Day 17 - Heart

Heart shapes

have a particular charm.

I notice them when I go out walking

and they are especially lovely to crochet. 

I recently made some for a wedding table decoration.

This time I have made a crocheted bag to give as a gift

to a little four year-old girl. 

I've made it reversible so that her favourite colour scheme can be used.

The buttons allow the shoulder strap to be altered as needed.

A bag is so much more exciting with a little gift inside

This tiny panda bear wanted to come home with me when I was out shopping.

He fits in perfectly!

***

It is common politeness to give a link

to the person who provides or creates this pattern

Day 6 - Lavender

The essential oil of lavender has a sweet, floral-herbaceous scent,

and balsamic-woody undertones.

There are many uses for Lavender and it is know to be

soothing, sedative

calming, balancing

relaxing and purifying

and it also has curative qualities.

In classical times, The Greek and Roman civilizations already knew the virtues of lavender.

Its essential oil, a refined product obtained by distilling, is often called 'blue gold'.

Put some lavender flowers in a pomander like I have,

or in tiny crocheted sachets to perfume your drawers and cupboards

which I made in 2014 to give as gifts.

The idea for these heart sachets came from here

in Apple Blossom Dreams

I used an existing heart pattern that I already had.

Colour Therapy

In 1893, a wonderful little booklet was printed on Handiwork.

It was called:

The People's Handbook Series

The Ladies' Model

Fancy Work Manual

So dainty in primrose yellow

I have always enjoyed making this pattern

and right now this is my latest crochet project.

I came across a slightly modified pattern made by someone called Sandi Marshall

in 2006.

This simple, but lovely pattern is the centre part of a bigger doily called

"Crocheted Wheel for Tidy"

I wonder what a 'tidy' was in 1893?

The black and white photos at the end are of the original vintage booklet.

There's something refreshing about aqua tones

rich and vibrant

or in a paler shade.

Luminous pink

and sometimes all of them together.

Four together are nice

but five are even better!

They make lovely gifts and I use mine all the time:

Under glasses, mugs or small vases, even a special ornament

or made into a napkin ring.

I've even attached them together on a crocheted chain and hung them up to make a bunting

or individual ones attached with a thread and hung up against my windows!

Here is the link to Sandi Marshall's rewritten instructions to the original pattern

Here is the original full doily pattern

including the central flower motif.

The coaster pattern has been much copied, slightly modified and renamed

by many people, claiming the pattern as their own,

but the original, and protected version here has only one name:

The Crocheted Wheel for Tidy.

I haven't yet tried to make the whole doily, but a blogging friend,

Sandra from Cherry Heart:

has told me that she would like to try and decipher the original old pattern.

Do go and visit this lovely blog about crochet,

you will love looking at all her beautiful work,

Since colour is so important to me,

I had to finish up with a colourful collage!

The Power to Choose

Sunday morning on my balcony!

My favourite place to be as soon as it's warm enough to sit outside!

I'm surrounded by window-boxes and big tubs of flowers

and there is birdsong in the early morning.

I can see trees from where I sit when I turn by back to the road.

I am happy, not only because of all these lovely things, but because I choose to be!

Whatever happens to us in life, whatever our circumstances,

whatever our state of health, we have the ability to choose our attitude

to every single thing in our life.

The book in the photo is a new one that I have recently started.

It reinforces my belief that we are able to develop our resilience

and rise above the hard knocks in life.

Of course, some things are more difficult to bear than others,

but however hard things may seem, our attitude is everything.

We are not the victims of our lives,

but we are the creators of how we want to live.

I love books like this, 

they make me feel empowered.

May and June have been busy months, both with birthday celebrations

and creative occupations.

On the creative side, out came my crochet hook and some new red cotton

which I recently obtained from a local store.

Forty-two crocheted hearts have been made as part of a table decoration

for my son's wedding this August in Switzerland.

I found this lovely rose in the exact same tone of red as the hearts.

There's such mystery and beauty in the heart of a rose.

The weather is already hot and humid

with daytime temperatures reaching 26C but it feels much hotter

because of the high humidity.

Storms have been building up towards the evenings.

This could be the start of a very hot summer¨

It will soon be time to get my ventilators out of the cellar!

Easter Day!

Tulips and chicks

with a grey start to the day,

but there are already sunny spells this morning

 and it should be lovely this afternoon!

Hot Cross Buns were eaten on Good Friday

and this morning too.

Quite delicious with butter and homemade marmalade!

Just the other day, I made some natural organic lip balm

using Shea butter, almond oil, beeswax and lavender essential oil.

It's beautifully nourishing for night-time or during the day.

I put the tiny pots into little sachets for gifts

and gave two of them to my family this week.

Such a joy to see primroses popping up in all the gardens on my afternoon walk!

I love writing with a fountain pen

and I have notebooks where I like to write phrases and quotations

and sometimes poems.

I recently wrote these powerful words by Gandhi.

I hope that your day will be a lovely one!

***

Crochet pattern from:this site

Chakra Mandala and Crystals

Mandala:

The Word comes from Sanskrit and means 'healing circle' or 'Universe'.

The most impressive mandalas are made by Tibetan monks

in beautiful coloured sands.

The creation of them is a meditative process with deep spiritual significance.

The crystals that I have placed around the crocheted mandala

are as follows, from upper left to right:

Red Jasper (Root Chakra)

Cornaline (Sacral)

Calcite (Solar Plexus)

Malachite (Heart)

Amazonite (Throat)

Lapis-Lazuli (Third Eye)

Amethyst (Crown Chakra)

Chakra:

These are energy centres in our body.

There are seven main chakras in our bodies,

going from the lowest Root Chakra, which is at the base of the spine,

right up to the Crown Chakra.

The crocheted mandala in pastel shades with the following crystals

going from the upper left:

Amethyst, Lapis-Lazuli, Chalcedony, New Jade, Calcite, Cornaline and Pink Quartz.

Creating the first letter 'S' of my name

Lapis-Lazuli

Each crystal is said to have specific healing properties.

Right now, I feel very attracted to Lapis-Lazuli.

The colour is a deep and vibrant blue with flecks of gold. There are variations

of colour in each stone. One of mine has more gold and the other

a deep and wonderful blue.

This crystal is a gemstone that helps bring inner peace

and clears the mind of negative thought patterns.

It awakens the third-eye, which promotes a higher consciousness

on journeys of self-discovery.

I like to arrange different crystals around my home according to how I feel

and which ones I feel attracted to at the time.

These days, I'm enjoying the colours and vibrations of those above.

It's an interesting fact that the seven colours of a rainbow

correspond exactly to the colours of the seven Chakras!

I found a very lovely crochet pattern to make my Chakra Mandala.

You can find it here: 

Cherry Blossom Mandala 

What to Do on a Rainy Day

There are so many things I love to do on a rainy day!

Crochet is one of them - and I recently finished my spring wreath for the front door.

It makes me feel welcome when I come home

I love to capture nature abstracts

like in the harmonious curves of the petals of my Amaryllis.

Photography is something we can definitely do on a rainy day, even inside!

Bringing home a basket of three daffodil bulbs was like bringing spring sunshine

into my home.

No need to resist capturing them from every angle!

Just drink in their yellow beauty until the sunshine and blue skies return.

Sit down with a big cup of  a delicious warm drink.

This one is a ginger and lemon infusion.

Why not practice some fun self-portraits.

My favourites this week are double exposures!

Oh yes, and another thing to do on a rainy day!

Make a new blog entry!

Instead of  wanting to make everything incredibly perfect,

just do things the way they are today

and that is enough!

Heartfelt Wishes

There are personal wishes

and universal wishes.

I sat down the other day to see if what I really desired at this time of the year

was anything to do with the usual stressful ambiance of the Christmas season

which seems to be happening  around me, but not within me.

Oh yes,

I love creating decorations with crochet and hook

a few bells 

a candle or two

and beautiful music,

but more than any material gift

I desire the presence of peace and harmony.

On a universal level, like most people, I would like world peace

that no one should suffer from hunger 

and that we would all take responsibility for climate change.

One of the things that we can all do

is to focus on abundance instead of lack

for it leads us to the path of contentment.

What are the most important things for you during this month of December?

Have you tried making a list of your most heartfelt wishes?

Getting Snug at Home

This is the time of the year when everything feels more transitional than usual.

November days alternate between blue skies and sunshine,

rain, wind and low stratus clouds making everything look dull.

I cut the last two flowers on my Gaillardia plant

and brought some colour inside.

This is the month when colour becomes incredibly important to me

I seek it out in everything I do

especially when I'm in the kitchen.

Preparing vegetables for lunch

Colour is so important in preparing a meal.

Many of the trees are already bare,

but a visit to the park on a sunny day

showed me these lovely beech leaves still glowing in a golden light.

Fallen leaves remind me to be accepting of the season.

They never fight the reality of what is happening to them and all around them.

The path to contentment is being willing to be in the moment,

just as it is,

for now.

The evenings are longer

and I love them to be able to create seasonal things 

like these crocheted snowflakes.

I have hung some up against the windows in my living-room.

No real snowflakes falling from the sky as yet,

but that could all change this weekend it seems.

I brought this cyclamen flower inside from my balcony

I love the simplicity of a single bloom in the tiny vase.

We have been having some beautiful sunsets.

I saw this one in my neighbourhood as soon as I got of the bus around 5 pm.

Look at the tiny crescent moon in the blue of the sky.

Pastel shades are a great favourite of mine too.

I stayed in this spot until the colours faded.

It will soon be December

and there will be fairy lights and music 

and candles too.

But for today, just enjoying this transitional period

shows me that everything is just as it should be. 

I hope you are enjoying the changing season too.