Attic24

Lovely Little Snippets

♥ early morning walks around the hilly streets before the sun rises

♥ late November frosty chill, wrapped up warm with scarf, gloves, woolly hat

♥ atmospheric morning light and still water, the smell of wood smoke in the air

♥ warm café & yarny chatter with friends, colourful crochet, frothy coffee and that Friday feeling

♥ a Saturday train trip to Leeds with my girl, starting with a fabulous Laynes coffee

♥ enjoying the unique buzzy atmosphere of Leeds Corn Exchange

♥ this old oval building is really beautiful, both inside and out

♥ I loved the colourful christmas tree very much, a tree after my own heart

♥ enjoying a slice of sunny city life, beautiful architecture and blue skies in Leeds

♥ twinkly lights and festive spirit - a quiet lull, but later heeeeaving with people!

♥ appreciating the stillness of the past few days, no wind, just calm and reflective scenery

♥ spotted a pretty lacy porthole cover, I love this traditional narrowboat crochet craft.

x

Just a few snaps from the past four days, some beautiful quiet morning walks and slow, reflective days contrasted with a busy shopping trip to the city on Saturday. Little Lady asked if I would go with her as she wanted to get another ear piercing and goes to a place inside the Corn Exchange. We caught an early train to beat the crowds and had coffee at one of our favourite places (got lucky and didn't have to queue, yes, it's that popular), and then mingling with the crowds for some shopping. A little bit of christmas present buying but I wasn't really prepared and didn't have the right shopping head on. I bought myself a jumper, does that count?

And now it's Sunday evening and I am warm and comfy and full, I made a terrific lasagne for dinner. J cooked the bolognese in the slow cooker, and I made the bechamel sauce and pulled it all together. As it's the first day of December we lit our Advent candle at the table and after dinner the Little Peeps opened their advent bags that I'd painstakingly put together for them. Stickers and numbers and sweet treats inside 72 individual paper bags, I'll try and remember to take a photo and show you. I know they are big Big Kids nowadays but I do still like to hold onto traditions for as long as they seem to enjoy me doing it.

I've spent aaaaages this weekend  sorting through all my canal boat photos that I've taken during the past year, and feeling so incredibly inspired by the joyful colours and decorative details. It's that time of year again where I'm preparing to share my annual Crochet-Along blanket with you, a little later than usual due to the yarn delays. My friends at Wool Warehouse have been working super hard to get yarn packs made in double quick time and we are almost ready....above is a little taster of the colours I've had swimming in my mind for the best part of this year....

....and here is a first look at the stripe pattern I've designed. It's quite jaunty and playful with a folk art feel to it, inspired by the traditional colours and painted patterns I see on the narrowboats when I take my daily walks along the tow path. I am so in love with it!!

As with all my patterns, this stripe is designed with beginners in mind and is a simple pattern repeat that is easy to learn and delivers some very relaxing crochet time. The colour contrasts are bright and breezy, and really make me smile - every time I change colour I get a little jolt of surprise and pleasure!

Yarn packs will be available from Tuesday, and the Canalboat CAL will begin on Friday 10th January. This will be my 11th crochet along, and I really hope that many of you will decide to join me,  I'll give you all the information and more details on Tuesday. You'll be able to order the yarn from Wool Warehouse and there is a choice this year - my usual Stylecraft Special DK, and also a pack made with the brand new Yarnsmiths Merino DK for those who might want to try a lush natural yarn for a change. It's exciting and makes me long for January, which is absolutely something to be happy about.

I hope you are all doing OK, and I'll be back here on Tuesday morning to share some more canalboat joy. See you then!

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A Wintry Week

During this past week we've been flung into a very cold, wintry spell and although it's been a bit of a shock to the system, it's been really very beautiful out there in my immediate vicinity.

On Monday we woke to freezing fog and sub zero temperatures, the sort of weather which adds teeny droplets of ice to foliage and spiders webs and makes it look like they've been decorated with minute glass crystals.

We decided to drive out for a short local walk, stopping to take some things to the recycling centre which is one the way. In the above photo you can see how unusual the weather was on Monday - the recycling centre is on a fairly high road heading out of town, and down below we could see a very low band of cloud running the whole length of the valley. It has certainly been the the month for low cloud, and this particular phenomenon is called a "cloud inversion".

We didn't go far, just to the reservoir which is only a few miles away from home.

We used to come here a lot when the Little People were small because it's not far to drive, and also it only takes around 40 minutes or so to walk the trail around the edge of the water. It used to be just enough when little legs were very little.

It was a cold and still day....

....and I thought the landscape looked like a picture of autumn with a winter filter layered over the top.

The light was beautiful with so many subtle shades of grey....

....and the cloud inversion made the landscape look incredibly atmospheric.

It was a very tranquil, slow stroll around the water's edge, just J and I enjoying being out together, reminiscing about the many, many times we've been here over the years with the kidlets.

Afterwards we drove a slightly different route home, and suddenly we were back into the very frosty chill.

I asked J to make a quick stop so I could take some photos....the plants all along the roadside were breathtakingly beautiful wearing their ice crystals and I couldn't bear to just drive on by.

I mean...look....^^^....so, so pretty. A real taste of winter (even though I feel we are still in autumn).

The following day (Tuesday) we woke to the same cold temperatures and the first small snowfall of the season.

We ventured out for our morning walk (just after 7am in the above photo)...

....with the moon still shining brightly in a clear sky. It was bitingly cold, a winter snap which seemed to suddenly make the softness of autumn seem like a distant memory.

All week we've been in this freezing winter grip, and it's been a challenge if I'm honest. We've had almost daily snow showers, never enough to really be the playful, fun kind of snow, but just enough to cover our world in a treacherous icy layer. Walking has been difficult (some days literally impossible, with the pavements covered in black ice) and so I've felt a little bit off kilter without being able to walk my usual therapeutic miles. But spending a lot of time indoors has also really made me appreciate the cosy comforts of home....

....and the fireside never looked so good.

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November Thoughts

My early morning walks continue, although since these photos were taken about a week ago, it's now pretty dark at 7am. I guess we are rapidly coming towards the end of the autumn season now, as the Winter Solstice (the shortest day) is just over four weeks away.

Autumn has been especially charming this year, well, maybe I should say that it's me that's felt charmed more than usual by the season. I don't think November is any different this year to last, but possibly I've got an extra layer of gratitude for it all?

I don't know what exactly it is, but I do know that I'm enjoying it very much.

Not every day is as beautiful as this (I realise that the light makes a big difference to how I experience each day) but there have been some truly breath taking mornings during this past week.

As the leaves continue to fall, the woodland is lightening up again as there is far more visible sky through the treetops. So while it's not too muddy and there is just about enough light, J and I are enjoying a few early walks through the trees again. 

Just lately I've been thinking a lot about the place where I live and call home, and honestly feeling incredibly grateful that I've landed in this lovely little patch of North Yorkshire. This is J's home ground where he spent a portion of his childhood years (he went to school for a while at the same school where our Big Boy went and Little B now goes), but I settled here quickly because I think it's a very similar kind of town to where I grew up in Dorset. Historic rural market towns all have quite a lot in common, and there was never a time where I felt like I didn't belong. 

We moved house to come and live here at the very end of November seventeen years ago, so every year when November rolls around I find myself thinking back to that time. My life was obviously pre-blog back then so I can't go and chase down any written archives from November 2007, but there is a lot about making that move that I remember clearly. The Little People were aged 5 and 3, so top of my priority list was getting them settled into school and nursery. It was a fairly smooth transition for them I think (and J was continuing to work at the same place so his life didn't change too much), but it was definitely the beginning of a brand new life for me. Maybe I had the hardest transition of all, it's quite tricky to start again from scratch as an adult, finding new routines and new friends at the grand old age of thirty nine.

Three and a half months after we moved here to number 24, I started my Attic24 blog in March 2008. It was a way to keep myself busy during the mornings when I was all alone in the house and at a bit of a loss, and was/is a wonderful creative outlet for me to express myself through writing and photography. But more importantly it gifted me an online community of like minded creative souls who immediately felt like good friends. And now here we are...I'm still writing and taking photographs and I'm beyond grateful for your company in my cosy little Attic home on the interwebs.

Before we moved here to Atticland we still lived in North Yorkshire, but over the hills in the city of York. I really like the city and have great memories from the nine years we lived there, and as it's only 43 miles away it's pretty easy to plan return visits.....

....in fact I was there last week! I have a wonderful group of friends still in York, my original Mum-crew who I met twenty two years ago at a post natal group when we were all first time Mums with new babes. We keep in regular contact via a WhatsApp group (I LoVe that app for chatting and keeping in touch), and a meet-up dinner date was arranged which I'd been really looking forward to.

I went over on the train in the afternoon so that I could have some time playing tourist in a city that I know very well. 

It's been many years since I was right in the heart of the city (my friends all live out of the centre) and it was absolutely amazing to see it all again with fresh eyes. York Minster is always a magnificent sight and I walked all the way around it feeling in awe of its sheer size and grandeur. It's reeeeeeally, reeeeeeeallly massive.

I had forgotten just how ancient and quirky York is around the Minster Quarter, where many of the streets and buildings are centuries old.

You can see why it's such a draw for tourists from all over the world, the layers of history run very deep.

I walked down to the market square which hasn't changed at all over the years...

....and stopped to admire the flowers which have always been sold in this spot for as long as I've known.

I found my way through the maze of back streets into the Old Quarter....

....then cut through Coffee Yard snicket.....

....to come out onto Stonegate. This is probably one of the most popular shopping streets in York, with a beautiful and eclectic mix of shops, cafés and pubs. The old building on the right in the photo above is the Punch Bowl pub and has a super long history spanning almost 350 years. Yes, that's an awful lot of years.

On the left in the above photo is another very well know shop on the same street - this is Kaethe Wohlfhrt, a shop dedicated to celebrating  Christmas all year round. You can see in the above photo that the daylight was fading (4pm) and it was time for me to make tracks and go and meet with my lovely friends. We were due to have a meal in a pub that we've regularly visited with our families over the years, a real nostalgia trip.

Before I hopped on the bus I took a quick walk along part of the old city walls, it's a lovely thing to do if you are ever visiting York, and you get to see the city from a different perspective.

A brief 24 hour visit which was great because I was able to stay overnight  - many of my friends have spare bedrooms now that their children are away at University - so it was a lovely time of reminiscing and walking down memory lane with a group of friends who I know very well. 

Life at home has been slow and quiet this past week. When I came home from York I had a few days where I didn't feel all that well, so I slowed myself down and rested during the day when I needed it, and whatever was pulling me down seemed to pass.

We walked at Bolton Abbey on Sunday morning....

....just J, me and Little Lady (Little B has taken on a extra shift at the pub on a Saturday night and said he wanted to stay in bed Sunday morning). It was beautifully quiet when we were there at ten o'clock, and with the river seeming fairly tranquil for a change, J and LL decided to "Do The Stones". Well I can tell you that I absolutely did not do the stones, it didn't even cross my mind for a nanosecond. Nope. No, no, no-no-nooooo. There is a perfectly high, dry, sturdy bridge for crossing over this wide river, and you can bet that my feet were safely on it. They said it was quite scary in the middle bit where the water runs deep because as you can see, the stones are quite small and very close to the surface of the water, and psychologically I think it can mess with your mind a bit. My goodness, no. But also, well done them, relief all round!

Walking back towards the café we were gifted with a very brief but beautiful golden hour of sunshine, oh the woodland was looking exceedingly pretty I have to say. We enjoyed a very lovely frothy coffee and a toasted teacake at the end of our walk, a Sunday morning well spent.

Two hours later I was walking to the supermarket to pick up some food for dinner and the weather had flipped as you can see. No more golden shafts of sunlight, just the steady pitter patter of rain falling on the water. I didn't mind too much, because I had a date to prepare for........

.....a date with my beloved Fireplace. As soon as I walked back in the door all damp and cold and weary, I stripped off my outer layers, got changed into my comfies, powered up the fairy lights, lit the candles and built the fire.

Ahhh, pure bliss, right there. An afternoon of tea drinking and fireside hooky, warm and cosy as the rain continued to fall. It's what November Sundays are made for.

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November Weekending

I found out a few days ago that this endlessly grey weather has an official weathery name - welcome to the "Anticyclonic Gloom". Apparently it's been widespread throughout the country for most of November, and so far this month we've received less than one tenth of the sunshine we would normally get at this time of year. Huh, it's no wonder we've all been feeling the dampening effects of these low light days.

We walked in the woods at the weekend, and as you can see....

....so many of the leaves are now now off the trees and down on the ground. I tell you what though, even though everything looked and felt very dull, there was a lovely smell of damp, leafy earthiness which felt perfectly Novemberish. I expect that during this next week we'll be seeing mostly bare trees - it always seems to be that the leaves tumble down all at once and suddenly bare twigs everywhere. I try to be prepared, but every year it catches me by surprise.

With this week of high pressure and low cloud, everything has also been very dry and still, no rain, no wind. Massive advantage for me, the Eternal Reflection Lover, and I've really enjoyed walking along the canal and viewing the world upsidedown in  the water. Grey and dull, yes, but also weirdly calming and tranquil.

This weekend when I was out and about, I made a conscious effort to seek out the bright spots of colour. They are certainly there if you look, and I've been delighted by the sight of the reds, pinks and greens keeping the grey at bay.

Red Virginia Creeper....

...dusky pink hydrangea flowers....

...and yellowy-green ivy flowers.

Beautiful nature never fails to lift my spirits and keep me endlessly inspired.

Home life in November is one great big cosy affair and I'm doing my best to enjoy it and embrace the indoorsiness. I made soup on Saturday, a flung-together recipe which involved leeks, some wild garlic leaves from the freezer, a random tin of butter beans and some frozen edamame beans. It wasn't fantastically tasty if I'm honest, very mild mannered and in need of a little pizazz I thought. So I stirred in some fresh green pesto and drizzled extra on the top and oh my, that really did make it something special. So leek, bean and pesto soup, yes I'd make it again.

November weekending most definitely involves plenty of Hearth Worship, and as always I was right there soaking in the light and warmth and love love loving it. I'm really enjoying my new socks by the way, the colours are soooo pretty and please me greatly, plus they are really warm and cosy. Sock perfection. 

I spotted (and purchased) the first little crate of leafy clementines from the supermarket this weekend, oh, happy days! They taste so good, the perfect balance of citrussy tartness and juicy sweetness. I should also tell you that now the leafy clems are in, I am keeping daily watch for the pots of hyacinths because it's almost time for my annual Hyacinth Appreciation ritual.

In fact, the more I think about it, the more I realise that November does bring a lot of seasonal joy into my life.

After a ridiculous amount of dithering and indecision, my fresh flowers this week are orange roses. Now, supermarket roses are usually one of my last-resort choices (along with carnations and alstroemeria), but there was something charming about this orange bunch which drew me in. I decided to cut them short so they would fit in this lovely pale yellow handmade jug, and I added in a few rogue stems of Alchemilla which I found still flowering in the front garden.

I remembered that the colour of roses has all sorts of symbolism attached, so I looked up the meaning of giving/receiving orange roses - apparently they symbolise "fascination, enthusiasm, desire, and energy". Well, that sounds like a bit of alright and I'm very happy I gifted all those positive emotions to myself.

Talking of orange energy and enthusiasm, my latest blanket is officially off the starting blocks and the very first stripe is orange. This is the Canalboat blanket which I'm making for my new year Crochet-Along, and sadly my yarn packs have been delayed somewhere between Turkey and the UK. Isn't it funny to think of the yarn out there somewhere, making its journey to Yorkshire, maybe floating on the sea right now.....ahhh, I hope it makes it safely to our shores. I think it's going to be early December before the yarn kits will be in my shop at Wool Warehouse which isn't ideal, but I'm beyond happy to be on this new blanket journey and I think I'm going to share more if it with you during this next week.

This morning, Monday, we finally saw an end to the anticyclonic gloomdom and wow, wow, wow, what a fiery show it was too. The sky.......oh, just LOOK!!!! Seven twenty this morning and everything was glowing like it was on fire.

The day continued to brighten and we ended up with the brightest of blue skies full of sunshine, such a welcome feeling and something of a relief too. Finally, the sun is back, and what a joy it was. J and I drove across the hills to visit the gardens at Harlow Carr and it was stunning with so much colour still. I took a raft of colour-drenched photos, and I'm looking forward to sharing those with you.

I hope your weekending was good and filled with cosy little rituals and joyful moments. I hope there was colour and warmth and things you felt grateful for. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

Shades of Autumn

After my lazy indoorsy weekend, I woke up on Monday morning feeling pretty desperate for some fresh air, exercise and outdoorsiness. It was a very grey and misty day with low light levels and I was craving some woodland colour, so J and I drove to Bolton Abbey to stroll and breathe it all in.

It's always beautifully quiet and peaceful along these pathways on a Monday, a real contrast to the crowds that come over the weekend. There was evidence of the recent Pumpkin trail (a giant wooden spider, massive bat wings, a huge witches broom) but everything was slowly being dismantled and there was an air of calm which I greatly appreciated.

We walked the high pathway through Strid wood, a circular trail of about 3 miles or so with some good hilly bits to get you puffing and feeling it in your legs. I adore the above photo, you can see we were high up above the river where it cuts deeply through the rocks (this is the Strid) - can you spot the man wearing a red coat down below?

The colours were really striking, the beech trees in particular were putting on a good autumnal show with so many beautiful shades of copper, gold and lime green.

We are on the return route now, coming back along the lower path which follows the river....

....a very leafy affair which added an extra layer of autumn feels.

It was such a pleasurable way to spend a few hours on a Monday morning, and as ever I felt full of gratitude for having this extra day which feels like an extension of the weekend.

Yesterday the grey damp gloom was still there and I said to J that I felt like the weather was broken and stuck on the wrong setting. 

I had the pleasure of Christine visiting from Winwick yesterday which is always a lovely thing, and after enjoying a late breakfast with a solid amount of chatter attached to it, we decided to get out and stretch our legs. I took her along the very familiar pathways beside the canal....

....and into the woodland, which was a lovely way for us to carry on chatting while enjoying some pretty seasonal nature.

We spent the rest of the afternoon cosied up in a hotel bar of all places - it sounds odd, but we've found the bar at Herriots hotel is very quiet during the week and they are happy for us to spend a few hours crocheting/knitting over a drink or two. 

By the time we had said our goodbyes and I was walking home it was 4.30pm and the light was already starting to fade. I'm still getting used to our shortening days, it isn't an easy adjustment to make.

Today - more grey weather (I'm telling you, it's broken), but the autumn shades in the leaves and trees really helped lift the gloomy feeling.

I took the above photo this afternoon as I was walking home from the supermarket. I was crossing the swing bridge just after a boat had passed through and I thought it looked so picturesque, almost like a watercolour painting. I feel very grateful to live in a town that has canals and streams and a woodland, and is surrounded by hills, moorland and open countryside. It means I am constantly connected to nature and very aware of the seasonal shifts throughout the year which makes me very happy.

As I walked slowly up the steep hill towards home, I used my phone camera to capture some snippets of colour that caught my eye in the various front gardens I passed. When we think of autumn colours it's generally all about the leafy shades - yellows and golds, oranges, russets and coppers, with some lime green thrown into the mix. But there are still quite a lot of flowers about in early November, and the bright pinks were positively glowing.

↑↑ I love these leaves and am always fascinated by the way they change colour in this crazy patterned way. It's the leaf of a "smoke bush" which is a shrub that I would love to have in my own front garden. The leaves are a deep purple shade in the summer, and then in autumn you get this stunning effect, it's such a showy performer in the garden.

My neighbour directly opposite me has a huge and thriving hydrangea in his front garden and I've been watching the flowers slowly change colour as the temperature has dopped and the season has shifted. It instantly makes me think of my striped blanket inspired by autumn hydrangeas, and the huge amount of fun I had creating the colour palette....

....ahhh, such happy memories of seasonal faffery and creative sparks flying!

My Woodland blanket was another design inspired by my walks in the autumn woods, and I still adore this colour palette.

I find nature to be endlessly inspirational and love the blankets I've made which reflect my seasonal observations.

x

 

 

 

 

And Now Autumn

All the Monday feels here today as I'm home from my amazing trip to Morocco and slowly picking back up with normal life once again. I can't say I missed the domestic day-to-day business of tidying, sorting, cleaning, laundry-ing, shopping, cooking, parenting etc etc while I was away, but it's good to be home and back to it all the same.

Morocco was absolutely mind blowing...wOw, what a country!! The whole week was pretty full on, very hot, very busy, unbelievably inspiring, a weeny bit crazy and just way more intense than I could ever have imagined. I'm still processing the whole experience but it really was wonderful and I loved my time there. As you'd expect, I took a lot (a lot-a-lot) of photos and it's going to take me some time to go through them all and order them into a visual story to share with you.

I flew back on Thursday night after a fair bit of travel and airport delays, so by the time I'd made the train journey north from Gatwick to Yorkshire on Friday I was pretty pooped. It was lovely to be home again though, the family made me feel cherished and I know I was very much missed after my ten days away. The kitty on the other hand did not make me feel cherished at all, she was soooo cross with me for being away for so long and gave me the widest of wide berths for two whole days straight. She literally sulked, turned her back on me and refused to let me touch her, it was hilarious! You'll be pleased to hear that I'm no longer an outcast and she is back to shadowing me around the house, so order has been restored.

I have half unpacked my giant pink suitcase and was thrilled to find that the lovely big bowl I bought home with me had survived the journey. Isn't it a beauty? It's a heavy, chunky earthenware bowl, handmade and hand painted by the artisans of Safi (the Moroccan pottery capital) on the Atlantic coast. 

The shopping possibilities in Morocco are out of this world if you value hand crafted things, but the overwhelm and sheer volume of stuff on offer is quite extreme. You'll see what I mean when I share some of my photos with you - I was content to absorb it all through my eyes and take some careful photographs for memory, without the need to bring much of it home with me. Aside from my gorgeous bowl, I bought three other things......

....two sweet little beaded necklaces and a small pot of saffron. I could have gone crazy and bought so much more, it was all so beautiful and appealing and wantable! But I generally tend to only buy one or two very small things on each trip I make, just small souvenirs to keep and treasure. 

I spent the weekend catching up with myself, easing back into domestic life and coming to terms with the change in season.

Yesterday was the Autumn Equinox, so that's it, summer is over for another year and now we are in a new season. J and I went for a walk along the canal and through the woodland and it was green and damp and cool - all the things that Morocco was not - and I felt a rush of appreciation for this little patch of North Yorkshire that I call home.

Nature is already changing her colours for the season and when I went outside to the back street this morning I spotted these gorgeous leaves growing in one of my neglected back yard pots. This is a self seeded wild flower (we call it herb robert, it's part of the geranium family) and I've got plenty of it. I picked three stems and brought them inside.....

....they look very sweet in these little pots, the first little bit of seasonal decorating I've done on my mantel since Christmas. Yes, Christmas. This year has been a very strange one for me and I realise looking back over the past nine months that I haven't been myself at all, and have felt quite lost for much of 2024.

Take this bunch of flowers on my table for example......I bought them for myself on Saturday, a cheap £3 bunch from the supermarket and oh my, they are bringing me SO much happiness!! But they did make me realise that I cannot remember the last time I bought myself flowers, (and this has been a long standing weekly habit of mine) - another sign that I have been in quite a low place in my soul for a while. In fact, I just looked back at my photo archives and the last jug of flowers that I photographed was 10th April...five months ago. What??!!! 

I'm not going to dwell on all this, but please do know that I am really feeling good at the moment, with good energy and a happy soul, and my creativity is simmering and bubbling again, so all is well with me it seems. 

I rested quite a bit at the weekend, I've been sleeping very well lately but travelling does tend to make me extra weary. Sofa time with an abundance of blankets (we should think up a good collective noun for crochet blankets - a cuddle of blankets?) and some peppermint tea...note the absence of the kitty, she was still giving me the huff treatment at this point.

I managed one row of knitting yesterday (just the one) but I took a photo to show you the colours. Aren't they lush? I'm knitting a pair of socks using this stunning yarn which I bought from a little yarn shop in Leeds in the springtime. It struck me how similar the colours are in the sock yarn and the Flowerpress blanket, they're in perfect harmony with each other. At the time I bought the sock yarn I had just finished making the 16 Flowerpress flowers, so I was obviously deeply in that soft colour zone, matching my projects without even realising.

The yarn (if you are interested) is a German brand called Schoppel, and this is their popular Crazy Zauberball range. There are fifty colourways to choose from, and it's called "crazy" because the colour changes are quite random in each ball so that no two socks will ever be the same (no matching pairs). You can find it online, Wool Warehouse have a good stock of the colours so you can swoon a little at all the colourful possibilities......! My colourway is number 2355 : "gartenparty"

Speaking of Wool Warehouse, they have Flowerpress blanket kits back in stock after the super speedy first sell out and they continue to be shipped out all over the world. Even after 10+ years I still have to pinch myself at the reality of my wonderful partnership with WW, I am so thankful I get to work with them and do this creative crochet thing for you. Feeling very grateful for my life right now.

I'll be finishing up the Flowerpress photo tutorial in the next few days, so hopefully that'll be ready to publish online on Wednesday for you. If you are currently immersed in the pleasure of these squares and this delicious yarn, I hope it's giving you all the good feels? And if you are waiting for the photos to help you along the way, thank you so much for being patient while I zoomed off to Morocco....you're in for a treat with this sweet pattern. It's such a joy.

Thanks as always for visiting and keeping up with my stories, I am very happy to still be here after all these years.

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Out and About

Mid April, and the season is balanced with one foot  leaping into spring, and the other (booted) foot still planted firmly in winter. I am absolutely loving these lengthening days though, especially since the clocks went forward into BST at the end of March and we have light evenings back again. All these extra hours of daylight are making me really happy and it goes a long way towards balancing out the high levels of rain and very cold winter temperatures that we're still putting up with.

This morning it was zero degrees when we set out to walk, a gorgeously still and quiet morning with a hard frost dancing over the landscape. It's Springfrost time, and the gentle muted colours keep reminding me of last year's blanket...colour really does have the amazing ability to evoke memories and emotions, don't you think?

I huffed my way up these wooden steps this morning, climbing through the trees all the way up without stopping. It's a great workout and my heart is always dancing a fast jig when I reach the top, reminding me that I'm alive and reasonably fit and well. Good health is pretty high up on my list of priorities these days, and not something I take for granted.

Yesterday morning was also freezing, but honestly I'm not complaining - the clear skies were very welcome and the sun definitely more than made up for the cold. Ahh, sunny-sun......do please stay for a while.

Doesn't the Blackthorn blossom look stunning? It's so pretty and always blooms abundantly, I don't think I've ever met a half hearted blackthorn hedge. The delicate little flowers erupt in an exuberant cloud and I really love it for that. More is more when it comes to flowers, always.

So I was away from home over the weekend, spending three nights in the wilds of West Yorkshire on a crochet retreat. It was my first Stitchtopia retreat of 2024 (I'm doing five in total this year) and after a busy week preparing for it I was really looking forward to meeting everyone and sharing the new project I'd designed.

The country house hotel where we stayed was lovely, quite old fashioned but in a way that immediately welcomed you in and made you feel relaxed and at ease. These retreats are a pleasure to do, mainly because I get to meet and spend time with the loveliest ladies. In the above photo to the right of the magnolia tree, that's the huge window of the "Blue Room" where we spent two days hooking and chatting away. I designed a really pretty wreath with some new flower and leaf designs, and it was loads of fun to see my design brought to life. I'm keeping my photos offline for the time being as I'll be teaching the same retreat again in May and June* and don't want to spoil the surprise for those who are coming along then.

To round out the retreat, we had a visit to Stylecraft at their historic mill building on Monday morning. We were treated to a behind-the-scenes tour giving a fantastic insight into the history and workings of the mill as well as getting to see the design studio and learning about the creative development of their yarns and patterns. 

Of course I'm no stranger to the workings of Stylecraft and have been to the mill many times over the years, but it was such a great experience being a part of this very enthusiastic group of crocheters.....the excitement was real!

Enjoying cake and yarn on a Monday morning....I think we all felt very happy with life at that point in time.

*June 2024 - a little note to say that due to an unexpected cancellation, there is now one place available on my Yorkshire retreat in June (Mon 3rd- Thurs 6th) if you fancy it, details are ((here))

I've spent the past couple of days recharging my batteries after the retreat. I love teaching, but I do find the very full days of socializing take a lot out of me (I am a very introverted person used to spending a lot of time in my own company).

I've enjoyed being out and about in sunny Atticland (blue skies! sunshine!), pottering around, catching up with errands, food  shopping and generally recalibrating after being away.

I took myself out for coffee yesterday morning. It felt like a luxury to sit in the quiet of this café where it was just me on my own for a while, basking in the sun and sipping my chocolate dusted frothy cap. Bliss.

At the start of last week before I got mad busy preparing for the retreat, J and I went out onto the countryside for a walk. It's funny that I had totally forgotten about it until today when I was looking through my photos to see what April was looking like so far. Thank goodness for the Me that always takes photographs every single day, I am grateful for these images that capture and preserve my days, weeks, months and years when my memory is not up to the job.

As you can see, it was very, very grey and damp out there with low cloud swirling just above our heads as we walked across the windswept moorland.

 We saw lots of frogs out and about, they seemed very at home in the damp wet grass minding their own business, or in pairs getting happy with each other ('tis the season!)

This circular walk is just under five miles I think, and during the whole time we were out we only saw one other person (a runner), a fair few grouse and a whole lot of frogs - it was incredibly peaceful even though in all honesty it felt a little bit bleak at times.

This is a walk I love to do in late summer when the purple heather is in flower, but there is a quiet beauty at this time of year which I can appreciate.

As we were walking the last mile, the weather rapidly changed and the clouds lifted and shifted to allow the sun to peek through. What a difference it made to the the landscape, it was like seeing an old sepia photo translated into full colour. Beautiful.

I really love a country walk for blowing the cobwebs away, it always leaves me feeling energised and full of gratitude for our open landscapes and public footpaths. We are very lucky indeed.

Thank you by the way, for all the lovely comments you wrote on my last post, I do so love to read them and hear a little bit about your days and also to find out what you enjoy about your visits here to the Attic. Often I think my posts are verging on the mundane, and yet I do really enjoy creating them for you (and for me to read back and remember things too) so I keep going. Photos stack up and then the words flow around them, it's a rhythm that is very familiar to me now after sixteen years of cultivating it.

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ps. in case you were wondering, I've not forgotten about Amsterdam.....I'll be working on sharing my trip soon before it fades into the rearview. 

pps. there is one single place now available on my Portugal retreat this summer following a cancellation....want to come with me?? Details ((here)) 

ppps. canal boats are still on my mind, they have taken up permanent residence. More on that soon x

 

 

Easter 2024

HeLLOoOoOooooo to you all out there in the world!!! I thought I would pop in for a quick catch up in amongst me being a mad busy thing as I prepare for my first retreat of the year this weekend. We're fully back to work and school this week after the Easter holidays - schools here in North Yorkshire had the Easter weekend in the middle of the two week break and it's honestly been the loveliest time for my little family. We've had the usual mixed bag of weather which included some glorious spring days and some hideously wild, wet and stormy ones too, so we've been out and about whenever we could but also enjoyed our quiet stay-home days too.

As I'm short on time today, I'll try and keep my word count to a reasonable digit, but I do hope you enjoy the visuals. I absolutely LOVE taking photos of everyday life, it's my most favourite type of blog content to create and also to enjoy on other peoples blogs (although there are so few active bloggers left these days).

Eastertide twenty-twenty-four....here are twenty snaps to tell the tale......

1. Laaaaaaambs!!! I'm sure there've been lambs around for a while already, but these were the first ones we saw in the fields close to home. Cute, playful little things they were too.

2. Sunday stroll. This is a walk we do when the fields and footpaths are still too muddy and wet, it's a 4.5 mile circular route which passes through a couple of small villages, then all the way back to town along the canal tow path.

3. Canal boats. Quite a number of people have suggested to me that I should design a blanket inspired by my daily walks along the canal. Of course this creative seed has now been sown and you may or may not be interested to know that it is taking root and sprouting leaves. I've spent the past four months building up a photo gallery of the boats I've walked past and the colours and decorative details are really making me feel the joy. It's not a done deal yet, but I'm beginning to form an idea of how this blanket might look and it's a distinct possibility for the 2025 CAL. Do let me know what you think of this idea by the way, I'm always open to hearing your thoughts. You can look ((here)) if you want to see a little of what's inside my Creative Mind!)

4. The Blobby Tree (!).....well, that's what I call this tree, I've no idea exactly what these blobs are but it tickles me every winter when we walk this way. They are tangled, dense balls of twiggy stems which I think are a parasitic growth (like Mistletoe, but these aren't mistletoe I don't think)

5. Naughty Pancakes. Not mine I might add, no, I've been on a health kick aside from a small daily ration of mini eggs and some Easter biscuit therapy. This plate was in front of Little B, and was an Easter Holiday breakfast treat at the pancake café in town. Triple chocolate American Pancakes, down the hatch in record time and one very happy Little B.

6. Bees and Blossom. My neighbours cherry tree was spectacular this year and I enjoyed it very much in the few weeks while it bloomed. On sunny days it was a buzz with bees which is such a happy sound, easy to miss if you are rushing past but lovely when you happen to slow down and catch it.

7. My hill view. Always a daily delight,  I love the way it connects me to the landscape and the seasons (and the weather).

8. My yarn tribe. We had a lovely get together at Coopers on Good Friday - coffee, crochet and some upbeat chatter, you just can't beat it. I finally finished my Blooming Sungold cushion cover, but it needs some gentle blocking and then the two sides joining together, so it's currently still in the WiP pile until after my retreat.

9. Easter celebrations......one of my favourites of the whole year. I'm not religious, but I do enjoy celebrating the return of the light and the start of spring. This sweet little lamb was a Craftpod project some years ago and I adore it.

10. The Mantel Twigs....how many years old now? I've no idea, but well over a decade (they were in situ in 2011, most likely earlier than that). They have seen many years of Easter and Christmas decorating and even though they are nothing fancy I just love them.

11. Chocolate eggs. I bought the Little People one medium sized boxed egg each this year, and then decided to pretend that I'm still the Mother of Little-Little People and bought a whole load of these egg hunt foil wrapped eggs. No actual egg hunt for us now of course, but it was lovely to have a little stash of egglets to offer as an after dinner treat. The giant Little People approved.

12. Seasonal Colour Inspiration. I pulled together this basket of yarn as I was contemplating colours for a future project, and then realised that I was being heavily influenced by the Eggs. The colour palette wasn't quite right in the end and has been shelved, but it's undeniably pretty.

13. Double daffs. These were on my table over Easter and I really enjoyed watching them slowly open and unfold. Gorgeous things.

14. Wild garlic. I was all intent on going to forage some from the woodland myself, but my good friend has it growing in her abundant woodsy garden and gifted me a generous bag. The scent....oh, how I wish you could smell it!

15. Wild Garlic soup....yummmmmmmmmmmm!! I made it as you would a basic leek and potato soup, wilting in the wild garlic right at the end to keep the green colour and the fresh flavour. It was wonderful, truly a taste of springtime.

16. Pub life. I'm not a big drinker, but I do enjoy going to our local pubs every so often for a few drinks with J and meeting friends. We have some really lovely local places to drink all within ten minutes walk - in the above photo we are settled into the Narrowboat on Easter Saturday around 5pm, waiting for friends to come and join us. The drink is mine and J's current favourite, it's a Belgian cherry kriek beer served in a lovely half pint glass. Delicious.

17. Easter Sunday walk. We went early to Bolton Abbey to beat the crowds, a gentle stroll up and down the woodland paths, over bridges and along the river bank.

18. Resting.... in the gentle warmth of the sun on this log, wondering as I always do about the quirky history of the money trees at Bolton Abbey. I was waiting for J who'd had to run back to pick up his hat which he left on the bench, what a treat to have hats off and feel warmed by the sun.

19. Slow travel. Oh, how I love love love a bit of slow travel!!! Last week we took a little holiday, travelling from the east coast across the north sea to the continent. We've taken this journey before (I think this was our seventh time) so we knew what to expect, but the excitement of large ship travel and also a night away in a hotel was real.

20. Holiday memories....just the loveliest things to have swimming around in my brain! As you can see, our trip last week was to Amsterdam, and it was fabulous and fun and I hope you're going to be OK about me showing you some visuals next week because I'd really like to share what I saw and how we spent our short time there.

Well, it's been really lovely chatting to you - I hope you all had a great Easter and that April is shaping up to be wonderful wherever you are in the world. Tell me something you're excited for this month, I'd love to know.....

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EDIT >> Thank you so much to Alison for the intel on the blobby tree! Apparently called "Witches Brooms" (which I LOVE), it's a deformity which creates "a dense mass of shoots  growing from a single point, with the resulting structure resembling a broom or birds nest" . So now the blobby tree is renamed the witches tree..

 

 

 

 

March Energy

Today is the Spring Equinox when day and night are of equal length and I couldn't be happier about it. I carried the thought around with me all day and it felt like a warm glow in my soul every time I remembered that we are balancing on this turning point in the seasons. From today, every day will have around three minutes more daylight than the day before as we dance towards the Summer Solstice in June. This is by far and away my favourite quarter of the year as Spring edges towards summer, I feel like I come alive again in this season of light. Happy, happy me.

Of course the weather wasn't really very springlike today (it never is - remember my first spring here in the Attic in 2008?), but somehow I thought that the light felt different, a slightly lighter shade of grey maybe?

My neighbours cherry tree burst into bloom this week, I've been watching the buds and waiting patiently and then suddenly it was all pink frothy abundance. It's so lovely to see it when I walk up the street towards home.

Two doors up, the house has a magnolia tree in the front garden so I am on daily bud watch every time I walk past. It's very exciting here on the street - cherry blossom going crazy to the left and big fat magnolia buds poised to bloom to the right.

I love blossom flowers, I really do, especially these early front garden varieties. The big cherry trees in the park won't be in bloom until May, so it's like we're getting a sneak preview around the streets here.

J and I have started taking our 7 o'clock morning walks through the woods again because it's now full daylight at that time. It feels like a real turning point in our season, and we'll be walking daily through the woods until the dark creeps in again in September. The only down side is the mud as we continue to have so much bloomin' rain. Almost every day - rain. Tomorrows forecast? Rain. The streams and waterfalls are full and noisy and the fields and pathways are puddled with standing water. But at least there is daylight, and despite the slippery, muddy paths I am really enjoying my return to the early morning woodland.

We walked at Bolton Abbey on Monday and miraculously the sun peeked out for just a short while, it was a beautiful thing. As you can see, the wild garlic is looking mighty fine and I really should go and pick some young, fresh leaves and make delicious garlicky things. 

It was just about warm enough to sit outside and enjoy a frothy coffee after our walk, always one of life's pleasures. I got chatting to a lovely lady sat at the next table and it turned out that she reads my blog which is always a nice thing to hear out of the blue. 

Signs of spring are slowly edging their way into my day to day life, and although it'll be a good few months before the trees green up, there are some early performers. This huuuuuge weeping willow (opposite the butcher at the top end of town) is beginning to sprout and that fresh limey green colour is fabulous.

I continue to walk every day along the canal side and have really been enjoying the colours. Even on days when the weather has been wet and blustery, there is sometimes the occasional bright spell to lift my spirits. After the rain, everything seems to glow and vibrate with energy, I swear I can actually feel it in the air. I am quite sensitive to energy and light (which is why very low-light days affect my mood so much I think), so these bright moments are like a rapid re-charge of my internal batteries.

I took the above photo on Saturday morning and I love it sooooooooo much. You know I am quite obsessed with water reflections and  as we were walking from the market to the café to have breakfast, this view under the bridge literally stopped me in my tracks. I find reflected images mesmerising, what is it about them that fascinates me so much? I honestly have no idea, but I thought you might appreciate it too.

Oh, I just had an idea to turn the image upsidedown................hang on......................

..................there.....WOW!!! My mind can't cope!!!!

I make myself crazy sometimes, obsessing over the glorious visuals of everyday life.

I'm still working on my Blooming Sungold Flower cushion and have really been enjoying the making process. 

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the kitty stopped sulking on day four after my return from Dorset and is back to being my constant companion again. She really likes the Sungold blanket, so has been very happy when she gets to pin me underneath it for maximum cosy warmth and comfort.

I've stopped lighting the fire during the week, but we do often feel the need for it at the weekends when we're spending a lot of time relaxing in this room. Fireside crochet is one of my favourite things and during the last few weeks I've really enjoyed sitting next to the hearth and gently adding these scallopy rounds to my cushion.

On Friday I spent the morning at Coopers Café like I usually do, and had the added pleasure of spending time with two lovely friends who were visiting town. We had such a good long chat and a catch up as it had been some years - shall I tell you about the projects in the above photo? Well, that was the three of us sat at the table by the window - me with my blooming flower cushion on the go as you already know. The cutest autumn scene with a darling little hedgehog is being stitched by Cathy (Dear Emma Designs). And the fabulous knitted hexagon blanket? That's the work of my lovely friend Amanda who many of you will know from her Little Box of Crochet days, and more recently her Cosy Life project boxes. It's such a lovely thing to have creative friends, and I am beyond grateful for all the inspiration and joy they bring to my life.

Mostly I spend much of my time alone here in the Attic in my own creative little bubble. Well, I'm not technically alone because J works from home so is always around, but you know what I mean. Design work is mostly a solitary thing, just me and my thoughts and my ideas, searching for a way to harness all the creative energy and direct it into projects which make my heart sing.

This March energy feels very powerful at the moment, and for me personally it's like I just woke up from a deep sleep and suddenly I feel the need to do all the things. My brain is a bit on the hyper side, I think I mentioned this to you a few weeks ago? I am buzzing with ideas and am gathering inspiration at high speed, stashing away so many thoughts and ideas for things I want to do, make, design, create, share. I've got quite a lot going on at the moment, working on a few different things at the same time and I hope very soon to share some of what I'm up to. It's early stage design stuff, so I'm spending a ridiculous amount of time shuffling yarn pegs around and trying to pin down some colour palette ideas. One thing I do know - it's exciting and it's making me very happy, so that's always a good sign.

I'm sat here at my little desk chatting to you today and it feels good to be sat here quietly stringing words together. This past week I spent quite a while sorting out my Dorset photos into some sort of order and uploading them for a blog post. I realised quite quickly that there were far too many for one post (did I mention how picturesque it was?) so it will be a story in two parts. I can hardly believe it's almost three weeks since I was there....March is zooming!! I'm going to make a concerted effort not to get distracted by the yarn pegs tomorrow (they are proper time stealers) and get busy showing you some seasidey things.

I hope you're all doing OK....tell me, do you feel the energy in the air too, or is it just me? 

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January Days

It's Thursday afternoon and I really should be writing my Sungold CAL post ready for tomorrow, but as you can see I'm here on this page chatting to you instead. My CAL post is patiently waiting in draft-mode because I suddenly really missed writing my normal, every day blogs, you know, the ones that don't really have much substance to them but tell the gentle story of my day to day life.

As it happens, I don't have a huge amount to tell you but I didn't want this brand new month to skitter on by without some sort of acknowledgement. I gathered all my January photos together yesterday and the general overview is a mixture of outdoor views/winter weather and colourful crochet stripes....does kind of sum up my days rather well come to think about it?! 

My white hyacinth is finally in flower on my mantel and it smells so good, a really pretty sweet perfume that lifts my spirits when I get a waft of it. As predicted it didn't flower in time for Christmas, but then maybe having it blooming into a new year month is better than it belonging to the tail end of the old year? 

Two weeks ago we were still in new year holiday mode, but we also had a birthday in the family. It was good timing because J was still on holiday from work so we were able to plan a day out to celebrate Little B's fourteenth birthday. We went on the train to Leeds and it was just the kind of easy outing which ticks so many boxes with a teen. We went clothes shopping with him because he is very minimal when it comes to clothes and wanted to add to his one solitary pair of trousers. We had great success and he managed to find exactly what he was looking for (black, slim fit cargo trousers) - it's such a relief when clothes shopping for the offspring goes well because honestly it can be a very dismal experience otherwise. So yeah, he now has two pairs of trousers instead of just one lonely pair of jeans and I think he's happy about it. A bit hard to tell with Little B, he is very minimal with his words as well as his clothes.

We had a fabulous lunch out at The Alchemist, it's one of Little B's favourite places to go for a drink because they have a good selection of non alcoholic cocktails. I found myself thinking back to when he was born (it's impossible not to reminisce on kids birthdays), and struggling to comprehend how fourteen years can have passed. How do I have this larger than life boy who looks so grown up and asks to go to a cocktail bar for his birthday lunch?

Aside from birthdayish things, January has been all about easing gently back into routine....

.....walking familiar paths....

...and spending time in much loved places that provide a sense of comfort and familiarity. I do really appreciate the gentle routines and habits which I have built over the past few years, the ones that stay the same week after week and yet still feel so good. 

On Wednesday last week my slow stay-home routine was upended because I had a meeting to go to out of town and found myself setting out to commute there by train. I am mighty glad that this happens only once in a blue moon because it hit hard! Setting out at 7.30am when it was still dark, and then the stress of the trains being delayed and connections being missed and getting myself into a such a fluster with it all.

I arrived two hours later in West Yorkshire, the weather misty, grey and damp. You can see in the above photo, over to the left there is a tall chimney and a solid old mill building beside it? That's where I was going, to the home of Stylecraft yarns.

It was a wonderful day, a time to discuss plans for the future (theirs and mine) and get all over giddy about colours. I have been sworn to secrecy so I can't spill the beans and tell you what the yarny future holds (well not yet anyway) but I came away feeling very excited and inspired.

Other than our trip to Leeds and my trip to the Stylecraft Mill, January has been slow, gentle and home-based. I've really been enjoying the simple pleasure of lighting the fire in the afternoon and settling down to hook up some colourful stripes. Having a crochet blanket on the go at this time of year is honestly such a joy and I can't imagine a January without it. I'm looking forward to sharing some more photos with you tomorrow.

We've been in a very wintry cold snap this week with some snow and hard frost - it's been great! I much prefer these cold, clear, crisp winter days to the dreary, wet grey weather that plagued us through December. This is much more my thing, well,  sunshine will always be my thing.

Almost a month since Winter Solstice and I am really starting to notice the extra daylight in the mornings and evenings now. It's glorious to recognise that the real darkness of winter is behind us and we are slowly heading towards longer, lighter days. Happy, happy, happy about that!!! 

It's been lovely to chat - do tell me how your January is looking and what things are making you happy, I'd love to know.

For me - candlelight, floral scent, family time, routine, colour, yarn, crochet, fireside loafing, frothy coffee, crisp winter walks and the glow of sunset.

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