Crochet and Relaxing Times

Hello to you!

I'm making the most of the half term holidays, and this sudden, abundantly glorious sunshine that has appeared over Yorkshire (which up until now has been rather cool, wet and subdued).  There is something rather luxurious about sitting in the early morning sun with a cup of coffee, in jammies, listening to birdsong and the musical sound of the river as it tinkles over the stones...

 (at the bottom of my garden...a magical river can be found)
 
 ...and knowing it's going to be one of those magical, bright blue sky days...

I've been reaquainting myself with my wool stash, and my crochet books in an effort to relax and switch off from the mayhem that I'd created in my life of late.  I know I'm not the only one who does this, and it's gently reassuring to know I'm not alone in swamping myself with projects, ideas and new ventures; loading up my proverbial little ship with far too much Stuff and then wondering why it starts to leak and sink.  So gentle pursuits were the order of the week, and oh how lovely it has been!

Anyway, some of you may be familiar with this book:

It's called Motif Book 4 - Japanese Crochet Book, and it's wonderful.   I spent a lovely hour or so drinking up the gorgeous patterns in this book, and also the pictures on Attic 24's Blog here.  I then spent an equally lovely hour sorting through my odds and sods basket, and managed to accumulate the above wool to begin my very own flower shawl.  I may have to add to the stash as I'm not sure how far what I've got will go, but it's not going to cost alot (maybe two or three extra balls for what I have in mind).  I kknow I'm probably a bit late in the day joining in with the trend for flowery crocheted shawls and scarves as many of you have already made your own, but once I'm tempted, that's it!

So I got busy.  PJ's on, comfy sofa, surrounded by wool, listening to Spring Watch on the television:  Heaven.

And occasionally, a bit of outdoor Table Hooky Time with a nice cuppa in my seaside cup was called for:

As well as this, I've been getting out and about with my family, enjoying the warm spring rain, cups of tea and large chunks of carrot cake in cosy cafes, wild flowers and wildlife...

 

...and I've also been spending time in remote, quiet places where all you can hear is the sound of the breeze, and the call of the curlews...

 (beautiful places like this, not twenty minutes from my own front door...)

These simple times and simple pursuits are a tonic for a weary soul ~ what do you do to relax and switch off when life gets Over Full and Overwhelming?  Share your simple pleasures here with me, I'd love to here how you find delight in the ordinary as a way to rebalance and slow down!  I will look forward to hearing from you, and also to sharing pictures of my shawl/wrap with you when it's done.  I hope you all have a super weekend, thank you so much to the dear souls who left such kind comments on my last post - they were all very much appreciated (you are such a delightful bunch). 

Sending you love, thank you so much for stopping by today.
Julia x

Being Creative Gallery Check In ~ May

Hello Friends

 

It's time for the Being Creative Group to share their marvellous work again!  This month's theme was 'Home'.  I have been loving the work that has appeared in our Flickr Group, there has been some very inspiring and different styles emerging, and I'm delighted that you have taken the time to join in, and to share your creativity with us all. I'd also like to take the time to welcome the newer members of the group - it's great to have you join us!

So...I have a confession to make.

I did not take part this month.  You may have noticed that my little blog has been rather quiet of late, and the reason for this is that I've had a break from pretty much everything.  I wrote a few weeks back how I was studying some creative business courses, planning new work, writing my creativity e-book, along with keeping my family fed, watered and happy...and well, you all know how it goes.  There's only so much we can do, and I knew that I'd taken a bit too much on.  I had some great ideas for this month's theme, but I just didn't have the energy to carry them out.  I have spent the past week or so just gently moving through each day.  Business courses and the like have been shelved and the urgency to complete them removed - I was sleeping 10 hours a night and still feeling as if I'd not been to bed upon waking...it was time to assess this crazy overwhelm for real and to do that I had to step back from everything I'd tied myself up with.

So that's the reason why I haven't taken part - maybe I'll come back to the theme again - I'm not sure.  However, one of the rules of this project is that it's flexible - you take part, or you don't - I guess as the host of it I feel some kind of responsibility to lead the troops and have something to show each month, which will help to spur others on, and to encourage new people to join in.

I'm sorry if I've let anyone down, but I do hope that you understand (I'm sure you do, you're  a lovely bunch!).

So, here we go - the theme for May was Home as you know.   

For those of you who would like to share your work via your blog/Flickr or other photo hosting webpage, then you are very welcome to add your link to the widget below (please just link to the page your work features on).  Don't forget to use the whole caboodle of http://www...etc or else the link won't work.  

Anyone who has already posted in the Flickr Group are also encouraged to share your images in the gallery here too!  It's going to be wonderful to have a monthly source to access everyone's work ~ and please don't be shy about sharing...encouragement and support is the key to growing in confidence with your creativity, and although it can feel a little scary, I think you will feel a huge sense of achievement when you share your work and get feedback from the other participants or blog readers here.


You will be able to add your 'HOME' themed work to the gallery here until the end of June.  There is a list in the sidebar so that the gallery pages are easier for you to find.

For those of you who are working on the project and don't have the facility to share pictures of your work, then you are welcome to add your thoughts about your creative journey so far in the comments section at the bottom of this post.
I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on taking part in the Being Creative Project, so please do share or feel free to email me privately.
The theme for June is OCEAN

You can post your work freely in the Flickr group as and when you like, don't forget to make use of the Discussion facility if you have any questions, or require some support.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you've done - thank you so much for sharing the vibrant, colourful energy of your glorious creations! 

Julia x

 

Remember that Crocheted Waistcoat...?

it's finished.

In fact, truth be told it was finished a good few weeks ago, but I'd not got around to putting the ties on!  It has been languishing on my chair in crochet corner waiting patiently 'til now.

What do you think?

As it's been such an age since I started this waistcoat project, I cannot remember how much I spent on wool, except to say it was less than the one for sale that originally inspired me to make this one!  I used Rowan Handknit Cotton for it, but if I were to make another one I think I'd pick a slightly lighter yarn.  Cotton is quite sturdy, and I think a more floaty kind of wool would look quite good too.

But here's the thing - the fact is, I probably won't be able to make another.  I tried to write a pattern, and at first it looked as if it were going swimmingly - and I was so excited as I reallly thought I could share it with you.  Then it got tricky...and oh my, tricky like you wouldn't believe.  I spent a while frogging and re-doing bits over and over until they looked right.  Even now, there are parts of it that to my eye look ever so happily wonky and not exactly matching...but hey, it was fun to do.

So, (and I dread you reading this bit) I am very, very (truly) sorry...but I do not have a pattern to share with you after all. Writing all the complicated bits down and reading through it made absolutely no sense to me at all afterwards, and even though I tried writing it out three times, it wasn't convincing me that it was easy enough for folks to understand, and to publish on a blog to share with a squillion people.

Will you forgive me?  


I have to confess that I've had rather a hiatus from crochet of late.  I've been much to busy with other projects and come 8 o'clock I've been too pooped to do much else apart from flop.
And then I read a post over at Coco Rose Diaries about a new magazine, with some rather fabulous crocheted apple covers featured.  You can have a peek into this new magazine here too, it looks really good.  Vanessa's post and this magazine combined got me itching to get hooking again.

I think it was a much needed jolt to remind me to get the mix of business and pleasure balanced evenly.  Despite my attempts at balancing life (as described in my last post), I realised that I was actually still feeling pretty frazzled and worn out which is a major kick up the butt for me to reaaaalllly slow down.  I realised that peaceful creative pursuits must be allowed as well as all this studying, drawing and writing that I'm doing, so I've started to do my yoga again (just gentle bursts of 15-30 minutes each evening) and plan some crochet time too; for me this is such a relaxing thing to do and like reading, it helps me to centre and unwind after a mad day!  My other stuff has now been re-scheduled so that my self imposed (rather tight) deadlines have now been gloriously extended!! Hurrah, sighs of relief and more time for the fun stuff.  Why didn't I just do that in the first place???!!

I want to say Thank You to everyone who left comments on my last post too - it was great to read all your ideas on dealing with overwhelm.  It was also interesting to see how many of us go through the same processes, thank you so much for sharing.


Before I scoot off, I just want to tell you that I am in the process of creating some new card collections for my website, which I'm really excited about.  If you want the heads up on these (that is, an exclusive preview with a nice discount) then all you have to do is sign up for my email newsletter which you can do here!  Just scroll down the page, fill in the form and that's it!!

Sending you love for a happy week, 
Julia x