not so secret garden

The air is heavy, we’ve had a very stormy grey (dotted with lovely patches of sunny) beginning to spring. All the extra moisture has made my hair super fuzzy, but also brings out the lush gardens ♥

© AMANDA OCHOCKI + chalklegs secret garden 1

© AMANDA OCHOCKI + chalklegs secret garden

Off the side porch, the walking path to the backyard is almost completely swallowed up by lilacs. I don’t know if they are extra fragrant this year, but it seems every room in the house is wonderfully filled with their sweetness.

To add to the romantic cottage in the woods feel, I made a giant outdoor doily blanket using the utterly gorgeous Anya pattern. I mostly did this to hide the fact that (because my porch furniture is nut-brown) the bastard squirrels felt compelled to chewed off all the back cushion piping! (total jerks)

 Welcome to our shabby granny porch, in our not so secret garden  ♥

Oh Pretty!

© AMANDA OCHOCKI + chalklegs skyline from porch

Storm brewing ..we enjoy the lukewarm spring evenings and beautiful cotton candy view from the cozy shelter of the porch.

I am lusty for the frosting texture, natural cotton always looks so doughy I LOVE IT! The free pattern is called Fluffy Meringue Blanket (how sweet & accurate!) I only worked the first 8 rounds to get a dishcloth size and it still turned out kinda big, right around 9”.
I took creative liberty on the last few rounds ♥

Besides being wrapped up in party crafting (invitations are designed & ordered!) I’ve been dreaming of dishcloths, the 2013 Annual Dishcloth Swap is coming up at the end of July (both knit & crochet are welcome) please stop in and say hello, we would really love to meet you ♥