Tuesday 8 February 2011

Spring is in the air...

Usually at this time of year I am looking forward to and planning a holiday with my boys at half term, I stay at a working farm, I have this done for the last ten years, to me this means lots of fresh air and walks, we pack up our wellies and waterproofs and in case of lots of rain I am usually in the process of enjoying putting together a craft basket for the children. The great thing about our little cottage is there is a little bit of luxury, a swimming pool, let me tell you there is nothing better than a dip in a warm pool after a cold winters walk (except for drying off in front of a fire with a mug of hot chocolate). Sadly this year I will be unable to go at half term with the children, aah that thing called money really is a pain!!!But what this break means to me is the start of spring, its usually when I see the first snow drops, the sky starts to to be a little brighter and often blue with white 'Simpson' style clouds. Yes, it marks the end of the winter, I know there are usually still a few winter weeks ahead, but it lightens my heart and takes the weight off my shoulders from those short grey cold wet days... it fills me with hope, the garden starts to come to life and it loses that look of looking like a field after a war, black and bare.
So with thoughts of spring and knowing we are missing out on this special break this year I have been thinking a lot about the changes in the season and how I can capture that feeling on our little break at home. So I guess its not really a surprise when I look at the work I am making at the moment, it definitely has a feel of spring about it.
My two biggest sellers here at Dotty Red are simple lavender hearts and cushions, previous to my Dotty Red shop I knitted as a hobby so I have lots of odd balls of yarn around, so I like to mix the two things up a little and use the yarn along with the flowers. For Christmas I made little crochet Christmas trees on cushions and for Valentines day its been hearts and now with spring on my mind I am making little daisy type flowers to decorate my cushions.
I love the mix of textures and of course crochet work is very popular at the moment, so you will find me in the car at the few minutes before school run, in the line at the post office, at the kitchen table whilst I am waiting for the children to finish their supper... you will find me hook in hand and a little pile of cute flowers being made...
Remember the book I got the other weekend, well I felt so inspired I made a little house from the book, of course I changed the size and generally fiddled about with the pattern, I have even stuffed the roof with lavender to make it a practical thing of sweetness...
Once I had made one I went on to make a whole little village of them, which with my thumb recovering from the surgery was no easy task I can tell you. LAVENDER LANE...
I actually had a moment when I realised I couldn't sew, knit, crochet or even hold a pen to write... I suddenly realised how precious our hands are to us. Still a few pain killers later and ignoring the surgeons advise to rest...
I sewed away. Might pay for that later as its not really any better than before it was messed with!!!
Shhhhhhhh... I have a guilty secret, I bought some yarn. In my present financial position I have not bought myself any yarn for a long time, occasionally I have bought a few balls for Dotty Red but for pure self indulgent knitting or crocheting just for my own satisfaction, well its not happened. Then I saw a blanket I wanted to make, but to make it with the chosen yarn of the designer it was going to cost Eighty plus pounds. Mmmmmm eat or buy yarn, well I gave up on the dream, then a friend told me she had used cheap yarn, the sparky stuff. Its usually the stuff I get a bit snobby about... oh a yarn snob, yep that's me. A few months went by and I kept thinking about this blanket...so I priced up the sparky stuff and realised not only could I buy it and feed the children and myself that week but I could even buy it in one go, seriously under twenty pounds... can you imagine my delight when the post lady brought it to me this morning... I cant wait for tonight... boys in bed, jobs all done, I am going to sit myself down in front of the fire with a pot of tea and a cream cake and I am going to start my blanket... Its the simple things in life that really make us happy...

10 comments:

Thimbleanna said...

Such beautiful goodies here today Suzie! I LOVE those cute little yellow flowers with their polka dotted buttons. And the houses! Adorable!!! Can't wait to see what you make with your new yarn.

periwinkle said...

We've just came in from a lovely Spring walk , birds singing and snowdrops blooming- just lovely. Lavender Lane , love it .

Tammy@T's Daily Treasures said...

Wow! When you decide to do something, you really go at it and accomplish so much. Even hand surgery doesn't slow you down. I sprained my thumb a while back, and even with it all bandaged up, I was still crocheting (sometimes through the pain). Your little houses and mice are so cute. Love the crocheted flowers on the pillows too. Wishing you a great rest of the week. Tammy

Becca's Dirt said...

What pretty pillows. Cute little houses too. I am so ready for some spring and warmth of the sun.

lazylol said...

You make such lovely things! Can't wait to see your blanket. You are right, the simple things are the best.

ahomespunyear said...

Beautiful spring colours for the cushions and crocheted flowers...very pretty! Great to see the snowdrops...won't be long!

RubyTed said...

I'm seriously impressed by the cost of that wool! (I, like you, are a complete wool slob...so much so, that my local haberdashers lets me know what expensive taste I have whenever I go in there. *blush*.)
If the wool is nice to work with you'll have to tell us what make it is.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog...it's helped me find you! I'm going to have MUCH fun reading it!

Ruby

Gina said...

Adore those cute little houses and your crochet flowers - so springlike. They remind me of primulas.

em said...

im glad you bought yourself the yarn. pretty little houses tooxxx

jessica daisy said...

Love the colours of the yarn. Who is it made by?
Jessx