Friday 27 November 2015

I Dreamt In My Favourite Colours.......






.....Have you ever had a dream within a dream? I never have......until last night. I dreamt I was in a shop. It was a friend's shop and I was helping her out. It was a quaint little shop that sold all kinds of pretty jewellery made from gemstones. I took my time to display the rose quartz and amazonite, as they are my most favourite coloured stones. But my mind kept wondering to the other quaint little shop next door......owned by Dame Judi Dench. 

And why not?!!!!!!!! 

Anyway. To get to my friends shop I had to walk past Dame Judi's shop each day. It was mysterious, and my friend told me that because she was so busy with acting, that she only opened her shop for half an hour once a week. In the window, hidden amongst some treasures was a beautiful big blue whale. It fascinated me; and for days I would walk past and stop and just look at it. One day in the shop, my friend told me that Judy's shop would open later that day for the half an hour, but I was tired, oh so tired, so I lay my head on a chaise lounge in the shop that was littered with gemstone bracelets. I dreamt of the whale in the window, the deep blue sea, and golden sands and the scent of the sea air. The pebbles were rose quartz and the seaweed, amazonite. I suddenly felt a tap, and it was my friend, telling me to wake up. She asked what I had dreamt about, and I told her I had dreamt in my favourite colours and I felt happy and content. She told me the shop next door was open and I got up and walked in the door to find the whale. Then there was a sound of gentle birdsong.........
 

.....it was my alarm clock and I woke. I never did find out if I was to get to see the whale....or even see Dame Judi! What a bizarre dream. But I woke so calm and happy to have dreamt in my favourite colours......whatever that meant.







My days are full at the moment. I am a little weary if truth be told. I am trying hard to keep on top of everything that this time of year brings upon me. I have been itching to create something. For some reason I am hankering to do another ripple blanket. I am trying so hard to talk myself out of it. I keep saying to myself.......'oh but it will be a teeny tiny one'........then I reply to myself with 'Don't be so stupid Vanessa, small and blankets don't seem to go together in your world'. 

So, to keep sanity between my battling brain, I made a start on a cushion......in shades of rose quartz, amazonite, the sand and the sea. I thought if I dreamt in my favourite colours, then I should at least crochet in them. This pattern was from Emma Lamb's 'Crochet Home' book.






I'm not so sure on it though. Maybe blocking will help. I stuck exactly to the pattern, but my instinct from the beginning was to go a hook down and change a little bit on the rounds. I didn't and I think that's why I think I am not so sure. I think I would have liked it a little tighter. It seems a little bit too floppy for me. The elder Bear's were home today, so I got Big Bear to take a pic to see if I viewed it differently I would feel differently. Well, hopefully blocking will steady it out a bit more.

I thought it would be nice to change around my kitchen and have a sort. Bad idea. One of those things you do, when you get to the messiest point and totally lose enthusiasm. The trouble with the Bear's home all day is that the fridge and the cupboards are always open. Middle Bear decided that at 10 in the morning it was time for lunch. I muttered something about it not being lunchtime. His reply was that he'd been awake a while so in his world it was.....and he'd come down for a second sitting when it WAS lunchtime! Teenagers!


So, a coffee I think with a big shot of caffeine, and make headway so that I can at least cook tonight. 


xxx

29 comments:

  1. I like the grey shrug you are wearing:) Dreams are complicated at times! thanks for sharing your projects!

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    1. Thank you! I cannot claim any credit for the grey shrug....it was shop bought!!!!!!! x

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  2. I love the cushion! The colours are beautiful, so calming. As for your dream...my dreams are ALWAYS about me being on holiday but feeling very stressed to get everyone packed up because we need to vacate by 10am. And nobody will cooperate. Same dream for years. When I read yours, I immediately pictured it as a childrens book, with flowing illustrations and lots of swirls. I am convinced that most abstract children's books start out as the dreams of adults! Hope you have a great weekend.

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    1. My dreams are usually starting school, college or Uni all over again, and I cannot get there. everything stops me. there are lots of films with that theme, and I just find them too irritating to watch as they remind me of those kind of dreams! They must mean something, but I'm not sure what. I guess we all must have them! It was such a weird dream this one though, yes, I think it was sort of like that, very swirly and flowy. The whale was all storybook like. I had watched David Attenborough's 'The Hunt' and the episode featured the Blue Whale, and I saw on a news channel that it was Dame Judi Dench's Birthday, so I'm guessing that's why they both featured in it! It was surreal, but also very lovely and calming. I prefer those kind of dreams. I just thought it was stange to actually fall asleep in a dream and dream withing it. Never done that before! x

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  3. Dreaming in colours? Cool. Jo x

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    1. I read somewhere that some people dream only in black and white and it never occured to me to realise if I dreamt in colour. I realised that I do, but I distinctly remember saying that in my dream, and for some reason it really calmed me! weird! x

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  4. I love your dream and I think you were destined to get that blue whale. Maybe it will continue tonight? Love your cushion. I have a baby ripple planned for after the holidays, in cream and a slightly darker cream.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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    1. Oh I hope I was, it was a beautiful whale! I'm itching to do another ripple, Eeeeeek.....I don't know if I have the willpower to hold off! ha ha! x

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  5. Oh. I am so with you on the tidying up the kitchen malarkey! At the moment the 'pan' cupboard is open and (some) of the pans are in a pile on the one bit of floor that I had steam-cleaned. I wanted to clean the cupboard too...ha ha! And as this was all the lower half of the kitchen, there were a couple of times that I thought Arthur might get home at 1 in the morning and find me still trying to get up off the floor!!
    Thank goodness I don't have bears to contend with too!
    I'd be fascinated as to what your dream meant!!!
    Zxx

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    1. Arrrrghhhhh, it's still a mess! I need to sort it today for sure! x

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  6. Oh dear poor you! having the kids home on a week day can run me ragged at the best of times. So I like to snuggle up with some hooky to take the edge off things. The colours are so beautiful on your cushion front, as always an inspiration. T,from London x

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    1. Thank you! Snuggling with hooky really is the best for calming things I think. I do feel a tad guilty though at this time of year if I do any. I always feel like I should either be baking christmas stuff, getting ahead with wrapping stuff, or making christmas decs or something. x

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  7. Wow, that was a very interesting dream! It's always funny when lots of different themes come together in one dream. A sign of a creative brain I'm sure. I adore your cushion, it is absolutely gorgeous in that colour combo. I've looked at that pattern a few times but my mind keeps telling me it's too tricky. I really must give it a try one day. As for the ripple blanket, definitely give in to the hankering! Whip one up, little or large - they are so fast, easy and kinda nice with that simple repetition. I just finished another wee baby sized one this morning and am already eyeing up my wool stash ready to start another one. Have a fab weekend hon.

    Leah
    xx

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    1. Hope you are well Leah, It was lovely to read your catch up post! The cushion is a lovely pattern, but I couldn't help thinking it was quite loose and floppy as I was making it. Having said that, the usual 'jump in and make before you read it all' might mean that it's for a big cushion! Who knows! I'm useless! But I like the pattern a lot, and the lovely thing is, it has both a written and diagram pattern so it can suit all. x

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  8. Love, love the cushion - must have a look at that book X.

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  9. The cushion is just perfect...the colors...the pattern...I love it! and I'm love with those mushrooms :)

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    1. The mushrooms are popping up all over the house! x

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  10. I have to say, the cushion cover is gorgeous! And I almost envy you that wonderful dream. Dame Judith, ahhh...and lovely colors, and a whale, and mysterious shops! Wish my dreams were so nice. How funny "running out of steam halfway thru the redo", been there - done that. Usually a result of too much caffeine to start with ;) Hang in there. Hugs~

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    1. Mary I'm laughing! I've had to switch to decaf more most of my drinks now, as I think I was getting quite 'wired'! I still need to sort out my kitchen. I just left it in a really weird state, but hopefully I'll have the ooompf to get it back to looking decent aagin today! xx

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  11. I love your dream Vanessa - you painted it so vividly with your words. And I'm glad the shop with the blue whale belongs to Judi Dench because she's so fabulous! Anyway, about that ripple blanket idea you have ... I've been thinking of a ripple blanket because I've never tried one and I just think they look so lovely (and without all the joining together of grannies). All I need is a little push, so please tell me that ripples are easy?! Having just finished a big granny square blanket for my niece there's a blanket-shaped hole in my life and I'm dying to get started on something cosy! xxx

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    1. Oh my word, ripple blankets are a dream to work on. I find them incredibly soothing to work on, and the itch to make another is terribly strong! The only annoying thing is the first row after the foundation chain. That is when you 'set' the ripple in, and because you have to put a few stitches in one chain at a time, it can sometimes make the next chain almost invisible so you miss it and don't count it (so when you get to the end of the foundation chain, you have either too many or too little stitches left). My advice then, is just to take it slow, and make sure that you count your stitches slowly on your first row so you don't miss any. Sometimes, it's easier to make your foundation chain stitches quite loose and big. Maybe go a hook size up for it, then revert to what size you want to make it in do do your rows.

      It still usually happens to me, so I often then just leave a tail with a few chains on it and then sew it in when I finish the blanket. It actually isn't a big deal, just more annoying than anything. The beauty of the blanket though, far outweighs the frustration of getting the first row right the first time! xxx

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    2. Thanks for taking the time to write this reply - I'm taking it all to heart and I'm going to be super careful on that first row, and use a larger hook too. Thanks again. xxxxxx

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  12. Dreaming in colours sounds wonderful. I love the colours you've chosen for your cushions, it's really pretty. I'm sure you'll love it once it's blocked and made up.

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  13. What a wonderful thing, dreaming in color! (Didn't dream of it, but I did come home with a blue bunny recently.) A whirlwind here with the kids home as well, decorating for the holiday (inside and out).Now the house is a mess, with just little o' me to deal with it this week. Oh well, not much new there. lol Working on a miniature holiday scene in crochet (to help keep the sanity).; D May we all dream in color tonight!

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    1. It's never ending is it with kids running around the house! Ooooh I love the sound of a miniature holiday scene in crochet! x

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  14. Yes what a strange dream!:) That cushion is lovely, I have never seen such a pattern, it looks complicated to me as Im still yet just into grannysquares.....Making a bag for myself and I have more yarn in the same colours waiting as I want to make a little babyblanket for my daughters teacher. Also Im knitting a simlpe scarf too on the "side"....but these past days have been busy so there have been no time at all for crochet or knitting........maybe today....Looking forward to maybe see that cushion when its finished! And love those cute mushrooms too!
    Hope you have a great day! :) /Jeanette

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    1. Emma Lamb's book is nice Jeanette. It has the pattern written out and in diagram form too. I find written patterns a nightmare to be honest. I mush prefer diagrams. They show me exactly where the stitches are supposed to go and I can whizz through a pattern. Written patterns I tend to get wrong a lot. I skip rows as I lose my place, my stitch counts are often wrong and I usually place the first stitch of the round in the wrong place! I'm pretty hopeless with written patterns! I hope the cushion ends up being okay! x

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