blanket full of Winter Magic.

As is usual for my blankets, I've chose fifteen shades of Stylecraft Special DK for my Starbright blanket

Top row :

♥ Gold ♥  Magenta ♥  Fuchsia Purple ♥  Pomegranate ♥  Lipstick ♥

Middle row :

♥ Apple ♥ Kelly Green ♥ Empire ♥ Teal ♥ Bottle ♥

Bottom row :

♥ Turquoise ♥ Aster ♥  Lapis ♥ Lobelia ♥ French Navy ♥

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

STARBRIGHT YARN PACK 

There is a whole backstory to the Starbright blanket design which I won't bore you with - suffice to say I went through a LOT of failure to get to the blanket that I'm showing you today. Stacks of samples and partly made and abandoned squares. A whole ginormous, massive HEAP of really wrong colour decisions resulting in three months of work being thrown in the bin (literally - the whole lot went in the kitchen bin). I started again from scratch with a fresh bag of yarn - the above photo was taken on 22nd July on the first day of our summer holiday in Northumberland when I was just about to start Starbright V2.

I'm very happy with the square pattern I designed -  a star in the centre, radiating out into simple v-stitch rounds. I wanted the square to have something of a vintage bauble look, and the zig-zag of the v-stitch reminds me of those concertina foil garlands, do you know the ones I mean?

I planned to start each square with a jolly bright centre and finish with some of the darker blue shades - I was trying to create something that described lights shining out into the dark.

The above plate was my summer holiday crochet - eighty one little starry centres.

The stars soon turned into baubles.....

....and on through the weeks of summer I turned the baubles into colourful squares.

The above photo shows the squares with the first three colours complete (there are 6 colours for each square).

I really, really love seeing a blanket journey evolve like this, it's such a thrill to have this idea inside my head and to witness it literally come to life in front of my eyes.

You'll notice that at this point, all the squares are very colourful as I've kept the darker blues to be used in the outer rounds.

The squares continued to grow....

.....and grow.....

....and grow, until they were at the stage where they were ready to join.

Now this is where the hard work really starts - it's really hard to explain to you just how difficult this process can be, and what a humongous amount of concentration and creative vision it takes to make these colour decisions on the fly.

Using the join-as-you-go method means that I need to try and imagine what the joining colours are going to look like before I actually make them. I also need to do things like make sure I use each colour an equal number of times, and separate squares that are too samey...so many decisions to make. My method is to use the floor, and make little yarn twists to represent the colour of the joining round. I place the yarn twists alongside each square, trying to balance the colour placement, and making sure that I can visualise them working. It's hard! Reeeeeeally hard!!

But I go forth with confidence, joining, joining, joining, and hoping and praying that it's going to look as good in real life as it does inside my head.

I work out from the centre because I'm trying to move the joining rounds from light to dark. Lighter in the centre and radiating out to the darker blues and greens around the outside.

The kitty oversees all decision making and work in progress, testing the quality of my workmanship at all times.

It's worth mentioning that it's inevitable that I make colour mistakes with this process, and so I leave all my joining tail ends dangling in case I need to perform surgery. I think I frogged out four squares in total, removing them completely, remaking them with better colours and then joining them back in again.

Finally, I had joined all 81 squares (they are arranged in a 9 x 9 format for this blanket) and began the task of darning in those dangling ends. Luckily for me I was at the café with friends while I tackled this bit so it wasn't too painful, but in normal circumstances crocheting a square blanket, I would always, always darn my ends in as I go.

I LOVE the join-as-you-go method and have used it in most of my square blanket designs. It's so neat and means that the blanket comes together pretty quickly.

So shall I give you a few numbers to roll around in your mind?

81 squares in total. 

6 colours in each square. No two squares are the same, they are all different.

That makes 486 colour decisions in these squares......and I am SO PROUD of it!!!!!

The border keeps the v-stitch design and is worked in the darker shades of blues and greens. This creates a  grounding framework around the squares and settles the whole design down a bit - those squares are pretty rowdy and shouty and need a bit of calming.

The little red border at the end was a last minute decision and I love the way it adds a final zing of joyful spirit.

Ahhhh.........it really is more than a little bit lovely.

As always, as soon as I darned in the last end, the blanket was put into use. My blankets don't get folded up and put away, no, no, they get to become a part of family life right from the start. It quickly became a firm favourite with the Little People and I can't tell you how happy it makes me when I see my blankets being used and loved by my family.

Oh - I took this photo yesterday and wanted to show you - I held my blanket up to the window to let the light shine through to highlight the stitch pattern. Isn't it lovely? I really like how the stars look like they are shining.

Miss Tilly didn't wait a second to road test the newly completed blanket - she was literally on it in an instant, as soon as it touched down on the sofa. I love the way cats just assume you are spreading out a blanket for their personal comfort and use. That look on her face that says well of course you made this just for me, I expect nothing less!

I want to show you how the whole blanket looks now, so you can see the play of light and dark, and the shine of the colours out from the centre.....

............TA-DAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am immensely proud of this blanket, it has proven to be a real challenge for me with my depleted concentration levels and not an easy make by any means. I mean, the actual crochet bit was easy-peasy, but the endless decision making was not. 

But just look at it - isn't it a beauty??

I honestly adore it, and part of me can't believe I actually designed and made it. I did it! And I love it and I'm so bloomin' proud of it.

So. STARBRIGHT. It's done and I love it, and now I'd love you to love it too.

There is of course the yarn pack which contains 15 balls of yarn as well as a 12 page A4 printed pattern.

STARBRIGHT YARN PACK AND PRINTED PATTERN

You will need a 4mm hook as standard, but you can go bigger or smaller if you know your crochet tension. I think this pattern looks and feels better if it's kept on the tighter side.

The join-as-you-go method is written into the printed pattern, but there is also a full photo tutorial here on my blog to help you along with it.

STARBRIGHT TUTORIAL

I often get asked if my patterns are suitable for beginners, and with Starbright I'd say that yes, it's a good one for adventurous beginners to try. The actual stitches are easy (mostly just UK trebles and chains), but you do need to be able to hold a good, even tension, and you do need to concentrate with making squares!

And then of course we have the ends to deal with. Please don't groan......darning in ends is all part of the blanket making journey, and I'd really like you to adjust your mindset when it comes to tucking those ends away. Think of it like this - you are darning love into your blanket with every colour change, and ensuring that it becomes an heirloom that will stand the test of time. My method is to darn as soon as I snip, NO EXCUSES. Scissors and needle stay together, and as soon as I cut that yarn, I thread it straight onto my needle and darn. it takes just a few seconds. Seconds. It's not an endless, thankless task if you do it this way.

STARBRIGHT STRIPES

Now I know that not everyone loves squares like I do, and some of you would prefer to work on a striped blanket where you have an easy run of it up and down those long rows. I hear you - I love the ease of stripes too, and the way that they provide a really therapeutic and mindful crochet experience. So last week I worked up a sampler to see how these bright winter colours would look as a stripe. OH. MY. GOODNESS. I hadn't been expecting to fall head over heels in love, but unexpectedly it happened.

I knew as soon as I took the above photo that I would be making my own striped blanket. I mean look.......

......WOW!!!!! This is my skinny sampler which has 105 rows. It's how I like to sample a stripe blanket so that I know for sure the colours are going to balance and play nice with each other.

It's safe to say that these colours together are powerful - this is going to be a power-stripe! It's rich and vibrant and joyful, if a little bit on the boisterous side. Gosh, I do love it.

I started out on my next blanket journey as soon as I'd finished my sampler, I couldn't wait to get going.

I'm using the same v-stitch as I used for the Starbright squares and the border - it's a simple v-stitch which is compact and doesn't have chain spaces, so it makes a nice dense crochet fabric. I'm working two rows of colour for each stripe so it's not quite so zig-zaggy, but half the number of ends to darn in. I just couldn't face one-row stripes.

This pattern is very, very, very easy, so there won't be a photo tutorial for it, just the written pattern. Of course you don't have to use the v-stitch if you don't want to. I have twelve other stripe patterns to choose from, so if stripes are calling to you, then choose whichever pattern pleases you the most.

Click on the following link for the V-stitch pattern >>

V-STITCH PATTERN

The graphic below shows the 105 stripes I made in my sampler, it really is going to make a glorious blanket. 

Now depending on which stripe pattern you choose, each pattern will have a different number of stripes (because the height of each stripe pattern varies). I'm going to aim for 99 stripes for my v-stitch to make my blanket 175cm long. You can choose to make as many stripes as you have yarn for, in whichever pattern tickles your fancy.

Here is a run down of my stripe patterns, and the suggested number of stripes to make a 6ft length.

♥ Starbright v-stitch :: 99 stripes

♥ Neat Wave :: 115 stripes (as used in the Moorland Blanket)

♥ Woodland Ripple :: 105 stripes 

♥ Seashell Stripe :: 100 stripes (as used in the Dune blanket)

♥ Spike Stitch :: 99 stripes (as used in the Dahlia blanket)

♥ Springfrost Stripe :: 95 stripes

♥ Cosy Stripe :: 90 stripes

♥ Granny Stripe :: 90 stripes

♥ Meadow Stripe :: 90 stripes

♥ Hydrangea Stripe :: 88 stripes

♥ Neat Ripple :: 84 stripes

♥ Easy Eyelet Ripple :: 84 stripes (as used in the Harbour blanket)

♥ Trellis Stripe :: 84 stripes (as used in the Sweet Pea blanket)

I hope this pattern/stripe info is helpful - all patterns (including starting chains etc) are in my sidebar in the usual place, I expect you will already be familiar with many of them and will have a favourite.

I made a worksheet for you so that you have the exact colour order that I'm using for my stripes. Click on the following link to download/print.

STARBRIGHT STRIPE WORKSHEET 

There are 105 stripes listed on the worksheet, but obviously depending on which pattern you choose, do remember to stop when your blanket reaches the length that you want!

The other thing I've done is make up a sampler with the Starbright colours ordered into a sequence which loosely follows the colour wheel. I think this repeating stripe would make a fantastic blanket and if you like the look of it, here is the order (from bottom to top) :

1. Aster
2. Turquoise
3. Empire
4. Bottle
5. Kelly Green
6. Apple
7. Gold
8. Magenta
9. Pomegranate
10. Fuchsia Purple
11. Lipstick
12. Lapis
13. French Navy
14. Teal
15. Lobelia

You can see how different the same fifteen colours can look when they are ordered differently. I much prefer the higgeldy-piggeldy energised version on the left, but I can also see the appeal of the calmer, more ordered colourwash version on the right.

If you like the idea of making a colourwash blanket, I created a worksheet for that too. It has 99 stripes, so would be suitable for a shorter stitch pattern like the v-stitch, or the seashell (Dune) or Springfrost stripes would also work well.

STARBRIGHT COLOURWASH WORKSHEET 

Well, I think that's all for now. Thank you so much for reading all about Starbright, I hope you enjoyed the colourful visuals and a little peek into my creative working process.

STARBRIGHT YARN PACK

STARBRIGHT TUTORIAL

V-STITCH PATTERN

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Little Zippy Bags :: Ta-dah!

Aren't zippers amazing little things when you actually stop and think about it? While I've been making these bags I've been zipping the cute little coloured zips back and forth and really appreciating their cleverness and usefulness. I haven't made many things with zips really, because sewing them into fabric (or crochet) always seems to be an overly complicated affair and just a step too far. That is why, when I hit on the idea of using a ready-made zippered bag, it seemed like such a GrEaT idea! Crocheting around the bag so that the zip is already inserted AND you have a ready made canvas liner.....well my goodness, that just sounds like loads of crochet fun waiting to happen without any of the sewing stress.

I think I mentioned before, I bought a pack of these small canvas pouches a few months ago. So when I had the idea to crochet around them, I already had everything I needed to jump in and try it out while the inspiration was hot and my Creative Mind wanted to explode with excitement.

The bags measure 21 x 12 cm (pencil case or make-up bag size) and I adore the different coloured zippers. I got them on Amazon - there are loads of different listings for them, but these ones are similar ((HERE)).

I decided to use Ricorumi DK and I love this cotton yarn for decorative projects. It comes in dinky little 25g balls, so you can really have a good load of colour play going on for an affordable amount of money.

My method of attaching the crochet to the bag starts with this ↑↑ a line of  chain stitches worked directly into the zipper with a sharp Chenille needle. It's a neat idea because the chains are spaced to simulate a crochet foundation chain all around the zipper, and can be crocheted into very easily....

......do you see? That's a round of double crochet worked into the stitched chain to form the beginnings of a stripe-fest.

I worked rounds of double crochet in back loops only to give a lovely surface texture.

The rounds are worked upwards, but also inside out.....eventually you will flip the crochet back down.....

....so that the right side is showing and the stripes completely cover up the canvas from the top down.

Wheeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

It's LOADS of fun playing with colours, and I love the slightly crazy clash of it all.

There are 26 little rounds in total, and because this is only a small thing and not a giant blanket, they whizz off your hook in no time. In my tutorial I teach you how to create an invisible join at the end of each round so that the whole thing is seamless, it really is neat.

Me being me, I couldn't resist a little added floral decoration....

....so I made a Polyanthus flower, a baby flower with a little French knot centre and a couple of leaves.

Oh, and as a little bougie extra, I also added a slender tassel to the zip.

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

Oh, my heart fell hard for this little stripy bag!

The one pictured behind with the turquoise zipper followed immediately after the first one, I was deep into obsessional territory by this point. I started the second one in exactly the same way, but the stripes are made with half trebles worked into the spaces between stitches which give a wider stripe but keep the dense kind of look.

On Monday I decided to try out this pattern with my extensive stash of Stylecraft Special DK, just to see how it compared to the cotton. These small balls are all leftovers from making my blankets and they make a wonderful working colour palette for stash-busting projects.

I used some fresh floral shades of SSDK and really love how it turned out.

I added a layered flower for a bit of extra something-something (I used my Triple Layer flower pattern, but only made two layers instead of three). Actually I think the stripes on their own are enough, but I just can't seem to stop myself with the flower thing.

The inside of these canvas pouches are little bit primitive because the edges of the zips aren't concealed inside, and the overlocked seams of the canvas are also visible. But I don't really think it matters too much, and they are certainly practical little  bags for storing your crochet hooks and bits and bobs, or for holding small things. I'm currently using one to keep tissues, paracetamol and a lip balm in my everyday rucksack which I use in place of a handbag (It's THIS one, in case you wanted to picture it)

Comparing these two finished bags (SSDK acrylic yarn on the top, and Ricorumi cotton yarn on the bottom), I have to say I prefer the look and feel of the cotton. I think the texture is very pleasing and I think it would be more hard wearing too. But as so many of you have probably got leftovers of Stylecraft Special tucked away, then honestly there is no need to purchase cotton - use the stash you have! Each stripe of SSDK only uses ONE GRAM of yarn, so less than 30g for the whole bag.

Do you feel inspired? Would you like to give this a try? Be warned....they are very addictive little things, and real time stealers too. You won't be able to step away once you get whizzing along on those stripes!

As promised, I've made a  full photo tutorial to show you step by step how to go about this project. It includes links to the canvas bags and other bits you'll need, I hope I've managed to explain myself OK.

The tutorial is free to use, and you can find it in the left hand sidebar list as usual. The following link will take you there >>

♥ ZIPPY BAG TUTORAL ♥

Well that's all from me for now - I'd love to hear what you think of this project and I hope if you give it a go that you enjoy the creative process. Happy hooking!

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♥ ZIPPY BAG TUTORAL ♥

 

 

Away and Back

Hello, hello, hello, I'm baaaaack!!! Maybe you didn't even know I'd been away, but I did indeed journey far away from the Attic (1526 miles to be precise) and now I'm home again trying to navigate myself gently back into normal life. Did I tell you I was going to Madeira? I think I might have mentioned it in passing - I was teaching a crochet retreat with Stitchtopia and it was absolutely, utterly and completely wonderful. Oh, I LOVED my week in Madeira, it's such a lush and beautiful island with a sub tropical climate and the sunny warmth did me a lot of good. The above scene was part of the expansive vista out of my floor to ceiling bedroom window, and I snapped that photo on my first morning....imagine lying in bed and waking up to that view, it was honestly the loveliest thing. 

Me being me, I took a ridiculous number of photographs during my week flouncing around that beautiful island. I just had a look and did a quick count - 369 images, seriously, I need to get a grip. I'll try and get them into some sort of order and work out the best way to share my Madeira experience with you. I have so much I want you to see!

Three and a half days out of the week were workshop days, and I was teaching a crochet project to a group of fifteen lovely ladies. I created a bespoke yarn kit and designed something brand new, but I'm going to wait and show it to you a bit later in the year. The reason being, I have a second group of ladies coming to Madeira with me in September and I don't want to spoil the surprise for them. I feel it's OK to show you some of the touristy outdoor things we did, but I do want to keep the crochet element under wraps for now. Suffice to say, it all went really well and the feedback I received from the ladies was glowing so I feel like I did a pretty good job. I was reminded what a privilege it is to be able pass on knowledge and inspiration, it's truly my passion to inspire creativity and share my love of colour. How lucky I am.

I arrived back home last Thursday night after a long travel stint - a coach, a plane and three trains which was roughly twelve hours on the move. Oh, I was missed it seems! My Little People were so happy to have me back and I got the biggest hugs when I stumbled in through the door. The kitty was waiting for me too, and J of course, yes, I think he was VeRy pleased to have me back and be relieved of domestic duties. He does a terrific job when I'm away, combining his high tech professional  world with additional cooking, shopping, laundry and the general parenting stuff required for a school age child. I'm very grateful I have to say.

I found I was quite tired for a few days after all that excitement and travelling, so I spent my weekend pottering around quietly, seeking out pockets of stillness and calm. Apparently it rained a lot during the week I was away and my sweet peas seemed to suddenly come alive. I'm only picking small handfuls, but they are so precious and fragrant. 

I like to put them in a little jug or small glass bottle and then I can move them around the room with me so that I catch the scent wherever I happen to be sitting. A divine summer pleasure.

I enjoyed reconnecting with my little patch of home turf at the weekend, even though it's been pretty grey and wet for a lot of it. We strolled around town, visited the market, walked along the canal, through the park and I took time to appreciate the visuals of my daily life. Sunflowers in painted pots on top of a narrowboat roof - I do live in a really pretty place.

I snapped the above visual for my Instagram stories on Sunday morning as I was waiting for the barista to froth up my cappuccino. I absolutely love going out for coffee, did you know that about me already (??!! kidding, of course you knew, I tell you often enough). A Sunday morning coffee always feels just that extra bit special to me, it's a slower pace with more time to sit and sip and chat with the fam (J and Little B with me on this occasion). We shared some cinnamon swirl pastries and it felt indulgent and pleasurable and just down right lovely.

I'm taking time to make nourishing food for myself this week after an awful lot of indulgence while I was away. Hotel food, what can I say? It was abundant, tempting, full of variety and extremely hard to be moderate really. I ate and drank a lot more than I'm used to and now I'm trying to regain some sort of balance - I'm enjoying it actually, and enjoying cooking again too after the luxury of not having to do it for a week.

Yesterday was damp and humid and as J and I both have Mondays free from work, we drove to Bolton Abbey to walk along the river.

The riverbanks are a wild, tangled mass of tall summer grasses and wild flowers at the moment and it's such a joy to see. There were masses of these glorious purply-blue flowers (Meadow Cranesbill) which are so pretty - that violet colour is stunning.

On Sunday afternoon something very rare occurred. VERY rare indeed. Shall I tell you? Well, I was here in the house pottering about and suddenly realised that the house was unusually quiet and for the first time in a very long while I was all alone. The big two kiddos were away at a muddy music festival, and J had taken Little B to go and play pool, so it was just me and the kitty in a silent house.

Peace. Solitude. Space.

I was lost for a while, wandered up and down the stairs a few times, folded a pile of laundry, ate a banana, talked to the kitty and then suddenly out of nowhere I was hit with an overwhelming desire to create. I dug into the Cupboard of Doom, pulled out my stash of Ricorumi cottons, and pulled together a spontaneous bright summer colour palette. I had this idea I wanted to try out, something that I'd been thinking about for a while, and a quiet Sunday afternoon seemed like the perfect time....

....can you see what I'm up to? I've had this stack of plain canvas zipper pouches for a while, I bought them a few months ago with the idea to crochet little flowers and things to appliqué onto the front. But somewhere along the line I changed my mind and thought about trying to cover all of the canvas with crochet stripes. I had a play, and with some trial and error I eventually worked out a way to crochet into the zipper at the top, then build my stripes downwards. 

Oh. My. Goodness. Such fun!! Such colourful, stripy, happy, creative hooky fun! It's been a long, long time since I felt this overwhelming urge to design and create just for the joy of it, and I can't tell you how good it feels to have my spark back.

This is as far as I got on Sunday, but today is Tuesday and I've since finished the first pouch and started making a second one so that I could photograph the process for a tutorial. I'm excited about this crazy little project, and I'm excited that I'm excited, if you see what I mean. For a lot of this year I've felt like my spark might never return which had me all kinds of worried.

Anyhow.....I've got a busy few days ahead because we're off on a little holiday on Friday and I want to try and write about Madeira before I go while it's still fresh in my mind. But I'll  see if I can manage to create a photo tutorial for this crochet zipper pouch idea - if I can't make it happen this week, then definitely when I come home from my jolly.

Well I think that's about all my news for now, thanks as always for calling in for a catch up. Life's good, isn't it?

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Joyful June

We are almost at the end of this early summer month and hand on heart it has been an utter dream. The weather - ohhhh - the WeAtHer!!!! It has been perfectly perfect, really hot and sunny and light and bright. And then after a good few weeks of parched dryness we had some terrific summer storms with giant claps of thunder which shook the whole house, and I mean literally, the house ((shook)). It was quite scary at the time, possibly the loudest thunder I have ever heard in my entire life. We've also had some wild downpours, bringing us the most lush smell of summer rain on dry ground. I've loved it, the heat and the sun and the rain and the smell of it all, it has made me so bloomin' happy.

We've still been trying to get out and walk every morning at 7am, but these past few weeks it's been harder than usual for us to wake up in time. I think it's because J and I both suffer from hayfever and the pollen has been very high in this hot, humid weather. The first weeks of hayfever season do kind of knock the wind from your sails and we've both felt unusually tired even though we've been sleeping very well.

But on the mornings when we are up and out, it is so, so beautiful in the woodland in June, the greenery is in full tilt and the slant of sunshine through the leafy trees makes my heart sing.  

These long, hot golden days have drawn me out in the evenings too, even though honestly I've had so little energy to spare. Little Lady often pulls me from my slump on the sofa and I can't resist when she is so keen to have my company.

I mean, eight o'clock in the evening and it looks like this ↑↑ - I would give anything to experience this in midwinter! So outside I go, making the most of these deliciously long, bright summer evenings.

Summer views out over the town as we stroll home from the woodland, gosh, I do feel so lucky to have all this on my doorstep.

It's almost been too hot to walk through much of June (and by that I mean the sort of walking that eats up the miles), but J and I have done a little bit. Mostly local ambles across the fields and down quiet lanes, time to stretch out our muscles and chatter together about this and that. 

The kitty has been flopped out all over the place, sometimes lolling over the furniture but often times she's taken to hiding away under my bed which I guess must be a cool spot for her. Did I mention it's been hot??? ;)

Our routines continue to flow through these early summer weeks - Saturday morning trips to the market where the fruit and veg is abundantly ripe and lush. I ate a lot of asparagus this month.

The strawberries are especially good at the moment and we are eating our way through punnets and punnets of them each week. I'm not big into ice cream, but last week I had a craving for it and bought a small tub of plain vanilla, mainly to have with strawberries. Oooo, it was stupidly good, I had kind of forgotten the deliciousness of good vanilla ice cream with very ripe strawberries.

On Friday mornings, I like to try and walk to the bakery if I have time before 8am. It's not very far to walk, less then ten minutes each way, and I can walk part of it along the canal. The bakery is just over this wooden bridge and across the road to the right there.

I like to treat the Little People (who are no longer little) on a Friday, because I think to myself that this is the kind of mothering that might stick in their minds when they are grown. When I was growing up, we used to have croissants once a year at Christmas, and if my Mum had gotten up early to go to the bakery to fetch me fresh pastries for breakfast on an average Friday, I would have been absolutely beside myself with the luxury of it. I tell this tale to my Little People of course, and in return I do receive genuine thanks and gratitude which I believe are the foundations for true happiness.

Spending lots of time outside in our modest little yarden, and enjoying the simple pleasure of unpegging and folding warm, fragrant, sun dried laundry. The joy of it never gets old.

We had our town's annual charity Gala, the usual  procession of decorated floats, walking entertainers and marching bands passing the very end of our street as they made their way to the park. It's such an old fashioned tradition and a bit faded nowadays I suppose, but always touches some deep rooted memories I have of experiencing many carnival processions as a child. Here in Atticland, the tradition of a charity Gala is positively ancient, with the very first one being held in 1901. As well as the entertainments, there is always a travelling fairground set up in the park, and at precisely 10pm on Saturday night there is a free firework display. I'm a sucker for fireworks and absolutely love the dramatics of an aerial display, it really was excellent this year.

A few weeks ago my good friend Christine came to visit from Winwick for the day which is always a lovely thing. As the weather was far too warm to be doing yarny things inside a café, we opted for a walk at Bolton Abbey instead.

Eeeep, it was hot! With hindsight it was maybe far too hot for a five mile walk, but as much of it was through shady woodland we thought it would be OK. It was a moderately sweaty affair, and I was really glad when the bridge came into sight and I knew that a a sit down and some much needed refreshment was in my near future.

I opted for old fashioned Victorian lemonade, and at the last minute I decided that I really, absolutely needed to top up my energy levels and picked out a generous slice of Victoria sponge. My very Victorian refreshment combo was exceptionally good I have to say.

Don't worry though, I have still been drinking coffee right through the recent summer heatwave. Spending Friday mornings in the company of good yarny friends continues to be a true highlight of my weeks and I love my "Coopers" times so much. The past few Fridays I've been knitting instead of crocheting because none of my current crochet projects are particularly portable or sociable.

I cast on these "Frost" socks at the beginning of March, so I was keen to get them finished up and off my needles.

I'm happy to report that a) they are indeed finished and off my needles, and b) they fit like a dream and feel amazing on my feet. Obviously June hasn't in any way been sock weather and my toes have been permanently living an airy, sock-free life. But my newly completed socks did get a wash, a blocking session, and then a try-on which is the law when you finish knitting a pair of handmade socks. If anyone is remotely interested, the yarn is an old, hard-to-find Regia yarn, the "frost" colourway designed by Kaffe Fassett. I purchased from a lovely little online company called KnitUK. The sock pattern I always use is the beginner-friendly Basic 4ply Sock by Christine at Winwick Mum.

Hmmm.....what else to tell you about the joys of June? Flowers are featuring in my daily life and I am thrilled by them as always. The climbing rose is blooming in my front garden ....

....and in the yarden the first sweet peas have flowered. I was late planting the plantlets so they are still quite small and straggly, but they are so good at popping out floral abundance even when the plants themselves look less than stellar.

The first flowers had very short stems and in all honesty I felt very guilty snipping them because it seemed a bit cruel to strip the plants. But I know from experience that the more you cut them, the stronger the plants will grow and more flowers will be sure to follow. Plus there is the obvious bonus of this.............

..........the most uplifting, joy-inducing jug of flowers on my table, making me ever so ridiculously happy. Love love love love love times a gazillion. There is nothing nicer than a small homegrown posy in a jug - well maybe a large homegrown posy might be nicer, but I was still delighted with the humble nature of this small arrangement. Absolute Joy in a Jug.

Summer Solstice came last week and it was the usual emotional affair for me. I find this particular day in the year so full of feels - gratitude, joy and relief for the abundance of daylight, but also the rather sinking realisation that days will now get shorter. As my darling husband delighted in telling me, and I quote - "It's all down hill from here. Soon be Christmas". Well bloody hell, what can you say to that?!!

Anyhow, I ignored his harsh, winter-loving words and went forth into the evening to marvel at the very lightness and beauty of it, and to drink in the knowledge that at this time of year the sun sets at a quarter to ten in the North of England. Wowsers, it's absolutely lovely out there in June.

I had Little B with me on this Solstice jaunt - 9.42pm in the above photo as we were strolling home from the meadow together. We'd been on a little walk around the fields to see if there were any elderflowers still blooming because it's been a very early, short season for these precious flowers this year and I feared I might have missed them.

I had no need to worry because we found a whole hedgerow of trees still in flower, so we went together the very next day to gather some in.

So pretty! 

We managed to snip enough to make 3 litres of cordial (recipe in this post, scroll down to find), so all was fragrant and floral and zesty in my kitchen for a while last week. We're all really enjoying this delicious summery drink and I have lots of small bottles of it stashed in the freezer.

I'm well aware that I've had very little to share with you on the creative front this year, and I feel weirdly sad about it, like I'm letting you all down a bit. As you know, my annual crochet-along finished at the end of February and ever since then I've been in a real dither with my creative endeavours. 

However - stuff has been happening in the background, in slow, stuttering stops and starts. In April I created a colour palette for a new blanket which is a square design - I think I might have shown you a few little bits of it here and there. It's been a challenge to find the necessary focus and concentration to tackle this blanket, but I have a September deadline and I hope to be able to show you some progress once I've actually done a bit more work on it. Right now it's just messy piles of part-made squares which don't really make much sense!

Overlapping that, I had to then create another colour palette ready for my next annual CAL, as it's necessary for me to work five months in advance when choosing my colours with Stylecraft. So I was working hard on that last week, and I'm happy to say that as I already had the spark of inspiration in my mind, the stitch pattern and colour palette came together like a dream. Following on from the beautifully muted Springfrost colours, this next one is rich and colourful and I am so so excited about what I've chosen. 

And finally, this week has been all about preparing for my upcoming crochet retreat to Madeira (I fly out next Thursday), and yet again I'm so sorry that I can't show you what I've been working on. All this invisible behind-the-scenes stuff is very boring, isn't it?!

Do you like the sky in the above photo? It was a-maz-ing to stand underneath it, I felt a bit like I was going to fall into it, sort of like a reverse kind of vertigo. 

Well.....this has turned into an epic blog post, over two thousand words of ramble about the month of June. I am never short of things to yak on about it seems. I wonder how you've been, and hope that there have been plenty of joyful moments for you during this lovely mid-year month. Drop me a line or two and tell me what's been making you happy of late, I do really enjoy reading all about life at your end.

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Golden Buttercups

I took these photos a few weeks ago, an evening in early June when I felt the meadow call to me. I expect you've heard me talking about The Meadow before - it's a beautiful, natural piece of land about five minutes walk from the Attic, tucked away through a wooden gate at the edge of the local park. I often find myself drawn to it when my mind is overly full or I need to unwind or think about things, sometimes in the still of an early morning, but most often in the golden lull of a summer evening. I absolutely love the tranquillity and peace that I experience when I walk there and it gave me the inspiration for the colours of a blanket a few years ago too.

It's become something of a ritual for me to visit the buttercups - this incredible golden, flower-filled view doesn't last for very, maybe three or four weeks from the end of May until mid June. It is absolutely stunning, especially on a warm June day when the sun is still shining well into the evening, and at 8pm there is this wonderful golden glow over the landscape. I love love love it, almost overwhelmingly so, it makes me feel so many feels - ALL the feels!!! I overflow with them until I feel like I might burst.

On this evening I stopped to pick a few stems - buttercups, clover, cow parsley and a few delicate grasses, and carried them back to pop into a little glass ink bottle. They never last long, but for a few days I get to enjoy a little snippet of the meadow at home.

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A Happy Heart

I've been so obsessed with my Springfrost blanket during the past few months that I haven't had very much wiggle room inside my Creative Mind of late. It's nothing unusual for me to be honest - I do tend to have a very focussed, one-track mind when I'm fully immersed in a crochet project and I like to give it my whole undivided attention.

I finished crocheting the border on my blanket over the weekend (and I'm so, so excited to share it with you, it's beeeautiful), so of course that immediately left me twiddling my digits and looking for something new to scratch the creative itch. Out came my bag of cotton yarn and I selected a lovely colour palette to work with - a cute mix of brights and pastels which immediately put me in a happy mood.

I fancied making something super pretty and super speedy that would fly off my hook, land on my table and make me smile. And given that today is Valentine's Day, then something heart shaped seemed like it would hit the spot nicely.

Can you guess where I went to find a suitable pattern? Yup, that's right, I tootled off to the left sidebar of this very blog and clicked on the "Heart Decoration" tutorial.....such fun!! Reading my own blurb and following the detailed photo tutorial that I very thoughtfully provided for my future self was a delight, and my my hook flew through those stitches in no time.

Oh, before I get carried away, let me give you some yarn details, just in case you are feeling inspired by these pretty colours. The yarn is Ricorumi DK which I really love using for these sorts of small, decorative projects. The yarn balls are mini 25g sized, so you can build a good palette of colours without spending too much money.

The colours I used are as follows :

Heart : Rose, Orchid, Red and Fuchsia

Polyanthus flower : Tangerine, Pastel Yellow, Fuchsia

Polyanthus leaves : Pastel Green and Mint, with some stitching in Light Green

Baby flowers : Pastel Yellow, with a Tangerine french knot in the centre, and Light Green leaves

I'm really proud of my polyanthus design (which you can find HERE), it's perfect for the fresh Spring look that I wanted for my heart.

The baby flowers are teeeeeny-weeeeeny as you can see in the above photo. Oh, they are ever so cute! You might remember the little blossom flowers I made last year for my Winter garland? Well these baby flowers are just a smaller version.

BABY FLOWER PATTERN

Chain 4; slip stitch into 1st chain to form a ring;

All petal stitches are worked into the ring, as follows :

*(chain 1; 1 htr ; chain 1; slip stitch;)

Repeat from * four more times, to make five petals in total; slip stitch into beginning chain-1 to close the round and fasten off.

The centre french knot is stitched and is optional, but I think it adds a lovely detail.

BABY LEAVES

*(chain 3; slip stitch in 2nd chain from hook, and again in the next chain;)

Repeat from * once more, so that you have two little mini leaves which sit in a V shape, then fasten off and stitch to the back of your baby flower.

I didn't plan the flowers in advance, they just kind of bloomed in front of my eyes. I'd forgotten the thrill of designing and making in Full Flow, just allowing myself to play and crochet whatever my heart wanted. I think it took me about an hour and a half from the point where I pulled my bag of yarn out of the cupboard to darning in the last ends.

I had a lovely surprise when I came downstairs this morning as I'd completely forgotten that I'd had this unexpected flurry of creativity last night, haha, true story! It was like my very own surprise Valentine's Day gift, from me to myself!!

I enjoyed taking a few photos earlier on today that I could share with you here, just a little something to hopefully brighten your day.....♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

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