Attic24

I Have Been....

I have been....really enjoying my daily walks to and from school along the canal tow path.

I have been....loving the look of utter delight on Little B's face when we stop on the way home from school to get an ice cream from the tug boat. The best kind of Friday treat.

I have been....loving these early summer evenings, walking around my neighbourhood soaking in the views.

I have been....knitting socks using this delicious "Seascape" yarn by West Yorkshire Spinners. You can read more about this fabulous new yarn ((here)).

I have been....indulging in a new-to-me snack which I can't get enough of - why have I only just discovered these things??! Rice cakes covered in dark chocolate and topped with little bits of dried fruit (orange in this case, but the raspberry ones are my absolute favourites). Yum yum yum yum yum.

I have been....taking a break from my laptop and relaxing with my favourite summer edition magazines. Gloriously outdoorsy and colourful, a visual breath of fresh air.

I have been....dreaming about visiting the coast this summer, I am seriously craving  a sea fix.

I have been....lolling about in the Big Chair, day dreaming, reading and enjoying the warmth of the kitty on my lap when she decides to settle a while. I do adore this cushion, even though it's a bit saggy and baggy now after so much use.

I have been....inhaling the distinctive sweet/spicy scent of Sweet Williams in a jug on my table.

I have been....soaking in the brilliance of these floral colours.

I have been....enjoying a few rare and precious lie-ins and waking to the sight of fresh flowers beside my bed.

I have been....on a ship!

I have been....pootling along the canals of Amsterdam and absolutely love love loving it!

♥

In short.....I've been enjoying  a little bit of a relaxing break and it has felt so good.

Last week was half term and I made a real effort to detach from my laptop and social media and be truly present in the moment. The Little People have all enjoyed the down time too, and all three of them have been very content to please themselves for the most part. I enjoyed some precious quiet time spent in my own little day-dreamy world and some wonderful family time too. We took a trip across the North Sea to spend a day in Amsterdam (I'll share more of that very soon, it was fun!), but aside from that our week was super-slow and spent close to home.

It has been absolutely lovely, all of it, but I'm glad to be back.....more soon.

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Green and Light

Twice this week I've had evening dates with Little B. At seven o'clock on the dot he comes to get me and no matter what I'm doing (crochet, knitting, social media-ing, blogging, laundry folding etc etc, the usual stuff that fills my evenings) I am not allowed to dally. Come on, come on Mummy, it's time to go! So of course I drop everything, grab a bottle of water and off we go, out into the beautiful early evening of our neighbourhood. We've created an hour long walking route this week which is uniquely ours and it's just so lovely. We start out along the canal, pass under the old mill bridge and follow the narrow footpath around the bottom of the castle. Entering into the woods by the bottom gate where the Huntress stands, the scent is overwhelming, oh my, I feel almost faint with emotion when I take that first deep breath in. Wild garlic and all the verdant growth, it's so fresh and light and green, green, green. We follow the path through the woods almost as far as the pond, then take the steep stepped pathway up, up, up into the trees which is something we've never done before (we are usually walking the opposite direction and coming down those steps). It's a huff-puff climb, but fun to go from the bottom of the woods to the top in mere minutes. Sunshine and shadows, laughter and chatter, it's just so precious, every single nano-second of it.

Just before Christmas, Little B (then aged 8 and three quarters) abruptly decided he was too old to hold my hand as we walked to school (well, walking anywhere actually). And once he decided on this he absolutely refused to go back on it. Sometimes I would catch him reaching for my hand without thinking, then a flash of remembrance and he would snatch it away super-quick. I understood it, but still, there was a persistent stab of sadness when I thought about the change and felt the loss. This week since I've been home from France he has started holding my hand again, and oh my heart feels like it wants to break free and fly up into the wide blue yonder. I haven't said anything to him about it, have allowed him to silently reach for me without the need to remark on it. It really has been the sweetest, most heart expanding experience. You hear the phrase "pulling on your heart strings" and never has this felt more true for me, I swear I can feel it happening.

 The weather has been delicious this week, truly May at it's best and I want to soak it all in and store up all the feels. My emotions are running high at the moment - I recognise it, and think it's in part due to this time of year. I'm not over analysing it, just holding myself together and allowing the days to pass gently, knowing that all is as it should be. 

Anyhow - Little B and I have so enjoyed our walks together this week, hand in hand, non stop chatter, it's an hour out of my day that feels like the greatest gift. I am so grateful......thank you for sharing it with me.

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Just Like Old Times

Helloooooooo!!! It's so lovely to be back in the Attic - as you may know I was away in France last week teaching the second of my two crochet retreats with Stitchtopia Craft Holidays.

I had a wonderful time and am really looking forward to going through alllllll my photos and creating a full blog post to share the details of the retreats with you. It was such a great experience and I absolutely loved spending time in France, it was extremely relaxing and uplifting. By the way, I've had a good number of messages on Instagram and Facebook asking for more details about my crochet retreats - you can visit the Stitchtopia website and sign up for their mailing list, or email them directly and ask to be kept in the loop about what I'll be doing next year. I've agreed to teach a further two weeks next year although at the moment I don't know when or where. It's very exciting and I am already thinking about what projects I'd like to create especially for these very special retreats.

Before I left I wrote up a short post to share with you while I was gone but unfortunately my scheduling timer thingy on Typepad didn't work (grrrr) and the post disappeared into the ether never to be seen again. I don't think you missed out too much (asparagus and ice cream and crochet squares amongst other miscellaneous observations), but even so, I was cross that it didn't work out. Still - I'm back again now, adjusting to life on the domestic home front after being gloriously un-domestic all of last week.

As is often the case after I've been away from home it's taking a while for things to settle. I've felt tired and discombobulated the past few days, and with J working away from home I've felt a tad lonesome too. This morning after dropping Little B at school I decided to walk through the park and visit the farm shop, partly for the fresh air and exercise, partly because I needed to buy something for dinner and partly because I just wasn't ready to go home.

I noticed that the elderflowers are still quite a way away from bloom-time (they were already in flower in France) but if the weather remains warm and sunny then I expect they will be ready to pick in a few weeks time.

I enjoyed the farm shop, it was a quiet time to visit and I took my time selecting produce and choosing something yummy for dinner (ingredients for a Greek salad and a simple Tabbouleh salad, with some sliced ham from the deli counter). I also picked up a latte and what d'you know, a little bit of something sweet fell into my basket from the bakery section too...no idea how that happened.

On my way back through the park I took a seat at my favourite picnic table near the cherry trees and enjoyed my sunshiny morning coffee and pastry very much. So good! It felt like early summer, everything so green and bright and the sun gorgeously warm on my face.

My shopping bag was on the bench next to me as I sat and drank my coffee and I just loved the sight of my farm shop purchases nestled all together. It reminded me of the early days of my blog when I used to share the results of my little shopping trips from time to time - this post was the third post I ever wrote back in March 2008, sharing the contents of my bag after a weekly jaunt through town. 

Tomatoes, asparagus and flat leaf parlsey to feed the family.

Tulips and chocolate to feed my soul.

This chocolate it soooo hard to resist and I've been enjoying it for several years since the farm shop started selling it. It's made by a little company based in York (Choc Affair) and is the most heavenly chocolate you can imagine. The flavours are incredible and as you would expect I am mostly drawn to the Summery ones....Lime and Sea Salt is my absolute fave, but my goodness the Raspberry and Rose is like summer melting in your mouth. A beautiful treat and one I never feel guilty about indulging in. I am worth it!

These tulips were in a bucket at the till and were half price, so of course I found myself picking them up and tucking them in my bag. Pretty irresistible wouldn't you say?

I chose my rainbow striped jug to go with these flamboyant blooms, oh my heart....such a b-e-a-u-tiful sight on my table today!!!

Love love love. LOVE them!

Something else that came home in my bag was a few springs of cow parsley. This stuff grows rampant along the edge of the trees at the top of the park and every year I like to bring a little bit home. I can't have it indoors as the smell is pretty disgusting but I love to have it on my back yard table.

When I came home from my walk it was around 10am and delightfully warm so I set up my outdoor table ready for a few hours of al fresco coffee/chocolate/planner-time/hooky delight. 

I just adore cow parsley and it's one of the many (many, many) reasons that May is my favourite month. It grows in great abundance around here so I don't feel bad about bringing a little bit of it home - those teensy flowers deserve to be observed and enjoyed in detail, they are just a delight.

So...........yarny goings on are currently revolving around my bag of scraps and I couldn't be happier. This colour palette is just so unbelievably pretty and perfect for this time of year, like Spring rolling into early Summer. It's light and fresh, airy and warm and I absolutely adore it. There are thirty colours in total (although a few colours are pretty much all used up now), left overs from the making of my Sweet Pea and Dune blankets. 

Last week while I was away in France I began making some Baby Bunting triangles. I wanted an easy project that could be hooked up whilst chatting and drinking fizzy rosé wine (haha, how very decadent!), and these were perfect. 

I designed this pattern in 2014 for Simply Crochet magazine, and over the years I've made quite a few versions of it (the original version was all in blues). It's a really lovely little pattern (if I do say so myself), three simple rounds of trebles, then a little decorative edging to finish. 

I'm planning on creating a tutorial for the bunting as I've been asked for the pattern a lot over the years and had always meant to find time to share it. Aren't the colours scrumptious? 

So today I finished making fifteen triangles and they are ready to be joined along the top with 3 rows of crochet and finished with some buttons.

I'll try and make time to photograph the step by step tutorial during the next week or so, all being well. I know many of you who have been making blankets along with me will have a stash of left over yarn just like mine, and might perhaps enjoy a little bit of a decorative project.

I've not forgotten about my granny bag either - remember me showing you the beginnings of my squares a few weeks ago? 

I've got enough now (I made 36, although I only need 32, I got a bit carried away), and similar to the bunting I'll be photographing my progress as I join them and create my bag so that I can make a tutorial for you. I am so excited about both of these projects, it feels just like old times when I used to get so caught up in my creative ideas and little decorative makes.

I am currently fighting the ridiculously strong urge to start making another blanket (the addiction is real) and these small projects are helping a lot. Must. Stay. Focused.

What blanket?!

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Planner Peace

I first discovered planning in the spring of 2015 when a search for some stickers led me to a whole online community of people who quite honestly seemed to be completely planner crazy. It was like tumbling down the most gloriously colourful, fun-filled rabbit hole you could imagine, with a whole group of new online friends encouraging me to keep on tumbling. I found the enticing world of Erin Condren Life Planners and also the very lovely Rachel who was just starting her own business {EllieBethDesignsUK} designing and making planner stickers. It opened up a fabulous new hobby for me and I've been using Erin Condren Life Planners and EllieBeth stickers ever since. You can read more about the start of my planner journey (here)

As much as I've loved having and using a yearly EC planner, one of the things that didn't work so well for me was it's size. ECLP's are big hefty things, not really portable pop-in-your-bag objects at all. I also found that there wasn't quite enough space each week for me to make notes - I much prefer to make a weekly to-do list rather than a daily one, and there was only a narrow strip outside of the daily columns for me to do this. Combine that with the high cost of an ECLP ($55, plus $20 shipping, plus a rather unpleasantly large customs fee wacked on top) and for the first time in 3 years I didn't rush to order myself one for January 2019. It was odd starting the new year without a planner, and although I had intended to buy myself some sort of a diary I never got round to it and I really did begin to miss it. I've been making lists on scraps of paper, scribbling stuff on the family calendar and feeling rather chaotic without my weekly planning routine. 

In early April I happened to read something about Personal Planner and decided to take another look. I already knew about Personal Planners as I bought one for Little Lady to use in 2016 alongside me and my Life Planner. They are smaller than EC planners in that they are a standard A5 size (well they come in 5 different sizes but the A5 is the classic size). The thing that persuaded me to try it was a brand new choice of layouts which I'll talk more about in a little bit.

Personal Planners are made in Sweden and mine took just over a week from ordering to landing in my hands here in the UK. There is a flat cost of £22.90 for a classic A5 size planner, and this includes FREE worldwide delivery which I think is brilliant.

I was soooooooooooooooo excited to unpack it and see what the cover looked like as I chose the custom option and uploaded one of my favourite hooky photos to create my front cover......... ↑↑↑

I love it so much!!!! 

One of the great things about PP is that you can choose your starting month - they run for 12 months  but you can begin with any month of the year. So mine is running from April 2019 - March 2020 and I'm really happy with that.

The cover of a PP is printed on thick glossy card, with an overlay of slightly opaque plastic to protect it. You can upload your own photo or choose from a range of designs or plain colours. There is an elastic closure to hold it all together and the whole thing feels beautifully neat and compact. I have to say I really like the size of it and already it feels like it'll be a good fit for me on a daily basis.

At the start of each month there is a calendar spread ↑↑ which I find super useful to give an overview of what's going on each month. 

I write in birthdays, appointments, meetings and holidays - anything which has a fixed date. For me, this is a functional, practical calendar and I don't bother to prettify it or worry too much about how it looks. I just get the info in there so that I can see what's going on, and where I'm supposed to be!

Now shall we talk about the all important Page Layout? I think this is the thing which really determines whether a planner will work in the long term and it's a very personal choice. PP now has 8 different layouts to choose from, with three of them being new this year. It was these new layouts which combine a diary on one side with a blank/lined page opposite that really grabbed my attention......

.....see??? This ↑↑ just seemed perfect for me.

I have enough space in the diary side to put in birthdays, meetings, school stuff, appointments etc and the opposite side can then accommodate my rather sprawling weekly to-do lists and notes. You get to choose whether to keep the pages blank, or have lines, squares or dot grid.

Along the bottom, these are called "modules" and PP offers 20 options for these module spaces which include things like to-do lists, menu plan, quotes, notes, colouring, fitness etc. As you can see, I chose the meal planner, the weekly motivational quote and the little colouring option which I absolutely love! 

At the end of each week when I sit down to think about my week ahead (usually Sunday afternoon or evening) I take a little time to indulge in some simple colouring therapy....it's just the nicest thing to do!

Planners are pretty personal things and I don't always feel comfortable about sharing them with anyone. I've bravely put this week up for you ↑↑ although I've blanked out a few names to keep privacy. You can see that I still like to use my stickers but I don't worry too much about the aesthetics of it to be honest. I just need to be able to see what's happening on each day of the week (the left side) and keep a track of what work and errands I need to do each week (the right side).

These pages are unbelievably good at keeping me grounded and helping me to focus on what needs doing. As I work by myself for the most part and my days are pretty fluid, I can so very easily become distracted and get behind with things - although I value the freedom of my days I don't like to feel too out of control or chaotic if I can help it. 

Each Personal Planner comes with a fun sheet of stickers, although having been a planning girl for three years now, I have a fair sized collection of sticky things already. There is a section at the back of the planner ↑↑ which has 20 extra notes pages and you can choose to keep them plain or have them lined, dot grid etc. You can even choose colouring or Sudoku for these back pages if you so wish....it's all good fun!

I've got the same set of pens that I've had for maybe four years now and they are still completely brilliant. I adore them - the colours are gorgeous, they write beautifully and they have a very fine 0.3mm tip which is just perfect for those dinky little colouring in things. Priorities and all that......haha! You can find them on Amazon (here), I can highly recommend them.

Now we can't talk about planners without talking about stickers, the two things go hand in hand in the most beautiful way. I am mainly a functional planner so the stickers I use the most are colourful box type ones. The ones above are quarter boxes and I also like half boxes too which are twice the height so have more writing room. I also use some headers ("To Do" being the most used) and a few little round icons every so often (coffee cups and yarn balls mainly - the stuff that makes up my daily life!).

I confess though, it's blinkin' hard to resist the lure of the decorative stickers, and although I try and sit on my hands when Rachel releases her new collections, it's really difficult to stay away. Want to see my latest splurge????

Take a look at these beauts................

These are from a collection called "The Sea is Calling", aren't they beautiful?

The colours and shell/beach theme match delightfully with my Dune blanket colours, and it won't surprise you to know that Rachel is also a crocheter and we do email back and forth and chat about colours and design ideas etc. It's always a lovely surprise when we find ourselves in creative sync with each other!

Rachel gave me another lovely surprise this week when she told me that she's set up a special discount code especially for Attic24 readers, isn't that great? You can receive 10% off any EllieBethDesigns order, not just right now but each and every time you need a sticker fix in the future. There is no underlying reason for this other than the fact that Rachel is a super lovely person and values her online planner buddies. All you need to do is apply the code ATTIC24LOVE at the checkout, or click on the following rainbow link and the 10% discount will automatically be applied at the checkout for you......

ATTIC24LOVE 10% DISCOUNT

So that's about all my planner and stickerish news wrapped up for now, I hope you've enjoyed peeking into my pages and seeing my efforts at keeping myself together. I always seem to have a lot of balls to juggle and using a planner definitely reduces the stress factor and helps to minimise the daily chaos to a certain extent. I will always be very forgetful and very much on the ditsy side, but I can't change that (and I wouldn't want to) - planning just helps keep me on track in so many little but important ways.

Over the years I've often read the phrase "finding Planner Peace" which refers to the way in which it takes time (often years) to find what works for each individual and what makes planning a personal success. There are dozens of planners out there to choose from, all different shapes, sizes, construction, layouts and functions and one size definitely does not fit all.

I'm so very happy with my Personal Planner - the size and layout, the choice of starting month, the price, the overall great quality and slightly quirky little design options makes it a winner for me. I think I may just have found Planner Peace with this one.

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ps just to reassure you this isn't a sponsored post....I bought my planner and stickers as an ordinary customer and they weren't gifted or sponsored.

pps if you are looking for some online planner buddies, I can really recommend the EllieBethDesigns Facebook group. It's super friendly and welcoming, whether you are already a planner addict or if you are looking for advice on how to get started, it's a lovely place to share and be inspired xx

 

 

 

May Bank Holiday

We had such a lovely long weekend of it here, celebrating the start of May with three days of leisure and pleasure. May is my absolute most favourite month of the whole year, I just adore the abundance of it - so much daylight and greenery and fresh blooming things. Love love love love love all of it.

We walked at Bolton Abbey on Saturday to take in the bluebells. They are early this year because of the unseasonable warmth we had in February and are already just tipping past their prime.....

....still looking gorgeous though, carpeting the woodland floor with a gentle haze of sunny blue. 

We walked along the side of the river Wharfe....

.....admiring the stunning wildlife (this is a Mandarin Duck, we often see them on this stretch of the river).

Several duck families were also paddling up stream, the teensy little ducklings looking impossibly fluffy and small as they danced about on the wide surface of the river.

We sat a while here on the low rocks while Little B leaped about and did boyish things, exploring and poking and the such like. It was such a lovely thing to see him so happy in his own little world, singing some crazy ditty to himself as he hopped around on the rocks.

Green, green and more green, the woodlands honestly take my breath way at this time of year and I don't think I will ever not be wowed by it. Wild garlic in abundance (not quite in flower just yet, but almost) and the freshest zingy green beech leaves newly unfurled in the treetops.

It was the very definition of the word f-r-e-s-h and the scent was intoxicating. Damp earth and wild garlic, sunshine and oxygen. Beautiful in every way.

The May Bank Holiday weekend here in Atticland is always joyful and boat filled as the town celebrates the historic canal with it's annual Waterway Festival.

Boats start arriving and mooring up during the week before....

....and the canal becomes a busy, festive hub of activity. Each year there is a theme (this year is was the 1960's) and it's all very jolly indeed.

The abundance of bunting always makes my heart leap, I just love the bright colours and the festival atmosphere it creates.

Early on Sunday morning, J and I took a walk along the tow path to take it all in. Little B was at a sleep over with a school friend and the Teens were still tucked up in their beds so it was just the two of us, and I did miss my Little Peeps I have to say. I have many layers of memories of doing this very thing (have just re-read this post, when the Big Teen was still a Littl'n' and only six years old), and although I relish seeing my offspring grow into beautiful, independent, strong young people, I do miss their Little Days sometimes.

As usual, the boats were looking glorious.

I love to take in the decorative details, and have a real fondness for the old fashioned painted enamel "barge ware" which is traditional decoration for canal boats.

The folk art floral style and bright colours are very inspiring.......

....I'd love to translate this into crochet one day, maybe a folksy floral something-something with roses and daisies and stripes and pompoms.....(Creative Mind is whizzing now!)

Its easy to forget that these boats are homes to people and animals....

....and that they aren't just there for show.

There is something so appealing about this type of lifestyle, although for me personally I would much prefer to keep my tootsies planted on terra firma. I do adore the cosiness and the prettiness of canal boats though.

Oh look! I can spot a crochet blanket at a hundred paces and immediately zoomed in on this beauty casually draped over the bow of the boat. Doesn't it look so at home?

This was my favourite boat of all, all Loved Up and decked out in 1960's style finery. There was yarn too.....

.....colourful crochet flowers, pom poms, hearts and birds, what a visual delight!

Back on the home front and there was yarn and colour here too......of course there was!

You might remember me telling you last week that I've started on a stash-bust project using yarn left over from the Sweet Pea and Dune blankets? Well on Sunday I tipped out the bag of circles that I've been making and began to turn them slowly, one by one, into squares. 

I'm using an old pattern of mine from years ago (seriously, years and years!) the Summer Garden Granny Square. 

I created this pattern a whole decade ago and used it to make a couple of wool blankets (a big one here and a small one here). It's been lovely to re-visit it, and I'm really enjoying the freedom of working these little squares just for pleasure and without much of a plan. 

However, over the weekend I decided that these squares won't become another blanket because they are shouting GRANNY SQUARE BAG to me very loudly, and I just can't ignore that type of creative shouting. The idea has been so loud in my mind that I dreamt about the exact granny square bag on Monday night, I kid you not. So now that my Creative Mind has seen the bag image (with some delightful decorative details)  I simply must make it a reality. I am ridiculously excited by it all, and I can't wait to share more of this with you as it unfolds.

On Monday morning, with no work or school we decided to leave the car at home and set out to walk around our neighbourhood. It was a grey, overcast day but nevertheless it felt so good to stride out and climb up high to take in the views over this lovely little rural market town that we call home. It delights me that we can see the actual Attic from the top of the hill, and see our home sitting in it's friendly terraced street amidst the rolling green countryside. 

Coming into the woods from the high hill, we enter along the top pathway. It's oh-so-green, beautiful in it's airy lushness. 

Isn't May such a delight? I can't get enough of it, the bright colour is almost overwhelming in the woodland after so many months of drab brown.

Ah, here is the Stalking Horse, quietly standing in place, awesome in it's willowy stillness. 

There aren't a huge number of bluebells in these woods, just a  few here and there - they make me so happy. 

Another week or so and this huge bank of wild garlic will be in full flower, it's a beautiful sight I can tell you.

We came out of the woods via the bottom gate and as we were close to the edge of town we decided on the spur of the moment to go and have coffee. We chose a cafe close to the canal, a lovely little place where you can sit in a pretty courtyard outside when the weather is decent enough. The Waterway festival was in full swing and as we sat to drink our cappuccino's (banana milkshake for a delighted Little B) we were entertained by a full-force marching bagpipe band. It was glorious! Such a rich, full sound, and not your average Monday morning soundtrack that's for sure.

Little B was ecstatic at the prospect of so much naughty, edible festival temptation. He swayed dramatically between wanting freshly cooked crepes, candyfloss or fresh donuts, and in the end the donuts won. They came on a paper plate, hot and fluffy, smothered in chocolate sauce and whipped cream......his face was a picture, and it reminded me of our Bruges trip last year and the whole waffle experience....such good memories.

Monday afternoon and I decided to bake a cake. I think Little B's sweet cravings had rubbed off on me and all I could think about was the taste of an old fashioned Victoria Sponge. I had a bit of trouble with my cake tins as some of the cake mixture managed to leak out through the removable bottoms somehow, making the layers a little on the flat side. No matter though, as this cake wasn't made for show it was made for eating, and goodness me it went down well! Despite it's flatness it tasted very good indeed and the whole family agreed that I should bake cakes more often.

I hope that you are all doing OK and enjoying the ebb of flow of your days whatever season you are in. I'm enjoying my days very much, I love May, I really do. It's all good.

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Dune Blanket Colourwash

I'm really happy to be sharing another little bit of my Dune blanket journey with you today, thank you ever so much for your patience if you've been waiting for this. After the huge success of the Sweet Pea blanket where I created two versions of the same blanket (a random stripe and a colourwash stripe), it seemed to me like this is something I could do for all stripe blankets going forward. I won't always have the time or the inclination to make both full size versions myself, but hopefully I can give you enough of an idea for you to decide if a colourwash blanket is floating your creative hooky boat.

Personally, I think I will always prefer the energy of a random stripe order but there is something about the subtle shades of the Dune palette that is just calling out to be arranged in a gentle wash of harmonious colour. 

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

DUNE YARN PACK

1. Planned Random colour order

A few weeks ago when I shared the story of my Dune blanket, I showed you oodles of stripy photos. This blanket of mine (shown above) is made up of fifteen colours ordered in what I like to call a "planned random" way. I do spend a lot of time arranging the colour order using my trusty yarn pegs to achieve a pleasing balance - it's not quite as random as it first appears!

2. Repeating colour order

A second way to play with the palette involves arrange the fifteen colours in a pleasing, considered order and then repeating them. The order might be based on light-to-dark properties, rainbow colour wheel properties, or a little of both. The general idea is to order the colours to create a soft blend or gradient, a subtle sweep from bottom to top. The above image shows how I arranged the fifteen Dune colours to create this soft blend for those of you who wanted to make a blanket in this way. 

As it's still early days, I haven't seen many blankets being shared just yet, but the above photo beautifully illustrates how the Repeating colour order works. Helen is making her Dune blanket a king size width, so has made remarkably good progress with two full repeats.

3. Colourwash colour order

This is similar to the repeating order in that the colours are carefully arranged to create a harmonious, blended effect. The difference here is that the wash runs through the whole length of the blanket. The above photo shows my Colourwash Sweet Pea which gives you a good idea of the colourwash idea in action - it's a gorgeous way to really showcase the colour palette and makes a very striking blanket.

I spent a fair while messing with the colours to come up with a really great colourwash sequence for the Dune blanket. I generally start out with my pegs, then crochet up a narrow sampler to test it all out, making changes as I go. I had to alter the order of the paler colours towards the top end to stop very similar colours pooling together (Parma Violet, Mushroom and Silver needed to be kept separate) but I am so in love (BIG love love love) with the final result. It's just so darn pretty and airy and peaceful and lovely on the eyes! It's very beachy I think - water, grasses, sand, shells and sky. Delicious!

J helped me make the above graphic representation - it's not quite the same as being able to see yarny stripes, but I hope it gives you a clear idea of how the colours will work. The wider bands of each colour are made up of three stripes, with two single stripes positioned above and below - the single stripes interlock with the colours either side to create the wash effect.

The above photo will get you started, then you can follow the colour chart we've made for you which lists all 100 stripes for the Dune colourwash.

To start out, use Storm Blue yarn and make your foundation chain and dc row using a bigger hook.

Then switch down a hook size and work stripes 1 & 2 (rows 2-5).

Stripe 3 (rows 6 & 7) is worked in Sage.

Stripe 4 (rows 8 & 9) is worked in Storm Blue.

Stripe 5 (rows 10 & 11) is worked in Sage.

Stripe 6 (rows 12 & 13) is worked in Storm Blue

Stripes 7, 8 & 9 (rows 14 - 19) is worked in Sage - this is your wide triple band of colour.

Continue working your stripes (2 rows for each stripe) following the order listed below.

Does this make sense? Hope so!

Here is the chart for you -

I created a PDF file for the above colour order which you can download and print out so that you can keep it in your yarn bag and use it as a work sheet. Click on the link below to open the file >>

DOWNLOAD DUNE COLOURWASH STRIPE ORDER

Remember that when you reach the end of stripe 100 (which is Cloud Blue) you'll need to work one last row to straighten out your top edge - you can find this info included in the Seashell Pattern, the link is below.

Do let me know if you're going to try the Dune colourwash, I'd love to see! You can always share photos with me on Instagram (tag your posts #duneblanket so I can find them), on my Facebook page or in the "Hooked on Attic24" Facebook group which you are welcome to join.

Here are some links you might need :

♥ DUNE YARN PACK (including printed pattern)

♥ DUNE BLANKET : INTRODUCTION

♥ SEASHELL PATTERN

♥ DUNE BLANKET : EDGING TUTORIAL

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HAPPY HOOKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!x

 

 

Recent Views

It's been a misty, murky sort of a day today, with a view that was only half there. It's so strange when the familiar hilly landscape that I've become so fond of simply disappears, it's a bit of a visual shock to the system! In fact this week so far has been a bit of a strange one, and that murky dampness seems to have settled deeply into my system. I flew back from France on Sunday, traveled north from London on Monday, then spent yesterday floating around in a grey bubble of mild exhaustion.

Today has been better, I met a friend for coffee this morning and spent half of the time bending her ear about my fabulous French experience, feeling the need to verbalise my feelings to somebody who was prepared to listen and nod in appropriate places. The fam were glad to have me back, but mainly because household harmony seemed to be hanging by a thread. Nobody had any clean underwear, and I listened to the Little People tell me about The Running Out of Butter as if it were the end of the world. It felt nice to be missed, even if it was only in the capacity of laundry maid and grocery shopper. J did an amazing job of cooking and keeping everything ticking over while I was gone (although he clearly did not monitor the butter situation carefully enough, and one load of washing in 9 days was not quite enough either).

France was a-mazing, it was everything I had hoped for and so very much more besides. I have so much to tell you! However, I am mindful of the fact that I'll be repeating my crochet retreat again in a couple of weeks and don't wish to spoil it for the ladies that are still to experience it. I thought you might like to see a few photos though - the above is the view from my third floor bedroom, which had me so delighted each and every day. Hills that were more like mountains, buildings and trees that were centuries old, and the most glorious flowering wisteria that made me swoon and sneeze.

Before last week I had no idea that wisteria had a scent - I had assumed that it was all about the abundant flowery drape and glorious colour.

The scent of wisteria is utterly delicious I can tell you. It is sweet and floral and the very essence of late Springtime. Every day I walked past this doorway and would breathe in the perfume of these delicate flowers - it's a memory that I know will stay with me for always.

I had the most wonderful time teaching last week and found it incredibly uplifting and enjoyable. I created a four day course which was a mixture of colour teaching and crochet and I was very, very inspired by the way the ladies applied so much passion, enthusiasm, thought and determination to their creations. We honestly had the best time together and I'm looking forward to showing you more in a few weeks time.

We had a very welcome amount of time each day to relax and socialise out of the classroom, and we usually spent it cosied up in the very atmospheric and comfortable bar with hooks/needles in hand and a glass of something chilled and sparkly within easy reach. We discovered the local sparkling rose wine which tasted like a fruity champagne......it was pretty irresistible and seemed to go very well with yarn.

I took along a bag of yarn oddments with me to France, left overs from the making of my Sweet Pea and Dune blankets. There are 30 colours in total and I'm so in love with the delicate feel of them all together. I'm making centres for some Summer Garden Granny Squares, putting the colours together in a very random fashion with next to no planning or thought. It's very liberating to be working in this way I have to say, and it's making me really happy. I've no idea how this is going to pan out, how many squares I'll make or what they will turn into - a small blanket, a back-of-the-chair throw, a cushion or maybe even a wrap/shawl? I'll keep you posted.

Yesterday in my murky bubble, I realised that I needed to work on the Dune Colourwash sequence for you. I'm sorry I didn't have time to do this before I went off to France and I know many of you have been waiting patiently for it. I finished it last night and J is creating a colour chart for me, so I'm going to share it on my blog tomorrow (Thursday) for those who fancy giving it a go. I have to say that it has turned out so beautifully, and I can certainly see the appeal of working colourwash versions of my blanket designs. They are just so soothing to look at, and this particular palette of soft coastal colours really looks great when ordered in this way.

Right now it's 10pm and I am pretty sure I need to be horizontal in my bed in the next five minutes or else I will most likely fall asleep right here and face plant into my keyboard. I'll be back tomorrrow with Dune stripey stuff!

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Bonjour and Au Revoir

Bonjour! I wanted to pop in to the Attic very briefly before I head off on my travels. It's been a crazy-busy week for me one way and another, but I have been so uplifted by the phenomenal response to my Dune Blanket - thank you, thank you for every lovely thing you have said about it and for the hundreds and hundreds of comments all over social media, your support is so very much appreciated. I've been riding a bit of an emotional high through the rather extreme tiredness that follows a period of intense work, and I am hanging in there. For those of you who've made the decision to embark on this particular crochet journey for yourself, I am so thankful. You've no idea how deep down happy it makes me feel, to know that I am not on my own with my creative endeavors. It means the world to belong to this happy, joyful, friendly and energetic community of ours. 

My creative journey shows no signs of letting up just yet as I'm about to head off to teach on a crochet retreat in France. I'm very fortunate to be joining the Stitchtopia UK team, retreating with a lovely group of fifteen ladies in a very fine looking chateau in the Savoie region in south eastern France. We'll have four whole days for crochet and I'm going to be teaching some colour stuff using mandalas and the above glorious pile of Ricorumi DK yarn. The other days during the week will be spent jaunting out and about (a market day, and a lake cruise), and I'm hopeful for a little bit of top notch relaxation too - the chateau looks spectacular from the photos I've seen. It still doesn't feel real to me actually, it's like I'm about to sneak into somebody else's life.

So I'd best be getting on with my last minute preparations, and I'll chat you all when I'm back at the start of May. Oh, and happy Easter! With all the hooky and pattern writing madness here in the Attic, I keep forgetting where we're at.....best go eat some chocolate to keep my strength up! Au Revoir!

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Dune Blanket :: Ta-dah!

Hellooooooooo, and welcome to my happy place where I'm very excited to be sharing a breezy coastal ta-dah moment with you all!!! I imagine you all know by now that today is the day for my Dune blanket to be given a bit of a smooch, and quite honestly I've been hopping with excitement this past week as I've finished off my blanket (yeah, I only completed it a week ago) and worked hard on creating the pattern to share. 

You might recall me introducing you to the Dune blanket at the end of March when I returned from a gorgeous short family jaunt to one of my most favourite coastal spots - St Annes on the Fylde coast. You can read all about my holiday ((here)) and read more about the inspiration behind my Dune blanket ((here)).

As you can see from the above collection of photos, my Dune blanket is all about the colours of coastal sand dunes, shoreline adventures and shell collecting. I wanted to bring all those breezy, happy feelings together into a colour palette which is soft and cool, like the tang of salty sea air on a cold Spring day.

When I was in St Annes at the end of February, I spent lots of time wandering the strand line with the family, collecting things which caught my eye and playing about with different colour ideas. I had the notion that I wanted to try and capture the essence of this seaside place where I love spending family time, creating a colour palette that not only described the physical aspect of the coast, but also the emotion of it. I thought : "light, airy, breezy, soft, joyful colours, like a chilly gust of salty fresh air followed by a warm hug" - that's the essence of this place for me. I've written a lot more about my creative process and shared loads of photos in my Dune Introduction post.

I took lots of photos at the seaside holiday house where we were lucky enough to be staying for a few days in February. It has these wide, white painted windowsills which were perfect for arranging things. I was so happy in my own little creative bubble, spending hours lining things up, photographing them, rearranging them and faffing to my hearts content.

After a major amount of creative faffery, I finally settled on fifteen shades of Stylecraft Special DK  to create my Dune palette.

I love the gentle harmony of them and the way that each and every colour holds a significance for me. There are the pale greens of the marram grass, the warm neutrals which represent driftwood, sand dunes and the rippled wet sandy beach, the blues and pale greys of a cold spring sky and the softest of pinks which come from the sea shells I collected.

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

This is enough to make a single/twin size blanket measuring approximately 120cm x 180cm.

Top row, left to right...

♥ Mocha ♥ Pale Rose ♥ Parma Violet ♥ Storm Blue ♥ Sage ♥

Middle row, left to right...

♥ Camel ♥ Mushroom ♥ Silver ♥ Cloud Blue ♥ Spearmint ♥

Bottom row, left to right...

♥ Stone ♥ Powder Pink ♥ Parchment ♥ Duck Egg ♥ Lincoln ♥

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

DUNE YARN PACK

The yarn pack also contains a 10-page full colour pattern.

Do you like the shells? I crocheted these up in a fit of spontaneous creativity one afternoon, satisfying a craving for something decorative to come flying off my hook.

I found the shell pattern free online - it's a design by Ramsi Leigh who writes her blog {Ramsileigh Designs}. The pattern is actually the beginning part of some bigger crochet sea shells which Ramsi designed as coasters.

I worked round 1 as Ramsi wrote it to make the middle circle (a combination of UK dc, htr and tr), then continued the spiral with round 2 but working in the Back Loops Only. Crocheting in back loops only creates a little ridged line of single loops which defines the spiral shape beautifully - I love it!  If you are going to make these shells, please note that the pattern is written using US terms - the tallest stitch I crocheted was a US treble (this is a UK double treble) - I stopped after this part of the pattern and didn't bother to work the even taller stitches. So in round 2, I worked (2 UK tr) x 4 and (2 UK dtr) x 6, then fastened off.

I love them very much.....I'm still deciding what to do with them, but I'm swaying towards some pretty summer shell bunting for my mantel. I've got some gorgeous little mother of pearl shell buttons which would go really well with these crochet shells.

Having my big baggy yarn bag full of new colours with a fresh, exciting new blanket journey about to begin is one of my greatest pleasures. It makes me so ridiculously happy!

I always spend a long time on the pattern sampling stage, and I have a whole motley pile of discarded stitch samples to prove it. I tried out some wavy things and some ripply things, but nothing seemed quite right. In the end it was the shell idea that my mind seemed to really fixate on, so I went with it and ended up with a whole slew of shell-type samples. 

I settled on a delightful variation of a shell pattern where the stripe is worked in two rows - first you create a row of v-stitches, then you infill the v-spaces with shells - it really is a beautiful pattern to crochet. This pattern creates a delicious texture, and best of all the blanket is different on both sides, making it double sided, squishy and visually very lovely indeed.

I'm certain this pattern would be suitable for beginners to have a go at. It does need a little concentration in the beginning to make sure you are starting and ending each row correctly, but it very quickly becomes memorizable (is this even a word?!).

I've written a full step-by-step photo tutorial to walk you through the pattern and give you as much guidance as I possibly can. I've named it the Seashell Stripe, and you can find it in the usual place over in my left hand sidebar, or click on the following link to go right there >> 

SEASHELL PATTERN

As with all my blanket patterns, I would strongly advise you to work up a small tension sample before you launch straight into the blanket - this helps you to become familiar with the pattern (in particular the way the different rows start and end), but also to determine your own personal hooky tension and which hook sizes to go for. This Seashell pattern produces a slightly tighter crochet fabric than usual, so if you are used to working with Stylecraft Special DK, my general advice would be to use a bigger hook size (a half-millimetre) than you would normally use. The Dune blanket is similar to the Moorland and Woodland in this respect. All this is explained in the tutorial.

I've also given options for different blanket sizes, from a baby blanket to a King Size blanket. The yarn pack is enough to make a standard 120 x 180 cm single bed blanket, you will need two yarn packs for a double or king size.

DUNE YARN PACK

So............................................................

Shall we have a look at the blanket now? Would you like to see some more of it?

I love love love starting out on a blanket journey - yes, I'm one of those weirdos who even loves making that very first awkward, wiggly dc row into the foundation chain!! Love it! Having said that, it's wonderful once the stripes get under way and the blanket slowly begins to show itself. I used my yarn pegs and little snips of yarn taped to paper to work out the colour order of the stripes. This is the way I prefer to work - it's hands on and old school and suits me down to the ground.

There are 100 stripes in the Dune blanket, and I've ordered them in what I like to call a "planned random" way. This method gives a lovely energy to the blanket I think, and is definitely my preferred way of playing with colour. I know from the Sweet Pea blanket that many of you prefer to order your stripes using a colourwash, so we'll talk about the idea of a Dune Colourwash towards the end of the post.

I began crocheting the Dune blanket hot on the heels of finishing the Sweet Pea CAL, so these stripes have grown in super-quick time. Started on 12th March and finished on 9th April - that's just four weeks from start to finish. Its a good job I fell head over heels in love with the Seashell stripe pattern isn't it??!! I crocheted at every opportunity - at the café, at friends houses, on the train, and even on an aeroplane (and that's a whole other story for another day!)

But mostly I cosied up and crocheted these pretty rows in the comfort of home. I snuggled on the sofa....

.....in bed....

....and beside the fire.

Shell after shell after shell after shell. The addiction was real.

I finished working my one hundred stripes in record time, and can honestly say that I loved every second of this blanket journey. These soft coastal colours have such happy vibes, and every stitch holds fond memories of happy, breezy, fun-filled times.

For once, I managed to decide on my edging pretty quickly and I'm really, really happy with how it turned out.

I chose four colours and created a version of my Spot-On Edging - this is an easy border to crochet and very enjoyable.

I think the colours I chose work really well - I deliberately placed the Pink between two blue shades to create the "spots" of colour, reminding me of the tiny pink Baltic Tellin shells that I collected from the beach at St Annes.

I've enjoyed the pleasure of the Dune blanket on my bed this past week as the nights have been f-f-f-f-freezing.

I've made my blanket the usual single bed size (120 x 180 cm) so it's not really a good fit for a double bed, but I still love to drape it across my duvet so that I can admire it every time I walk into the bedroom.

It was while I was tidying up my bedside table for photographic purposes that I was reminded of one of my all time favourite books.......

......The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher. I've read this delightful book many, many times over the years (did you know it's over 30 years old now, written in 1987?) and adore it's simple charm and coastal setting. I bought my copy in a second hand book shop in Robin Hoods Bay many years ago, but I was really happy to find that it's still in print and you can find it online {Amazon UK : Amazon US}. I can highly recommend it as a lovely, lighthearted read, especially if like me you have a craving to be beside the sea.

I only got round to spreading my blanket out for photography purposes at the weekend, and the light wasn't especially great to be honest. But I thought you'd appreciate being able to see all one hundred stripes.............

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

I adore the texture of the seashell stitch, it is just so blinkin' pretty!

Scrumptious even!

And already very much at home here in the Attic. I'm sat at my drafty desk under the window right now and have the blanket wrapped around me, it feels warm and snug and cosy. I love it so much.

On Friday morning last week, we woke up to the most glorious blue skies, and there was only one place that I wanted to be. So after dropping Little B at school, J and I set off to drive west..............

.......yes, my Dune blanket went on a jolly to St Annes!!!!! I can't tell you how happy I was to stride out into the sand dunes with my blanket tucked under my arm, to conduct my own little personal photo shoot.

It was a beautiful clear day, but don't be fooled by those blue skies as it was blowing a hoolie and really, really cold.

Still, despite the very low temperatures, the sun was shining and my blanket looked amazing with a beachy backdrop.

↑↑↑ oh boy, this photo really makes me laugh!! There is a moody, grumbling husbundo hiding behind that blanket, he really didn't enjoy being my photographic assistant I can tell you! He was cold, his arms ached, he was hungry, it was too windy, no he couldn't hold it any longer......hahaha!!!! We took some terrible photos actually, there is definitely a knack to photographing things on location, especially in windy conditions with strong sunlight and harsh shadows and all that.....

.....I'm certain we didn't do a very good job, but well, the resulting photos are homespun and honest and real, which is what my blog is all about.

I do quite like the above windy action shot, using a wooden post and a piece of driftwood jammed into the sand - this was the last picture before we gave up and trudged off in search of food and warmth. 

I did come home with a really beautiful cockle shell in my pocket though!

I'm wondering what you think of these colours and whether you find them calling to you and whispering all sorts of breezy, seaside things to you? Yarn colours talk to me all the time, is that odd do you think? 

The above bag of yarn is what remains after my blanket was finished - I used approximately 80g of each colour.. There is plenty left to make shell bunting....or maybe a Dune cushion? 

I mentioned earlier about the idea of using the Dune colours to create a colourwash version of the blanket. I made the above sampler to test out the pattern, and deliberately arranged the colours so that they could be crocheted in a subtle wash of colour if you prefer the look of this to a random order.

You could repeat the above order (the Cloud Blue and Storm stripes flow really well together), or you could create something similar to the Sweet Pea colourwash that I put together for my last CAL blanket. I'm sorry I haven't had time to write out an exact blueprint for a colourwash blanket, but if you'd like me to do this, please leave a comment and I'll see what I can do to make it happen ** PLEASE SEE EDIT BELOW**

My own random stripe order is listed over on the Seashell pattern page, and also as part of the printed pattern that is included when you buy a yarn pack from my shop at Wool Woolwarehouse.

And finally, after all the wordy words and excessive number of photos, I just want to say THANK YOU.

Thank you for your encouragement, your friendship and for always keeping me company as I indulge in my blanket and colour addiction. I appreciate you so much, I hope you know that. Thank you!

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Here are some links you might need :

♥ DUNE YARN PACK (including printed pattern)

♥ DUNE BLANKET : INTRODUCTION

♥ SEASHELL PATTERN

♥ DUNE BLANKET : EDGING TUTORIAL

**EDIT :: There is now a colourwash colour order for the Dune blanket if you would like to try it. I wrote a blog post which includes a colour chart for you to download - click on the link below >>

♥ DUNE BLANKET COLOURWASH

x

 

Eventide

Seven thirty and my lovely Little Lady asks me if I'd like to head out for a walk with her. She is old enough to go out by herself if she wants to, but how can I resist when she asks for company? I immediately close down my laptop (I'm working on a magazine article for Yarndale), pull on my boots and off we go into the chill of the early evening. Not a cloud in the sky, and that glorious dusky pink end-of-day glow over the hills.

We walk up, up, up - a steep lane with views over the town, then over an old wooden stile into a steeply sloping field. Up, up, chatting and puffing, stopping every so often to catch breath. We reach the dry stone wall at the very top just as the sun is almost down - it is unexpectedly bright and breathtaking and makes us both squeal with pleasure. We sit a while a-top the wall and watch the sun disappear over the horizon. We gaze out over our town spread out in the valley below - we can see our neighbourhood, our street, our house.  We can see the schools, the church, the shops. We know where the canal runs even though we can't see it, and we know where our friends live and where we walk every day as we go about our routines. We both say how much we love living here, agree on how comforting it is to be surrounded by green hills and countryside, how joyful it is to climb up high and see the sun set, take in the view.

We begin to feel chilled and so we climb down from the wall and walk on over the huge field. Down, down, down until we reach the farm track at the bottom. It's an easy stroll now, downhill all the way. The sky is quickly darkening, the moon bright and a blackbird singing loudly from his perch in the bare treetops. We are walking along residential streets now, houses lit up from inside, all cosy and settled for the evening.

Eight thirty, and we arrive back at number 24, rosy cheeks and a slight ache in the back of the legs from all that steep climbing. Little Lady is glowing, she looks and sounds so happy and content. She tells me she loved our walk, and could we do it again tomorrow if the weather stays nice. Yes, yes we can. I am already looking forward to it.

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