Attic24

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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Autumn Snaps :: November 2022

♥ Early November brought the first frosts and our seven o'clock morning walks were suddenly very chilly. Such a beautiful and invigorating way to start the day though, I love the energy it gives me.

♥ Continuing to walk around my lovely little rural home town, observing the beauty of the changing seasons.

♥ Even on damp, dull days the autumn colours cheered my spirits and I took so much pleasure from being out underneath the trees.

♥ Most weekday mornings I head out by myself for an hour or so, mostly to pick up groceries or run errands around the town.  I realised just the other day that this has kind of taken over from the school run that used to be such a big part of my routine, and the thought of that made me smile. 

♥ Two weeks ago we celebrated a whole fifteen years living here at number twenty four. This house, in this friendly town with this remarkable hill view fill me with gratitude every single day. I'm so glad we live here!

♥ Ahh, a random photo of a leaf, of course. This is the exact kind of thing that literally stops me dead in my tracks as I'm walking up the street. The colours in nature fill my brain to bursting, it's no wonder I can't remember stuff - there's just no room for information in amongst the leaves.

♥ November is a month full of cosy. The rapidly shortening days and cold, snappy weather makes me appreciate the comforts of being indoors, covered in the all the yarn. Socks, mitts and blankets, layers and layers of warmth.

♥ Waking up and realising it's Friday - allllllll the happy feels. I get to jaunt down the hill to the café to spend three delicious hours drinking coffee, hooking up something colourful and chatting with my very good friends. I bloomin' love Fridays.

♥ The joy of sharing a love of yarn and colour with my tribe. Sitting opposite my talented friend who's been knitting a circular blanket in the most glorious shades of Autumn. My Fireside cushion really looked good with her blanket, such a photogenic pair.

♥ Haha - mid November, and I was still hanging onto the last remains of summer, I just couldn't seem to let it go completely. The little wood and wire sculpture is a recent purchase from one of my favourite makers Helen of Thimbleville. I love the simple words because they remind me to stay positive on days when it feels like a struggle.

♥ Cheap and cheerful autumn flowers on my table, bringing colour into the room for almost three whole weeks. 

♥ November has long been the month of the indoor hyacinths, ever since I first moved here and found them in the supermarket in November 2008. I've had them in the house every single year since and look forward to them very, very, very much.

♥ Here's an observation though - they really don't seem to smell any more? The scent of hyacinths would easily fill the room once upon a time, but in recent years, not so much. They are still the most beautiful things to observe though - there are six days between the two photos above, don't they grow fast?

♥ A weekend family walk at Bolton Abbey, taking advantage of some unexpected afternoon sunshine.

♥ The low sun was blindingly bright at times, but I couldn't get enough of it. Sometimes I just stand still and face the sun with my eyes closed - J says I'm solar powered and need to recharge my panels. I think he might be right.

♥ Gorgeous, gorgeous light as we drove home over the moors - it's just after 3pm in the above photo. The long, tall shadows are me and Little Lady prancing about while the boys sat patiently in the car waiting for us to finish.

♥ Cosy crochet by candlelight - very, very Novemberish I'd say.

♥ The first mice pie of the season, such a perfect little afternoon sweet treat. I adore these little mini ones that you can buy from the supermarkets and much prefer them to the big filled ones.

♥ November is generally waaaaay too early for me to think about anything Christmassy, but it's hard to avoid as little signs creep in everywhere you look. I can cope with the odd bauble here and there, and maybe some extra twinkly lights about the place.

♥ All in all, November was a good month, really good actually. Ohh....yes! There was also this.....

....a few days spent by the sea which was absolutely, wonderfully restorative and energising. I'll show you some more photos in  my next post xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

 

Autumn Snaps :: October 2022

Thank you for all the kind words you sent my way after my blog post yesterday, it's been something special to receive so much feel-good from you all and for me to digest your wise words and take your advice. I've been thinking a lot about my blog today, and remembering how much I love to create and share my stories here in this space - blogging for my own pleasure has always been my priority since day one and that hasn't changed over the years. Having said that, I've learnt that I do still need to give myself permission to take a break when I need it, and to place value on time spent away from my laptop. I need to remind myself that it's not a failure if I miss some weeks here and there, especially not given the length of time I've consistently shown up to open my Attic window - over fourteen years now, one hundred and seventy seven months and counting. I'm really proud of still being here, writing about my life as I moved out of my thirties, through a whole decade of my forties, and now into my fifties.....oooo.....I'm feeling a smidge emotional, I had better get a grip and start chatting about leaves!

Autumn leaves.....aren't they just the best little gifts from nature? Right now the trees are bare and the leafage is just a memory, so it's been lovely to dig back into my photos from two months ago and find some lovely seasonal colour to share with you.

October was a month for visiting Bolton Abbey, I think I went at least three times maybe more. I love to spend time in the woodland when the seasons are changing - the first rush of bright green leaves in May, and then the beauty of the Autumn colour shift in October.

In October I had to admit that my toes were cold and put my sandals to sleep for a while. It's no hardship really, because >>hello<< cosy, stripy handknit socks and my beloved Fly London boots. Believe me, it's a heavenly combination and I can highly recommend both. If you need to learn about knitting socks, then Winwick Mum will hold your hand with her free beginner tutorials. And if you are in the market for some uber-comfy leather boots to house your stripy socked feet, then I can point you in the direction of my Fly London chelsea boots ((here)). I've got two pairs, the purple pictured above (they are a lovely deep dark reddish colour in real life) and the green ones, and this is their fifth winter. I love love love them.

Speaking of hand knit socks, in October I made a real effort to finish off the pair that I cast on in August.

They came off my needles and onto my feet after I got back from France and was feeling the chill, and I'm so happy with them. The yarn is from the Regia Design Line range by Kaffe Fassett and the colourway is called "Moor". It's quite hard to find this range of sock yarn now so you need to hunt around in your local yarn shops or online. I found mine at a small indie online store called KnitUK which is fabulous - the yarn came beautifully packaged with real care and attention. You can find it ((here)). I've just actually ordered the "frost" colourway as it reminds me of my Springfrost blanket. I admit I do get a bit of a buzz out of matching my socks to my blankets, all those colourful stripes are perfect eye candy I have to say.

I've grown to love Autumn in recent years and the colours in nature are a big part of the enjoyment for me.

It's a habit now for me to spend as much time as possible outside throughout the year and I walk a fair bit in the course of an ordinary day. I find it extremely good for my mind, and I think that walking might be even more beneficial for my mental health than for my physical health (although clocking up 15,000 steps a day certainly does some good for the old bod).

I love that there is always beauty to be found, and I am very tuned in to finding it.

My photos are certainly full of all sorts of random things that have caught my eye (most of which I share with you), so I hope you enjoy seeing things through my goggles.

Another photo from Bolton Abbey...I've just remembered that one of the reasons I took so many visits in October was to do with friends visiting or local friends wanting to walk there with me, and for us to see the moon.

Yes, the moon......

......ta-dah!! This amazing installation was hanging inside Bolton Abbey priory church for a few weeks in October and it was wonderful to be able to see it a few times while it was there. It measures seven metres in diameter and features detailed NASA imagery of the lunar surface. It's amazing to think that each centimetre of the sculpture represents 5km of the moon’s surface....it really is a bit awesome.

The "Museum of the Moon" is a travelling exhibition which moves around the world so maybe you've already seen it, or perhaps it will be dangling in a place near you next year. You can read more about it ((here)).

During October I was mainly fixating on my Springfrost blanket and working on sampling and preparation for the crochet-along kit to launch in November. I have to say that in the run up to the reveal of a new blanket it really does take over so that it's hard to think about very much else.

But looking at my photos I was reminded that I also had this round cushion on the go too, and it often came to Coopers with me on a Friday morning. I'm not sure if I've shown it to you before - I started it when I was in France and it's made using the leftovers from the Fireside blanket (12 shades of Stylecraft Highland Heathers). I've almost finished it, but the cushion pad I bought is a bit larger than I thought (I bought 18 inches diameter instead of 16 inches by mistake) so I still need to work some extra rounds for it to fit. 

October was the start of the leaves beginning to fall, and they continued to gently tumble right through November. It's kind of a bitter sweet time in some ways, the true end of summer with the constant visual reminder that the year is falling away.

We had our half term week towards the end of October and it was a gentle week of rest and relaxation for us here. We did manage a couple of day trips which were soooo good, but I'm going to share those in another post because really I took way too many photos to shoe-horn them into this one. Pumpkin season came and took over for a while, I don't think I've ever seen so many huge piles of them in the shops, or such a variety to choose from.

With my own Little People growing up, the rituals of celebrating Hallowe'en are slowly slip sliding away. Little B was only momentarily interested in the pumpkin carving and although his ears perked up at the mention of sweeties, he didn't really want to be involved this year. I carved my pumpkin quietly in the afternoon and enjoyed the gentle creativity....

....and in the dark of the evening we did have a large number of Littles calling by for treats. My pumpkin was much admired which gave me a ridiculous amount of pleasure, so I do think it's still a lovely thing to do to round out the end of October.

Well, I think that's about all for now, I hope you've enjoyed my rambles. I'll take a look at November next and see if there's anything of interest to show you - ooh, I did take a few days away to the seaside in November, so maybe I'll share some of that with you. A little bit of salty sea air is always good for the soul. 

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Springfrost Blanket :: Introduction

Good morning!! If by any chance you've come to the Attic looking for the new Springfrost yarn pack, click on the following link to go straight there :

♥ SPRINGFROST YARN PACK ♥

I always really look forward to these posts where I introduce you to a new blanket because it means I can finally share what's been taking up so much space in my head of late. It's a huge relief for me actually as I'm a very open person when it comes to creativity and I find it really, really hard keeping things under wraps. So ((yay)) for today, when I can spill the creative beans!

Most of you probably already know about my annual crochet-along (CAL) which takes place at the start of January every year - this will be my ninth CAL blanket. Last year I wrote a blog post about all my crochet along blankets, so if you'd like to see what previous years have looked like, that post is ((here)). If you are new to the Attic and are wondering what on earth I'm going on about, I'll give more specific details about how the CAL works at the end of this post.

The idea for this colour palette started to form back in March when I was working on my Winter Garland. Do you remember it? The garland was a collection of crochet flowers and leaves in soft, muted winter shades with a touch of spring warmth and I fell head over heels in love with the colours.

As you know, I'm hugely inspired by nature and the seasons, and although I'm a summer-loving soul I can always find the beauty in every season and every type of weather (well, mostly. Drizzle and low cloud is a challenge). 

I actually love the winter months when temperatures fall below zero and we have a heavy frost, it can be incredibly beautiful and inspiring.

Here in Atticland our winters are very long. Take the above photo for example - May this year and even though the spring flowers were blooming we were still getting hard winter frosts. It remained soooooo cold with nights falling below zero and it felt like Spring never really had much of a chance to get going this year. It was very pretty out there, but brrrrrrrr, not really what you would expect spring to feel like.

Because our spring arrives very late, the arrival of the first early flowers is a real cause for celebration. Snowdrops are the first, bravely showing up in February when the weather is still doing crazy winter things. 

Then we look forward to the very early blossom. You can see in the above photo that sometimes these sweet little flowers have to brave a bit of snow and ice, but they don't seem to mind.

Early spring blossom is just the loveliest thing, so delicate and uplifting, it never fails to make me happy.

The colours of the land and sky at this time of year are amazingly  beautiful. The freezing cold weather covers the grass in sparkly frost and the morning sun glows soft and golden.

The early morning skies are often tinged with pink, and I really enjoy getting outside to walk and breathe it all in.

I hope from my photographs that you can get a feeling for how this colour palette came together in my mind. I began to imagine pale pinks, soft blues and frosty greens, with an undertone of cool white and silvery grey. A blend of winter and spring when the weather is still oh-so-cold but nature is gifting us the first flowers of the changing season. It's a quietly joyful colour palette, celebrating the first signs of spring after a long, cold winter.

As with all my colour palettes, I do a huge amount of faffing and deliberation when putting together a collection of colours which will eventually become a blanket. It's a lengthy design process for me, but it's one of my most favourite things to do. Quite simply, I get a massive amount of joy from creating with colour, oooodles of happiness!

The Springfrost colour palette is obviously much paler than my usual choices (it couldn't be more different from last year's Harbour palette) but I love the sweet gentleness of it. You might also be amused to know that this is the very first time I've ever used white in a blanket, and I'm mostly over the internal struggle of it (! if you know, you know !)

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

Top row :

♥ Lincoln ♥  Duck Egg ♥  White ♥  A Hint of Silver ♥  Mushroom ♥

Middle row :

♥ Pistachio ♥ Spearmint ♥ Blue Marl* ♥ Parma Violet ♥ Powder Pink ♥

Bottom row :

♥ Meadow ♥ Cloud Blue ♥  Baby Blue* ♥ Wisteria ♥ Pale Rose ♥

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

♥ SPRINGFROST YARN PACK ♥

* a little note about two of the colours I've chosen - on the left is Baby Blue, and on the right is Blue Marl. You might not be familiar with these shades as they are from the Stylecraft "Special for Babies" range. This yarn is compatible with the usual Special DK and crochets up in exactly the same way....and for this particular colour palette, the pale wintry shades are absolute perfection.

During the course of the past four months or so, I've been working on stitch pattern ideas for the Springfrost blanket. Endless samples have flown off my hook, ideas worked and re-worked, tweaked, frogged, modified and abandoned. When I sample stitch ideas, I don't look in books or at patterns that already exist (well very rarely) - my method is to sit with my hook and "doodle" with the yarn to see what comes up. Sometimes I might have an idea of something already in my head, other times I start with a basic stitch that I already know and attempt to grow it into something new. It's a fun process, a bit frustrating perhaps, but with my years of design experience I know that if I just keep going, eventually something will bloom and feel just right.

I deliberately keep my patterns simple because one of my true passions in life is to inspire crochet beginners to embark on a blanket journey. I use the most basic of stitches, put together in a way that creates something interesting but also very easy to learn and create. For those who are experienced hooksters, my stripe patterns gift you with a whole load of mindful therapy - you're welcome! Personally, I love love love to get lost in a stitch pattern, to allow my mind to quiet while my hands work familiar, repetitive, rhythmic stitches. Absolute bliss.

The Springfrost stripe is a very simple two row repeat which is easy to learn (prefect for beginners) and is worked using UK treble crochet. The resulting surface texture is absolutely delicious - just look at those soft, pouffy, bobbly, squishy lines! This blanket feels beautifully cosy and I can tell you that it's almost impossible to resist stroking it.

Of course I'm reaaaally excited for this crochet-a-long, it's such a lovely thing to look forward to in the New Year once the sparkle of Christmas is behind us. Just a reminder that there is no need to sign up for this CAL - it's all very relaxed here in the Attic so all you need to do is gather your yarn together and join in when the free pattern is released on 6th January.

It's just over seven weeks until the CAL starts so there is a bit of a wait for the pattern, but here is a quick round-up of information for you :

♥ The Attic24 SPRINGFROST CAL will will run for 8 weeks in total, beginning on Friday 6th January - that'll be the day when the pattern will be published here on my blog and I'll give you all the information you need to get started. I'll then give weekly updates every Friday throughout January and February 2023 so that we can make the most of weekend hooky time.

♥ There will be a full picture tutorial here on my blog for the new Springfrost stripe pattern. Weeks 1-6 I'll share the colour order for a set of stripes (around 18 each week). Week 7 will be a catch-up week (darn in those ends!), and the final week 8 will be all about the border.

♥ The SPRINGFROST YARN PACK contains 15 x 100g balls of Stylecraft Special DK and is enough to make one blanket/throw. The blanket will measure approx. 120cm x 175cm. You will need two packs if you wish to make a larger/double bed size blanket. I'll give starting chain/pattern guidance for those of you wishing to make larger (or smaller) blankets. This colour palette and stitch pattern would make beautiful baby blankets, so you could definitely make two of those from one yarn pack if you wished.

♥ There is no printed pattern included in this pack, all pattern info will be here on my blog, with updates every Friday throughout January and February 2023. 

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

♥ Something I often get asked - can you use your own colours, or use one of my other yarn packs and still join in with the CAL? The answer is YES, of course you can! I appreciate that many of you will probably already have yarn that you want to make use of, and I really look forward to seeing your creativity with stash busting. Perhaps you may not care for these soft pastel shades and want to use one of my brighter colour packs instead, and that's absolutely fine too.

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

Before I go, I just want to say how grateful I am for my continued partnership with the lovely folks at Wool Warehouse, they really are fabulous. We've been working together since 2014 and they are just the loveliest people, a true family business who genuinely care about their customers. And for full transparency, I do receive a commission for every Attic24 yarn pack sold through Wool Warehouse, so thank you ever so much for your support, I appreciate it more than I can say.

Well I think that's about all for now, and I hope these soft, pretty colours have inspired you to plan a new blanket journey with me.....roll on January!!

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♥ SPRINGFROST YARN PACK ♥

 

 

 

Carcassonne Crochet Retreat :: Part 1

Spending a week in the south of France in early October sounds pretty dreamy, don't you think? The sunny warmth, the amazing views and the relaxed atmosphere, it was everything I'd dreamed of and so much more besides.

So would you like to know how I came to be standing and gazing at the above view? Well five years ago, I was asked by a travel company if I would like to be one of the "craft experts" on their popular Stitchtopia craft holidays. As the name suggests, the holidays and retreats are all about textiles, and honestly, the more I learned about the quality of the trips and how well they're organised, the more I knew that I would say YES to pretty much anything. Spend a week in a French Chateau and teach colour and crochet to a group of lovely ladies? Join them on scenic excursions and partake in wine tasting and the such like? Sit and crochet in the sunny garden of a chateau in the French Alpes surrounded by beautiful mountain views? Yes, yes and YES please.

As it happens, when my first retreat launched in the summer of 2018 it sold out within the first 24 hours, and with a growing waiting list I was asked if I would consider doing a second week. So in the Spring of 2019, I went twice to France and did indeed get to stay in a chateau and taste wine and view scenic views and teach crochet - and it was absolutely WOnDErFUL.

The following year, I was due to go and tutor two different groups in Madeira but we all know what happened to travel plans in 2020. The trips were postponed to the following year.....but sadly with the world still in disarray, they too were cancelled. So I still haven't managed to visit Madeira, but in amongst all the chaos of postponed and cancelled holidays, another French retreat was planned for me, which is the one I finally got to take up earlier this month. Hurrah for life finally getting wings again!

The above photo is us - the Stitchtopia Attic24 crochet retreat of 2022. We had just arrived in France after a yawningly early start (Heathrow airport at 4.30am? Yes, it was that kind of early). In the middle of the front row you can see me looking all smiley and blooming ridiculously happy to be feeling waaaaaarm and sunshiney and south-of-Francey. In the back row on the far right is Allison who is the Tour Manager, and she's been with me on all three of my retreats.

Most of the ladies are from the UK, with the exception of one lady all the way from Sydney in Australia and another from the US. Some of them were new to these kinds of retreats, and some had already been on other crafting holidays over the years. It was also a real joy for me because out of the twelve guests, 7 of them had been with me in France in 2019, so I guess my teaching must be OK if they were game enough to come back for more?!

We were spending the week in picturesque Carcassonne, a very ancient medieval walled citadel high up on a hill. We were lucky enough to be staying in one of the handful of hotels right inside the old walls, which meant a short stroll through one of the old stone gates, along the most atmospheric cobbled streets and right into the heart of the old town. I will never forget seeing it for the first time - the above view gives you a flavour of what the main streets of Carcassonne are like, and I could honestly not get over how lucky I was to actually be staying there.

Our hotel was ancient (as you would expect from a medieval town), but the internal modernisation was beautifully done. There was so much character - old stone walls, tiled floors, wonky staircases, twisty-turny little corridors - if you want to take a peek, you can look at the hotel website ((here)) to see some photos of it. Walking into my bedroom made me feel like I was walking into a French film - something about the height of the windows and the way they open fully to welcome the outside in....oh, I fell instantly in love with the Frenchness of it all. 

Isn't the view dreamy? I was very lucky to be looking out over the garden from my bedroom and loved the stately lines of tall trees and the bell tower in the distance (with bells that struck on the hour). You can see the low single story building on the right of the photo? Well that was our crochet classroom for the week....

....it had many doors opening directly out to the garden and was the perfect setting. You won't really be able to tell from the above photo, but the week we were there we were blessed with insanely great autumn weather. Loads of sunshine, and beautifully hot days averaging around 25 degrees. When it rained, it came in the night - heavy downpours which made the mornings feel really fresh and clear. It was utter perfection.

We had six full days in France, four of them were filled with crochet and the other two were designated sight seeing days. Breakfast each day was a truly delicious affair - strong café au lait (yaayyy!), and a mouth watering selection of pastries and cake (yes, I discovered that cake for breakfast is a thing in France), rustic breads, continental meats and cheeses, fruit, nuts, yoghurts and granola...oh my goodness. Such a treat, and definitely a great way to start each day.

In the weeks before going to France, I worked on designing a teaching project especially for this retreat - you've probably already seen and read about the Bouquet Cushion (the post is HERE if you missed it). I used the above collection of mini-balls as my starting point and designed a circular cushion....

....and I really love how it turned out. There are twenty four rounds of crochet on each side, and I used the pattern to teach elements of colour design. I have an arts background and in my four years of training (art foundation diploma, followed by a 3 year BA degree in textiles) I learnt a great deal about colour. It's a vast subject with a lot of theory and science behind it, but when I teach I do try and keep it practical and simple and specifically tailored to work with yarn and crochet. We used the colour wheel and learnt about blending and tonal values, and about how to create harmonious colour contrasts and balance. 

On the days that we were in the classroom, we split the day in two. Morning sessions ran from 10 to 12.30, then there was a two hour lunch break (essential in France as lunch is a sociable, leisurely affair). Afternoons ran from 2.30 until 5pm.

I loved teaching my project, and I loved watching it come to life in their hands. The ladies were all good crocheters but were keen to learn some colour confidence from me - I guess choosing colours and learning what works can be challenging and not something that everyone finds easy.

I took the above photos at the beginning of day 2, so this is after the first full day of crochet. You can see the centre of the circles are all about soft colour blending, and then we worked with harmonious contrasts for the outer part. Learning about colours that jump forward and those that recede, those that dominate and those that add a gentle touch.

It was funny because I kept reminding the ladies that this was a retreat as opposed to a classroom, and that they were free to take breaks, use the garden, stretch their legs, drink coffee as often as they wished.....and yet my goodness, they worked HARD! 

Our lunch breaks were well earned I think, and I know I certainly enjoyed this part of the day very much. Although it was October and the holiday season was starting to quieten down, there were still plenty of tourists around and the cafés and restaurants were buzzing with happy folks enjoying their food in the sunshine. Tables and chairs which spill out onto sun-dappled, cobbled squares is an aspect of southern European life which I absolutely adore. Oh, I LOVE eating outside in the sun and it seems so far removed from our cool, damp British lunch time culture which is very much a cosy, indoor affair.

Every day once I'd finished my lunch, I took a little bit of time just to wander around and soak in the atmosphere of old Carcassonne. As I have zero sense of direction and can't read a map to save my life, I inevitably spent most of my time wandering in a semi-lost daze. However, I soon realised that being in a walled citadel had it's advantages because most of the little streets went round in a circle of sorts, so it was fairly easy to eventually find my way back.

Carcassonne is a ridiculously picturesque place and I took a LOT of photos during my lost wanderings, but I'm saving those for another post.

Back to the crochet and we are jaunting through the week now, with glorious circles of colour taking shape everywhere you look.

It  was so inspiring to see how much confidence grew as the days passed....

....and I loved watching the ladies become bolder with their colour choices.

On the last day of the retreat, most ladies had managed to complete both sides of their cushion and started working on their floral decoration. 

I'd created patterns for three different types of flowers, some berries, and two different sizes of leaf, but left the final design and composition of the floral bouquets open to interpretation.

I appreciate that there is maybe a little bit of apprehension held in the notion of becoming the Designer of a project. It's one thing to follow a pattern and maybe choose one or two colours here and there, but getting to be in the drivers seat for all of the colour choices in a project could be a little bit daunting?

The ladies on my retreat exceeded all my expectations, and with my help and guidance throughout the week they produced some really glorious work. I felt so proud of them, especially those who had started the week saying that they couldn't "do" colour and had seemed very unsure about all the decisions I was asking them to make. I can tell you in all honesty that they all did terrifically well....you'll see for yourself in a bit when I show you some of the finished cushions.

Even with the five hours a day we were spending in the classroom, the crochet didn't stop once five o'clock ticked around. One of the joys of being in a warm, Mediterranean climate was the fact that we could sit outside in the early evening and enjoy some golden hooky time. It was absolute bliss! In the above photo, I'm sat in the hotel garden working on my own cushion using leftovers from the Fireside blanket. What you can't see in the above photo, just to the left, is the bottle of sparking wine that had been popped open, and the lovely ladies I was spending time with.....all of it combined to make a wonderfully chatty, laughter-filled happy hour.

Crochet is such a wonderfully portable project, it really is the perfect thing to have in your bag when you are out and about. There is nothing nicer than sitting in a beautiful place and chatting to friends while your hands are quietly creating with yarn. In the above photo we were out on a day trip, spending time in a gorgeous little medieval town (I'll show you more in my next post) and had stopped to have a morning coffee. It was a delight for me to see my cushion design "out in the wild", and to to know that the ladies were enjoying it so much. Well, I really hope they were enjoying it - haha - maybe they just felt like they had to get some more rounds in?!

Throughout the week, I made sure to take time each day to go around the room and share everyone's progress. I think we can learn a huge amount by working alongside others but also learning to view our own work with an objective eye so to speak. However, even though we'd been looking at each others work every day and discussing the progress, it was still a wonderful surprise to see the cushions all together at the end of the week. 

WOW, they looked FanTAStic!!

Here we are on the last day, all happy and hookered out!!

↑↑ This was the first cushion to be crocheted together and declared finished, and it received a well justified round of applause and a beautifully glorious ta-dah moment in the hotel garden. Bravo Donna!!

Since we've come home we've carried on our crochet chatter via WhatsApp and I've really enjoyed celebrating the visual ta-dah's. Don't the finished cushions look amazing? They've turned out even better than I could have imagined, and I think it's so interesting to see how such different cushions came from the same pattern and the exact same collection of yarn. They each have their own personalities and represent a lot of joyful creativity, and I'm so happy that I was a part of the journey.

So - how do you think I enjoyed my week in France?? Do you think it made me happy right down to my toes? If you answered "yEs" then you would be absolutely right - I enjoyed it so so much that I really didn't want to come home! I remembered how much I enjoy teaching, how fulfilling it is to watch one of my own designs come to life before my eyes, and to see how much pleasure and confidence it can give to others. And of course it was pure bliss being transported up through the clouds and deposited somewhere warm and sunny for a while - that sunshine and clear golden light made my heart and soul insanely happy. 

I hope you've enjoyed this little insight into what a Stitchtopia crochet retreat with me looks like, it really was a super experience from start to finish. In my next post I'll take you walking so that you can see more of Carcassonne, it's honestly one of the most picturesque and atmospheric places I've ever been to. 

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ps, I've had lots and lots of requests on my social media for details about future retreats and how to find out about them. I'm going to be doing another one abroad next year and am just waiting for confirmation of the dates and finalising details before it's released on the Arena Travel website. I'll be sure to tell you as soon as it's available for booking, both here on my blog and on my Facebook/Insta pages too. Maybe you might be tempted to come with me for some sunshine hooky next year?! xx

 

 

 

Springtime!

Before I get carried away with springtime chat I wanted to thank you all so, so much for the really lovely, positive comments you wrote in response to my Winter Garland. Thank you, thank you!! It's been so enjoyable to read through them all, and to know that you've been uplifted by my creative endeavours has really made me happy.

A few of you have asked about the snowdrop pattern - in the end I just couldn't make it work with this garland, sadly they just didn't seem to quite fit with everything else. I was a bit disappointed about it at the time, but have an idea for using the snowdrop in another project and often times this is how the design process works. It doesn't always come together as you think it will. I do still intend to make a tutorial and share the pattern but I've got a couple of time-sensitive projects that I need to prioritise first. 

I've got some fandabbydozy daffies on my table this week - remember me telling you last week that I wished we could buy bunches of these paler varieties? Well the Universe delivered, how about that for good fortune?! 

These were in bud when I bought them from the supermarket, but I had a feeling that they looked paler than the usual bright yellow ones and I was seriously beside myself with happiness when they began to open at the weekend. Gosh, I do love them, especially the ones with bright orange centres that remind me of fried eggs. Gorgeous things.

The past few days have been particularly slow and gentle which has suited me perfectly. I've felt the need to be still and quiet of late, for no real reason other than to attempt to relax a little. I seem to be in a very heightened creative phase at the moment, with a huge surge of ideas and inspirations crowding my mind day and night. It's really exciting but also quite draining at the same time because my brain never feels like it rests properly when I'm operating in this way. It's switched into creative overdrive 24/7 and it's hard to dial it down.

The kitty has magical powers when it comes to relaxation and having her sound asleep on my lap like this has a very calming effect. The above photo was late on Saturday afternoon, a quiet lull in the day when everyone else was busy doing their own thing and I took the opportunity to rest a while. I thought that I might have a little snooze but in the end it was enough to just sit quietly - I don't know about you, but I find that taking time to just sit and be still is often reeeeeeally hard. It doesn't come naturally, especially in a family household when we are so used to multi-tasking and keeping busy, but I think the benefits of a good old fashioned afternoon rest are massive. 

On Sunday it was the Spring Equinox and here in Atticland the weather was absolutely beautiful. I remember in years gone by that we've had some truly dismal first days of spring (this one comes to mind, my first ever Blogland spring) but this year it was better than I could have hoped.

J and I went out for a walk, just a local stroll from our front door along quiet rural lanes (well if you ignore the tractors coming and going) and back along the canal.

We took a flask of fresh coffee with us and sat a while on the bench in the above photo enjoying the sunshine.

We also had a buttered mini hot cross bun, a perfect mid morning snack with our coffee. I think the swan thought he/she might like to share my snack with me, but honestly I wasn't much in the mood for sharing. Mine, mine, mine.

Gorgeous sunshine and shadows, a chilly wind blowing, but oh, that bright sun and blue sky was very, very lovely indeed.

I did some baking on Sunday afternoon for the first time in ages. I don't know what prompted me to do it but it felt good to be pottering in the kitchen making some simple iced buns for the Little People. I must remember to do it more often, especially because the LP really loved me for it, haha, gold star for Mum.

On Friday afternoon it was warm enough to sit outside for the first time in a very long while. The wind had dropped and for a short spell just after lunch we had the sun in our back yard. I took full advantage, digging out my outdoor crochet blankets and reacquainting myself with the delights of the sunlounger I  bought last year. It was utter bliss. Ah, I was so happy sat there with my feet up, coffee in hand and the sun warming my face, happy, happy me.

If you've been visiting with me here over the years, you will know that I have several crochet blankets that are kept for outdoor use - stash busting projects that I've made with picnics and holidays in mind. Last year I bought a storage box for our little back yard, somewhere to store blankets and cushions where we can get to them easily during the summer months when they are in constant use. The blankets had been left out there all winter (unintentionally I might add) and were in dire need of a wash and an air out, and so that's exactly what I did on Sunday afternoon. 

I absolutely love these blankets, they are just simple, old fashioned granny squares made from scraps of left over yarn, but they are completely full of happiness. Do you remember me making them?

On the left is the first one I crocheted in 2013, which I simply call "granny patchwork" - you can see more of it ((here)).

On the right is the second one I made in 2016 called the "colourwash granny" - more of it ((here)).

It won't surprise you to hear that I have a humungous urge to make a third one - my goodness, my fingers are itching to just get flying with it, never mind the other projects and deadlines that currently need my attention.

I came across the above image recently on Instagram just by chance, it popped up on my screen and stopped me in my tracks. How beautiful!! Totally inspired, I fell head first in love with the idea of making something similar in crochet - random, scrappy two-colour crochet squares in a glorious mix of colours. Oh, the JOY!!

This isn't by any means an original idea and there are already some really amazing crochet blankets out there constructed from two-colour granny squares. You can see some good ones in this blog post to get the idea, and there is also this gorgeous blanket made by crochet designer Helen Boreham for Stylecraft.

Sigh, I want to do it sooo badly. I wonder if I can perhaps just quietly start it without any expectation or timeline, maybe one or two squares, just to get a feel for it and scratch the itch? A springtime project that eases gently into the summer months...... well who am I trying to kid, I never do these kind of things gently or quietly, it's always full throttle and full volume. You'll certainly get to know all about it, that's for sure.

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Winter Garland :: Ta-dah!

I've been wanting to make a winter garland for a few years now, something pretty to hang on my mantel in January once the colour and sparkle of Christmas has been packed away. In past years I've really enjoyed making seasonal wreaths and garlands, and you might remember me making my first garland for Autumn, and then one for Spring too....here are the links to those projects if you fancy taking a look....

((AUTUMN GARLAND)) and ((SPRING GARLAND))

I had a good idea of the colour palette I wanted to use, inspired by the soft, muted, frosty shades of this cold season. You can see my inspiration photos in the collage above - winter skies, frosty leaves, snowberries, pretty hellebore flowers and winter flowering cherry blossom. 

I picked out ten shades of Stylecraft Special DK for my Winter Garland :

Pale Rose : Powder Pink : Pistachio : Meadow : Lincoln 

Duck Egg : Parma Violet : Hint of Silver : Cream : White

These colours look exceptionally pretty together and make me want to sigh with pleasure because they're so calm and easy on the eye. There is definitely a hint of Spring in those colours, but with a cool, wintry undertone that makes it a great colour palette for January-March. I think it's definitely more spring-like than I'd first envisaged, but honestly, I'm absolutely fine with that!

A little note about all the pattern details :

Most of the patterns I used for this garland already exist as part of previous projects, but I did make some tweaks and alterations along the way. Rather than trying to explain it all in this post, I created a separate pattern page which is listed over in my left hand sidebar so that all the pattern info is held in one easy to find location. I just thought it would be easier that way, in case any of you have an urge to make your own garland now or in the future.

Here is the link to the pattern page >>

WINTER GARLAND PATTERNS

I had a clear idea of the kind of things I wanted to make for my garland and the first thing to fly off my hook was a flurry of winter blossom. These little flowers are very quick and easy to make and I used two shades of pink as well as cream. Here where I live, we have quite a few trees in the neighbourhood that flower right in the middle of winter, so I'm used to seeing these delicate flowers as early as January.

As soon as I started thinking about a winter garland, I knew that hellebores had to be included. I took the above photo a few weeks ago in the supermarket of all places, they had some wonderful hellebore plants on sale this year.

I used Cream and one of Stylecraft's lovely new neutral shades "Hint of Silver" to make my hellebores, inspired by the ones I'd seen in the shops. I combined Cream and Pistachio yarn to make the stamens in the centre.

I had lots of creative fun trying out my new watercolour pencils, using them to add a little extra colour and detail to the petals. 

As I've made hellebores before, I already have a full tutorial for the pattern ((HERE)), which includes guidance on how I make the stamens. 

I think they turned out beautifully!

Next up were some wintry leaves - I couldn't think of any specific leaves I wanted to make so I decided to use an existing pattern. I did end up changing the edging so that they look ever so slightly spiky/frosty. I've detailed the changes I made on the pattern page.

I used six different colours to make the leaves, and I think to be honest if I was to make them again, I would probably leave out the light green Pistachio to keep the palette more soft and muted.

More leaves, this time some delicate ferns in Lincoln green which I decided to combine with white and pink winter berries. A bit of artistic license at play here as I have no clue exactly what I was thinking when I came up with this idea - I just thought it would look pretty! Haha! 

The ferns already existed as a pattern from a previous project, but I made them much shorter than the original design. Again, you can find the pattern alterations on the garland page ((HERE))

They're a bit fiddly, because the whole thing is crocheted with chains and slip stitches, but I really love the look of them and think they are worth the faff.

The winter berries were also rather fiddly to make, but because they're so small they take no time at all really. I made 24 of them in total (each fern leaf has 3 berries attached)...

....and think they look quite cute. Perhaps I should have made the leaves in Hint of Silver to make them look more wintry? Ah, but the soft Lincoln green really looks like the colour of frosty grass to me, so that was my thinking at the time.

I made all these pieces slowly here and there over the course of about a month - I think the first blossoms were made in the middle of February, and I finished the last pieces yesterday. It's been such a lovely thing to work on, either sat quietly at home, or at the café with friends, slowly creating my little pile of flowers and leaves. It's just the kind of gentle creativity which I find incredibly satisfying.

I also loved having a playing with it all too - this kind of faffery and photography is soooooooo much fun!

I'll show you all the pieces laid out in order now, so you can get a measure of how many individual bits I made...

....what do you think? Isn't that just so beautifully satisfying to look at?!

Starting at the top ::

4 Hellebore flowers

16 blossom flowers

8 fern leaves, with 24 berries

16 winter leaves

That's 68 individual pieces of crochet !!!! SixTy EiGhT!! 

In the last week or so as I was finishing up the crochet, I started to have a play to see how these individual bits would work as a garland. My fireplace is quite a wide one, and I hang my garlands in four "swags" - this makes it a bit easier to visualise the garland as I can focus on designing one swag, then repeat it four times. You can see me working it out in the above photo, using the hellebore as a centre focal point.

There you go - all laid out in order and ready to join, how exciting!!

On the winter garland pattern page, I explain in more detail how I crochet the chain to join all the little bits together. The hardest thing is working out the spacing, it took me three goes to get it right so that the garland fit my fireplace (I made 6 chains in between each piece to achieve the right length).

The finished garland measures 180cm.

The joining process is very easy and surprisingly speedy. After spending near on a month creating all those delicate little pieces, the joining took me less than an hour. Making my chain spacers, then slip stitching through each little piece, one after the other......

.....until the first quarter was suddenly joined.

I thought you might appreciate seeing my very professional photographic studio (!), it's all very homespun here, well of course it is. Nothing fancy, just an old desk top propped on the arms of a chair, and me with my camera jigging about trying to get it all done while the morning light was good.

Half way through now......

....and then suddenly just like that the last piece is joined.

Sixty-eight itty little bits of crochet all chained together and the garland is finally finished.

Well actually, there was one last thing to do....

I remembered at the last minute that I'd meant to add a little bit of colour to the blossom flowers and had completely forgotten. No worries though, it was easy enough to do it at the end and I'm so pleased with how it all came together......

........I mean, just look how beautiful it is............

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

Love love love love love it. I LOVE it SO MUCH!!

I could not wait to hang it, and you better believe that within a hot minute of darning in the last end, my winter garland was right there on the mantel.

You can see what I was meaning when I described the four swags to you - I use tiny clear plastic Command hooks to hang my garlands, the sort that stick on without harming the surface underneath.

I have to say, it's so nice to have a garland hanging here again. My mantel has been empty since Christmas and I've missed not having some decorative hooky to cheer up the dark wood.

I'm so in love with it, and it was most definitely worth the time and effort to make something that I know will give me pleasure every winter for many years to come.

Well, you know what's coming next, don't you??????

↑↑ Here is my Spring garland (I'll hang this one up in April I think)

↑↑ And this is my Autumn garland which goes up in September when we reach the Autumn Equinox.

And winter is now covered.

What's missing??? Only my favourite season of all - SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, of course I'm already pondering on what to include in a summer garland. The trouble is, I could probably cover six mantels with all of my favourite summer flowers, there are just so many to choose from. Should be fun?!

Well, I hope you've enjoyed today's little ta-dah moment, I'm so grateful for the top notch encouragement you always give me with these creative projects of mine. It's lovely to have you to cheer me on, thank you!

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ps here is the link again to the pattern page for this project, it's in my alphabetical list of patterns over on the left if you need to find it in future.

((WINTER GARLAND PATTERN PAGE))

 

 

 

 

 

Last Days of Winter

It's the Spring Equinox this Sunday 20th so we're in the very last week of winter, and what a lovely thought that is. 

I've often remarked how much I enjoy celebrating these quarterly points in the year, they are more meaningful to me in many ways than following the months on a traditional calendar. The older I get, the more I recognise an intuitive need to be in tune with nature and the changing seasons, it grounds me and keeps me focused on the here and now which I seem to need.

It's interesting being on the cusp of a seasonal change, and during the past week or so I've noticed a perfect mix of winter and spring. It's still very wintry cold here in the north of England with early morning temperatures sitting only just above zero degrees. And yet the light.....

.....oh, the light is so very, gloriously spring-like and very, very much appreciated by me I can tell you!

I get to see the sun rising above the hill around 7am at the moment, and often times I stop walking and just stand still to soak in the gentle warmth of it. Sunlight makes me really happy, it's as simple as that.

Yesterday I had to pop to the shops at the top of town and on the way back I took a small detour through the churchyard. I used to come here regularly when Little B was very small because we went to a lovely singing group in the church hall every Monday morning. The garden in front of the church is in an elevated position, so it gives a lovely view right down the main high street of the town. Here, let me zoom in a bit for you.....

....there you go. It's a lovely main street I think, it's wide with cobbled setts in between the pavement and the road which is where the street market takes place three times a week. Yesterday wasn't a market day so there are cars parked on the cobbles but even with the cars I think it's still very picturesque. 

I walked home along this stretch of the canal which you can access from one of the shopping streets at the top of town. The bakery is just over to the right in the above photo, so I often cross the stream via that wooden bridge to get onto the canal tow path. I love being out and about on a bright winter-spring morning, there is nothing nicer than breathing in the cold air and feeling energised by the light.

My daffodils are in full tilt now and I was delighted to find one single pale rogue flower in the bunch. I love it, and wish we could buy bunches of these more delicate varieties. So pretty.

In Winter Garland news, things have not been going to plan. This morning I was all set to start crocheting it together, so thought I'd lay everything out to take a few photographs first. As you can see in the above photo, there are some noticeable gaps - 2 blossom flowers and 3 leaves missing. Eh? I searched high and low and I cannot find them anywhere, so I'll just have to crochet up some replacements. I also realised that although I'd crocheted all the berries, I've still got the faff of stitching them to the fern leaves before I can get busy with crocheting the garland.

So by the time I got my head around the work that still needs to be done, the weather had changed and the good morning light was gone for the day, so I'll try again tomorrow. I can't wait to have it finished - I really, really want to see it hanging on my mantel because I think it's going to look wonderful.

There have been other yarny happenings this week which is very exciting indeed - I have some new yarn to play with, oh, the thrill!!

This is Stylecraft Highland Heathers which is a DK weight acrylic yarn and it really is very lovely. Each shade is created by heavily blending several colours together which gives it a richly tweeded effect - it's hard to capture on camera but trust me it's an absolute delight in real life. This is a relatively new yarn which launched in summer 2020 and this is the first time I've had the chance to try it out.

I've been working on some design ideas for a new blanket and am so excited about it, I always love the thrill of starting out on a new blanket journey. I've got a pretty clear idea of the overall design, but am still in the sampling stage where I'm working out how exactly to bring my idea to life. I enjoy these early stages of blanket making so, so much, it's gives me such a massive creative buzz! 

You can see from the above photo how dreary the weather has been today - mid afternoon and I'm lighting a candle to take the edge off the gloom. There was nothing gloomy about my yarn play though...........

.....EEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppppp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Those colours!! When I'm in a mad sampling phase I always like to gather in all the tail ends at the end of each session because seeing them all together like this gives me a really good idea of how the colours are working. If I look at them and feel butterflies in my tummy (and I really do with these) then I know I'm on the right track.

Anyhow, it's very early days but I thought I would try and share some of the design process with you as I go along this time. All being well, there will be a Highland Heathers yarn pack and new blanket pattern coming in September. And I'm very, very, very excited about it. Butterflies are taking flight in swarms for this one!

It's been a funny sort of a day today, the weather has been drizzly and grey and the light has been gloomy, and nothing has gone quite right somehow. I've felt a bit discombobulated, and that hasn't happened to me for quite a while. I'm hoping that tomorrow will be brighter in more ways than one, and that I can finally see my lovely Winter Garland over the finishing line. A Thursday Ta-Dah would be a very good thing so I shall try hard to make it happen.

Incidentally, can you see Tilly in the above photo? She's the dark blob sleeping soundly in a sea of colourful crochet. Lucky kitty.

I'm hoping you've had a good day without even a smidge of discombobulation, and that these last days of winter are treating you well. And if you're on t'other side of the world, then I hope that the coming of Autumn will bring you joy too.

Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow with a ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-dah!

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February by the Sea

I've been really looking forward to writing this post and sharing the very short little seaside jolly we took two weeks ago at the start of the February half term break. Blogging my holiday trips (however short they might be) is such a pleasure, it's like I get to relive it all over again so it's a win-win for us all.

After the success of our trip to Saltburn at New Year (which you can read about here) I decided that I would really like to start prioritising short breaks away. After almost two years of restricted living through the pandemic I now want to make good use of our free time, and travelling a little further afield on a regular basis is high on my list of things to do. Over the years we've often taken short breaks away with the Little People and have found that even just a weekend with one night spent away from home is so good for family life. We don't need to go far, and staying fairly local means less time spent in the car and also that J is more likely to agree to it. I've worked out that two hours is a hard limit on his patience when it comes to driving for a short break, so we have a few places we like to visit which take about an hour and a half and I'm more than happy to return to familiar spots if that's what keeps everyone happy.

We were originally booked to have two nights away at the start of half term, staying in the same lovely house in Saltburn which I'd found for our New Year trip. But you will probably remember that we had quite a severe storm pass through the north of England (storm Frankie? Franklin?) and due to local flooding we ended up needing to delay our departure which meant just one night away in the end.

It was quite miraculous really because the weather was pretty dire here when we left (we'd packed all the wet weather gear), but the further east we travelled the brighter it became. Arriving into Whitby to clear blue skies and glorious sunshine was so unexpected, and completely brilliant I have to say. I felt so, so lucky!

Also, can we just take a moment to appreciate how fun it is to park the car in a car park which also has parking spaces for fishing boats? My kind of place.

We know Whitby pretty well as we've been visiting, walking and holidaying here for over two decades, since the days when it was just J and I. It's a popular holiday place, but there is still a thriving fishing industry in Whitby and the busy harbour is always jam packed with boats.

Of course I couldn't help myself thinking of my recent Harbour blanket, and taking in the colours with my crochet head still on - I do think I did a  pretty good job with the colour palette.

We arrived in Whitby ready to walk some miles, so after a short stroll around the harbour we followed a very familiar route  up through the steep streets on the east side of the river. It's a heart-hammering short, sharp climb up at the start, but it feels wonderful once you make it to the top and know that the rest of the walk is going to be on the level.

We walked through fields and along quiet narrow lanes until the path eventually took us to the cliffs.

I adore coastal walking so, so much, it really is my happy place when I'm striding along with a continuous view of the sea. The ever changing light and colours provide such a lot of visual pleasure and I never, ever tire of it.

The walk wasn't all that long (about 5 miles) and before too long we could see the piers and knew that we didn't have much further to go. The footpath takes you past the famous abbey at the top of the cliff, and on to the top of the steep flight of steps that winds back down to sea level.

There are 199 steps in total, and I can tell you from experience that it's very much easier to walk down than up.

It's beautifully picturesque and charming - Whitby is a very old town (the abbey is 700 years old) and you can feel the layers  of history and folklore around every single corner.

It's a really lovely place to have a pootle, and there are plenty of interesting independent shops and small art galleries to draw you in. These days I much prefer to stay outside of the shops and take in the atmosphere of the streets....

...with all their quirky little details to make me stop and smile.

I really love to explore places that have a lot of character, and Whitby has it in spades.

I absolutely fell in love with this galvanised wire sculpture beside the harbour, simply titled "Fishwife". And now that I've spent a weeny bit of time looking up information about her, I've discovered that she is part of a sculpture trail.....awwww, I really, really wish I had known that at the time! Apparently there are eight more sculptures around the town, well, I absolutely need to find each and every one of them next time I'm in Whitby. Remind me, won't you, I especially need to find the Gansey Knitter I think.

After all the fresh sea air, coastal walking and street pootling, it was time to settle in for a little bit of refreshment and take the weight off our feet for a bit. We called into one of our favourite pubs which is conveniently nestled just at the bottom of the 199 steps, and luck was definitely on our side because we managed to find a table right by the window. We enjoyed a bite to eat and I might have had a cheeky little glass of sauv blanc to take the edge off my weariness. I can tell you that I really enjoyed my drink-with-a-sea-view.

The pub we were in is called The Duke of York, just in case you ever find yourself in Whitby in need of a cosy spot to rest a while. It's very atmospheric inside, and like much of Whitby it is steeped in history - a thousand years of it! Imagine that! 

By the time we came out of the pub it was early evening, just before 5pm. We decided to go for one final stroll, along the very picturesque, cobbled Henrietta Street which leads round to the east pier. In normal non-stormy weather you can stroll all the way to the end of the stone piers, but on this extremely windy day it was very wisely closed to the public.

We had such a lovely day in Whitby, so much so that for a little moment I totally forgot that we still had a journey to make to our holiday home in Saltburn! It's about a 20 minute drive up the coast between the two places, so nothing too strenuous, but I was really glad to finally arrive at the house and find it waiting for us all warm and welcoming. We have a history of finding places to stay and returning to them over and over - it's kind of like having a holiday home I guess, but without the hassle of looking after it.

It seemed a shame to only be spending one night in Saltburn, but there wasn't a lot we could have done about the storm. We all collectively decided that we could go to bed early (music to my ears) and get up early the next morning so that we could pack up and head out for a beachy stroll before breakfast. The Little People were on board with the plan, and miraculously we did actually manage it without any real strain at all - 8am and we were all showered, dressed, packed up and ready to head out for some sea air to blow away the cobwebs, oh happy, happy, happy me.

Little Lady and I walked on the beach for a short while....

....chatting and breathing in the fresh, salty sea air. What a way to start the day.

Ahh...............so.....much......breathing.....space.....! Love love love.

We eventually caught up with J and Little B (the beach avoiders) and decided to take a walk out along the pier as we still had half an hour to wait before breakfast.

It was very windy and the sea was pretty wild.....

....huge rolling waves coming in at speed right underneath the boardwalk of the pier, and therefore right underneath our feet. There was so much sea spray being caught up in the wind that it was catching the sun and making mini rainbows - can you see in the above photo? It was magical.

The waves really were astonishing, so powerful and huuuuuuuge. I loved it, it was the best kind of winter sea, really  atmospheric and invigorating to watch. 

It was soon time to stroll back as we'd picked out a café to visit for breakfast and it was due to open at 9am. So back along the pier we went, then up the gazillion steps to the top of the cliff. Collapse on a bench for a spell of recovery, then off to find me a coffeeeeee.

I thought you might like to see a little bit of the grand Victorian architecture that makes Saltburn rather special. Part of this beautiful building was a hotel at one time (it opened in 1867) before eventually being converted into apartments. 

Isn't it fabulous? You can just imagine what the sea views would be like from those upper windows, how dreamy.

Such a short but sweet little holiday this one - we needed to be back home by midday because Little Lady had made plans with friends, so it really was just over 24 hours away from home in the end. It was still wonderful to be away and I can honestly say I enjoyed every single minute of it. 

J did mention that he would like to stay somewhere else for a change next time though, so I've agreed that he can decide where we go. Me, I'm happy to go anywhere for a weekend jolly - I wonder where he'll choose?

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Winter-Spring Crochet

Just lately I've been thinking a lot about the space that I occupy online and the way that I share and communicate with you all. Just to reassure you, it's a good kind of thinking as I'm feeling very positive and also very inspired right now and I want to make sure that I'm using all this creative energy in the best way possible. 

I'm trying to get the balance right so that I can allow myself the chance to be creatively spontaneous and go with the flow, while at the same time being mindful of the fact that I have deadlines to work to at times. I also want to try much harder to make the timing of things work better as it's something I seem to be especially terrible at! I feel like sometimes I disappoint you all when I share my ideas for something and set out with great excitement on the design/making journey, and then run out of time to actually finish (I'm thinking of my Yuletide Garland for example, which I wasn't able to finish in time for Christmas).

Anyhow....I need to gather my thoughts together a bit better before I talk any more about all this, but it's all good stuff. Today I want to share with you what's occupying me right now so that you can see what's been on my mind, and on my hook. I LOVE to share my creative process here on my blog and I hope it's something that interests you too, well it would be a bit rubbish if I started to bore the pants off you, wouldn't it?!

I've got a vase of the most beautifully scented narcissus on my mantel at the moment, a surprise gift from a friend when we had coffee together last week. They really are the sweetest things, the flowers are ever so pretty and I love how dinky they are compared to daffodils. It probably won't surprise you to know that these flowers sent a message directly to my Creative Mind and in no uncertain terms told me that I HAD to try and crochet them. I mentioned it in my last blog post - I was supposed to be crocheting bits and bobs for a winter garland (frosty leaves and the such like) but all of a sudden there was cream yarn in my hand and a little narcissus flower flying off my hook.......

.......well I never. How did that happen?!

I went diving into my stash to pull out some additional colours and three more narcissus flowers bloomed before my eyes.

Then came this little viola, the sweetest little flower that I didn't even know I wanted to make until it was forming in my hands. I guess I was thinking about garden flowers that bloom now in February - narcissus, violas, cyclamen and polyanthus. I see them in pots at the supermarket looking so cheery and colourful, a little promise that Spring is on it's way.

When I shared these violas on social media a few days ago they caught a huge amount of interest and I had so, so many requests for the pattern. I did have the good sense to write up the first draft of the pattern as soon as I'd finished making these two flowers so that I wouldn't forget what I had done, but I would still consider these as samples. Before I publish a pattern I like to be 110% sure of it and know that I've done my very best to make it easy to understand and reproduce. It takes time, and patience.

The other thing to mention is that I do have a particular future project in mind for these flowers, and I'm still in the early stages of planning it. So I hope you understand when I say that I'm not quite ready to share the patterns just yet, but I still really enjoy sharing my creativity in real time as and when it's happening. It just feels better that way for me, I am one of life's natural sharers that's for sure.

I'm trying to properly re-focus now on the season we're in, and get my head back into thinking winter thoughts because I reeeeeeeally want to make my winter garland before Spring arrives.  The above photo shows my deconstructed Winter Wreath, and gives you a general idea of the colours I'm thinking about for my garland. 

I'm thinking about the frosty winter meadow....

....with it's icy, muted colours and the soft glow of a low winter sun.

I'm thinking about ice-edged leaves.....

....snowberries....

....winter cherry blossom....

.....and snowdrops.

I had a frustrating time at the weekend trying to come up with an easy snowdrop design, and the above blob is attempt number six that went in the bin then got pulled back out again. I'm pretty sure I can make a really great little flower if I keep on trying, especially as I don't think a Winter Garland would be complete without snowdrops.

I've picked out ten shades of Stylecraft Special DK for my Winter Garland :

Pale Rose : Powder Pink : Pistachio : Meadow : Lincoln 

Duck Egg : Parma Violet : Hint of Silver : Cream : White

I think it's going to end up being a winter-spring creation, but I'm absolutely OK with that. Spring doesn't properly arrive here in my patch until well into April so we do end up with quite a long winter-spring season. I've made 18 little blossom flowers so far, although I'm mindful that I'm still working on my Harbour blankets as the CAL is still ongoing. It's a seasonal juggling act, one that I'm very, very happy to be doing.

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