OneChurchillsGreen

Spring sunshine!

Couldn't resist sharing this quick snap with you...

The Spring sunshine is glorious and I'm at the kitchen table tech editing for 'Inside Crochet' magazine. I've got three patterns on the go for their 'floral' issue, and I simply couldn't resist hooking a couple of them up (I'm sure ed Claire won't mind me giving you a sneak preview - I'll let you know when the issue is on the newstand). I'm still enjoying the Yeoman 'Panama' linen yarn, and as you can see I finished hooking up my pink doily, which now sits perfectly below my hellebore bowl! Anyway, back to work ;-) xxx

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A glimpse of Spring ......

A glimpse of Spring ......

... as the flood waters' keep rising, we are conscious of just how lucky we are to be warm and dry. I haven't really ventured into the garden, it's just too wet, but I have been admiring the resilient hellebores nestled in the protective curve of the garden wall...

There appear to be three different varieties, each as beautiful as the next. As you can see, the buds are abundant, so I picked a few blossoms to brighten the kitchen table. I love the way the plant almost hides it's blooms, a shy beauty bowing it's face from public view. But I just love to look at every tiny detail of these breathtaking flowers...

Floating them face up in a bowl of water is the most effective way of displaying them in all their glory. And inspired by the delicate shades, I've picked up the Panama yarn I used for Pipi's summer sweater and am hooking up a doily to grace the table below the blooms.

It's fun to see where the creative process takes you, I really enjoy hooking up a doily loosely based on one of my antique originals, it's almost like crochet 'downtime'. I don't need to concentrate too hard and I can just see the 'modern' version take shape. I posted the image on Twitter, primarily to show Emma Mitchell some of my vintage thread. Having swooned at the sight of Emma's beautiful tiny silver spools a couple of weeks ago, I asked if they were filled with vintage thread - I thought I'd share some of the pretty pastels I've collected over the years. Village fairs and thrift shops are my top hunting grounds for old spools of thread. Emma and I keep threatening to collaborate, ever since we met up via The Red Nose Day Doll project for Comic Relief, and she might have stumbled on the perfect opportunity - let's just say, I've promised to try my hand at the tiniest of doilies and the rest is over to Emma's creative genius, how exciting! xxx

 

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Simple treasures .......

A creative boost......

Creatively speaking, it's been a slow start to 2014. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but the ideas haven't been flowing and the yarn hasn't been calling! It's amazing what difference a week can make - my lovely editor Claire, at Inside Crochet, pinged a couple of tech editing jobs my way and just interacting with another creative spirit, enjoying the process of editing someone elses beautiful creativity and a trip to the Wool Workshop in Corfe Castle and boom, my 'crojo' is back!!! It's probably helped by a good dose of great news - people I care about who've been finding life tough of late seem to have made progress in the right direction. There really is light at the end of several tunnels right now and that's lifted my own spirits. And life is picking up pace, I've got my reading books for my teacher training and my first assignment, so I have an additional focus which always liberates my creativity, it provides just the right 'down time' in between more challenging tasks.

My wonderful friend, Cath, gave me some 'spare' wool left over from one of her gorgeous projects and I've started the beautiful 'Balloon Sweater' by Emma Robertson, published in the inspirational 'The Knitting Collection', edited by Claire Montgomerie. It's not the specified yarn, so contrary to all my natural instincts, I knitted up a tension square! 

Well, half of one! Circular needle at the ready and I'm seed stitching away!

And together with my brilliantly creative friend Sarah, we rescued some remnants of a precious old quilt yesterday and created a new mini-quilt for the next generation. To cover some small tears and faded patches, I hooked up some linen flowers to stitch on...

We had a wonderful afternoon combining our crafty skills with a healthy dose of laughter. There is something really special about giving new life to a tired but much loved item, knowing that the memories will be carried forward.

And writing of old pieces, I've been hooking up some colourful doilies. Each one a loose replica of one of my favourite originals - all of which are awaiting the creation of my 'crafting' table, which will hopefully take shape this Spring.

All of which just goes to show, creativity can be a bit like a 137 bus on the Queenstown Road, Battersea - there's never one when you're looking and then when you least expect it, three of them arrive at once! xxx