If I look at them and feel butterflies in my tummy (and I really do with these) then I know I'm on the right track. Of course I did. The kitty has magical powers when it comes to relaxation and having her sound asleep on my lap like this has a very calming effect. AhhhhI can't wait to show you more, so exciting! Shall we turn them over so you can see the front? Along with her gorgeous photo, she announced that during this month of March all profits from pattern sales would be donated to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to assist refugees in Ukraine. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Posted at 08:50 PM in Crochet, Flowers, Inspiration, Weather, Yarn | Permalink Oh, I just swooned my woolly socks off right there by the fruit bowl, the sight of those sunlit flowers honestly took my breath away. I've hung my hoop up in my big bay window so that you can see it from the street as you walk past. I didn't hesitate for a moment and went straight along to her website to buy myself a digital copy of her "Fields of Gold" pattern. And yet the light.. ..oh, the light is so very, gloriously spring-like and very, very much appreciated by me I can tell you! We asked the builders if they could leave the actual chimney pot for us as I thought it would be fun to plant something in it - my goodness, we were totally unprepared for the monstrous size of it, it's gigantic! ..Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am really delighted with these houses, they make me sooooo happy and I have no idea why, so I'm just rolling with the joy they bring me and leaving it at that. So I'm cutting right back on refined sugar and I'll stay alcohol free for a little while now too. On my friendly little street with it's terraced houses all tucked together in close proximity, we collectively organised a laid back Jubilee street party. When we were sent the above moodboard a few weeks ago I couldn't believe my eyes - WOW - just wow. I bought them yesterday, and although they look rather posh and florist-esque, they were in fact from good ol' Morrisons. It's been lovely to see all the sunflowers popping up. I remember in years gone by that we've had some truly dismal first days of spring (this one comes to mind, my first ever Blogland spring) but this year it was better than I could have hoped. Love love love love love it. Plus, I get to have the kitty for company too :). My daffodils are in full tilt now and I was delighted to find one single pale rogue flower in the bunch. A bit of artistic license at play here as I have no clue exactly what I was thinking when I came up with this idea - I just thought it would look pretty! Jane said she attached her sunflower to a 28cm embroidery hoop, then added pompoms around the edge, but I chose to attach mine to a 30cm metal hoop instead. I used Cream and one of Stylecraft's lovely new neutral shades "Hint of Silver" to make my hellebores, inspired by the ones I'd seen in the shops. Thanks as always for popping into the Attic to visit, it's always so good to be here for a chat and a catch up.see you again soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Posted at 08:18 PM in Blog-stuff, Crochet, Family, Home, House, Me, Renovations, Weather | Permalink This weekI tried hard to find the joy in my working-from-home situation. It's been a funny sort of a day today, the weather has been drizzly and grey and the light has been gloomy, and nothing has gone quite right somehow. I did mean to share this with you earlier in the week, but with one thing and another the days have slipped by. I added some leaves and a couple of smaller flowers to make a summer posy, and with the soft blue and cream striped background I think it works well. I've got fresh daffodils on my table this week, popped into a bright and cheery rainbow jug which is making me smile every time I clap eyes on it (which is often, because I've been sat right next to them all day). I love the design very much - it's so cheerful and jolly in those sunny colours against the blue. She dressed up so beautifully for her farewell celebrations and it reminded me of this long-ago post when she was just four years old. We live in a cosy terraced house on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales in England which we are slowly renovating and making home. This weekI enjoyed coffee in the park with a good friend, loving the sunshine on my face while we chatted and caffeinated. Comments (67), Thank you so much for visiting me in the Attic, it's lovely to see you. Walking to the shops is always a visual pleasure and I often feel like I'm on holiday as I go about my quiet business. | I get to see the sun rising above the hill around 7am at the moment, and often times I stop walking and just stand still to soak in the gentle warmth of it. The garden in front of the church is in an elevated position, so it gives a lovely view right down the main high street of the town. Gorgeous sunshine and shadows, a chilly wind blowing, but oh, that bright sun and blue sky was very, very lovely indeed. J and I went out for a walk this morning. I searched high and low and I cannot find them anywhere, so I'll just have to crochet up some replacements. I must remember to do it more often, especially because the LP really loved me for it, haha, gold star for Mum. I used to come here regularly when Little B was very small because we went to a lovely singing group in the church hall every Monday morning. There are multiple layers where the different rounds go over and under each other and at first you just can't see how it's going to work.. .but slowly it all just clicks into place and petals and leaves interlink in a brilliantly thought out way. I had to pop into the supermarket on Friday and they were selling pots of hyacinths for 1.50 so of course I popped one in my basket to bring home. I took full advantage, digging out my outdoor crochet blankets and reacquainting myself with the delights of the sunlounger I bought last year. It's pure pleasure, and my heart has felt full of gratitude today. It's been a long while since I sat down and tried to follow somebody else's crochet pattern, and it was an interesting experience for someone like me whose brain really, really dislikes written patterns. Next up were some wintry leaves - I couldn't think of any specific leaves I wanted to make so I decided to use an existing pattern. My daily morning walks in the woodland have continued to keep me simultaneously grounded and uplifted and I'm so thankful for this place that I call home. I've been wanting to make a winter garland for a few years now, something pretty to hang on my mantel in January once the colour and sparkle of Christmas has been packed away. | For example, the television. And the tulips are also very beautiful and were only 3 a bunch. This weekmy Little Lady officially left school to begin her A level study leave and it's proving to be a highly emotional time for yours truly, unexpectedly so. Ah, all this excitement has sent me into a giddy spin, and I think I'm going to need a little lie down now. She had taken a large flower motif from one of her blankets and turned it into a beautiful decoration for her front door - you can see it ((here)). | I drank in the Spring vibes on those pages and enjoyed soaking up all the little floral details and light, airy springtime colours. I added a little drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice to the noodles, with a liberal sprinkling of sea salt and a heavy grind of black pepper. I've been keeping an eye on the elderflowers around and about as I'm hoping to make a nice big batch of cordial again this year. I wonder if I can perhaps just quietly start it without any expectation or timeline, maybe one or two squares, just to get a feel for it and scratch the itch? Nothing fancy, just an old desk top propped on the arms of a chair, and me with my camera jigging about trying to get it all done while the morning light was good. As I've made hellebores before, I already have a full tutorial for the pattern ((HERE)), which includes guidance on how I make the stamens. Now it's time for me to tell you about who is coming next in the Garden Party tour - say HeLLo to the lovely Julia who is the talented designer and author behind "Hand Knitted Things". You can find her blog here >> https://handknittedthings.blogspot.com/and she is@handknittedthings on Instagram. Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow with a ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-dah! Posted at 09:42 PM in Crochet, Family, Flowers, Food, Home, Outings, Weather | Permalink On Friday afternoon it was warm enough to sit outside for the first time in a very long while. I'm the kind of person who tends to deal with these things silently and inwardly which is probably not the best way, but keeping everything tightly wrapped up is just the way I am. Again, you can find the pattern alterations on the garland page ((HERE)). Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!!!!!! I'm looking forward to seeing it repointed and brought back to life. I mean, it's not a bad working environment.. .and I do get to take breaks whenever I like because the boss is very lenient when it comes to time keeping and scheduling my working hours. I'm back to healthy eating this week, a reset of sorts which I feel is much needed. This is a relatively new yarn which launched in summer 2020 and this is the first time I've had the chance to try it out. I appreciate it very much, it's a little bit of magic and kindness in this crazy ol'world. Comments (65). Sigh, I want to do it sooo badly. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Posted at 09:29 AM in Crochet | Permalink Totally inspired, I fell head first in love with the idea of making something similar in crochet - random, scrappy two-colour crochet squares in a glorious mix of colours. I've made some good progress on my Winter Garland today, finishing off the hellebores and finalising the snowdrop design which I have to say I'm s-u-p-e-r happy with. Here is a little taster for you - she's chosen the most perfect palette of Stylecraft Special DK for her knitting design, I'm sure you're going to love it. A Thursday Ta-Dah would be a very good thing so I shall try hard to make it happen. Before I get carried away with springtime chat I wanted to thank you all so, so much for the really lovely, positive comments you wrote in response to my Winter Garland. There is the market food shop of course, and the cooking of the family meal each evening, plus laundry, always laundry. You can see my inspiration photos in the collage above - winter skies, frosty leaves, snowberries, pretty hellebore flowers and winter flowering cherry blossom. The older I get, the more I recognise an intuitive need to be in tune with nature and the changing seasons, it grounds me and keeps me focused on the here and now which I seem to need. Thank you for visiting with me in the Attic, and an especially big thank you to all of you who take the time to leave a comment. I don't usually find plain water especially appealing, but cucumber-water, well, that's on a whole new level - so refreshing! The winter berries were also rather fiddly to make, but because they're so small they take no time at all really. I can show you the yarn I'm using, it's the Organic Cotton which I love, in a pretty palette of sherbet shades. Eh? And in other news, I've got fresh flowers on my table again and they are giving me all the happy, joyous feels, I absolutely adore tulips. I'm impatiently waiting for that to happen and then I can get busy with cleaning and tidying and planting up my pots for the summer. Every time I bring bulbs into the house I get a thrill of anticipation, and I hope that I never stop finding pleasure in keeping up these small seasonal rituals for myself. These were in bud when I bought them from the supermarket, but I had a feeling that they looked paler than the usual bright yellow ones and I was seriously beside myself with happiness when they began to open at the weekend. Julia will be sharing her project with you in two days time, on Thursday 12th May. Lucky, lucky me. I adapted Jane's blanket pattern to create the final round which attaches the motif to the hoop and love how it turned out. I adore this kind of seasonal inspiration and always feel uplifted by the stylish photographs and beautifully laid out pages. Just this morning I happened to catch sight of the date and was astounded to find out that we are already in the middle of the month and goodness me, the Summer Solstice is less than a week away! I was awake quite early when it was still dark but spent some time sat quietly in bed with a scented candle lit and a mug of milky coffee in hand. These little flowers are very quick and easy to make and I used two shades of pink as well as cream. How beautiful!! These photos were taken this morning as we walked through the park around 7 o'clock, and as you can see it was bloomin' cold with frost still clinging to the grass in the shady areas. I noticed that the early blossom is now blooming, and that really did make me happy. These colours look exceptionally pretty together and make me want to sigh with pleasure because they're so calm and easy on the eye. I love it, and wish we could buy bunches of these more delicate varieties. It was fascinating, honestly, to see how my writing style has changed over time - in my head I haven't changed the way I write at all, but reading back I see that my written voice has definitely altered with age and experience. This will allow us to find your work and share it with others. I made 24 of them in total (each fern leaf has 3 berries attached) .and think they look quite cute. I don't know where the idea came from but it flew into my head one morning and would not be shifted no matter how hard I tried. | I think the swan thought he/she might like to share my snack with me, but honestly I wasn't much in the mood for sharing. I had a good idea of the colour palette I wanted to use, inspired by the soft, muted, frosty shades of this cold season. I've felt the need to be still and quiet of late, for no real reason other than to attempt to relax a little.