Springtime floral squares and flowers

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Springtime floral squares – the inspiration

It’s springtime and time for some more floral inspiration. So, pale pInks and pastels, bright yellows and blues? Surprise – I’ve decided on a different spectrum this year. I love  the texture of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino for crochet projects – so soft and light, and easy to hook, even if it’s not the cheapest yarn on the block. Quite often, I’ll pop along to my local wool shop Nest and pick out a few shades to get some inspiration.

This time I chose five colours – Kingfisher, Coral, Primrose, Lipstick and Duck Egg.

FIve shades of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino

Once out on the kitchen table they shouted out to me ‘flowers’! Maybe it was something to do with the fact that I’d just potted up some bedding plants in my window box and was surrounded by fresh looking greenery.

However, although I was sure the floral motif would crop up somewhere in this project, I was also keen to work up some granny squares. It’s been a while since I’ve crocheted any. There’s something so satisfying about crocheting granny squares. For a start they’re so portable – even on a short bus journey, there’s time to hook a round or two. And they’re a lovely way to experiment with combining colours.

Pile of floral granny squares

For this project, I decided to start my granny squares with a few circular rounds in the middle. I thought it gave a nod to the floral theme. I’d then add in a few little flowers, to see where inspiration took me… (By the way, this dressing table mat was embroidered last century by my grandmother – hope you like it. There’ll be more of her work featured on the site in the future.)

Little crochet flowers

The colours work really well together. But instead of using them in a completely random order, I decided on a few ‘rules’ to hold the project together.

The squares would have 6 rounds, and whichever colour I started with would also be the colour in round 4. The colour in the second round would also be the colour in round 6. I kept the Lipstick pink for round 3 in a couple of the colourways, and also made that shade the main petal colour in the little flowers. And I put primrose in each of the colourways, and as the middle round of the little flowers.

After making a mound of squares and flowers I decided that I’d use the little flowers as the joining motifs in the corners where squares meet.

Four colourways

My first two colourways were:

Kingfisher:

Floral square kingfisher colourway

Round 1 duck egg, Round 2 dark green, Round 3 lipstick, Round 4 duck egg, Round 5 primrose and outer edge kingfisher.

Coral:

Coral floral square colourway

Round 1 primrose, Round 2 coral, Round 3 duck egg, Round 4 primrose, Round 5 kingfisher, outer edge coral.

Duck Egg:

Floral square in duck egg colourway

Round 1 kingfisher, Round 2 duck egg, Round 3 lipstick, Round 4 kingfisher, Round 5 primrose, outer edge duck egg.

I loved the first three colourways so much, I popped back to the shop to buy an extra shade – Flame, and worked up another one.

Flame:

Floral granny square in flame colourway

Round 1 primrose, Round 2 flame, Round 3 kingfisher, Round 4 primrose, Round 5 duck egg, outer edge flame.

Now I’m busy working up a pile of squares and flowers before I decide exactly what to make with them. I’ve used them to head up this website already, as you can see at the top of the page, but can’t wait to combine them into a project.

Piles of floral squares

I’ve put the pattern for the squares and flowers here

I’m still busy crocheting, but, as I said, I haven’t quite decided what I’m going to turn them all into.

Any ideas anyone?

Floral squares and little flowers

 

 

 

 

Tea cosies and Edith’s House cafe

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 A visit to Edith’s House – an N8 cafe

Tea cosies and vintage china spring to mind every time I think of Edith’s House cafe. Ever since it opened up in Crouch End just over a year ago, I’ve always enjoyed popping in for a pot of tea, or a bowl of soup and a cheese scone, or (don’t tell anyone) a big slice of cake.

Lily the dog on a floral cushion at Edith's House

Lily, my dog loves it too – they provide special dog blankets for visiting pooches so they can sit comfortably on the couches.

The cafe is a delight. Owners Eaton and Michael, who both used to be actors, have created a unique little eaterie. Each area of the cafe is set up as a different room from the past, modelled upon Eaton’s Nanna Edith’s house.

Living Room setting at Edith's House cafe

Room for everyone

You can lounge in the living room – believe it or not, there’s even a knitting bag full of wool and needles if you fancy working a few rows, which I have done on a few occasions.

Or maybe you prefer to sit and sip in the scullery, or even have a tea sitting on the toilet balancing your tray on the washbasin (this seems the preferred photo stop for visitors to the area!).

Blue Belle tea cosy on a tray in the bathroom area of Edith's House cafe

Then there’s a kitchen, a parlour, a dining room, a telephone table…

Looking down the corridor at Edith's House cafe

I  particularly love the dressing-table area, and the bedroom even has a sewing machine ready and waiting on the table…

Pickte fence tea cosy on teapot on tray on dressing table

So if you could choose, I’d love to know where you’d sit!

They needed cosies!

Most of the crockery is all old and mismatched and floral, with trays of sugar bowls and tongs, milk jugs and flowery teapots. When Eaton told me they’d just bought some new white, single-cup teapots that needed little tea cosies and asked if I could design some for them, of course I jumped at the chance.

I came up with five designs, all knitted with crochet flowers added on at the end, and I absolutely love them. So, it seems, do the Edith’s House customers…

Lily the dog standing by a tea tray

I’vm going to be adding the basic pattern over on the pattern section of the website in case you fancy giving them a try…

Plant Pot cosy

Tea cosy in terracotta colour with white flower and leaves on top

Blue Belle cosy

Cream tea cosy with little blue flowers

Picket Fence cosy

Red tea cosy with white picket fence detail and flowers on top

Candy Colours cosy

blue tea cosy with pink stripe at bottom and top and pink and white flowers

Blooming All Over cosy

White tea cosy with red stripe at top and bottom and red and white flowers on body and top

 

Sadly, Edith’s House has now closed – we miss it.

Carrot & pea bunting – a window box of inspiration

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Carrots & peas bunting finished

Bunting – an inspiration

Bunting was the last thing on my mind when we had a lovely new sash window put into our kitchen recently. Naturally, the first thing I did was to plant up a window box full of deep red violas and tons of herbs and salad leaves in front of my geranium plant…View from the kitchen window

Carrots and peas

Then I spied a spare ball of bright orange wool and one of vibrant green Rico Design Essentials Merino in my stash. Now I love veg – as you can see from all the edible things in my window box. So I knew exactly what to make! Carrot & pea bunting, which, together with a Peter Rabbit cup and plate, would be perfect as a christening present for my baby great-niece Francesca.

I decided to start my bunting triangles from the bottom and work up, increasing on each row. The little triangles were so quick and easy to make.. I made seven, which only took half of the 50g ball. Next I made all the little peas – these are slightly more fiddly because they’re so small, but I soon had a ‘bunch’ of 14 peas. Up next was a long chain on which I placed markers to indicate where to position the bunting triangles. Leaving a loop to hang the bunting from, I slip stitched across to the first marker, then joined on a carrot triangle by crocheting it to the chain with a picot stitch.

Once I’d attached all the triangles, I slip stitched to the end, adding another loop. Now it was time for the finishing touch – adding the little peas, which were spaced out with one at either end and two between each two bunting triangles.

The pattern for this bunting can be found here.

I think it looks so bright and cheerful, I hope little Francesca likes it and it encourages her to eat her 5 a day…