Everyone loves bunting (and Summer)

Lilies were my Mum's favourite flower, but when I was a child I couldn't bear the stamens (the orange bits that stick out of the middle of the flower) - they gave me running eyes and the sneezes. They still do - but I buy them anyway just to remind me of her. Mum used to pinch out the stamens just for me - but then you lost the gorgeous smell. I have decided to grin and bear it...or should I say sniff and bear it?

Lilies also remind me of Christmas...I am a southern hemisphere girl, remember. We would have the whole house adorned with these at Christmas time, stinking up the place but performing the perfect backdrop to the tinsel and pine Christmas tree. So this is my own little piece of a mid-summer Christmas - in June.

As you can see, this is also my workspace. My own little corner of the living room where the sun peeks through in the late afternoon. Sometimes it is cluttered and somewhat unruly and at other times it is a tiny little piece of heaven. As you can see the heaven bit happens when my computer is turned off.

So, bunting...I have steadfastly avoided it, despite being an avid crocheter. It all seems a little twee and kitsch. I love making bunting-like shapes that become placemats and coasters. But the thought of stringing them up for purposes of nothing but display made me feel a little ill. Until I got the lilies. The light shining through the window, the trees beyond, the pink of the flowers...OK, bunting, you have me hooked!

A quick search through my collection of old Simply Crochet magazines revealed a great bunting pattern in this one...

...and my very first string of bunting was born.

I believe I might be hooked (so to speak!).

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If Only I Could Crochet...

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