Attic24

Winter Solstice 2020

Today marks a turning point in the year as we celebrate the passing of the shortest day. As you may have guessed by now, this is one of my absolute favourite days of the whole year, and I woke up this morning feeling very happy and more than a little emotional. Winter Solstice is traditionally a day for rest and quiet reflection, for staying close to hearth and home and counting your blessings. It's a time to welcome in the winter months as we prepare to rest our bodies, nurture our souls, and make gentle plans for the year ahead. I like to think about these kinds of things as I go about my solstice day, and to remind myself (at frequent intervals) that every day from now on will be a little bit longer and a little bit lighter than the day before. Thank goodness, oh ThAnK GOODnesS!!!!! Bring. Me. The. LIGHT!!!!!

Hmmm......as you can see from the above photo, the weather today in Atticland was truly dire. It's been cold, grey and wet all day, but honestly I didn't mind too much. A day of hearth and home, remember? J and I walked into town this morning to run some errands and it was quiet on the streets with not very many people out at all.

We stopped off for a coffee on our way home, enjoying the warmth and comforting familiarity. I know we are very fortunate to still be able to go and enjoy a drink out here as our area isn't in a severe lockdown. Although we still have restrictions (we can't socialise indoors), for me and J it means that our little café jaunts are still happening and I'm so, so grateful for the normality of it.

On the way home from the shops I took a very quick little detour along the muddy footpath which connects the canal to the park. I was on a speedy foraging mission to gather in some ivy stems, and I knew there was a vast amount growing rampant along that pathway so I didn't feel too bad about snaffling a little bit into my bag.

I always buy a special candle for Winter Solstice - this year I went for a very seasonal red Cranberry and Vanilla with the most delicious scent to it. 

When I got home I set about performing my usual Winter Solstice celebrations. It was a simple, low key affair which I enjoyed very much, pottering about by myself while the rest of the family were scattered elsewhere in the house doing their own thing. I took the foraged ivy and some eucalyptus I already had and twisted it around a simple wire wreath. There see, I told you it was simple, it took me less than ten minutes to create but oh, it was so pleasing to do! I adore the scent of eucalyptus, it really is one of my favourite seasonal smells I think. 

I lit my candle at around 3pm when the daylight was already fading....

....and I sat quietly with a milky coffee in hand and the kitty for company, feeling very content with my lot. One of my dear friends sent a message into our WhatsApp group this morning (it's the group for my real life yarny tribe who I chat with pretty much every day). Her words were so charming and heartfelt that I thought I would steal them quote her on this special day of celebration.

She said "it is a morning of unremitting murk....I am going to light every candle and turn on all the Christmas lights to shine a light in the darkness. The days get longer and we can hope for light in all parts of our lives from tomorrow....happy Solstice".

Isn't that just a lovely thing? The simple act of lighting a candle to shine brightness out into the world and wish for happier days to come. Yes. Yes yes yes. Count me in! Light ALL the candles!!!!

I sat for ages in front of our fire this afternoon, watching the daylight fade and darkness slowly creep in. Fairy lights, candle light, firelight and lots of hopeful wishes for a brighter tomorrow.

 Happy Solstice to you all, sending all my love and light out into the dark, I hope it finds you....

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Festive Garland :: Ta-dah!

Finally!!!! It's only taken me a year to share the making of this garland with you, a year almost exactly to the very day. In fact, if I had waited until tomorrow to dance my ta-dah moment then it would have been exactly a year on the nose - how about that? It seems that this particular week in December is full of creative fun in the Attic, and I'm really excited to how you how this Festive Garland took shape.

Firstly, lets chat about my colour palette. I used a collection of bright, jolly "Quality Street" colours which are a nostalgic reminder of many childhood Christmases - these are all oddments of Stylecraft Special DK. I adore these colours so so much, they are full of Christmas spirit for me, and the joyful exuberance of them makes me really happy. Of course you can use any colour combinations you like  - traditional red, gold and green, or maybe a winter palette of frosty blues? Or how about a simple Scandi red and white colour scheme?

For reference, here are my own festive colour choices as shown above :

Top row : Plum : Bright Pink : Magenta : Lapis : (Ricorumi Silver lamé)

Middle row : Kelly Green : Grass Green : Spearmint : Turquoise : Empire

Bottom row : Lipstick : Tomato : Spice : Mustard : Gold

As you can imagine, I had lots of fun playing with the colours as I was crocheting the baubles, especially selecting the first two colours. Rounds 1 and 2 need to have a high contrast with each other, and you can see in the photo above how I chose the colours to create the maximum amount of "pop". Turquoise on red, bright pink on teal, green on mustard. YUM!!

Such a delicious array of colours, couldn't you just eat them up?!

You'll notice that I've left especially long tail ends - with the start and end of each round I made sure to leave a 15cm tail dangling. When the crochet is finished, these ten tails will be carefully darned through the rounds of stitches to form the tassel....

....see what I mean?? It takes a little time, but it's a really neat method. 

Once all the ends are darned into place, you can simply steam them straight, twist and knot them, then trim to size.

Neat eh?? 

As a final finishing touch, I stitched little golden stars in the centre of each bauble to add a weeny bit of festive sparkle.

These tassel baubles turned out even better than I had imagined inside my (very messy but quite brilliant) Creative Mind. When I set out to create a project I can usually already visualise it really clearly inside my mind. It's almost like looking at a photograph, which forever amazes me and I am extremely lucky to have this ability I think. I don't take it for granted as it doesn't always work out, but with these cute little decs, well, they turned out just beautifully. 

You might also remember these Teeny Tiny Stars I made last year? I shared the simple pattern for them here on my blog and you can find it in the usual place, or click ((HERE)).

I used the same bright palette of colours and crocheted 24 of these little stars, to sit in between the 12 bauble decorations.

As this is a Festive Garland I decided to add a bit of sparkle and use silver lamé yarn to crochet the connecting chain.

I placed one star at each end with two stars in between each bauble and it was a fast process to connect everything together once I'd decided on the colour placement. The crochet motifs are simply attached with a slip stitch, and separated by chains, it's ever so easy. I've explained it all in more detail within the tutorial.

Finally, I decided to add a little tinkle to the sparkle and bought some brightly coloured 10mm bells to finish the garland off. I tried various way of attaching them and in the end the only way I could make work was to tie short lengths of yarn to each bell, then tie the bells directly onto the crochet chain. It was a bit fiddly but not too bad (the fiddliest bit was threading the silver yarn through the tiiiiiiiiiiny hole at the top of each bell, gawd, it was so frustrating!)

I found the bells on Amazon ((HERE)), and there are also various plain silver and gold options on Amazon if you prefer something simpler.

I love that these bells actually tinkle! When I unpacked it from it's tissue paper this year, the garland made the most beautiful sound and I was utterly enchanted, honestly it doesn't take very much to make me happy.

So my bright, jolly, sparkly, tinkly Festive Garland is complete........................

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

It's very me, don't you think?!

Of course I love love love love love it.

I loved it last year when I first hung it in place and I love it even more seeing it again this year.

As promised, I made a full tutorial for the Festive Garland - there are lots of photos to guide you through the making process, and there is also a PDF pattern that you can download/print as well.

You can find both by clicking on the following link >>

★ FESTIVE GARLAND TUTORIAL ★

I hope you like this colourful project, and that you might feel inspired to crochet a little festive happiness for your home. 

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Reuben the Reindeer

Every year in early December I usually experience a huge burst of festive-induced creativity. I never go searching for inspiration, but without fail inspiration will find me when I least expect it and I am always powerless to resist the call. 

Last year you might remember me crocheting this lovely quirky bird from a pattern in Simply Crochet magazine - you can read more about it in this post.

This lovely pattern was designed by Kate McCully of Make Me Roar Design, and you can buy the PDF pattern directly from her website if it's calling to you {Speckled Bird Decoration}

Last week when I was beginning to feel the creative festive urge creep upon me, I happened to remember that hot off the back of the speckled bird I bought another of Kate's patterns last year. It may surprise you to know that despite my rather chaotic approach to life I am actually very tidy and organised with my computer files (it's one of life's mysteries) so I was easily able to find the pattern PDF sitting patiently waiting for me to bring it to life.

The pattern I purchased was for a cute little crochet reindeer named Reuben. Kate made two versions of her reindeer - the traditional colourway that you can see above, and a more funky colourway that you can see (here).

You can purchase and download the reindeer pattern directly from Kate's website - it's very reasonably priced and the pattern is extremely well written with plenty of photos to help with the assembly process. You can find it (here)

Kate made her reindeer using aran weight yarn, but I decided to jump in with good ol' Stylecraft Special DK as I happen to have a stash of it for just such an occasion. Using DK instead of aran meant that my Reuben would be smaller, but I didn't mind that really. I decided to follow a traditional colour palette using White and Parchment for Reuben's main body parts, Walnut for his antlers and Lipstick for his festive jumper.

There is no getting away from it - amigurumi crochet is extremely fiddly compared to the long, relaxing rows of blanket making that I'm used to. There is lots of pattern reading and counting involved, and it's not at all kind to hands and fingers which feel stiff and achey. 

But I persevered and managed to complete most of the fiddlesome crochet across the space of an evening, finishing off the last bits of stitching the following morning. 

There is something undeniably satisfying about crocheting a project that is completed in many parts - it's why I enjoy making wreaths and garlands so much. It's fun to see the design slowly take shape, and to watch the personality of the animal slowly begin to seep through the stitches. 

I had to wait a few days for some beady eyes to arrive in the post (Reuben needed 8mm eyes) and although I was nervous about trying to bring him to life, it was also quite exciting. 

Well, what can I say??????????? For some reason unknown to me, Reuben seems to have a ginormous head and a teensy body, and I've no idea what happened to make him so top heavy. I followed the pattern precisely (intense counting and marking down of rows) and yet he has a giant head and withered arms?? Ah well, it's all part of his endearing character.....although I admit that after putting his eyes in and attaching his head to his body, I was very concerned for his welfare. He looked so bewildered!

Ohmygosh, the above photo makes me hoot with laughter every time....oh Reuben!!!!!!!!! Just look at your face!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's the thing - even though the pattern tells you exactly how far up the head to position the eyes, it's still remarkably hard to get it right. And of course once you've attached the little safety backings to the eyes, there is no turning back and the expression that stares back at you is the one you have to be happy with.

Bloody hell, I almost gave up at this point. But I hoped and prayed that ears and antlers would transform the whole look....

....and I took great care with the positioning and stitching of the final body parts.

So here I present to you a finished Reuben, wearing his best festive jumper and trying his level best to achieve the Cute Factor. Awwwwww, I do have such a soft spot for him, despite his top-heaviness and his slightly not-all-there stare.

Actually, he looks really sweet on the mantel, and I'm happy to give him a place to live for a little while, alongside the giant speckled bird and my current candle crush (still not over the mulled wine scent, this is the second candle I'm burning now). 

So that is this year's festive make ticked off the list and I feel I can rest easy now that I've scratched that itch. Incidentally, I am LOVING my Festive Garland and remembered that I took loads of photos to make a tutorial for it last year. Typically though, I didn't think to actually write down the pattern (of course I didn't) but having just had a quick look at the photos I think I can probably work most of it out from memory. I'm hoping to do that this week, it's only a year late after all.

Before I go, thank you so much for all your comments on my last post, especially the ones about knitting and fairisle. I am so inspired and  excited about trying something new - I had a look at "Katie's Kep" which was recommended, oh-my-GOSH, there are over a thousand projects logged on Ravelry made with that pattern and the colour possibilities have me hyperventilating. It's deliciously exciting, all of it. I think it may have to wait until after the Meadow Cal, but that's fine, it'll be worth the wait. Thanks again for all your lovely words in response to my posts, I appreciate you all so much

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December Thoughts

#1 : Pomegranates are just the most fantastical fruits, and despite the fiddlesomeness of them I can't help but love them. Thank you for the advice about the extraction process - I tried the method you recommended, cutting around the equator and banging with a wooden spoon but I just could not get it to work. No matter how hard I banged, no seeds tumbled forth, not one! I wonder whether it's because it wasn't quite as ripe as it could've been? I've got another one sat in my fruit bowl so tomorrow I'll try the cut and bang method again. I shall report back on proceedings.

#2 : I think fresh fruit has to be my all time favourite food group, trumping even chocolate or cake. I've proven to myself this year that I can very easily go days/weeks without eating refined sugar, but I would find it very, very difficult to go a day without fruit. 

#3 : I have a massive, overwhelming hankering to try my hand at colourwork knitting, more specifically I desperately want to make this hat. A month or so ago I spotted a lady at the market wearing the most stunning fairisle beanie hat and I couldn't take my eyes off it. Afterwards I had major regret and wished that I had asked her about it and found out more about the pattern. Then on Saturday when I was queueing at the market to buy cheese I happened to see her again wearing the same gorgeous hat, so I stopped to compliment her and interrogate her about it. Thankfully she was the nicest lady and told me that her Mum had knitted it for her, and she thought it had something to do with the Shetland MRI Scanner appeal. It's so brilliant to have the internet to provide hatty info when you most need it - I came home and immediately found the pattern, woohoo!!!!! It's called "Harriet's Hat" by Harriet Middleton and you can find it here . I need to learn the twisty technique for knitting with two colours in the same row, but I'm determined to give it a go. 

#4 : Beady eyes arrived in the post last week and my festive creature got stuffed and stitched and is now happily living out life on my mantel. Animal faces are extremely tricky things to get right, and I'm not too sure I achieved the elusive Cute Factor with this chappy. He looks ever so slightly vacant and bewildered. I promise to show you more just as soon as I take a few photos of him in situ.

#5 : We had our first snow on Friday, a chilly morning of dancing flakes and white dusted hilltops. It didn't last and it didn't linger, but it was fun watching it from the cosy comfort of home.

#6 : I love my fire, I love it so so so so much. I never used to like the brick fireplace and dark wooden surround but over the years it has really grown on me and I couldn't imagine it being any other way now. It really is the heart of our home.

#7 : I spend a lot of time sitting on the floor at this time of year. The kitty obviously doesn't seem to mind too much - a warm lap is good enough no matter how low to the ground it is.

#8 : It's bauble time, and once again I am swooning all over the place at the sight of these glorious colours. These are definitely my kind of Christmas colours and I doubt very much that I will ever change. Little Lady told me yesterday that in the future when she has her own place and her own tree, she will smother it in white lights and have only white, silver and glittery decorations on it. Oh dear, I was honestly lost for words after that declaration. 

#9 : Coffee, coffee, coffee!! My mornings are simply not complete without it, and I am so happy that Lockdown 2.0 has ended and my favourite cosy cafés are open once more. It's such a pleasurable, treasured part of my daily routine, a luxury that I appreciate very much.

#10 : After a fair amount of wet grey weather last week, I've been so so happy to see blue skies and sunshine during the past few days. What a treat. It has put a welcome spring back in my step as I was seriously dragging my feet last week, weighed down by the heaviness of the gloom. 

#11 : With two weeks to go until the Winter Solstice, I noticed today that the rise and set of the sun is oddly in tune with the school day. I see the first rays of sun peeking over the top of the hill just as we round the corner to come off the canal tow path in the morning. And I see the last of the sun dipping down beyond the hills as I come off the canal in the late afternoon.

#12 : I lit our Advent candle yesterday, six days late. It meant keeping a vigil until we had burned down exactly the right amount to catch up with the days. We are currently two thirds decked out for the season here - two trees are up, the wreaths are up and one of two mantels is wearing it's seasonal finery. I've still got the other mantel to do and my Advent garland to hang, but I'll be able to see to all that tomorrow when J is back to work and I have a little time on my hands to faffle it all into place. 

And that about concludes my thoughts for now. I hope you are all doing OK as we plummet through early December, and that you are thinking happy thoughts and finding some joy in this season of twinkly lights and shiny things. I shall be back here very soon to show you the Bewildered Festive Creature, I bet you really can't wait ?!

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December Begins

It's the first day of December and what a beautiful, cold, crisp bright day we've been treated to here in Atticland. We had our very first frost of the season this morning and breathing in that super-chilled air was so invigorating.

After dropping Little B at school I was meeting my friend for our weekly outdoor coffee/walk this morning. She was running late so I sat on a frosty bench beneath the above yellow-leafed tree to wait. It was a bit cold on the nether regions but I didn't mind too much....

....I had swans, ducks and pigeons for company....

....and the most fabulous feel of the early morning sun shining full force onto my face. I really am a sun worshipper, never more so that in the winter months when those warm golden beams of light feel so precious.

My friend arrived and we set off to walk along the canal to the park, via the coffee shop. Of course we did, coffee is our thing, and although we would much rather spend time in one of our favourite cosy cafés, we have come to appreciate our al fresco socially distanced meet ups this year.

We always sit in the same place at the top of the stone steps....

....with this view out across the park. I felt truly uplifted by the weather today, particularly as yesterday was so awful. 

I had a real major mood slump yesterday, and I felt deeply gloomy all the way from my head to my toes. I just couldn't shake off the melancholy, no matter how hard I tried to dig for gratitude and thankfulness, I just felt plain fed up with pandemic life. The missed opportunities, the imbalance, the lack of social interaction, the mean squeeze of our lives into the tiniest of boring, repetitive circles. I just wanted it all gone. I wanted my old life back.

Today I have thankfully felt brighter, and I know that the sunshine and brightness of the day has helped enormously. 

Blue skies are like medicine for my poor light-deprived soul, I know this for certain. J thinks I'm absolutely "full of unicorn poop" as he said to me today when I tried to explain my feelings to him. Well that's OK, I can live with that, because I have a very strong feeling that unicorn poop might be rainbow coloured. 

I continue to try and nurture myself physically so that I can feel as strong as possible in this season that I struggle with.

Gawd, I LOVE eating breakfast so much! I usually have it mid morning, and honestly it's just so good. I make a small half-serving of milky porridge (20g of oats) and top it with as much fresh fruit as I can get away with. What you can't quite see in the above bowl is the half a sliced banana and the half a grated apple which are mixed in with the cooked oats. The fresh fruit on top is a mixture of whatever we have in the fridge, usually mango, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries. And a sprinkling of seeds for good measure (I use a mix of pumpkin, sunflower, flax and chia).

Sometimes I do change it up and have a cooked breakfast - a slice of gluten free toast with a poached egg, bacon, mushrooms and tomato. I also like my oat pancakes too. I would love to know what you eat for breakfast, do tell?! Do you vary it each day or do you stick with your favourite thing?

We had our usual trip to the market on Saturday and brought home an amazing haul of the most gorgeous fruit and veg. It's pomegranate season which the Little People are very, very happy about as they love this quirky fruit. I have to admit to getting a freaky amount of satisfaction from the slow, laborious job of freeing up the little jewelled seeds for them to eat out of a bowl.

Obviously my little unicorn-poop mind is easily pleased - give me sunshine and fresh fruit, and I am delighted.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon and early evening crocheting up a bowl of animal parts, like you do. I gave in to the sudden urge to make a small festive animal, and despite the huge protest from my arthritic joints I just about managed to complete all the hooking.

I'm now waiting on the correct size beedy eyes to arrive in the post and then I'll be able to stuff, stitch and assemble all the body bits. I'll show you when it's finished.

Also, a lovely lady reminded me on Facebook yesterday that Granny Josephine has not had her moment in the spotlight yet, and to my shame I had to admit that I'd completely forgotten about her. What with all the Meadow excitement and all, and then cross stitch things and little Christmassy creature things, well, poor Granny Jo has once again been put to one side. Shame on me. I shall see to it right away, and hope to have a ta-dah moment to share very soon.

Beady eyes first though.....!

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Friday Feel-Good

Today has felt wonderful in a slow, quiet way and I've taken some time to reflect on the week and count my blessings. 

We had to go out in the car this morning to buy some more solid fuel for the fire. We support a small local business in our town and buy little and often because we don't have any space at home to store large quantities of coal and logs. So seeing as we were out and about with the wheels I suggested to J that we could perhaps keep on driving a few miles out of town and take a walk around the reservoir. I really felt like I needed a change of scenery and  there is something very soothing about walking beside still water.

It's been cold today, just a few degrees above zero. The air was unexpectedly still and the surface of the water was calm which hardly ever happens here as it's usually a very windy place. It felt exactly like winter with the blueish light and the chill in the air and I am certain that autumn has left us now.

This is such a lovely little stroll, it only takes about half an hour to walk all around the waters edge but we took some time to sit on a bench for a while, listening to the geese making their usual racket. I do like to see them flocking together on the water, but my goodness, they are huge disturbers of the peace.

I paddled in the sandy shallows for a while, wiggling my toes to send ripples out across the surface of the water which really delighted me for some obscure reason. 

It was a happy post day today as my subscription box from Cotton & Twine arrived - yay!! This months project is a very cute little framed Christmas picture, and after I mentioned yesterday about my obsession with little houses, you can imagine how much I am loving this design. I can't wait to get stitching, although hmmmm......black aida......not the easiest stitching experience. I shall be wearing my ready readers and my neck light for sure.

I realised that I never showed you the finished design from October which I finished a few weeks ago. I happened to have a red flexi-hoop in my Cupboard of Doom, so I used that to frame the finished piece instead of wrapping ribbon around a wooden hoop. I'm actually really looking forward to putting Autumn guff away very soon and decorating for the festive season....Advent arrives on Tuesday and I am excited for all the extra colour and sparkle.

My white hyacinth bloomed itself out at the start of the week, so today I purchased a replacement. I suddenly remembered that I have some real live moss growing in my front garden (I'm a Moss Mummy!!) so I gathered some to create a little mossy bed around the bulbs. I added a couple of weeny toadstools for good measure and felt so utterly delighted with the whole ensemble that I think I squeaked out loud. 

The kitty has been in a playful mood today and we had fun playing chase and other assorted games where she basically stalks me, pounces, then runs away and pretends it never happened. I do love her bold character, she is often very demanding for attention. Ooooo, looking at the above photo I just had a rush of excitement thinking that my Christmas wreath will be hanging on the wall next week, yaaayyy!!!! Very, very excited for that particular event.

It was a cold, clear, still afternoon here and the light was wonderful as we walked home from school. I am trying hard not to wish the days away but I can't help counting down to the shortest day now. Not long to go.

Remember my wall basket that I spent £6 on back last month? It's looking really lovely still, and makes me smile every single time I walk up my front steps. The little splashes of living colour against the grey of our stone wall  are a joy to me, honestly, it takes very little to keep me happy. 

Friday feel-good nearly always includes a glass of chilled fizz these days, it's become a ritual for J and I to sit down at around 4pm and enjoy a drink of prosecco together. I can't tell you how much I look forward to it  - I stay alcohol free for the rest of the week, but a little Friday tipple is just the best.

I'm looking forward to an early night tonight, in fact as soon as I've finished chatting to you I think I'm going to make myself a cup of tea and snuggle down to read for a while. I've actually been sleeping really well this week and have also done some great workouts every morning so I'm not especially tired, I'm just craving the comfort I think.

Well after writing that, I have actually started to yawn (!) so I shall bid you farewell for today and slink off to make myself cosy in my nest........byyyeeeeeeeeee!

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Cosy November

Gosh, it's been a whirlwind kind of a week here in the Attic and even though I've been whirling in very small circles close to home I feel as if I've expended a lot of energy somehow. Some weeks just feel especially full I guess - full of social connection (even if it is all digital these days), quiet productivity, high emotion. All the feels here. I would like to say a mahooooosive, big squishy (((thank you))) for all the Meadow love on my last post, thank you for your kind words and your enthusiasm, I absolutely love love love sharing my creative endeavours with you all. The Meadow yarn packs have been selling so fast, flying out of the Warehouse to deliver some happy yarny cheer all around the world. I am SO EXCITED for the crochet a long to begin in January, and to have your company as we wander the summer meadow together. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

I mentioned in my last post about planner stickers - this is the fifth year that I've collaborated with Rachel of EllieBeth Designs and I absolutely love the way she takes my colour palettes/themes and produces the most beautiful sticky things to work alongside my CALs. You can find them in Rachels shop ((HERE)) - the stickers can be used on a calendar or in your notebooks/journals if you aren't into planners, and I absolutely love them.

Rachel has very kindly given me a discount code to pass onto you - you can get 15% off any stickers in her shop....

...just use the code MEADOWCAL15 at the checkout.

This past week has really felt like autumn is slipping away and winter is beginning to creep in, and although it's been quite mild (we've not had a frost yet this season), the air has nevertheless looked and felt quite wintry.

I've been enjoying the cosiness of my home, especially the first hour when I come home from the school run. Usually the timing works out just right for me to call at the coffee shop on my way home from dropping Little B, picking up two takeout coffees to bring home for J and me. I do miss my café visits in this locked-down life, but enjoying a really good freshly made coffee in the comfort of home is still a wonderful luxury and I am grateful for it.

Once a week I get to collect my takeout coffee and carry it up to the park to meet up with a very good friend. We sit (socially distanced) at the top of a small run of stone steps, her on one end and me perched on the other end so that we both have this  view out across the park. We can sit and drink our coffees and chat for about half an hour until our butts get too cold and stiff, then we walk a brisk circuit around the park to warm up again. 

This week I have felt very blessed with my friendships, and I have spent a lot of time chatting via WhatsApp on my phone, and on social media. I received a beautiful little parcel through the post a few days ago too, from one of my yarny friends who I used to see once a week at our Coopers knit and natter when life was normal.

She has been knitting little houses using her very own pattern, such a delight! She knit a whole street and very kindly sent them out to her friends, simply to bring a little cheer. Oh my, I was overwhelmed with emotion over this beautiful little handmade gift.

You may know that I have a Thing for little houses, I totally adore them and over the years I've managed to collect and build a small handmade street. Gosh, I've just noticed how terribly dusty my mantel is, please do try and overlook my very slapdash approach to the housework and focus on the houses. Eyes up. Aren't they cute?

It's been all things Meadow here during the past few weeks as I've worked hard behind the scenes to finalise all the colour work decisions. These colours have been bringing me a lot of happiness, a LOT. I think they are magical actually, and I can't wait for you to experience them for yourself in January. 

Lots of time spent in this room as J an I both work here during the days when the Little Peeps are at school. I've started lighting the fire in the early afternoon as the house seems to suddenly feel chilly round about then. We've usually been on our woodland walk, had some lunch and settled down for a few more hours of work before the 3pm school departure, so lighting the fire has given us some very welcome warmth and comfort. Right now I am sat exactly where Tilly is sleeping in the above photo, it's one of my favourite places to sit. I pull the coffee table over so that I can sit on the floor with my legs stretched out underneath it, and lean my back against the sofa. Not a bad working-from-home situation by any means.

As I mentioned earlier, there has definitely been a distinct whiff of winter in the air this week. 

I am so glad of my wellies now as the pathways are very muddy and the most dominant colour of the November woodland is brown. Oh dear, it really isn't my favourite.

Thank goodness for moss, it provides such a beautiful little bright spot of colour in amongst all the murk and I couldn't love it more. I'm a moss-lover, and proud of it.

↑↑ OK, so this happened on Tuesday, I know, I know. Danish pastries are not very "clean eating" but totally acceptable in terms of "wellness" I'd say (please see this post if you don't know what I'm going on about!). I always treat myself to a pastry on new-blanket-launch-days, it's become a little ritual that I have - a small celebrational treat from me, to me. It was still warm when I snaffled it from the bakery shelves and it was utterly divine I can tell you. Di-VINE. 

And so my days whirl along, and I continue to feel very thankful for it all. 

We found out today the this area of the UK will be out of Lockdown next week, but our socialising is still going to be very limited. Our pubs and cafés will reopen and J and I will be able to return to enjoy our morning coffees, but that's only because we live within the same household. I really, really miss my weekly yarny get togethers and was hoping to have them back again next week but sadly it's not happening. Ah well, I guess we just keep on doing our bit to stay safe and hope that little by little things begin to improve.

There are only three more weeks left of school now before the Christmas holidays, I can hardly believe it to be honest. 

I took the above photo yesterday on the way home from school, it was twenty past three in the afternoon and the sun was almost down beyond the horizon. It's twenty five more days before we land on the Winter Solstice (it's on Monday 21st this year). I am so looking forward to celebrating that special day of the year, I will be ready and waiting to gather in the greenery, light the candles and celebrate the fact that our days will begin to lengthen once more.

I hope you're having a good week however big or small your circles are, and that there is light and colour and warmth in your days xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

Meadow Blanket :: Introduction

Good morning! If you're here looking for the new Meadow yarn pack, click on the following link to go straight there >>

❧🏵️ MEADOW YARN PACK ❧🏵️

If you'd like to read on, I'm sharing more of the inspiration behind the Meadow blanket.....

I always embark on a very curious and creative journey when I design colour palettes for blankets, as I am never quite sure where the inspiration will come from or how it will manifest itself inside my Creative Mind. Sometimes I mull over possible themes for a very long time (years) before it feels right for them to come to fruition, and sometimes the ideas just seem to ping in at a moments notice. The Meadow blanket was definitely a PiNG moment!! The idea for the colour palette landed inside my mind with such force one sunny morning that I immediately knew I would be powerless to resist it's charms.

Those of you who've been reading my blog for a while will be familiar with the small meadow I visit which is just a five minute stroll from home. I mostly feel the pull there in late May when the buttercups are in full flower, and over the years I've often shared photographs of the haze of golden flowers. It's a such a stunning sight and one of the many reasons that May is my absolute favourite month of the year.

This year during May and June, I often felt drawn to the meadow when I was feeling in need of some breathing space. We were still in quite a severe lockdown back then with pretty much everything shut so that we were only venturing out for our daily walks. 

I strolled around the meadow almost every day throughout June, most often on my own when I craved solitude. It became my sanctuary, a haven of tranquillity where I could calm down my racing thoughts and find some peace for my emotions to gently settle.

As June progressed I began to notice more and more wild flowers hiding in the tangle of tall summer grass. The buttercups were still there, but their vibrant golden yellow was joined by a beautiful palette of summer shades. Purple and white clovers, vetches and trefoils, creeping thistles and creamy meadowsweet, wild sorrel and hogweed.

I found myself absolutely transfixed by the beauty of these common wild flowers....

...hogweed...

...clover...

...buttercup.

I spent long moments slowly wandering the pathway around the edge of the meadow searching for flowers and taking in the colours. It was a beautiful time - long slow days with many hours to spend day dreaming and creating inside my mind.

I still walked the meadow through the days of July as it continued to deliver a welcome period of quiet calm to my days. By this time, most of the flowers had gone and the tall summer grasses had well and truly taken over. There was a delicious purple haze over the meadow - I don't know what this particular grass is called but it's very delicate and its smoky purple hue looked amazing.

OH>> I just had a little search online and found  this, aren't we so so fortunate to have so much information at our fingertips? So this grass ↑↑↑ is "Yorkshire Fog grass" - wow, I am LOVING that!! 

Into August and pretty much all the wild flowers had gone, with the exception of the hogweed....

....towering above even the tallest grasses. I learnt the hard way that hogweed should not be picked as it really irritates the skin. In fact, it's not the thing to pick any flowers from the meadow as the area is protected and I have a lot of respect for these kind of rules.

I spent a lot of time walking throughout the summer months, often covering many miles across fields and around quiet narrow lanes around my town and neighbouring villages. I saw so many wild flowers growing in abundance, along verges and rough grass around fields and roads, and I noted that most of them were the same species that were growing in the meadow. So one stormy summers evening, I went off on a mission to gather in some stems for my photographs, taking care to pick only one or two from each spot. I walked just under five miles in my quest to gather in all the shades that I needed...

....ahhhhhh, such a wonderful spread of summer colour! I decided to include some blues in this colour palette to represent the summer sky, and I'm really happy with the overall feel of it. Actually "really happy" doesn't even come close to describing my feelings here - this delicate and pretty colour palette is absolutely full of summer light and warmth and I couldn't love it more. It has a healing quality which instantly gives me a calm feeling and transports me back to my quiet, solo walks around that glorious field of living colour. I am very much hoping that the Meadow blanket will be blessed with the same calm, healing vibe.

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

Starting from the top and working clockwise ::

🏵️ Wisteria 🏵️ Lavender 🏵️ Cloud Blue 🏵️ Duck Egg 🏵️ Sage 🏵️

🏵️ Lincoln 🏵️ Meadow 🏵️ Pistachio 🏵️ Dandelion 🏵️ Buttermilk 🏵️

🏵️ Parchment 🏵️ Mushroom 🏵️ Pale Rose 🏵️ Raspberry 🏵️ Grape 🏵️

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

❧🏵️ MEADOW YARN PACK ❧🏵️

It's hard to put into words how much I adore these colours - they are extremely calming (without being dull) and bring a gentle warmth which reminds me so much of my summer meadow walks. They sing to me of sunshine and a light breeze, of soft footsteps around quiet pathways, of tall waving grasses, distant hills and calming views. And of course the floral delights are represented in all those glorious hues - the pinks, purples and golden yellows of the wild meadow flowers. 

Beautiful, all of it.

The wild flowers that I gathered from the roadside lasted a few days indoors - I plopped them into recycled glass jars and really enjoyed observing their gentle beauty up close.

It was fun to play with the colours, matching flowers to yarn and marvelling at how the "Dandelion" shade was the absolute perfect match for buttercups. It couldn't be a more perfect colour for the Meadow blanket.

I have to confess it was a sneezy affair having wild flowers and grasses on my table - atchooooo! So much pollen!

But in the days that I had wild flowers in my table I absolutely made the most of it. I played endlessly with my yarn pegs, and sampled a whole stack of possibilities for a stripe pattern that would do these colours justice.

After a lot of false starts, I eventually settled on something simple but rather perfect. This is a variation of a "crossed treble" where the stitches are worked in pairs so that they cross over each other. It immediately reminded me of the tangled criss-cross of grasses and flowers as they grow in such abundance in the meadow.

These neat rows of little crosses create a beautiful pattern - it's a weeny bit lacy and a weeny bit textured but all very subtle I'd say. And oh, it makes for some delicious, easy-breezy crochet! Perfect for beginners (if you can crochet a UK treble, then you can create this stitch I promise) - there is just enough concentration needed to keep you on your toes, but the ease of these rows makes it extremely pleasurable.

When I was first working on the design ideas for the Meadow blanket, I knew straight away that it would be perfectly suited to creating a "colour story". If you've followed along with my CALs before, you are probably familiar with the Moorland and Woodland blankets? Both of these blankets were designed as a colour story, which means that the stripes are ordered in such a way that the colours tell a story of a particular landscape view.

From a design point of view, this represents a fairly major challenge - it's not nearly as easy as it looks to create this kind of effect whilst keeping a track of yarn quantities. But you know me, I do really love a colour challenge and I think "story blankets" are my absolute favourites to design.

In the above photo, you can see on the left that I've created a graphic representation of the Meadow Story. This should hopefully give you an idea of how the ninety stripes will look once they all come together to create the full length blanket. My aim is to use the colours to recreate the tranquil feeling of strolling through a quiet meadow surrounded by flowers, with a beautiful distant view of rolling hills and summer sky.

As well as the Meadow colour story, there will also be a second option to create a "mixed stripe" Meadow blanket where all fifteen meadow colours are dispersed evenly throughout the whole blanket. Over the past few years I've enjoyed giving more than one option for my CAL blankets and it's always wonderful to see the excitement as everyone makes their decision as to which version they prefer. I'll be sharing some sneak peeks of the two versions of the Meadow blanket a little bit closer to the start of the CAL.

Needless to say, I'm really, really excited for this blanket journey to begin and for us to enjoy a meaner in the meadow together. 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 pattern is released in the New Year.

I'll be writing more about the CAL a little closer to the time (just over six weeks until the CAL starts), but here is a quick round-up of information for you :

♥ The Attic24 MEADOW CAL will will run for 8 weeks in total, beginning on Friday 8th 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 2021 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 Meadow stripe pattern. Each week I'll share the colour stripe order for the two different versions of the Meadow blanket I'm making (Colour Story and Mixed Stripe)

♥ The MEADOW YARN PACK contains 15 x 100g balls of Stylecraft Special DK and is enough to make one blanket/throw. 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 2021. 

♥ The Meadow 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.

I'm extremely grateful to my friends at Stylecraft Yarns and Wool Warehouse for all the hard work they've done to make sure that this gorgeous collection of yarn is here for you. Wool Warehouse are continuing to work under very tricky conditions, keeping their fabulous staff safe with social distancing measures and an increased work load. They will do their best to get yarn out to you as quickly as they can, and to ship overseas at the present time, but as postal and delivery services are snowed under right now, please expect that there maybe some slight delays. The CAL begins in just over 6 weeks, so hopefully enough time for you to gather your yarn together.

As always thank you so so much for your friendship and enthusiasm as I embark on another blanket journey, it means the world to me that I get to have your company, especially in the depths of winter when life can feel like an uphill struggle. Thank you, thank you xx

❧🏵️ MEADOW YARN PACK ❧🏵️

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ps my lovely planner friend Rachel of Elliebeth Designs has designed some truly beautiful planner stickers to go along with the Meadow CAL which will be available as part of her WNW (what's new Wednesday) tomorrow. I have a discount code for you, so I'll be sure to post more info for you in the next day or so. xxxx

 

 

 

 

Circles of Sameyness

Here we are, two weeks into Lockdown 2.0, with two weeks still to go. Predictably my life is running in very small, samey circles of repetitive routine, but I find myself embracing it and feeling content for the most part. I am happy with my small life right now, because I am blessed with good health, my family are all safe at home (when 2/5th of them aren't at school) and we really have very little to worry about in our immediate day to day life. I appreciate how fortunate I am, I really do.

I am enjoying my walks to school in the morning with Little B, relishing our back and forth conversations as we make the half mile journey along the waters edge together.

Coming back into the warmth of the house after a very chilly school run this morning, I felt a rush of affection for the comfort of home. Blankets strewn across the sofa after Little B spent ten minutes snuggled up after eating his breakfast. Our house is never, ever tidy, in fact it's a downright mess most of the time, but there is always cheery colour and cosy comfort within these four walls.

This morning I folded and stacked some handknit socks which had been drying on the radiator, two pairs of J's and two of mine. I am so happy that I learnt to knit socks (five years ago), they bring a lot of pleasure into my life. I love the creative knitting part and I really love the fabulous wearing part, but also there is the extreme pleasure of the visuals they give me on the daily. I keep my socks in a small pile on a shelf next to my bed so that I can fully appreciate the sight of all those glorious woolly stripes. Eye candy, without a doubt.

I thought you might be missing pictures of my daily coffee, so here is today's offering.....a take away skinny latté from my wonderful little local indie coffee shop - needless to say I am a loyal customer and I couldn't appreciate them more. Luckily for me, I live within a very short walk of this wonderous place, so I get to enjoy my daily cup in the comfort of home.

J and are are still walking our daily walk each morning in all weathers. Sometimes I just enjoy it without taking photos but it's rare. I nearly always experience an overwhelming need to capture images, to preserve the memories.

I feel compelled to remember the day, the time, the weather, the colours, the wide vistas, the tiny details, and the feelings....

.....always the feelings. Walking gives me all the feels, it's an avalanche of emotions.

We had the most beautiful weather today, crisp, clear and oh-so-cold. It was glorious looking up above into the sunny, wide blue yonder!

More hours of work on my Meadow blanket design today, I'm currently on attempt number five and I think I might finally be there with my meadow meander. I want to get it just right, capturing that joyful feeling of being surrounded by so many beautiful flowers and tall grasses, but also the tranquillity that I experienced during my many walks in the meadow earlier this year. This colour story is very special I think, it has a calming, healing quality which feels really, really good. I can't wait to show you more next week.

More sameyness as I take off on my afternoon jaunt to collect Little B, pausing briefly to admire my hill view glowing in the low sun. No time to stop though, we only have minutes to get to the school gates, hurry down the hill and don't be late! It's the same every day.

The hyacinth scent has finally arrived and it is wonderful. It's not yet at the stage where it overpowers the room - you have to actively engage your face with the blooms to get a whiff, so all is peaceful on the home front. I just love love love having these flowers in the house at this time of year, they never fail to make November feel special.

Aside from the school runs and our daily woodland walk, I'm spending all day in our main living/dining room at the moment, sharing it with J as he works from home too. I move between the dining table, the sofa, the Big Chair and the fireside floor cushion, depending on what I'm doing and what time of day it is. It feels Ok I guess, we don't have much space and there is zero alone time but I am making the best of it because that's just the way it is.

Fairylights and flowers, snuggly socks and cosy blankets, favourite drinks and creative projects, gentle strolls and peaceful views. I hope you're doing OK in your own little circle, enjoying the small things that bring you pleasure. 

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November Light

Would you just LOOK at that sky???!!! Talk about forboding, I would have bet money on the imminent arrival of lashing rain, but nope, it never came. Not even a sniff of rain fell from those black clouds despite the glowering sight of them hanging over the hills for much of the day. I even wore my wellies just in case.

The light was spectacular in a very moody, threatening way.....

....and I had to keep apologising to J for stopping so many times to take photographs.

I never thought I would enjoy this late Autumn weather so much, but the high drama of it has been captivating. I found myself almost wishing for a humungous rain storm to descend upon us, just to feel the full force of the season upon my face. Wouldn't that be something?

But the storm remained in the distance and our walk was quiet and uneventful in the end. Just an hour out of the house to breathe in the outdoors and tramp along the muddy woodland pathways, a daily routine that I continue to be very thankful for.

I ate a late breakfast when I came home, a small bowl of oat porridge buried under a mound of fresh fruit. I honestly think this is my favourite meal at the moment (I have the same thing most days), I enjoy it so, so much. I have to try really hard not to wolf it down because every mouthful is just that good - eating more slowly and savouring my food is a habit I'm working on as I've always been a fast eater.

In fact, this year has taught me a lot about slowing down in many different ways, and I'm enjoying this life lesson very much. Slow. Down. It feels good to do so!

I've been working at the dining table today, finalising some last minute colour decisions for my Meadow blanket which is still a work in progress. The fifteen colours that I've chosen for this blanket are inspired by the colours of the wild flowers and grasses which grow in the meadow during the summer. They are soooooo lovely, and I am over the moon happy with the colour palette. It's the subtle way in which they play together which I'm fine tuning at the moment, there is a delicacy in the balance of the shades which needs careful handling when creating the stripe sequence. 

I am so so excited for this next blanket of mine, and can't wait to show you more.....

....not long to wait now.........it's almost time for the Meadow yarn packs to land in my shop. Squeeeeee!!!!!!

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Meadow Yarn packs will be coming next week on 24th November and I'll be sharing a full introduction to the blanket then. The Crochet-A-Long will start in January, so there should be plenty of time for you to gather in your yarn if you'd like to join me on a pretty meadow meander xxx

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