it started with an innocent visit to the library where waiting for me was a brand NEW utterly gorgeous and simply edible book! Emma Lamb and her gorgeous crochet 'ladies' was sooo inspiring and here, synchonicity again, was THE BEST BOOK EVER, by textile guru and purveyor of all textile gorgeousness Nicki Trench to get me going..... I have toyed with a leetle crochet in the past but .... this was irresistable! So as we set off to drive all the way to London I sat with a ball of wool and a crochet hook and started... (luckily husband is quite good at driving as I am rubbish at driving whilst crocheting despite being a Woman of Amazing Multi-tasking Ability)
several hours later at Grandma's house I emerge from my coma, the proud possessor of a long practice piece of double crochet 'fabric' made from some luscious Debbie Bliss wool...I have to say that speediness of crocheting is not my style but the sheer meditative bliss of crochet and the deliciousness of the outcome is utterly captivating and highly addictive..be warned! Just another stitch, just another row, just another colour....temptation!!!
On showing THE BOOK to my amazing Swiss Sis-In Law, whoosh, she was off, champion crocheter, hook and yarn twirling at speed until.... she had produced a cascade of dinky colourful flowers ...
and two pink and lovely roses(one pink and cream concoction by moi)
.....and umpteen fab stripey juggling balls for my husband to juggle whilst up a ladder...(he claimed it was to amuse the children)... I had to go and have a lie down to recover....and the children just fell over with all the exitement...
Reluctantly after a fun-and-easter-chocolate-filled week, we returned from the heat of the Deep South to the wet, cool, lamb-run hills of Cumbria, it has been like a time warp - we had visited summer and returned home to spring, as though we had been given spring again, like a gift, to savour....
mustn't forget the donkeys (Gwendoline on the left, and Neddy) who sadly don't travel so well tho' they do have their own passports and are threatening to come on our next visit to small cousins in Switzerland...and who are heart glad to be out in the sun again eating good spring grass ...tho' not too much...or laminitittititis may rear its ugly head once more (no joke - Ned)
... these many long years I have yearned to be able to crochet real Granny squares and here, wearing the new 'pinny of inspiration' is crochet square makery in action.... just another 340 squares to go and the blanket will be finished...
and what about going round and round to make a fabbydoo cushion, ok it's a tad small right now, but given encouragement I feel sure it will soon be a grown up cushion cover in its own right... or maybe it could be a coaster or just a lovely decoration....love mixing the colours...may need a trip to the local shoppes to restock....
looking round our homely home it appears that crochet has a role to play in soft and comforting throws and rugs, happy thrift shop purchases or friend-made....
and of course there's always someone who wants to share in the comfort factor....
only the best for the local bird population...
and even the chickens get in on the interior design act....
On the subject of hens, we have here Henny Penny's memorial, painted on the chicken shed - she had a short life with us but a happy one and is buried in the corner of the orchard,(ahh)... resting but not forgotten...
...by her friends Emily and Victoria
so what will happen next in this every day tale of country folk?....will crochet fever carry us to crocheted heaven..... or is it time for more prosaic matters of planting and sowing not sewing, time to consult the book of moon knowledge and see what kind of a planting day it is today....
...then to head out into the sun armed with seed packets and enthusiasm....it is a joyful time of year, as the days lengthen and open out into summertime...