Happy Halloween to you all! I thought I’d crochet you something appropriate, hope you like them…
They make the perfect Halloween decorations, and sit rather
well with last year’s Witchy Kitty…
NB – these crochet pumpkins are October’s crochet flower of
the month; following on the thought form last month – that without the flower
you wouldn’t get the fruit or veg! Hope
you don’t mind?
The builders downed-tools and finished work last Thursday! I have my home back! I thought that you might like to see some of the changes we have made. These photographs were taken mid-way through the project; so don’t think that this is how we were left. I’ll show you the finished rooms in a (optimistic) few weeks; when Si and I have had chance to decorate. We have the deadline of making the house good (that is finished to a state so people can stay and not feel like they are still in a building site; sorry R – that won’t happen by next Thursday when you are staying) by Christmas. Just to clarify that is Christmas THIS year.
Come on in…
This is our new bathroom…
…it used to be our study….
This is our new gust bathroom: It does now have a wc and
basin plumbed in and a door…
…it used to be a space between the chimney and wall…
This is our new dining room / study / craft room…
…it used to be our bathroom...
I'll share some more pictures when we are a bit further on…
Over the past few weeks I have had a lot of grand days out; while the builders get on with remodelling our home. First there was London, then Cornwall, then back home. Fortunately I live in a very wonderful city, York, where there are lots and lots and lots of places to visit and have even more grand days out. Even more fortunately lots of the places are free to people who live in the city. I spent a happy couple of hours wondering around St Mary's church. St Mary’s church is part of York Museums Trust and is home to the Art Gallery’s contemporary art space. The installation which is there at the moment is just amazing, truly awe-inspiring. It is called The temple of a Thousand Bells by artist Laura Belem. The installation is composed of, quite literally, hundreds of tiny glass bells that look like they are floating. A narrative and music, accompanies the installation, telling the story of an ancient legend about a temple of a thousand bells, built on an island that sank, as the story goes on you become aware of the sound of the lost bells.
You truly have to visit to appreciate the installation; here is just a hint of what you can expect…
You’ll have to hurry; this installation is due to close on
the 4th November. But if you
do get the chance to visit it is free to all, not just us lucky York people.
You’ve probably realised that I love to crochet flowers. I haven’t been able to crochet flowers for the last few weeks. My yarn stash was packed away ahead of the building work. I miss popping up stairs to grab a ball of yarn on a crochet wimp. While we were packing the house away, I was able to slide my hand into the draw: and with the help of a torch pull something out. I can’t imagine what state those draws will be in! For the last few weeks, nothing, no access. To get my crochet flower fix, I have spent some happy time browsing my crochet book collection: and I thought that I would share one of my favourite with you. This book is as good as Lesley Stanfield's; but in a very different way. The book that I want to tell you about is Crochet Flowers by the incredibly talented Nicky Epstein….
The book is just beautiful!
Full of gorgeous photographs of crochet flowers; in some of the most
amazing yarn you have ever seen. Each
flower has the crochet pattern, so you can easily crochet the flowers for
yourself. And most (if not all) of the
flowers have crochet charts; brilliant for those of us who prefer to look at
pictures rather than read words! One
note of caution; if you do read and follow the crochet patterns, they are written
in American; while translation is no big issue – it is worth remembering before
you start!
The book is a true source of inspiration, even if you don’t follow the patterns and prefer to crochet things up as you go along (as I do) I would recommend that this book is placed on your bookshelf. Go on treat yourself…
Ps – building work should finish today or tomorrow. Very excited to start decorating, can’t wait to share it all with you…
Cornwall was a welcome contrast to the hustle and bustle of London. We had a wonderful break with Si’s parents; visiting National Trust properties and small market towns. All around us Autumn seemed to have arrived; here are just a few of the picis I took, of all the wonderful, inspirational colours…
No trip to Cornwall would be complete without a visit to the sea-side…
Right now I am happy to be home. Home is becoming less and less like a building site; the builders have told me that they will be finished by Wednesday. Si is sealing in the new plaster; and I have my first Christmas cake baking in the oven and a steaming hot cup of tea waiting for me. Happy Days!
The building work is going well. I can see the finished results although they are still a week away, and after that comes the decorating, the flooring and the tidying. Oh goodness the tidying! After that comes the cushions, lots and lots of cushions to crochet and sew together. I am looking forward to it soooo very much. I already have the colours in minds that I am going to use. It will come of little surprise that purple features quite heavily, as does teal, burnt orange and rich deep berry and earth colours. I can’t wait! I have started some of the cushion covers, just some simple crocheted granny squares, similar to that I crocheted for my friend a while ago. There is something really soothing about crocheting a granny-square; the repetitive nature of crocheting treble after treble after treble…
I am crocheting with Zauberball yarn, like with the last cushion
I crocheted, but this one is going to be two large granny squares, rather than
lots of smaller ones. I love the colour change
of the yarn. I love the colours contrasting
together. I love the bursts of brightness
against the deep purple tones…
Last week Si and I decided to take some time out and go on an adventure. Or more to the point we decided to leave the builders to get on with it while we has some grand days out. Can you guess where we went..?
No? Here are some
more clues…
That’s right, we went to London. We spent a glorious weekend exploring the
sites of our capital city. We wondered
the streets and visited Westminster Abbey (you might remember a small wedding
took place their last year), Tate to look at the amazing Pre-Raphaelite exhibition
and shopped at Liberty. Wow! What a shop.
The inside was as amazing as the out…
You might be able to guess my favourite department..?
And yes, I did buy some yarn…
After the busyness of London, we travelled out to Cornwall,
to stay with Si’s Mum and Dad. I’ll tell
you about that another time. At the
moment I am quite tired. The last ten
days, haven’t been the easiest. The river
Ouse, in York, flooded (is still in flood) and lapped its way to the end of my
street. A massive, mass-IVE, MASSIVE tank you to everyone who kept their fingers
crossed: it worked and fortunately the river didn’t actually make it into the
street. A massive thank you also goes out
to the City of York Council workers who worked through the night sandbagging
and pumping out, without them...well you can imagine what would have
happened. Plus, going away leaving
builders in the house inevitably lead to phone calls! I’ll let you all about it later…
I love to create beautiful things out of yarn. I love textile crafts, especailly crochet.
Recent Comments