Winter-time pastels

Now, I know that most of us tend to associate pastels with spring. Well, I have been thinking a lot (as you can imagine) about furnishings for my new home, and I really feel I want to keep it really light and airy and bright, so I am thinking pastels!

S and I went on a lovely Saturday morning walk yesterday, from Clapham Junction to the King's Road in Chelsea. I found some pastel inspiration in these gorgeous terraced houses which can be found down a little side street just before you get to Sloane Square.

The whole street is beautiful! Every single house along both sides of the street is painted in a pastel shade, from lemon yellow and pale blue to pink, lilac and pale green and salmon. I love the fact that everyone on the street has gone along with this! I wonder which house was the first to decide, 

"hey, y'know what?! I'm gonna paint the front of my house pink!" 

I particularly love the lilac and pale pink houses next to each other in the first picture above. You may not be able to see due to the shadow on the photo, but the lilac house also has a dark purple door!

So, yes, pastels shall be a feature in my new home. It's funny, I love day-dreaming about what furniture I might buy (cheap and cheerful is a must as I have an entire flat to kit out - bed, sofa, shelving and all!), and what colour cushion covers I'm going to have etc. etc., but I am totally procrastinating when it comes to actually packing for this move! Well, maybe it's not so strange to feel that way - after all, who enjoys spending hours wrapping china in newspaper?! (sorry if you do enjoy that!). 

I think I much prefer unpacking to packing!

Between finishing off my red sweater, starting a new sweater and working on cushion covers to adorn my yet to be bought sofa, I haven't had much time for my starburst throw in the last couple of weeks. 

I've started stitching the squares together, but I may not be able to pick this up again until after I've moved now. Still, I am already picturing it spread out on my new bed, cover a crisp white duvet cover (also yet to be bought - ugh, I have so much to do to make sure I don't end up spending my first night in my new flat sleeping on the floor under my coat!)

Have a happy Sunday all!

Pastel granny squares

 

 

Several months ago I started a pastel coloured granny square project - I remember being very excited about getting a big batch of pastel coloured yarn through the post, and blogging about it here and here. I patiently worked away, making a whole heap of pastel granny squares.

 

 

 

Then, as often happens, other things came along and distracted me - knitting, and brightly coloured yarn in hexagon motifs!

 

The pastel grannies were stashed away in a cupboard awaiting their moment in the sun.

 

This week I pulled out that bag of grannies again and had a think.

 

Originally I was going to use these squares to make a throw, in the same way as I made my Cathedral blanket earlier in the year. However, on looking at the heap of grannies afresh over the weekend, I began to feel that a pastel throw made entirely of little grannies with white seaming might be a little too much somehow. It just didn't 'feel' right.

 

So I decided to work the squares into a much smaller project - a granny square pillow cover for a rectangular cushion.

 

And...................

.............here it is!

 

 

I have to admit, finishing off a project that has been lurking in the back of your cupboard and the back of your mind for a while is a very good feeling! You get some instant gratification because a lot of the work has already been done, and a nice feeling of satisfaction from knowing that the pesky lurking project can be ticked off your mental list!

 

You can see above the new granny cushion getting cosy with the pastel ripple cushions I made earlier in the year. 

 

I do love this cushion - having the pale yellow shade included has really made it very "dolly-mixture", and I like that!

 

 

It was also fun to give the cushion button fastening with lots of little shell buttons. I do love a button fastening for a crochet cushion, I think they are perfect partners.

 

 

The rose pictures are for no particular reason - just because I love roses!

 

Have a happy, creative day wherever you are!

 

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Lazy Sunday

I think I may have developed a split personality when it comes to crochet. I love making things in bright colours and using lots of different colours together, but I also love a more restrained colour palette and choice and the more vintage vibe that you seem to get when working with one colour, but in a more complex stitch.

 I spent my crochet time yesterday working on the Erika Knight hexagon blanket I'm making, and spent today playing working on another pastel toned blanket!

I started working on this blanket at the start of May, but have only worked on it sporadically since then, so progress has been slow.

Do you remember my Cathedral Blanket? Well this project is going to be a pastel version of that, with pale cream seaming instead of black.

I'm using far fewer colours (about 8 different shades) and I think I will arrange the colours at random rather than having them in order like I did for the Cathedral Blanket.

Whilst working on this I've also been daydreaming about making more pastel coloured cushion covers with mother of pearl button fastenings - hence my not being able to resist getting out my button collection and playing in these pictures!

I was also tempted this afternoon to try out a starburst stitch. I haven't tried this kind of stitch for a while because the last time I tried, a few years ago, I couldn't seem to get the hang of it.

This piece is at a very early stage - its quite time consuming to do, but I love the result - it looks beautiful in the ivory yarn, and has such as lovely vintage feel to it. I think its the sort of thing a Victorian or Edwardian lady would use! I'm not sure quite what this piece will be yet, but it's only quite a small sample, so it will probably end up being a jewellery case or similar. 

Happy Sunday everyone!

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Pastel projects

I am having a serious pastel moment right now, and loving it. I'm not normally a pastel person when it comes to colours for clothes, crochet projects or anything really! I usually gravitate to brighter richer colours.

However, I have been really taken with some pastel yarn colours that I have seen in shops and the ways in which they appear when combined with other pastel colours. 

I thought I'd share some of my pastel-love with you!

At the moment I have 2 pastel projects on the go, both using the same yarn shades. The hexagons you can see are the start of a small blanket.

The ripple stitch item shown is for a cushion cover. This is the same pattern as I made earlier in the year, and ever since finishing my earlier ripple cushion I have just been itching to see what a pastel version would be like!

I think of the shades I have chosen as 'edgy pastels', particularly for the cushion cover. I think the colours I have used together have managed to not look too girly (I think pastels have a bit of a reputation for being girly and cutesy). I'm attributing their slight edge, and sophistication to the inclusion of some grey and silver-blue shades alongside the more traditional pastel shades of duck egg, pale pink and lilac.

I'm really loving making these items and can't wait to share the finished products with you! The hexagons for the throw are my own pattern, and I hope to have time to share this through a tutorial soon!

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