Attic24

Early Spring

It's been cold here today, an un-spring-like three degrees, and as I sit here at my desk I can hear J cleaning out the grate ready for me to light the fire. We are straddling the seasons it seems, with one foot tentatively tiptoeing into Spring and the other foot staying wrapped up in woolly hand knit socks and winter boots. I haven't taken a photograph of my hill view in ages, mainly because it has often been covered in low cloud or fog and has been very murky indeed. But as our days lengthen I'm beginning to notice more sunlight and shadows across the landscape and more subtle changes in colour as the winter slowly comes to an end. I'm so ridiculously happy that our clocks jumped forward an hour into BST (British Summer Time) at the weekend and we now have the beautiful pleasure of light evenings again. I popped outside to put some paper into the recycling bin last night at 8pm and it was still (almost) light......happy, happy, happy me!!

It was the Spring Equinox on the 20th March, so exactly two weeks ago. Since then we've had a whole mixed bag of weather thrown at us but there have been the most delicious signs of early Spring showing in my neighbourhood, and I'm mainly talking about the florals. 

This golden beauty is at the end of my street in someone's front garden and I walk right past it every day when I come and go up and down the hill. It's a Forsythia and is absolutely laden with bright yellow flowers at this time of year. In the late afternoon when I'm on my way down the hill to school, the sun is low in the sky and shines right through the branches - it makes the flowers look as if they are glowing.

Blossom season is usually May here in my patch, but some of the smaller more sheltered trees in my neighbourhood are already in flower. This beautiful pink offering is very conveniently in my next door neighbours front garden so I am treated to the sight of it up close and personal. It's only a small tree which was planted around 3 years ago so the blossom is actually at face level which I absolutely love! Usually I'm gazing up through blossom branches high above my head, but having these beautiful flowers right in front of my nose is wonderful. 

I was walking home from our knit and natter morning at Coopers Cafe on Friday and snapped this photo when I felt overcome by nostalgia. Walking along this narrow pathway next to the little beck always makes me smile and reminds me of the many times I've walked back from playgroup holding hands with a very small chattery Little B. We used to call this our "tricky way" home as it involved the act of walking very, very, very carefully as close to the wall as we could manage - it was a little bit nerve wracking for this Mummy, but how could I deny him this simple bit of adventure? Little B would beg me to take him this way home...."please, please Mummy, can we walk home the Tricky Way?" He absolutely loved this pathway as I think it felt a little bit dangerous to his three year old self. I mean, look! No fence, no hand rail, nothing to prevent a three year old Little Person from tumbling into the water below! How very risky!!

What you can't see in the above photo is the flight of well worn stone steps at the end of the path - these take you straight up to the canal tow path. Yes, that bridge at the end is actually an aqueduct and carries the canal over the beck below. Don't you just love quirky little pathways like this?

I've no idea what this Tricky Way tree is called, but it's newly unfolding leaves are absolutely beautiful. They emerge at this time of year a very, very soft and pale silvery green so that they almost look like blossom. I would love to know it's name**, it somehow niggles me when I can't bring forth this sort of vital information.

**edit** I sent a photo of the tree to Christine who has a huge bank of gardening knowledge in her brain alongside all the sock knowledge, and she told me it's a Whitebeam tree. I am SO HAPPY to know this!!! Whitebeam, whitebeam....I shall try my hardest to retain that information inside my chaotic scramble of a brain. I love this tree!

On Saturday we ventured out as a family of four (sadly no matter how much I plead, I cannot persuade our 16 year old BoyTeen to come with us any more). It was a sunny day and as Little Lady was due to work on Sunday at her waitressing job, we loosely called this jaunt a day-early Mothers Day treat. We are very lucky to live on the very edge of the Yorkshire Dales national park, and have an enviably large number of destinations/walks we can choose which involve only a short car journey. On Saturday we picked one of our favourite family walks, an easy riverside meander with the added bonus of a top notch refreshment break built in. 

The walk starts at Linton Falls (there is a small car park there) and follows the river Wharfe (in the direction of Burnsall) as far as Hebden suspension bridge. Here you turn off and follow the half mile footpath to the small village of Hebden which is home to one of my most favourite rural cafes {The Old School tearoom}. If you live around here or are planning to visit in future I can highly recommend this easy walk - it's not circular, but with the tea-room stop in the middle, the return walk still feels very pleasurable even though you are effectively walking back the way you came. 

There are some huge Horse Chestnut trees growing along the riverside, and I was delighted to see the "sticky buds" already beginning to open. Spring is here, even when it feels like Winter still has us in it's grip.

I wish I'd taken some photos of our tea room stop, it was soooo good! It was just about warm enough to sit out in the garden (along with the goat, chickens and guinea pigs) and as well as the very, very good coffee, the home baked cakes are to die for. It was midday, so the rest of the family opted for brunch style sausage and bacon rolls while I went my own unique way and chose carrot and orange cake. It was utter cakey perfection and I enjoyed every single mouthful.

Our return walk along the river was slower (bellies full of good stuff!) and included a stop at one of the pebbly river beaches. The water was beautifully clear and dappled with dancing sunlight, it made me happy just to stand and gaze at it.

Little B won the prize for the very best river beach find - I was a tad jealous until he gifted it to me without a second thought. I've kept it in my coat pocket and every time I get a hold of it I'm reminded of this sunny afternoon and the joy of spending time with family.

How about that ↑↑↑ for an impressive set of roots??!!

It was around 3.30 by the time we returned to the falls, and all felt ridiculously happy in my personal internal world. I do so love where I live, and getting out to enjoy the countryside with J and the Little People is one of my all time bestest most favourite pleasures (especially when you add in coffee, cake and pebbly beaches).

And here I am, engaging in one of my other favourite pleasures - a little spell of fireside crochet. Actually, this was Sunday afternoon and I don't think we'd lit the fire by this point but I still like to sit on the floor there. I've got a couple of surprisingly comfy, boxy square floor cushions and when my blanket has reached full-body length it's lovely to sit crocheting on the floor with the blanket stretched out in front of me. It's a visual feast!

Dune blanket is coming along beautifully and I am so very happy with it. It's hard to put into words - saying "very happy" seems rather lame when I look at those soothing yarny colours worked into cute little seashells and feel an overwhelming sense of joy. For me, this blanket is chockablock full of the best kind of seaside memories and I like to think they surround those stitches like an invisible magical aura. Crochet blankets are just fantabulous, in every way. Love love love making blankets!

I need to chat to my friends at Wool Warehouse and settle on a date for the Dune yarn pack - I've got to finish making the blanket (four more stripes, then the border), work on the printed pattern (which will be included in the yarn pack) and create the full photo tutorial to share here on my blog. I'm thinking it'll be in about two weeks time.......I am also thinking........scenic photos of the blanket at the beach will most definitely be required......sea fever springs to mind......!

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Dune Blanket :: Introduction

Before I begin posting proper today, I'd like to say a huge big ((thank you)) for all your lovely comments on posts just lately. I love hearing from you very, very much and I know it's not always easy in our busy, full-on days to make time to comment on blogs, Facebook, Instagram. It takes time and care to write thoughts and feelings, and I am so grateful that you send your warm words my way. I really do appreciate it! I often question myself when I'm writing about outings or holidays as they are very personal experiences and I do wonder whether anyone will really be interested in what I ate, what the weather was like, or what itty bitty things caught my eye. However, you repeatedly tell me that you enjoy my posts, so I am encouraged to keep sharing the minutiae of my ordinary life and hope to carry on brightening your days.

Following on from my coastal post yesterday, I thought it would be fun to share a little bit more of the inspiration behind my Dune blanket. If you've been following my blog over the years then you will be very familiar with my enduring obsession with the coast. I grew up on the south west coast of Dorset and my childhood memories are anchored to the beaches, clifftops and harbours there. Now that I live 300 miles away in North Yorkshire I've found new coastal places to satisfy my sea craving, so all is well in my world and I continue to try and take regular trips to see the sea. 

The Fylde coast (St Annes in particular) has been a beautiful discovery for me over the past three years, and I absolutely love it there. We visit whenever we can, often for quick day trips but a few times we've been lucky enough to rent a house to extend our stay for a couple days. 

We visit at all times of the year, but I think Winter and early Spring is my favourite season for beaching. There is something truly wonderful about having all that wide open, virtually deserted space for the taking, and walking on this vast sandy beach always makes me feel full to the brim with coastal feel-good.

Although I am a Summer loving soul, I really do love out-of-season beaches. With very few people choosing to walk when the weather is cold, it's often extremely quiet and I do love the feeling of being gifted a deserted expanse of space to roam in. I adore wrapping up warm and braving the elements, feeling the tang of cold, salty air on my face, the wind whipping my hair into knots, and my lungs filling to the brim with all that breezy freshness. It's peaceful and invigorating, calming and energising all at once. It never fails to make me feel really, really happy! 

It was last Autumn when the idea came to me for a blanket inspired by my feelings and memories of this particular coastal location. As you can see in the above photo it wasn't an especially nice day when I was on the beach at St Annes celebrating my birthday in October. In fact it was very grey, cold and fiercely windy but I was still so happy to be there. It was this deep-down contentment and bubbly joy that I wanted to remember and hold onto, and creating a blanket that would become a guardian of those memories seemed like such a good idea.

In the weeks that followed, my mind often drifted back to that day. I thought about the essence of the coast at St Annes, the things that make it special - the huge beach, the natural beauty of the sand dunes which lead down to the open sands, the endless views of the sky, the very gentle, shallow waves advancing and retreating, the abundance of sea shells to be found. It's natural and unspoilt - sea, sand, coastal vegetation, seagulls and seashells......blissful stuff for a sea-junkie like me.

Heading back there last month when the weather was light and bright and unseasonably warm was an utter delight. I had my camera with me everywhere we walked and spent lots of time photographing our holiday there. Dozens and dozens of photos which capture light, colour, texture and happiness.

My Creative Mind began to filter and distil all the images I was capturing on my camera, building an impression of colour and pattern which would represent everything that I love about this beach.

I searched for shells to see what delicate colours were held there. 

I observed light and shade, the changes from morning to night, the reflections and shadows which shifted constantly. But most importantly I began to think about the colours that would capture the emotion of spending such happy hours with family enjoying the fresh air and tranquillity.

Light, airy, breezy, soft, joyful colours, like a chilly gust of salty fresh air followed by a warm hug.

When I'm beginning to think about a new blanket journey, photographing the source of my inspiration and gathering visual material is a vital part of my creative process. I absolutely LOVE this element of design almost as much as the crochet itself. It's like being given permission to have a really good play, and who can resist that??!!

I chatted a little bit yesterday about the full family affair that surrounded this shell gathering mission....it's a really good memory I have of all of us searching the strand line for shells, laying them out on an old weathered wooden sleeper along with gathered driftwood, feathers and the distinctive silvery grey marram grasses which grow in abundance amongst the sand dunes.

Grass, wood, shells......add in some sea, sand, sky......and then finally add the breeze, the salty air and the deep down feel-good.

This is my Dune palette beginning to take shape.

I popped the shells we'd gathered into a paper bag and brought them home so that I could really study the colours in detail.

Some of the shells were familiar and I already knew the names - others I managed to look up online so that I could have that knowledge tucked away in my mind for the future.

Top row - Common Whelks

2nd and 3rd row - Necklace shells, also known as Moon Snails

4th row - Rayed Trough shells

5th row - Cockles

Bottom row - Baltic Tellins

I absolutely love the moon snails, they have such pretty markings and soft colours.

And the cockles and tellins are pretty too, those pale pinks are enchanting and I knew straight away that I would include some of these delicate shades in my Dune blanket. 

As lovely as these pale shell colours are, they would be lost without the rest. Soft neutrals and very pale pinks need to be enriched by the shades of sand, sea, sky and grass.......

....it's still pretty subtle as colour palettes go, but there is a gentle harmony which I find very appealing.

I'm really looking forward to sharing the exact colours I've chosen for my Dune blanket - you'll have to wait a little longer for this information as I won't be publishing the colour list until the yarn packs become available in my shop. I know, such a tease! I am going to show you some of my blanket though......

.....would you like to see?

When it came to deciding on a pattern for my Dune blanket, the obvious choice would have been something Ripple-ish or Wavy. I did ponder on this decision for quite some time (I so very nearly went with the Neat Wave), but I found that my Creative Mind had other ideas and I began to fixate on my collection of shells. 

Shell or scallop patterns are popular in crochet and there are masses to choose from once you go searching. After a lot of sampling, I settled for a type of shell pattern which is slightly different from the usual crochet shells, in that the pattern is worked up in two different rows. I can't tell you how much I love it! It's a fabulous pattern to crochet, easy to get to grips with and very, very therapeutic.

The other thing I really like about it is that it has two distinctly different sides. Both are lovely so there isn't really a right or wrong side as such. The above photo is what I'm calling the front.....

....and this is the reverse. 

The blanket has a gorgeous squishy texture, but the little holes at the base of the shells stop it from looking too dense. I'm so happy with it I have to say.

I've been asked if this would be a good pattern for beginners, perhaps those of you who are relatively new to crochet but have tackled the Sweet Pea, Cosy or Hydrangea stripe and are looking for your next project? I would say absolutely YES, this is a great next step. There is slightly more learning to do with this pattern in that the start and end of the rows change depending on whether you're working an even stripe or an odd stripe. But aside from that it's a very easy pattern to memorise and crochet, and I'll be making my usual full photo tutorial to help you step by step through the pattern.

As you can see, Tilly has been "helping" me to test the blanket for snuggleability qualities and I'm pretty certain she's given it the kitty seal of approval.

Currently, I'm about two thirds of the way through my Dune journey and absolutely love it to bits. I'm hoping that I'll have everything ready to share with you in about three weeks time, around the middle of April.

I won't be running this project as a Crochet-A-Long this time. There will be a Dune yarn pack which will contain a full colour printed pattern, and I'll share a full photo tutorial (with a complete stripe order) free here on my blog too. 

Thank you for always showing such enthusiasm for my designs and ideas, it means the world to me that you enjoy what I do.

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Coastal Happiness

As the weeks whizz by and we're almost at the end of March, I am making time to share the short holiday that we took in February before the memories become too faded. We had our half term holiday during the last week in February and decided quite last minute to book a few nights away in St Annes (Lancashire coast). We've stayed in the same rental house a few times before so it was all beautifully relaxed and familiar to us, and the drive across to the west coast only takes around an hour and a quarter from Atticland. 

One of the reasons behind our sudden decision to take off for the coast was the stunning weather forecast - those of you in the UK will probably remember the astonishing weather we had at the end of February, it was an utter delight! February is usually a cold, grey winter month for us here in the North where we expect fog, snow, ice and sub zero temperatures. But this one week, well, it was an anomaly of grand proportions and the temperature on the day we landed at the coast was a blissful 19 degrees. NiNeTeEn!!!! I don't think I've ever known this type of February weather in my lifetime, and the sheer joy of having unexpected warm sun and blue sky was wonderful. 

We parked our car at the house and immediately set off to walk the short five minutes down to the beach to eat our picnic lunch. We spread out some blankets at the base of the sand dunes, kicked off our boots and socks, shed a few layers of clothing and basked in the early afternoon sunshiny warmth. It felt so so so good!

I can't remember exactly what was in our picnic, but I found this photo of strawberries and remember now how sweet and juicy they were. It really was like a summer picnic miraculously transported into the middle of winter, and I can tell you I loved every nanosecond of it. 

After lunch, I decided to go on a jaunt to see if I could possibly reach the sea. Often when we've been on this beach in the past, the tide has been so very far out that it's not actually been possible to reach the water in the time we've had. Honestly, you could walk for 45 minutes (which is maybe two miles?) and still not manage to reach the sea, the beach really is that vast!

The boys weren't interested in coming along, preferring to stay warm and lazy, idling in the sunny sand dunes. So it was me and Little Lady striding out over the still wet ripples of the sandy beach in search of the waters edge.

It took us around 15 minutes to reach this first patch of water which was like a big salty puddle....

....there we are look, having a super time laughing and chatting as we strolled across the huge expanse of sand. Little Lady is great company - she is almost 15 years old now, taller than me and a beautiful person inside and out.

Eventually we arrived at the edge of the sea where the shallow waves gently rolled back and forth.....

....it was so bright and beautiful!

Along this part of the coast, the tide moves extremely rapidly and you have to keep your wits about you. It's easy to get trapped without realising what is happening - one minute you are standing on wide open sand, the next minute the sea is literally sneaking up behind you and you are standing on an ever decreasing island surrounded by fast rising water. 

We quickly discovered that the tide was coming in around us so took care to outwit it, edging our way slowly back up the beach....

....I loved the patterns in the sand....

....and all the beautiful little sea shells that caught my eye.

I've been trying to identify the ones that I found and didn't know the names of, it delights me to have this kind of knowledge tucked away in my brain. The one above is called a Rayed Trough Shell, isn't that lovely? I probably won't be able to remember this in future as my memory is pretty dire but I do still like to know.

Arriving back at the dunes and the boys were ready to head back to the house. I could have stayed for hours, sprawled out on a blanket soaking up the sun and daydreaming the time away.

I have to say, I really loved seeing my patchwork granny blanket out and about enjoying an al fresco moment - those patchwork colours looked so cheery in the sunshine. I love my crochet blankets so so much! They become so beautifully layered with memories over the years (the granny-patch is 6 years old now) and I dearly love them for the role they play in family life.

Later in the day now, and we are walking back from a trip to the little local cinema (we went to see "How to Train your Dragon 3" which was a fun way to spend 104 minutes).

We chose to walk back along the beach instead of along the road, and enjoy the last of the daylight.....

....it was so pretty! 

A lovely end to a beautiful, beautiful day.

Day two, and we woke up to yet more blue sky and warm sunshine. After a leisurely breakfast (oh, hello warm, flaky croissants and fresh hot coffee!) we set off to walk the four miles of coastline which connect St Annes with Lytham. The two places are often merged together as Lytham-St-Annes but are actually two quite distinct places with their own communities and high streets. 

We walked some of the way along the promenade....

....and some of the way along the beach. The further toward Lytham we got, the more grassy and un-beach-like the beach became. It's a curious coastline this one, being that the actual sea is nearly always absent from view. 

There are still shells to be found though (Cockles and Baltic Tellins and Necklace Shells : thank you magic information-giving internet!)....

....and sand dunes to climb too.

Four miles is quite a long way to walk even if it's mostly flat and scenic, and by the time we arrived into Lytham we were ready to find somewhere to rest and have some lunch.

We hadn't planned on where to go but knew that Lytham has lots and lots of very lovely places to choose from when something to eat is in order. We settled for this very stylish place (The Deacon), lured in by the prospect of sitting in the light and airy conservatory where we could feel as if we were outside while staying warm and sheltered from the wind.

The Deacon was such a treat, and we decided that as it had been J's 50th Birthday a few days before then we could justify the upmarketness of it. The contrast to the day before was not lost on me and although I did so love our modest beach picnic and crochet blanket cosyness, having a proper posh midday meal was super lovely.

The menu was interesting and varied, and Little Lady and I opted to share a platter - Korean chicken wings, sticky ribs, duck spring roll, guacamole, soy dip, pickled vegetables and freshly baked bread. It was delish!!

Full from all the food, we had a big discussion about the journey home, debating whether to catch the bus back or make the return on foot. In the end we divided and the boys decided they wanted to walk (Little B, you do surprise me sometimes!), while Little Lady and I hopped on the bus instead.

As we arrived back way before the boys, Little Lady and I had time to wander along to the end of the pier at St Annes and sit a while in the sunshine. 

It was so lovely, a still moment after all the walking, talking and eating where we felt happy to just sit quietly on a bench and feel the sun shining down on us. I enjoyed the day so much - it was one of those wonderful family days that sticks in the memory, a day of pleasure and leisure, sunshine and happiness.

I spent the late afternoon playing with shells and yarn (as you do), and thinking about a design for a new blanket inspired by this lovely coastline that I have become so fond of.

Our last morning and the weather had changed quite dramatically. There was a misty damp fog hanging low over the beach, and a very faint whiff of light drizzly rain in the air. But still, I felt the need to wander for one last time along the beach, to soak up the peacefulness of all that open space and breathe it all in.

I also had it in my head that I wanted to photograph some shells whilst we were right there on the beach. I am very lucky in that my family don't often question my creative crazy vibe. They ask how they can help, scurry off to search for suitable shell offerings, looking for lovely colours or perfect shapes to gift to me for my photographs.

Didn't they do well? I'm not too sure about the manky feather, but everything else, yes, very photogenic and perfect for my sandy beach inspiration.

I love the subtle colours in these shells, especially the very pretty pink striped Tellins. The Necklace shells (the ones with the spiral whirl) were a new find, and I've only just discovered what they are called. I've never seen them on the beach before, but they are really lovely, especially when you look closely at all the subtle colours and markings.

Little B was enchanted to find a whole load of Mermaids Purses and whelk egg cases along the strandline which fascinated him, especially once we explained to him what they actually are. He very sweetly lined them up next to my shells and asked if I could photograph his collection, he was so proud of his beach finds.

Eventually, after I had taken way too many photographs and we had all begun to feel the chill of the damp morning, we began to pootle along the beach towards the pier.

It felt like Winter again, and the warmth of the previous few days seemed like a distant dream. The wind was cold and gusty and the sky a heavy, dull grey. But I still really enjoyed being out there, I do love beaches in winter. I love the solitude and the peacefulness and the wildness. 

Our favourite cafe on the pier was open and our favourite table right by the window was waiting for us. Frothy Italian coffee for J and me, decadent hot chocolates (oh, so much cream!) for the Little Peeps. It was a lovely close to our coastal break, and we set off for home feeling very full of happy.

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, then you may have already seen me hint at the beginnings of a new blanket inspired by our trips to the beach at St Annes. I have had this idea in my mind for a while, since I was there last year for my fiftieth Birthday in October. I experienced a very strong urge to create a coastal blanket that felt like a joyful blast of cold, salty air. I wanted to capture the wide-open feeling of those huge sandy beaches, the softness of the sand dunes, the joy of beach combing and shell collecting, the gentle wandering along the water's edge as the tide ebbs in and out. 

As is often the case with these things, once I start noodling on a creative idea it becomes a ginormous itch that absolutely has to be scratched and I simply cannot let it go. I obsess to the point of crazy, and then I know that I have no choice but to begin the journey. I choose the colours and search for the perfect stitch, then off I go, working those rows so that my brain will stop clammering for it and my fingers can gently bring my ideas to life.

I'll be sharing a blog post about the start of my new Dune blanket very, very soon (maybe tomorrow actually?), it really is rather beautiful and I can't wait to share it with you.

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Stepping out of the Attic

In my day to day life I spend much of my time alone, either at home or in my studio at Coopers Cafe. I don't mind this, not at all, in fact I really adore my quiet life and love that I can pretty much organise my days as I please. Having said that, I do enjoy a little change of scenery from time to time and every so often I like to step out of my solitary Attic life and engage with other creative yarny folks. Sometimes it's just for a day, and sometimes it involves an overnight stay away, and it always, always makes me feel very excited.

As part of the Stylecraft Blogstars team, I am fortunate enough to get a twice yearly invite to spend time at the mill enjoying a concentrated amount of yarny chat and pleasure. I look forward to it so much, it's guaranteed to be inspirational on so many levels, and it's always huge fun getting to spend time with other crochet and knitting bloggers/designers who have become good friends over the years. I've lost count of how many times I've visited the Stylecraft mill now, but it never fails to impress. It's huuuuuuge! A tall, solid building, steeped in history and full of character. We get to ride the cranky old industrial elevator right to the top floor which is where the design team work, and where visitors are made to feel very, very welcome.

I was there a few weeks ago, on a blustery, wild and wet weekend here in Yorkshire. We were gifted the pleasure of an overnight stay in a nearby hotel so it was only a short jaunt to the mill on the Saturday morning. I adore walking into this light and airy room with its wooden floors, rustic brick walls and huge windows with glorious views over the surrounding countryside. But it's always the yarny colour which steals the show every single time, oh it's just fabulous!! I didn't take many photos on my camera, but I did snap a few pictures to share on my Attic24 Instagram Stories which I thought you might like to see.

We generally begin the day with a cuppa and a bit of a show and tell sesh which is always a gasp-worthy event. There is so much talent gathered around the table as you would expect from a giddy tribe of colour-loving yarny designer types.

Lucia {Lucias Fig Tree blog} had three blankets to show us - you can see two of them above look. She is holding up her "January Blues" blanket, and on the table is her completed "Havana CAL" blanket. Both show her exuberant love of colour and pattern and are absolutely breathtaking in real life.

Phil {The Twisted Yarn blog} shared her recently finished knitted picture. The word "picture" doesn't remotely describe the magic that came forth from her needles to create this intricate yarny waterscape. Honestly, this girl is a genius with pattern and yarn, and this is a truly unbelievable work of yarn art. You can read more about it {here}

The morning moves on with a full presentation given to us by the Stylecraft team which tells us about the seasons ahead (in this case we are looking at Spring/Summer 2019). The start of the presentation gives a general overview of the trends which will be featuring in both the yarns and the garment and accessory designs. I am fascinated by the idea of "trend forecasting", and even though it isn't something that carries any weight with regards to my own projects, I just really enjoy seeing sources of inspiration, creative trains of thought, background stories and ideas, and general creative workings in action.

Stylecraft shared two trends which they are using to inspire their yarns and pattern collections this coming season.....want some inside info on what these are????

..........................

Tribal Eccentric :

"a clashing soft & strong colour palette that focuses on vibrancy. This palette has hints of folk-inspired colours reminiscent of tribal textiles that temp a new rhythmic dialog that oozes mystery. Loose lightweight shapes that dance with playful spirit, layers of lace boldly smudged with strong textures that incorporate exuberance and energy."  

Does't that sound amazing? I love how the words and the colours conjure up an overall feeling so that you can begin to picture what sort of knitted garments and decorative details might come from these ideas.

Radiant Romance :

"A sumptuously soft palette of pastels that give a watery fluid feeling. Blush pinks blend with soft lilacs and periwinkles to create a feminine romance that lead into stronger fresh pigments that bring together a more interesting perspective for the use of colour. A compelling blend of man made and natural fibres teamed together with open pointelle structures, simple elegant silhouettes that drape beautifully against the body."

Oh yes, I can imagine this, can't you? It sounds dreamy!! 

The remainder of the morning is spent oooohing and aaaaahing and squishing a huge pile of delicious new Stylecraft yarns. Some of these are absolutely brand spankin' new to the market, and some are additional colours added into existing ranges. It all feels very exciting I can tell you, like the best kind of secret inside intel! I've already shown you the new Special DK colours, and my friend Helen wrote a great blog post outlining the other yarn newbies if you wish to see what they are ((here)).

After lunch we are treated to an informal creative workshop led by one of the Stylecraft team. In the past we've learnt how to do basic Tunisian crochet, how to work colour pooling (which I failed spectacularly at) and how to make Dorset Buttons (LOVED doing these). During this last meet up we learnt how to fold and stitch our own notebooks which was surprisingly therapeutic - it's lovely to make something useful which also has major decorative possibilities I think. We were told in advance that this is what we would be doing, and encouraged to create a cover for our notebooks which are A5 size (like a piece of A4 printer paper folded in half).

I decided to make some little crochet flowers and leaves and stitch them to some pretty pale pink wool felt - I really like how my idea took shape and must make time to finish off the stitching. My handmade notebook is currently sitting on my desk looking forlorn and bare, it needs it's floral cover *adding to my to-do list*

Our next Stylecraft Blogstars meet up is in July and promises to be very special indeed with some extra special tea-party-shaped celebrations. I'm already excited for it, I told you I don't get out much.

Very occasionally my life seems to get extra busy all at once, and hot on the tail of the Stylecraft weekend I found myself packing up all my blankets and preparing for another trip away from the Attic. This time I was heading in the opposite direction out of Yorkshire and into Cheshire, to a shop that I have wanted to visit for many years.

Black Sheep Wools is a fabulous local yarn shop - well, truthfully it's very much more than a shop and is known fondly as The Craft Barn. Sara who owns and runs this well established family business asked me if I would like to be a guest there, to hang out with my crochet blankets and spend the day chatting to customers and eating cake.....what's not to like about that invitation?! With the exception of my role at Yarndale it's not often that I choose to do these kind of events as I am generally a quiet, introverted type and busy public things are a challenge for this solitary Attic dweller. 

I needn't have worried though - I was made to feel so very welcome as soon as I walked in the door, and surrounded by colourful yarn and my beloved blankets I very quickly settled in and felt at home.

The other great thing about the day was getting to spend it with my good friends - those two cheeky rascals with me in the photo above had agreed to come and keep me company for the day. On the left is Emma Varnam and on the right is Christine Perry (AKA Winwick Mum), and they came to Black Sheep Wools to be very famous doing author-ish things and signing their books alongside me and my blankets.

photo credit : Emma Varnam

Emma is probably best known for her Cute Crocheted Animals but she has recently published a brand new book called  "Crocheted Succulents", which as the name suggests is a brilliantly written and humorous project book designed to help you crochet your very own indoor yarn garden. You can read more about the inspiration behind the book on Emma's blog ((here))

Many of you will know Christine already as she is responsible for my own personal sock knitting journey and I know many of you have also taken up sock knitting using her fabulous beginners tutorials. She published her second sock knitting book last Autumn and visitors to Black Sheep Wools were able to tap into Christine's vast knowledge about all things Sock related.

This was the calm before the storm (well less of a storm and more of a tidal wave of yarn enthusiasm) - we were all set up and ready for the day to unfold.

Oh, it really did unfold in style! The day was tremendously busy from start to finish with a huge number of ladies (and gents) travelling to see me and my friends, and to enjoy the hospitality and charm of the award winning Craft Barn. When I say charm, I'm really meaning yarn with a side helping of tea and cake (there is a cafe actually inside the Craft Barn, how perfect is that?!). It's one of those places where you could happily spend a whole day - in fact Sara encourages you to stay as long as you feel like and there are squishy sofas and little knitting/reading/crochet nooks dotted all around the shop. There is also cake, did I mention that? I sampled not only the most delicious home made Yorkshire Ginger Parkin, but also a generous slab of the most divine Coconut and Lime cake which hit the sweet spot like you wouldn't believe.

It's hard to describe the true scale of Black Sheep Wools, but when they tell you it's the UK's largest yarn shop they aren't exaggerating - it's humungous! I took the above photo to show you the racks of Stylecraft Special DK, don't they look scrumptious?

This is the Rowan Flagship area - Black Sheep carries a large number of different yarn brands, from familiar favourites to more unusual and exclusive choices. There's Christine and Emma look, taking advantage of the sofa comfort at the end of a busy, busy day.....we were all a little exhausted I have to say!

At the start of the day, my crochet blankets (all fourteen of them?) were folded oh-so-neatly on the table, stacked and draped in a way that made me feel rather proud of all my years of blanket making. They always look so good when I see them all together, a happy fiesta of colour and pattern and cosy comfort.

By the end of the day, the table ↑↑↑ resembled a glorified rummage sale (albeit a colourful, creative one), and it did make me laugh! My blankets received a lot of love and touchy-feely admiration and I was so happy to learn that a good many ladies decided to set off on a new blanket journey of their own, inspired by my creations. I met some truly beautiful people at Black Sheep Wools, so much kindness, kinship and good spirit. Bravery too, I heard first hand how colour and crochet has helped people rise above life's worries and struggles. I felt humbled and so grateful for this wonderful yarn community I am lucky to be a part of.

So if you took the time to come and see me there - ((THANK YOU)) - I had such a wonderful day.

Here we are look, a little weary at the end of it all, but very happy smiles all round.

Sara, Emma, the Attic Lady and Christine.

If you are ever up north and in the Cheshire area, I can highly recommend a detour to this wonderful shop (directions and practical details are HERE). Don't forget there is tea and cake as well as yarn....you won't be disappointed with either and you will be made very welcome.

Last week I took some time to write up a little Q&A interview for Black Sheep Wools, gosh I did get a bit carried away (sorry-not-sorry) and wrote rather a lot of long winded answers to some really great questions. I talked about many things, including the start of my crochet journey and the very first project I ever made (granny squares for my first blanket, shown above).

If you fancy a read, I suggest you maybe grab yourself a cuppa first and settle yourself somewhere comfy...!!

((Black Sheep Wools and Attic24 interview))

Thanks so much for reading, I hope I haven't bored you too much?! 

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New Stylecraft Special Colours

I've just had to check and double check my dates as I would have bet a serious amount of good chocolate on the fact that Stylecraft released new shades to their Special DK range this time last year, in the Spring of 2018. In fact, it was August the previous year in 2017, yes really it was. Not last year then, but the year before that. Well I never - I certainly lost that particular bet with myself.

I'm delighted to tell you that there are very soon to be four new shades coming to my favourite blanket-making yarn. The size of the Stylecraft Special DK range is already impressive with 80 solid shades and a further 8 marled shades. I absolutely LOVE (in big, over excited capital letters) that the Special colours remain consistent and aren't ever discontinued. In fact there have been over twenty new colours added since I first began using SSDK almost 9 years ago now, and I think the colour range is now very brilliant indeed. There is a fabulous mix of strong brights, beautiful neutrals, pretty pastels and recently an ever increasing number of very sophisticated colours (think the yarny equivalent of Farrow & Ball). It just keeps getting better and better.

What I love about the colour development at Stylecraft is that the decisions are made by people who really love using colour themselves and understand it, not just the business of making and selling it, but the creative emotion involved in designing successful and inspirational colour palettes. These are people who knit and crochet themselves, and I can't tell you how much I love the genuine creative passion that sits at the heart of the colourful decision making at Stylecraft Yarns. 

So without further delay, shall we take a look at the newbies?

Four new shades will be landing very soon, and there they are look ^^^

Cornish Blue, Spearmint, Powder Pink and Toy (yes Toy, I know, slightly odd but very apt!)

They are all lovely colours with a subtlety about them which makes them very easy on the eye. There is nothing brash or acrylicky (yes, I'm claiming that as a real word) about these colours, they are just delightful and blend wonderfully into the existing range as if they were always meant to be there.....

.....what do you think? I'm sure you will immediately have your favourite picked out, you may even feel that all four of these new colours could have a place in future projects.

Shall we take a look at each of them more closely and see how they fit in?

Cornish Blue - as the name suggests, this blue is inspired by the famous stripy Cornishware pottery  and is a lovely mid blue colour. It sits closely next to Aster but as it has a slight grey tone to it, there is a definite affinity with Storm Blue. 

Spearmint - this is probably my favourite of the four as my heart is naturally drawn to the blue-green shades. Spearmint sits closely next to Aspen but think of it as Aspen's more sophisticated counterpart. As with Cornish Blue, Spearmint contains an element of grey tone which stops it from being too mint-ice-cream sweet. It's a beautiful colour in real life, strong but subtle.

Toy - apparently this colour was developed in response to a great many customer requests over the years. There was a need for a natural skin tone which would be suitable for toy making, hence the name. I am beyond glad for the clever Toy name, as flesh and skin just give me the creeps. It's a fabulous colour actually, and one of those which changes a lot depending on the light, and on the colours it sits next to. It's a warm neutral with a soft yellow tone, although it can take on a pinkish tint if it's placed amongst the pinks and apricots (sorry I meant to photograph this for you and forgot). It sits closely next to Stone.

Powder Pink - this was the biggest surprise for me in that I absolutely adored it the moment I saw it, and I am not usually one to fall for candy pastels. It is just so bloomin' pretty! It's soft and powdery, but again it has a very slight underlying grey tone which gives it a beautiful vintage vibe. It's a dirtier version of Candyfloss, and I mean that in the bestest kind of way!

I happened to have a ball of candyfloss in my my bag and wanted to show you them side by side.

Candyfloss on the left looks very acrylicky to me - pretty, but ever so slightly garish.

Powder Pink on the right looks soft and sophisticated by comparison, pale but not washed out. I think it's a massive success and can see it blending in with so many of the softly vintage shades that are already in the SSDK range.

I put the above palette together to show you all four of the new shades playing beautifully with the others. I could see these colours crocheted into a giant granny square blanket, all warm, nostalgic vintage charm.

Delightful!

I've been lucky enough to get my hands on these colours already, but I promise you won't have long to wait. All four new shades will be available in high street shops from 25th March, and with online retailers from 8th April.

I'll have some news for you soon about my new blanket too........I'm using two of the new colours and I am so so happy with it all! More soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February Good Times

It was our half term break last week. We seemed to have it a week later than pretty much the whole of the country and we were all so ready for some idle days of rest and relaxation. It was sooo good, all of it, even the low key days where we forgot what day it was and didn't bother to get dressed until after lunch. 

With the brood returned to school today and our daily routine restored, I've thoroughly enjoyed the gentle silence here in the house. It made me sit quiet and still this afternoon catching my breath (if you can have an emotional breath to catch) taking some time to reflect and think about how this year is going so far. I took a look through my February photos and reminded myself how very good this past month has been.

February can be a tough ol' month and I find that unless I make a conscious effort to seek out the things that make me happy, the days tend to drag by in a slow, dull blur. I really find bluuurrr days very trying so I do my best not to allow them to take hold. It honestly doesn't take an awful lot to make me happy right down to my toes - a short walk by water, a good coffee, a jug of fresh flowers on my table, something colourful and yarny in my hands. All those things would be at the top of my personal feel-good anti-blur list, and instinctively I incorporate them into my days as often as I can. 

It takes effort to get out for a walk in the winter months, and the Little People can be hard to persuade. But I find that when we do make it happen it's soooooo worth it and without fail I always return home feeling uplifted. 

These photos were taken mid month, a cold, brisk stroll around the reservoir one Sunday morning. I wore my short floral wellies and paddled in the shallow water, thinking that if I can't be beside the sea then this sandy little reservoir beach is not a bad second best.

It was one of those walks where we constantly felt like we were only a few minutes away from a torrential downpour that would ruin everything. The sky was so dark and heavy with the threat of rain, but despite the ominous clouds and eerie light it never actually came, and I was thankful for that simple thing.

February was pretty much consumed by the Sweet Pea CAL for me and there wasn't really any time for much else. I spent some days in the studio tidying up and taking stock of things, clearing my table, re-jigging my very full shelves and generally faffing around making everything feel good in there. It's been a while since I had flowers on my studio table so I treated myself to some tulips from the supermarket, and oh they did make me happy!

Over the days that I was working in the studio I had the pleasure of watching those petals gently unfurl in the warmth of my cosy room. Such a beautiful visual pleasure, I couldn't stop drinking them in.

Flowers reached a peak on my mantel last week, with red hyacinths flowering at one end and bridal crown narcissus reaching for the ceiling at the other end.

I absolutely adore narcissus, the scent of them is so sweet and beautiful and so very much a February joy.

Out in my front garden and the crocus patch all of a sudden woke up after its winter slumber. We had a welcome amount of sunshine last week and these flowers bloomed their little hearts out. I'm sure they are early (I think of them as March flowers?) but I'm not complaining, they have been a real treat to see every time I come home and climb the stone steps to my front door.

The starlings continue to murmur above our house each and every evening, and my goodness, it is a spectacular sight. During the past few weeks the numbers have swelled dramatically and the flock is now absolutely mahoosive. Being that they fly (at great speed) right overhead here at number 24 it's impossibly hard to photograph and hard to describe the true scale of it. I found a beautiful bit of video footage on YouTube - do go and look ((here)) to see the full murmuration effect. The downside is the mess - our street is a bit of a poo zone, our car liberally decorated for the season. Not complaining though, I don't think I'll ever forget this Starling Winter.

At the start of our half term holiday last week we were blessed with a short burst of the most incredible weather. Cloudless blue, blue skies and warm hours of sunshine, it was absolute bliss. 

Last Monday we took Little B on his bike to the park and even though it was February (truly a Winter month here in North Yorkshire) the temperature reached a balmy 18 degrees. EIgHtEen!!!!! It was t-shirt hot, lay on a blanket and soak in the sun hot, close your eyes and make-believe it's Summer hot.

It made me think of this....

.....I saw this online somewhere a while ago and it proper made me laugh! So I kept saying to J last week, this is Fool's Spring we're having you know, and he didn't have a clue what I was on about, but still.......it was glorious, an especially good memory as we appear to be firmly into the Second Winter this week. Won't be long until we can enjoy the Spring of Deception. Ha!

Coinciding with Fool's Spring, we were fortunate enough to enjoy a couple of short trips away from home at the end of February. The weather was utter perfection and we couldn't believe our luck.

J and I took off for a twenty four hour one night away from home just the two of us - we didn't go far, driving just 20 miles into West Yorkshire to visit the quirky little town of Hebden Bridge. We booked into a cosy little pub B&B high on the hill above the town, and spent our time walking and pootling in the sunshine.

During half term week, we decided very last minute to take a short family holiday over to St Anne's on the Lancashire coast. We've stayed here a few times before and were able to book the same house which was delightfully relaxing and familiar. I won't bore you with more weather details (just look at that sky!!!), but well, it was bloomin' wonderful. We celebrated J's Big Birthday (he reached the big 5-0 like me) and it was just the best little holiday. 

The tide very rarely comes right in at St. Annes but occasional storms bring the waves right up the beach to the base of the sand dunes, leaving behind a strandline rich with seaside treasure. I just can't resist the urge to collect and gather when I'm by the sea, it's such a deeply ingrained habit that has been with me since childhood. 

You can see how my creative coastal playtime took a hold.........got lots more to show you very soon!!!!

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Sweet Pea Blanket CAL :: Part 7

Well here we are, ready for the final installment of the Sweet Pea CAL and what a bitter-sweet feeling it is to be nearing the end of our floral journey. I've been sat quietly working on the final border rows this week in preparation for sharing it with you today, and I've felt such a deep down sense of gratitude and joy. These twin blankets have been an absolute pleasure to design and make from start to finish, and I know I shall miss these easy, pretty rows of relaxing hooky. 

As I've crocheted my way through these long border rows, I've been remembering the very start of my own journey which was way back in May last year. This was when I received my twelve little sweet pea seedlings from Sarah Raven, all wrapped up in tissue paper (I really wish I'd photographed them to show you!), a bundle of hopeful colour inspiration waiting-to-happen. I knew way back then that I would be using the flowers to inspire a yarn palette, and they did not disappoint.....

.....oh, the colours!!! Such a delight and just as I expected, they evoke the very essence of summertime.

Creating the Sweet Pea colour palette was a true joy. I do ponder on my colours for a very long time (many, many weeks in fact), faffing and tweaking, playing with my pegs until I end up with something that makes my heart leap. It's a very emotional process and I put my whole heart and soul into getting this part of the design right. I know from the hundreds of comments I receive here on my blog and via social media that you often feel the same depth of connection as I do when you look at my colour choices - I always want my yarn palettes to make you feel deep-down happy - this is what sparks the creative joy and makes our blankets such a special journey right from the get-go.

But I'm sure you know all this by now, especially if you've made any of my blankets before. You get to know the stories behind my ideas, and isn't that just the loveliest thing? I think so.

As in previous weeks, I would like to share some images that have caught my eye on social media....there isn't really a theme to them, but I hope you enjoy......

@the_pink_rose_fairy on Instagram made the most delightful little posy of flowers from her sweet pea colours.

Lisa also chose to add some additional floral goodness to the corner of her blanket (I love her border too, which uses my Linen Stitch edging)

Nic shared a proud Ta-dah moment with us when she shared her finished sweet pea Leftie Shawl (I showed this in progress last week)

Ruth also wowed us with her Ta-dah moment - isn't this granny cardie beautiful? I shared the start of this in week two and it's so lovely to see it finished. Beautiful work, the sweet pea colours do look spectacular mixed with that soft silver grey.

Anne is onto her third sweet pea project, using the sweet pea yarn pack with one of Helen Shrimptons gorgeous designs - this is the start of The Lost Garden, and is absolutely stunning.

Sian shared this gorgeous blanket that she made to her own design, isn't it lovely? She created a patchwork of stripes and floral squares which show off the sweet pea colours beautifully.

Anja showed us this blanket that her Mum Anny made using the Sweet Pea yarn pack, and it received a lot of love on Facebook. I think the happy mix of colours describes a bunch of summery sweet pea flowers perfectly.

 It's also made me ridiculously happy to hear about more sweet pea gatherings happening around the world, it's hard to put into words what this means to me. Our online crochet community is absolutely thriving and really rather fabulous (there are over 9,200 members in the Attic24 Moorland More group on Facebook now), but I think real-life hooky get-togethers are beyond precious. These lovely ladies are known as the "YaYaYarners" (love that!) and they are all the way in Alabama! 

Sisters Jana and Jitka have been making the Sweet Pea blanket together (#teammirror and #teamrepeat!). Jana shared this stunning photo of them both at their parent's home in the highlands of the Czech Republic.

We are a truly international group of happy sweet pea hookers - did you know that Wool Warehouse ships my yarn packs out to more than a hundred countries around the globe, isn't that something? Love love love, times infinity (as Little B would say). 

Back in the Attic, and it's been a rather frantic dash around the edges of both my blankets during the past week. It always takes me a long, long time to deliberate what to do around the edges of my blankets, and I spend quite a lot of time sampling and trying out ideas. The edging on the Sweet Pea didn't come easily, but after a lot of effort I am so very happy with my final design.

As I explained to you last week, I chose seven colours for my border, and they are worked in the following order ::

🌸 1. Meadow 🌸 2. Pistachio 🌸 3. Soft peach 🌸 4. Wisteria 🌸

🌸 5. Magenta 🌸 6. Fuchsia Purple 🌸 7. Violet 🌸

The Trellis Edging is a simple pattern worked in UK double crochet and chains (that's single crochet in the US). It's like a mini condensed version of the Trellis Stripe (which stupidly really pleases me), and I think adds the perfect finish to the blanket.

As you have no doubt discovered, the Trellis Stripe produces quite a stretchy fabric. This means that the edging needs to have a certain amount of give in it to allow the blanket to look and feel relaxed and not all trussed up around the outer edge, if that makes sense.

YARN QUANTITIES

For the standard single-size bed blanket, I used around 18g for the first few colours, and 22g for the final few colours, with the middle rounds using something in between. I had plenty of yarn left after making my blanket stripes to make this edging comfortably, with the exception of Fuchsia Purple. For some reason there seemed to be less of this left than any of the other colours - you may find some of your balls look/feel smaller than the rest so before you begin your border, please do try and weigh your yarn to make sure you have enough. 

The other thing to mention is that you don't have to make all seven rounds if you don't want to. In the photo above there are five rounds, and I think this looks lovely. You can also change colours around to suit yourself if you wish, I am all for encouraging a bit of colour play and individuality! I've gone for the richer floral shades on my outer rows as these are the sweet peas that I love the most, but you might prefer the mid pink shades, or the soft pastels instead. 

There is (of course) a full photo tutorial for this new edging - I've named it "Trellis Edging" so that you can easily find it in the list of patterns in my sidebar. Click on the photo above, or click on the link below to go find it >>

🌸TRELLIS EDGING PATTERN🌸

Shall we take a look at how the edging finishes off the blankets?

Oh, it's rather delightful, don't you think? I wanted something soft and pretty and ever so slightly fluttery around the edges, just like the petals of sweet pea flowers. I'm honestly thrilled with the results.

This morning I had my two blankets stacked in a neat pile after taking lots of photographs, and I thought how very pretty they looked. This pile represents such a huge amount of work mind you - hours and hours of hooky time in those many thousands of stitches. I'm rather proud of them!

I didn't manage to take a huge number of photographs, but thought you might like to see how the blankets look with their borders.

First up is the Sweet Pea Posy....

....looking very jolly indeed with it's sweet jumble of floral stripes.

I'm so, so happy with this blanket, it makes me feel all fuzzy-good inside when I take in those beautiful colours.

I love the way the Trellis Edging adds a very defined finish to the blanket. Borders need to be very carefully considered (colours and width mainly, but the overall design is important too) and it's not an easy balance to achieve. 

But a good border design really makes a blanket come alive....

....and it's so much fun when the blanket finally gets it's Ta-dah moment.

The Sweet Pea Colourwash was given the exact same edging treatment as the Posy. 

The edging meanders around the changing washes of colour and does a good job of gently holding it all together.

You might be thinking that the Trellis Edging looks a bit frilly on the Colourwash blanket - that's because I used a slightly bigger hook (I went from a 4.5mm up to a 5mm to work the edging). It became pretty obvious when I'd finished that this particular edging design doesn't need the extra bit of give that edges usually require, so I would advise you to stick with the same hook that you used to work your stripes. No need to change. Aren't you happy I made that mistake in advance for you???!! You're welcome!

But frillyness aside, I'm still really happy with how this blanket turned out.

These are both beautiful blankets to have at home and I'm enjoying seeing them absorbed into family life here at number twenty four.

They are being used every day by myself and the Little People so can generally be found casually slung over the back of the sofa, or bundled up in an unglorious heap in the chair. But I LOVE that my blankets are all used and enjoyed, and I know that we've got that pleasure for many years to come.

Before I go, I wanted to to give you my heartfelt thanks for keeping me company on this sweet blanket journey. It's hard to put into words, but I am deeply grateful for you all, for your continued visits here to the Attic, for your generous comments and kindness, for simply keeping me company week after week. I would be very lonely without you. Thank you, very much.

So Part 7 might be the end of the Sweet Pea CAL, but the big question is.....................

...............what are you going to do with your leftover yarn???????

A cushion? A baby blanket? A wreath perhaps, or some bunting? A floral garland? A scarf or a shawl? Mandalas maybe? Granny squares?

Do tell!!! I hope your onward Sweet Pea journey is a happy one!!!

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Here are all the CAL links you might need  ::

🌸 SWEET PEA YARN PACK

🌸TRELLIS STRIPE PATTERN🌸

🌸 TRELLIS EDGING PATTERN 🌸

🌸 SWEET PEA BLANKET INTRODUCTION

🌸 SWEET PEA BLANKET Q&A

🌸 SWEET PEA BLANKET PREPARATION (includes a sneak peek of the Posy and Colourwash blankets)

🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 1 (colour info for stripes 1-15)

🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 2 (colour info for stripes 16-30)

🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 3 (colour info for stripes 31-45)

🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 4 (colour info for stripes 46-60)

🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 5 (colour info for stripes 61-75)

🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 6 (c0lour info for stripes 76-83/86)

🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 6.5 (general chat, plus charts for Colourwash baby blankets)

 

Oh, Snowdrops!

We walked up to the top of town to Appreciate the Snowdrops on Friday. It was after lunch, a cold, sunny afternoon when it felt just right to be out doing such a simple thing. I've been visiting this patch of ground every February for a decade and it never fails to make my heart expand with happiness, which is especially welcome in the middle of an often weary, grey month.

It's funny doing these sorts of things with J, he never quite knows what to do with himself when I set off on a giddy moment out in public. He kind of loiters nearby as if he doesn't really want to be drawn into my particular kind of crazy, but at the same time he is quietly accepting and supportive. I took loads of photos, just as I do every single year when I am faced with this glorious carpet of living floral beauty. I can never seem to get enough of the way flowers makes me feel, I want to drink in the emotion of it, absorb the visual pleasure right into my very soul.

It's not just flowers though, it's the whole seasonal thing that continues to inspire me year after year after year. Which reminds me, now that I've ticked Snowdrop Patch Appreciation off my list, I really must head up to the allotment and see how it's all looking. It's nearly time for that particular seasonal year to begin again - my To-do list has >>Contact Poo Lady<< on it, which means calling up the lady who will come with a trailer load of well rotten horse manure. I've got big Floral Plans for my allotment patch this year, I am beyond excited thinking about all that I want to do.

I hope you've got some beautiful things on your to-do list this week, in amongst the chores and errands, there is definitely room for beauty and floral appreciation. 

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Sweet Pea Blanket CAL :: Part 6.5

Surprise!!!!!!

Bet you didn't expect to find a CAL post here this morning as we are officially on a "catch-up" week, but honestly it felt so strange for me not CAL-posting that I couldn't resist sneaking in a little extra Sweet Pea goodness. As usual, I've been catching up on all the SP comings and goings on social media and have a few things to share with you today in preparation for next week's border session.

I know many of you are appreciating having this extra catch-up week to continue working your stripes or darn in your ends, but I've also not been surprised to see some of you already finishing up your blankets. Some of you have told me that you were gifting your blankets and needed them finished before the official end of the CAL. Others simply knew what they wanted to do for their borders and didn't need to wait for me to lead the way. I want to reassure you that I am absolutely OK with this! My main aim with running an Attic24 CAL is to inspire community, connection, creativity and happiness, and I'm not at all offended if you wish to go #teamrogue with your blankets and give an individual spin to your creations.

With this in mind, I'm going to share some really super Sweet Pea borders that have come about this week ahead of my own borders which I'll share with you next week......

Sue chose five colours for her border, working 4 rounds of double crochet and finishing off with a very pretty scallop edging.

Mary decided to work a Block Stitch border, finishing off with a neat round of double crochet.

Maria went bold and wide with her border, choosing to use all fifteen shades in a glorious colourwash. She used my Linen Stitch Edging (full tutorial HERE) and I think it looks spectacular.

A note about Linen Stitch - remember this tends to have a tight tension and you will need to go up a whole millimetre hook size to prevent your border from pulling too tightly. So for example, if you worked your main blanket using a 4mm hook, then use a 5mm hook to work your linen stitch edging.

Lyn also chose a colourwash linen stitch border, although she chose to place the greens on the outer edge as rounds of double crochet. This is a bold choice, but I think it looks stunning.

I've chosen seven colours for my border : Meadow, Pistachio, Soft Peach, Wisteria, Magenta, Fuchsia and Violet.

If you're making the Posy Sweet Pea, you should have more of these colours left as there were only 5 stripes of each colour in the blanket (instead of 6). 

If you're making the Colourwash Sweet Pea, then you will have plenty of Pistachio and Violet left, but will need to check quantities of the other five colours.

You will need around 20g of each colour to work your border, so do try and see if you can weigh your yarn and make sure you'll have enough.

It's absolutely OK by me if you wish to choose your own colours - have a play around and see what brings you happiness.

I've designed a brand new edging pattern for the Sweet Pea blanket, and I can't wait to show you next week. It's killing me to keep the surprise!!!!!

While we are having our catch up week, I expect some of you will be using the time to darn in your ends. I confess that I saw Joanne's "Monster Ends" photo on Facebook and had a few heart palpitations!!! This would not suit me at all and I am always a darn-as-you-go-along gal, yet I hear many of you prefer to leave them and do them all in one go at the end. Whichever way you choose, you will need to have all your ends neatly tucked away before you embark on your border.

Merete finished darning in her ends and is now patiently waiting for me to share the border pattern - her  rather bemused looking Sweet Pea snake made me laugh out loud!

Not everyone is content to sit and wait though, and I've seen some lovely Sweet Pea stash-buster projects already off the starting blocks. Nic shared her gorgeous knitted shawl in progress which I think is so beautiful - she is using a pattern called the "Leftie Shawl" by Martina Behm - you can find it on Ravelry (HERE).

Now a quick little something before I let you get on with your day >>>>>>

SWEET PEA COLOURWASH BABY BLANKET AFTERTHOUGHTS!!!! 

I've been thinking a lot about the whole idea of using a palette of colours to work a Colourwash stripe, specifically how to try and keep the colourwash design concept while creating a shorter version suitable for baby blankets.

At first I didn't think it could be easily done, but the more I pondered on it, the more I wanted to try and work it out for you. I really, really, really wish that I'd been able to get my head around this at the start of the CAL so that I could've given you this option weeks ago, but alas my brain cells have felt very stretched coping with what has been a lot of work for me creating this CAL.

However, after much intense thought I have actually gone and done it!!

I've created two different versions :

One will make a 3ft/90cm length (so suitable for a 70 x 90 cm small pram blanket)

The other will make a 4ft / 120cm length (suitable for a 90 x 120cm cot blanket)

SWEET PEA COLOURWASH 70 x 90 cm BABY BLANKET

Chain 124 to begin, then work 43 stripes following the Trellis Stripe Pattern.

Hopefully you can read the above list clearly on your screen, but if you click on the image it'll pop up in a larger window. 

Here is the bigger baby blanket version ::

SWEET PEA COLOURWASH 90 x 120 cm BABY BLANKET

Chain 164 to begin, then work 58 stripes following the Trellis Stripe Pattern.

Note the stripes listed in RED are double width stripes.

I hope that's useful for you - do let me know if you decide to give the small Colourwash baby blankets a go, I'd love to see how they turn out.

Also giving thanks to my clever hubby who scoffed at my poor attempt at creating a typed list and took it in hand himself. He created some very cute little yarn ball graphics and made some rather posh colour lists for me, I'm super pleased with them! I'm going to ask him to do the same with the full size Sweet Pea blanket stripes so that I can add that info to the Trellis Tutorial once the CAL has finished next week.

Wishing you all a fabulous week whatever is on your hook, whether you are still jaunting through your Trellis Stripes or embarking on something completely new. Have fun - remember it's Border time next week on the 22nd, I can't WAIT!!!!! :)

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Here are all the CAL links you might need  ::

🌸 SWEET PEA YARN PACK

🌸TRELLIS STRIPE PATTERN🌸

🌸 SWEET PEA BLANKET INTRODUCTION

🌸 SWEET PEA BLANKET Q&A

🌸 SWEET PEA BLANKET PREPARATION (includes a sneak peek of the Posy and Colourwash blankets)

🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 1 (colour info for stripes 1-15)

🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 2 (colour info for stripes 16-30)

🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 3 (colour info for stripes 31-45)

🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 4 (colour info for stripes 46-60)

🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 5 (colour info for stripes 61-75)

🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 6 (c0lour info for stripes 76-83/86)

 

 

Wintering

I seriously love the above photo in all it's faded, wintry mellowness. It was one of those misty, murky mornings that we seem to have experienced quite often this winter, when the days have felt very slow to get going. This type of weather makes me want to cosy up inside and drink endless mugs of strong, frothy coffee, and yet there is also something refreshing about being out and about and breathing in that damp, cold air.

Its snowdrop season, and our tiny clump of front garden flowers have pushed their way back through the earth for another year. Earlier today, we drove past the huge patch of snowdrops which always grow wild at the top entrance to the woods (see this post) and I made a mental note to walk up there very soon to see them. Whizzing past in the car just isn't good enough, these sweet flowers deserve to be given a thorough dose of heart-felt appreciation.

Top of my to-do list :: Go Appreciate Snowdrop Patch.

My weekend was slow and quiet, just the way I like it at this time of year. I spent much of Saturday sat at the dining table drinking coffee, knitting bits of sock and drooling over the pages in the latest Sarah Raven catalogue, specifically pages 4 - 21 which showcase the Exclusive Dahlia Collections. Oh my heart. Dahlias are just the bees knees, and I've been swooning over them for a great many years (just re-reading this post where I quite literally "fell" for the dahlias at Cragside - ha! True story, I do get giddy to the point of not being able to remain upright at times.

It was so nice to get back to a bit of knitting after such a lot of Sweet Pea-ing of late, and I did enjoy being quietly industrious with all those neat little knitty rounds. I turned heels and knitted gussets and made great progress on these belated Christmas gift socks for my patient father-in-law. For anyone interested, I knit my socks using the continental knitting method which allows me to tension the yarn in my left hand in exactly the same identical way as I do when I'm crocheting. It's absolutely marvelous and allows my hands to almost think they are crocheting when in fact they are being very clever and knitting instead. You can read more about my methods in this post. 

Something amazing has started to happen here in Atticland this winter, and it is SOoooooOoo amazing that I'm still feeling a bit in awe of it all. We've been living here for eleven years and have never witnessed it before - a daily starling murmuration. It's an absolutely incredible natural display (you can read more about it here, which includes a short video clip) and the fact that it's started happening literally right over our house is just mind blowing. It starts just as dusk is beginning (around 4.45pm at this time of year) and lasts around half an hour. The birds gather gradually and the flock gets bigger and bigger as the minutes pass until there are literally thousands and thousands of birds fluttering overhead. They fly together in the most mesmersing of ways, in twists and turns and undulating waves, it's impossible to take your eyes away and inspires you to take around 267 gazillion photos of the sky.

All my photos were pretty rubbish (I was doing the giddy thing again and leaping excitedly across the furniture), but I enjoyed myself trying. I really, really, really hope this is going to be an annual winter thing around here. 

We walked at Bolton Abbey on Sunday for the first time in a while, and it was just lovely. A bit cold, grey and dull but still so good to get out and about amongst the trees. We left the Teen in bed, waved Little Lady off to work (she has just started her very first weekend job waitressing in a cafe), and set off to walk with Little B in tow.

Despite the leaflessness of the winter season, I was overjoyed to see so many fresh new bluebell shoots already peeking through the undergrowth.

And moss too of course, I'm always excited to see how well it thrives at this time of year.

Mossy trees are just super aren't they? Kind of fairytale-ish and magical.

Sunday was also a day of doing allllllll the laundry which I didn't manage to do on Saturday because I was too busy knitting my gussets and slavering over photos of dahlias. I worked through four whole loads, washing and drying, then up to the bedroom to fold and stack on my bed. I am so in love with my bed, and can't tell you how much I look forward to climbing into it each night. I mean, I really do enjoy my days, but bedtime is always such a highlight! With the chilly weather I've got a double layer of blanket warmth on my bed at the moment, and as I was sorting through all the laundry yesterday I found myself really appreciating the spread of colour and pattern. The bottom layer is my beloved BB which is almost ten years old now - you can see more photos of it here). It's a big 180cm square beast made from Rowan Pure Wool DK and is extremely heavy and warm. On top of that I've got my Sunny Log Cabin blanket, and this stays on my bed all year round as it's quite light and is OK for the Summer months. Gosh, I do so love this blanket, it's one of my all time favourite makes. It uses 18 balls of Stylecraft Special DK which is called the Sunny yarn pack. I made this blanket as a CAL project at the end of 2015 - all the CAL installments are still on my blog if you fancy creating your own dreamy blanket.

Back downstairs and I've got a new candle on the go this week. It's another one from Next, I do so enjoy their scented candles as they are very economical and burn for aaaaages (50 hours in this jar, seriously!). Oh, and they smell gorgeous too - this one is Bergamot and Green Tea which I think I had last winter too. It's fresh and sweet without being overpowering and makes the living room smell really good.

We're still lighting our fire every day and appreciate it very much. The kitty is often sprawled out on my floor cushions right next to the hearth (one of my favourite places to sit and crochet) and I never have the heart to turf her off. So I feel as if I've not had the real benefit of quality fireside time just lately, although I do so love to see it (and hear it) as much as I like the warmth and comfort it provides.

This morning, and another outing to Bolton Abbey, just J and me this time. We hadn't planned on going seeing as we were only there yesterday, but after school drop off and a quick supermarket shop I just felt like I wanted to be back there again. The sunshine was calling me to go tramp those winding pathways....almost impossible to resist!

We walk further and faster when it's just us two, crossing bridges and taking a big loop around on both sides of the river.

I adore this tree and always feel compelled to photograph its magnificent roots every time I walk past it. Have to say, they were looking mighty mossy and even more magnificent than usual. #mossaddict (yes, this really is a bonafide hashtag, I tell you, I'm not alone!)

Another tree which caught my eye with its fabulous bark - it looked like it had been smocked! It reminded me that I went through an obsessive smocking phase when I was in my mid teens, painstakingly embroidering a whole collection of hand stitched and smocked dresses for a ragdoll that I made at school. I would so love to see those handmade things again, I was such a shy, quiet, daydreamy, stitch-obsessed type of teenager, always away in my own little private, creative world. Don't suppose I've altered all that much, come to think of it.

As well as mossy roots and smocked bark I spied catkins galore, gosh they are putting on a spectacular show this year.

I find them so charming - little dangly reminders that Spring isn't too far away. I dearly wanted to pick some to bring home, but didn't feel that it would be acceptable to steal from the trees so I left them hanging in the morning sunshine.

We stopped off at the farm shop on our way home to pick up a joint of meat (I'm making smoky barbecued pulled pork in the slow cooker tomorrow), and rather predictably I found myself drawn to the floral offerings before I could make it anywhere near the meat counter. I decided to treat myself to a small pot of Narcissus "Bridal Crown"which I know from past experience will smell divine when they flower. Having pots of bulbs growing in the house is such a pleasure, I can highly recommend it if you want to bring a dose of Spring cheer into the winter time.

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