Colour Inspiration

I have never considered I had a 'favourite' colour. I sometimes play it safe when choosing clothes to wear and a quick look at the contents of my wardrobe hardly reveals a rainbow of colours. But as I look around my house and see the items I own, again and again I see that actually, I quite like colour, small pockets of it here and there. I'm not talking single tones of colour or a hint of a hue on a wall or two, I mean, a good old dollop of an assortment of patterns, styles, textures and fabrics.

It's thought that colour can convey feelings, cooling pastel colours to encourage feelings of calm, bold colours enhance feelings of being bold, bright confident! I think anyone interested in the meaning of colour would find my collection of trinkets and personnel belonging hard to read and that's because I don't stick to one colour group, rather I like what I see and collect what I like, it just has to contain colour, be it bright, cool, subtle, vibrant or pale.

I love natural materials, wood especially, but the urge to paint it is overwhelming. I never buy wooden furniture brand new, probably a good thing because as soon as I get it home, its usually taken off to be cleaned up, sanded down and a base paint applied. Then I can think about what colour I want to paint it. The choice is never made on whether it will match a room or if it will be in keeping with other items I have got, but more often then not, the furniture comes first and the decor of a room will follow.

My current dining table and chairs cost £11 from Ebay (the wonders of Ebay eh?) and in it's original state was pretty grotty and dark and I mean really dark. It took a lot of sanding and plenty of elbow grease but once the paint applied, Theresa Green by Farrow & Ball, it looked a treat!

I never stick to one palette, my home doesn't flow with the sense of a carefully thought out colour plan. I love to read lifestyle blog's or flick through a house magazine and instantly can recognise that a scheme has been used or a theme adhered to and I tell myself I should do that, plan each room of my house one at a time and decide what 'theme' I should use, but it never works. I might manage to match wallpaper to a piece of painted furniture but then get bowled over by a piece of material that I know would look great as a pair of curtains but throws the whole 'theme' of the room off but then think, who cares, I love it and that's all that matters!!

I suppose my lack of theme, is my theme! It's all in the detail, I am utterly unable to leave anything to lack a touch of colour, ordinary pots are given a spruce up with a bit of crochet. Anything to help brighten up a dreary day. Something to be a little different and not looking like what anyone else might have. I'm more than certain that many of the colours I put together don't even sit well together, but I don't think I really mind. I suppose that's the joy of making something yourself, doing just as you like. None of this shop bought stuff that a team of design experts have spent a life time developing just to make your home look tailored and on trend, nope, none of that for me!

I think I"m a bit of a copy cat, I see something I like and it gets stored in the brain for a later date and suddenly it pops out and screams MAKE ME!!! I remember a time when I wanted to make covers for mugs and I mean all my mugs, I even bought mugs I thought would suit a cosy. I made them for me, for friends, for using at the allotment, at work, everywhere. They were plain, or decorated, embellished with buttons, multicoloured. No mouthful of tea was drunk in my house for months without it being adorned by one of my creations.

I think this momentary obsession came from my husband remarking about seeing these cosies in a shop and the amount they were priced at. I couldn't believe how much and if anyone would pay that much but could understand why a person would want one. They're hardly a 'must have' item, people have got along just fine before without needing their mug of tea wrapped beautifully in a woolly jacket but they just look so darn lovely and I knew that I could make one.... or two or maybe more

So why the sudden interest in colour? Well, this blog reaches it's first birthday tomorrow, a whole year old - YAY!! And a year ago today I had expectations of what this blog might bring, a record of my life, a gallery of photos showing my creations, a sense of improvement and an opportunity to channel my area of expertise, to cut a grove into what was my style. 

I had thought that seeing it all written down in black and white and a collection of all the photos I have taken, that I would see a style, a sense of what I'm naturally attracted too, something that screams 'me!', but in all honesty, I see what I saw a year ago, a collection of 'things', an assortment of every colour, trinkets, nick-nacks, stuff that I just 'like' and want in my home to make it my home.

It doesn't match, it doesn't flow, it certainly wouldn't adorn the front covers of any style magazine, but then after all, this probably is my style, eclectic, different, mine!

I will continue to fill ridiculously small vases with flowers picked from the garden and make even more cushions out of old clothes because it reminds my of when my children wore them. I will stick colours that don't match together.  I will choose colours that sing to me, buy them simply because they feel snugly. My obsession with blankets will continue on forever, I will not rest till I have tried every type of stitch, sampled every conceivable yarn, practised all manner of hooks. 

I feel truly in admiration of some of the people who's blog's I read or photos I see on Instagram, Ravelry or Pinterest and aspire to try be as amazing as them. Their work blows me away and their dedication to complete some of their work is remarkable, I'm glad I'm a part of it in some tiny small way.

This year has seen many changes in my life, moving house and having my second daughter have been monumental and has taken me away from time dedicated to this blog (understandably) and changes are afoot again as I face the prospect of returning to work and that window of opportunity to sit and crochet ebbs ever further away, but it is something I treasure and love with a passion so time will be found. I will continue to throw love and attention this way and not let work get in the way 

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my blog, I hope it will continue to encourage me to stay creative, to make me think about the next project, to keep taking lots of lovely photo's and capture my life surrounded by lots of colourful woolly creations.

For those who have read my ramblings, left comments or gone away a little inspired then I thank you for stopping by. I know I haven't or probably never will make great shakes in this talented world of all things 'hooky', I'll leave that to those truly more amazing that I'll ever be, but I'll keep plodding away, spreading the love of all things homemade and crocheted.

I will pat myself on the back for all the things I have made, for the ways it has shaped and bent my life and made me sit and enjoy the most simplest of hobby. It has meant that I can make gifts for others, or pretty up the rooms of my house

So I will continue on, my life with crochet, looking for that elusive style of mine and gathering inspiration from everything around me. This for me will probably only ever be a hobby, something to past the time and an opportunity to make great things. It must be wonderful to make a living from it and those that do are lucky people indeed and worthy of their abilities. 

But for now, nothing is more perfect then a pot of tea, a homemade cake and an hour or two of uninterrupted crochet, but alas, in this house, hours of uninterrupted 'anything' is unlikely and for that I am thankful as my time at the moment is 100% family and I will relish in it till I am drag kicking and screaming back to work!

Thank you for stopping by, as I write, the sun is shining and the weather after last nights storms seems to have calmed down. While the baby is sleeping I might just see if I can get a little more of my blanket done.  

Here's to another year in blogland, thanks for having me and speak soon xx