Attic24

Comfort Food

Helloooooo!!!!

I bought some amazing greetings cards recently and thought you would love to see them....

 

.....Fabulous or what????

This is the work of Kate Jenkins, who works under the business name of "Cardigan".

You can see a whole gallery of her quirky, innovative crochet work on her website here, and also more here.

I love her work very much, but oooooooooooeeeee at how much one would have to pay to own a bit of Kate's crocheted Comfort Food???!!

Tis eye wateringly expensive.

Think I'll stick with the printed paper version.

I'm writing a super-whizzy post today folks as I'm still busy doing bathroomy things and getting oh-so-excited about it!!!

Been busying myself with sky blue painted things, stripy fabric things (with matching pompoms) and crocheted bunting things :: such fun!!

Lovin' it today, love-love-lovin' it. Ooooo I am just all smoochy and In LOVE with my bathroom, it's so very nearly FINISHED (in Capital Letters no less), can't wait to show you......

Life is sometimes just one huge buzz of mega-creative excitement, don't you find??!!

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November

 

Slightly late with my Calendar post this month, but hey-ho, better late than never.

The mosaic above is my Attic24 October, and I have to say I did really enjoy last month, enjoyed easing myself gently into Autumn. Time seemed to fly by a little too speedily at times through October though, but it was good nevertheless.

So here we are into the first week of November, a month of wrapping up warm and cosying up. Leaf kicking, fire lighting, chestnut roasting, candle lighting, hot water bottling, blanket snuggling.

The Bossy Calendar is actually spot on with it's bossiness for this month I think, and I am more than happy to obey orders. It's still Persistently Brown mind you, but I can overlook that and focus on the glow of the open fire and the warm twinkle of candlelight.

 

The Ideal Homes November calendar page is oooooooo-so-very-atmospheric isn't it?? Beautifully simple, seasonal and quite lovely, as all their photographs have been during this year.

For those of you in the UK, the current issue of Ideal Homes magazine (December issue) is now in the shops and with it comes the 2010 calendar.....it's another stunning collection of images and I'm already looking forward to turning it's pages next year.

The November weather-watch from the Attic today is wet-wet-wet, I honestly don't think it's stopped raining here since Sunday.

Hoping very much that the rain might decide to ease up soon, it's not been nice doing the school run in such wetness. Been able to wear my wellies though, which has been a Good Thing. 

One thing about enduring a wet, soggy walk to school is that it makes the Home-coming even more pleasurable than usual. I loved walking back in the door this morning, the house seemed so cosy and welcoming.

Baked some cookies earlier and there's a rather wonderful fresh-baking smell still lingering in the air....these are my raisin and orange cookies (find the recipe here), only I used cranberries today instead of raisins and let me tell you they are really scrumptious.

Thought you might like to see a current view of Bump24, providing a rather handy ledge for my coffee cup. Many thanks to those of you who have asked after me and The Bump of late, we are doing very well thank you. I'm now plodding into the third trimester (28 weeks) and trying to remind myself to sloooooow right down, which is proving surprisingly difficult.

Right, off to indulge in a second cup of coffee before commencing the day's Nesting Activities. On the agenda for today :: making a blind for the bathroom window and painting my bathroom cupboard door knobs.

Do you know what? We could be coming close to a Bathroom Makeover Reveal very soon, now thats been a long time coming!

Enjoy your day my lovelies, whatever is on your agenda...

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Weekend Walking

 

 

A few pictures taken late on Saturday afternoon, the last day of October.

We often drive out of our town a few miles to walk around this quiet little reservoir sitting peacefully beneath The Crag.

Occasionally we do undertake a climb Up to the top of The Crag.

But most often we are content to walk rather lazily beneath it.

If you are age five and seven, the water provides paddling/stone-throwing opportunities which are very attractive.

And if you are age forty and forty one, the scenery provides soul-refreshment opportunities which are very attractive.

Yes, we like this type of lazy weekend walking.

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Weekend Colour

 

 

 

 

My weekend was full of C's :: comfort, cosiness, crafting, crochet, cuddles, cake, coffee, colour.

Enjoyed it enormously, this homey time with my little family.

Enjoyed the comfort of being within our four walls while the weather did unspeakably miserable things outside.

I need to tell you that  in amongst all these lovely C's, I also had a little ponder about Attic24 over the weekend.

I had a good long think about the time and space that blogging takes up in my day (which can be quite considerable at times).

I balanced it out against the pressing demands of Other Things also needing my time and space right now.

And I came to the the conclusion that as much as I have to attend to Other Things in my life at this time, I quite simply also have to continue to find a little time in each day to be here at Attic24.

I have to continue to record the things that make me tick, to document my thoughts, observations, ideas, pleasures, creativity.

Because it makes me feel so good to be here.

And it makes me feel so miserable thinking about not being here.

And I'm all for the Feel-Good.

However, for the time being I'm going to have to reduce the time I spend blogging.

So I shall try to be here most days, but making shorter postings. 

Its a compromise you see, and one that I feel will do us all fine for the time being.

I know you'll understand, cos you're so good like that.

Right now then, I'm going to finish up with the words and say Toodle-ooo.

I'm off to wield a paintbrush and get busy with those Other Things.

See you Tomorrow for some outdoorsy pictures from my weekend.

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Friday Thinking

Thinking about the weather :: in my little part of North Yorkshire, the weather and the overall light levels have been very poor in the past fortnight. It's been seriously dim, grey, dank and gloomy and not very pleasant to tell the truth.  But in the past few days, there have been little pockets of light to be found :: mostly it's been the early morning and early evening when the sunlight has managed to penetrate the dense grey clouds, and oh, I have appreciated it! Tiny little patches of lightness at either end of the day's greyness which have lifted my spirits enormously.

Thinking about my view :: these views from the Attic were taken yesterday morning, around 8am. Of course we ended up with another dull, grey cloudy day, but the start of it at least was quite breathtaking, if only for a very short while.

Thinking about my breakfast :: I've taken to eating my breakfast outside this week. It's been cold and fresh, and I've really felt the need for cold, fresh air first thing in the morning. It clears my head and revives me a little after what has often been a very restless night for me and Bump24. We are not sleeping great, me and the Bump, our nights are a whole load of blurrgghh. Yet I am surprisingly OK with it.

Thinking about my back yard :: my view across the breakfast bowl is not especially inspiring right now...my summer flowers are more or less over, and then there's that wall look, the wall which I had fully intended (but failed) to paint during the summer months. Love my watering can though, don't you?

 

Thinking about my feet :: I'm still wearing my crocs, sometimes with bare feet and sometimes with socks. I did try one day last week to go and buy some sensible winter shoes, but rather embarrassingly I found I could no longer bend down enough across the expanse of Bump24 to actually get the shoes onto my feet. The poor shoe shop assistant (a trendy young man with sculpted spiky hair, it was that kind of shoe shop) was not sure whether to laugh, offer to help, or run away. In the end it was me who ran away, and so my crocs are still having to carry me about. I think this winter I'll have to wear crocs in dry weather and wellies in wet weather :: not ideal, but what can one do when ones tummy is the size of a small house?

 

Thinking about my neighbourhood :: we went to our local park, me and the Little People, at the very end of one day this week (think it was Wednesday?) Me on foot (in my crocs) and the LP on two wheels :: you can see Little Lady in the above picture, a little dot-on-wheels zooming down the grassy slope.

 

Thinking about the end-of-day :: the light was beautiful at the end of this day, around 5pm or so. Long, golden shadows and full-on Autumnal-ness, a welcome respite from the grey.

Thinking about my Little People :: I ambled along, watching the Little People cycle, swing, climb, run, enjoying the great outdoors. I enjoyed Them enormously during this late Autumn afternoon, enjoyed their energy, their lust for life, the way they make me feel so proud just to be a Mummy-in-the-park.

Thinking about the Sun :: I really, truly, completely appreciated the Sunlight during this hour at the park. Tried to breathe it in and hold on to it. The sun has been such a rare sight during this past fortnight, hiding out behind all the greyness.

Thinking about Where I'm At :: this month seems to be rollicking by at such a rate that I often find myself almost feeling out of breath with it. Can it really be Pumpkin Day tomorrow?? Already? The last day of October already?? Tomorrow I will be twenty-eight weeks pregnant, moving into the third trimester. Can it really be so??

There is much to be done in the Attic24 household in the next few weeks, and I am simultaneously horrified and excited by the prospect of it. I really need to apply myself wholeheartedly to the business of Nesting. Of tidying, sorting, clearing, organising, painting, sewing, prettifying and homemaking.

So I'm telling you this now cos it may well become a little bit more Erratic-in-the-Attic in the next week or two, and I don't want you to worry about me if I'm suddenly absent.

I'll be Nesting.

And Nesting is Good.

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Birdie Decoration Tutorial

A quick little post today to let you know that my tutorial for making these Birdie Decorations is finally finished. Woohoo!!!!

I decided to write it in two parts ::

Part 1 :: the Flat Circle. This is how you make the main body of the Birdie.

Part 2 :: the Birdie Decoration. This is how you make all the other bits needed for this cute little crochet bird.

I felt that the Flat Circle pattern needed to be listed as a page on it's own as it's a very useful pattern to know (can also be used to make a round cushion, or the bottom of a bag). I've had lots of emails lately asking for help in trouble shooting the bottoms-of-bags which are not working out as they should, and I'm hoping that these detailed instructions and many, many pictures should help you to make a flat circle easily, or trouble shoot bag bottoms that have gone baggy or curly!!

 

I'm hoping you have lots of fun creating your own flock of Birdies.

Don't forget you can share pictures of your creations with us all in the Attic24 Inspired Flickr group. Some very cute little Birdies have already flown in, so do go take a peek.

Have fun!!

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Yesterday :: Today :: Tomorrow

:: Yesterday :: I bought a small bunch of the most beautiful pink roses and arranged them in a small handmade pottery jug.

:: Today :: the sight of them is making me very happy indeed.

:: Today :: a very nice man arrived at 8:30am to begin working on the small front bedroom and the bathroom (yaayyy!!). Stripping wallpaper, re plastering walls, and then some fresh paint. I am sooo excited I can't tell you. I'll keep you posted on progress.

:: Yesterday :: I finished off my little robin. He is pretty cute.

:: Today :: I am looking at his dangly legs (which I did last night) and thinking that maybe they are too long. Or maybe they are just too much. What do you think?

 

:: Yesterday :: I bought myself a little metal robin which I am quite in love with. Must have had robins-on-the-brain yesterday.



:: Today :: I have been very, very, very busy hooking and photographing to make the Birdie tutorial for you. It's surprisingly time consuming.

 

:: Today :: I am not sure I'll have enough time to finish writing the tutorial, but I will try. If it doesn't materialise today, then :: Tomorrow :: for sure.

:: Tomorrow :: I think I'll need to spend time with my poor neglected Little People. What with the chaos going on Upstairs and having a Mother who is obsessed with making Little Birdies Downstairs, they are kicking around very bored and rather fed up.

:: Tomorrow :: I'm hoping for a good day.

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Crochet WiP's

When I began reading blogs I remember coming across that little phrase "WiP" all the time and liking the sound of it but not knowing what on earth it meant. Had no idea. I'm not going to let on how long it actually took me to work it out either, but lets just say it was a loooong time. But I do happen to think that chatting about one's WiP's is pretty funny and it's a phrase I like to use, so todays little offering from the Attic is all about my current Crochet WiP's.

I'm having a total Pleasure-fest with my crochet at the moment, it's suiting my nesty, homey instincts and the dull, murky weather down to the ground. As you know, my main WiP is a baby granny-square blanket for Bump24, using Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino yarn. Its turning out to be a hugely enjoyable project :: the yarn is scrumptious to work with, the colours are a little lighter and softer than my usual palette (which I'm enjoying a great deal), and it's fast. Oh yeah..I am LOvInG the speed at which I can hook these squares, it really does give me buzz to see it coming together so quickly. I can make one of these 5-round granny's in Eleven Minutes Flat. And that includes changing colours and darning in ends. Eleven Minutes!!! I tell you, my hands are a positive blur when I'm working and I'm surprised my hook isn't smokin' at the end of an hour or two.

I took the above photo this morning to show you where I'm up to with it :: 72 squares so far, and I'm going to be adding three more long rows (36 squares), then a wideish border to finish. I decided that even though in the immediate future this is going to be a cot blanket, I want it to be big enough to go the distance, big enough for it to accommodate a snuggling toddler/child in future years.

 

I ran out of a couple of the DB colours last night, so earlier today the Little People and I went off on a jaunt to a nearby town which has a most excellent yarn shop. Oh we did have a fun jaunt! As well as yarn shopping (and the purchase of a lovely new crochet book too), we ate warm sausage rolls from the baker for our lunch, then went to a cafe for carrot cake+cappuccino / juice+muffins. I really enjoyed having my Little People for company I have to say.

The above photo has nothing whatsoever to do with anything yarny or crochety, but it was a little greengrocers shop we happened to walk past en route to the yarn shop and it captivated me totally. Isn't it wonderful?? I'm sorry for the quality of the pic, only the light levels here continue to be very low indeed. We've been shrouded in thick, grey, damp fog all day, and even though I took this photograph in the middle of the day, it looks like dusk.

As well as my granny blanket, I've also been continuing to work a little on my Birdies. It was such FUN sharing that with you last week, and I'd like to say a huge ((THanK YoU)) to all of you who left me a comment on that post, it made me really happy to read your wonderful responses.

I know many of you would like the pattern to enable you to hatch a little hooky flock for yourselves, and I'm hoping to work on that tomorrow for you.

Your suggestions about what to do with a little flock of hooky birdies were fabulous, and I've been getting sooo excited about making Birdie Mobiles, Biride Bunting and Birdie Christmas Tree Decorations......gosh, I mean it's making me REALLY EXCITED!!!!!!!! Yes, big CAPITAL LETTERS sort of EXCITED, with many exclamation marks !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I started to think about Christmas decorations, I immediately thought of making robins. As I didn't have any brown robin-coloured yarn in the Attic, I had to go and buy some today, and I ended up getting some organic natural cotton yarn which I hope is going to work out. I confess it feels very very odd for me to be handling Brown Yarn, but I'm coping.

My robin is still very much a fledgling WiP as you can see....a test-run-robin. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Right....need to stop yapping about my WiP's and go light the fire and get industrious in the kitchen before husband returns home and demands to know what's going on. I'm pretty sure that a blog post and a half-made crochet robin will not cut the mustard in place of a roaring fire and a hot meal on the table.

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ps I know several of you are still waiting for the Circles Scarf pattern, and I promise I'll try fit that in very soon.

pps in case you really need to know but don't like to ask, WiP = Work In Progress :o)

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Rest:&:Recreation

Morning all! Ahh Monday morning and all is rather snug and content in my little world I have to say. It's the first day of our half term week and so far we are doing OK, even if the day is already (at 10.3am) seeming rather long. I've deliberately made no plans for this week, so we have five schedule-free days stretching ahead of us, and it feels good. After seven weeks of pretty full-on schooling, the Little People are really in need of some quality  Rest:and:Recreation this week, and I am more than happy to accommodate. Suits me just fine.

The weekend for us as a family was also very much about enjoying some quality R:&:R. We all really felt the need to stay close to home after what has felt like a long run of social engagements and planned activities/outings/arrangements throughout the weekends of September and early October.

There's something extraordinarily good about embarking on a day that doesn't contain a single plan or arrangement, nothing pressing that needs doing, no obligations to meet, no appointments to keep, no time schedule mapped out. Its not very  often that you get to go through a whole day in this way, and oh, I do LOVE it when it happens.

So these photos today were all taken at various times during our stay-home weekend of R:&:R. As you can see, the weather for most of the weekend was grey and wet, but in many ways that made it even better. It meant that we could concentrate on staying indoors without feeling that we should be going out anywhere. And Indoor Weekends, for me anyways, are always a Good Thing.

I start my weekend by spending as much time in bed as I can get away with. Tea and toast bought up to me by my lovely hubby, followed by some lengthy in-bed hooking. Quite a blissful start to the day, wouldn't you agree?

 

As you would expect, crochet is very high on my personal list of Things To Do during a weekend of R:&:R, and I did indeed manage to while away many hours with hook and yarn. I'm really enjoying working on my baby granny blanket. It's starting to become quite blankety now, even though it still needs to grow quite a bit more yet. I've decided I'm going to need 9 x 12 squares altogether to make this blankie the right size, and after the weekend's hooking activity I've done 60 so far, so 48 left to go.

Of course, weekends spent at home do not all revolve around me-me-me. Little People are also about and need to be occupied, although mostly these days they pretty much take care of that themselves.

There was lego construction taking place....

....and colouring too.

And there was quite a lot of snuggly blanket action on the sofas accompanied by TV/film watching.

The Little People weren't the only ones indulging in snuggly blanket sofa action either...

....I spent some really enjoyable time over the weekend reading and browsing and oohhing and ahhing my way through a couple of gorgeous and inspiring new books. Oh yes I did!

And to accompany my crochet and bookish activities, there was some rather indulgent (but completely necessary) chocolate consumption too. Oh yes there was!

Now before you begin to think that I spent the whole weekend lounging about reading, hooking, drinking tea and scoffing chocolates, let me tell you I did manage to carry out a few light domestic chores in the kitchen. Oh yes, really I did!

It's not all about idle laziness around here you know. Even during R:&:R weekends.

I baked a batch of fruity flapjacks....

....and made and bottled up some refreshing lemon drink.

  

So that pretty much sums up my take on our weekend.

It was simple and homely and pleasurable.

Much needed and much appreciated.

Yes, I can heartily recommend a weekend dedicated to Rest:&:Recreation time.

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Walking to School

We've not had particularly nice weather here in North Yorkshire this week, and thats putting it kindly. Some days have been downright horrid, the worst kind of Autumnal weather :: think dark/dull, damp/wet, gusty/blustery, cold/bleak. It's been a challenge to face our walk to school with optimism, even though we are extremely lucky to have a very picturesque daily commute on foot.

I was looking back at an archive post earlier, a post about our School Run which I wrote way back in the summer of last year. Every photograph looked sooooo bright and beautiful in the summer sunshine! Very different to today, which was extremely dull and grey. Yet I felt determined to really try and appreciate these little snippets of my daily routine today, and to remind myself how lucky I am to have this daily jaunt. Its not half bad really.

So :: off we go :: strolling out into the grey autumn afternoon.....

 

The above picture is the view I have about a minutes walk from the Attic, stood at the very end of my street. You can see we live quite high up, looking down the hill to the canal, then across the town to the hills beyond. The very large building you can see is an old textile mill, now converted to appartments which overlook the canal.

Down the hill, across the swing bridge and onto the tow path now...the canal boats on the left hand side are permanently moored and don't move, they are lived on all year round :: little floating houses.

 

The boats on the right hand side come and go from day to day. Some of them are lived on permanently but travel up and down the canal, others are rented out to holiday makers keen to enjoy a little slice of the slow life up and down the waterways.

There is a smell of woodsmoke in the air which I love, and it's uinmistakably Autumnal.

Further along, and we are nearing the centre of the town now. This is a busy part of the canal, with a mixture of permanent moorings, holiday moorings and pleasure boats offering short cruises to holiday makers. The jaunty painted boat-planters on the left there are still flowering with summer annuals,  they were newly built this summer and have looked spectacular all season.

I had to photograph this boat to show you, I just love that colour blue with it's cheerful painted flower bouquets. This boat has only been on the canal for a few days and will probably move on again soon. I smile every time I walk past.

As well as looking at the boats on the water, I take time today to look up to the tress above my head....

.....and down to the ground beneath my feet.

I notice the little details of Autumn, the vibrant leaf colours, the shiny berries....

....and the autumn flowers.

There is beauty to be found all around, and taking time to really see it and appreciate it feels good.

Really good.

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