Saturday 24 January 2015

A Finished Object!

My life has become fairly one dimensional at the moment, thesis thesis, and oh yes thesis. Not complaining, it's all self inflicted ;) I had no idea it was going to take this long! I don't know if that's common or whether I'm just a little naive... probably the latter but I'll keep battling on!

So I'm fairly dull at the moment, no pictures to share, no anecdotes to impart, no new places to describe. Still, there is light at the end of the tunnel and I have so much to look forward to.

For now, here's a picture of my first completed make this year, it's a granny stripe cowl using the pattern from last month's Simply Crochet. I ran out of wool so it's a little shorter than I'd have hoped but it is still warm and cosy. It's actually part of a Christmas present for an amazing friend of mine, late I know but we have been known to exchange presents in July so it's not too late yet!



Until Next Time,

Helen

Friday 16 January 2015

Checking In: January



Making : My #hexieaday and granny square gilet, I blogged about them here

Cooking : My newly discovered go to recipe is 'Cheat's Macaroni' (that's what I've named it anyway!): Pasta, Creme Fraiche, Stilton and Broccoli.

Drinking : Lots of tea.... caffeine dependent at the moment

Reading: 'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte. I am so glad I am not a Victorian.

Wanting: To be more motivated 

Playing: Darts, C got his way and has installed his darts board in the study


Wishing: That the thesis was over... I know it's all in my hands but I seem to lack the motivation/inspiration completely!


Enjoying: Slightly longer days

Waiting: For Spring

Liking: The hexagonalong (not sure if that's strictly the term, but it is what I will call it :))

Considering: Going back to Pembrokeshire in April, I need some seaside time


Watching: The Tudors. I am a bit of a self-confessed history geek, but the inaccuracies are really annoying me, they're unnecessary! It's good for entertainment though.

Marvelling: Michelle's blanket, the colours and concept are awe-inspiring!

Smelling: Banana Bread. I made some more:)

Knowing: What 'Slipped Disc' is in German, it came up the other day and I was so proud of my random knowledge!

Sorting: The mandatory pile of paper that seems to inhabit my desk

Buying: Nothing - I'm still being good!

Getting: Back into the swing of things

Disliking: The news from France last week, there is too much hatred in the world

Opening: Lots of links to crochet projects I don't have time to do

Feeling: Really tired, sleep is evading me at the moment

Snacking: On Snackajacks, they are oh so addictive

Wishing: My poor Nana would start to get better, she's been in and out of hospital since October now

Hearing: Classic FM, I've started working with it in the background, it's marginally less distracting than other music as I don't try to sing a long quite as often!

Wishing you all a happy rest of the month,


Until Next Time,


Helen

Sunday 11 January 2015

New Year, New Projects

In the space of the last 5 days I've somehow managed to start 2 new crochet projects.... The not so sensible side of my brain overcame the logical side which was uttering completely sensical words such as "thesis" "camper blanket" "cleaning" "job hunting", all good reasons not to start new projects! But, hey ho here we are and I thought I'd introduce them here as they will probably be making a few appearances over the next year. 

1. I've decided to join in a 'baby hexagon a day' along that seems to be sweeping instagram. I saw this lovely post on thelittleroomofrachell, and was (excuse the pun) hooked. What a wonderful idea! I have so much wool, and I like the idea of doing a bit a day. I'm being really strict and not crocheting ahead of the day I'm on. So if I miss a few days it's fine to crochet them all in a bunch, but I'm not allowed to exceed the number of days there have been in the year. This is a last ditch attempt at self control.... watch this space! Here are my hexies so far.... (I've also started an active involvement in instagram, it's amazing! my account is 'woollybluebells', pop over and say hi :))


2. I've always wanted to crochet an item of clothing and set my eyes on this gilet pattern in the Granny Square Crochet book I've had for a while. I was going to wait until more thesis progress had been made, but I succumbed to the idea that I will not want to wear it in Summer so had better get a move on! So far it's a disaster, I didn't do a tension swatch and my squares are too small, I don't have enough yarn to risk frogging it, and at this rate it may well fit a child by the time I'm done. I'm going to have a play at adding squares, but should the attempt fail miserably I will have to search for a recipient!! Valuable lessons have been learned ;)



So what new projects (crafty or otherwise) do you have for the coming year?

Until next time,

Helen

Friday 9 January 2015

Five on Friday

Wow, I can't believe it's time for 'Five on Friday' again, where has the last month gone?? This week I'm going to share five things that are making me happy...

1. Progress on my 'bonnie blanket'. It's nearly finished!! This blanket is made out of chunky yarn so is rather bulky, but it's destined for our campervan Bonnie (hence the name) and therefore needs to be reasonably warm as we want to start travelling around in Spring this year. I'm going to add another row or two to this monster, just to make sure it's definitely wide enough and then think about a border. Any suggestions from any of you crocheters out there?! I think it needs to be pretty plain because the wool is just so inelegant, maybe simple DCs or moss stitch...




2. This Spice Rack. As you can see it's been repurposed having held a load of beers that C got from my Uncle in Belgium for Christmas. He has been wanting to build a spice rack for months, but not quite got round to it so we've had a medley of spices on the side. Now they are neat and organised and I think he's done a great job, he just had to add some extra shelves.


3. This year I have got back to cooking. I'm really lucky that C is an excellent cook and loves doing it, but it's got to the point that I don't cook at all! We both agreed that I need to do some more and so I've been perusing recipes and finding new inspiration. I'm a bit of a lazy chef, and my favourite recipe so far consisted of literally creme fraiche, stilton, pasta and broccoli. So easy yet so tasty!


4. Crisp and cold winter days. I've been indulging of my possibly odd past time of walking round the nearby grave yard on my study breaks and snapped the frost covered ground the other day. I love a brisk cold walk and then snuggling up with a cup of tea once home


5. This is the university library, Hallward. It is not a pretty building but it contains such a vast amount of information that I'm always in awe. My thesis is proving pretty difficult at the moment, but I try not to forget how incredibly lucky I am to have had the opportunities I have. 



Until Next Time,

Helen x



I am joining in Five on Friday, taking five minutes from our day to enjoy five things.  Please go and visit the other people who are also blogging about Five on Friday this week.

Helen from Woollybluebells
Gina from Fan My Flame
Joanne from A Whole Plot of Love 
Debbie from Saylor Street Cottage 
Rosie from Corners Of My Mind
Lil from House With Hearts

Sunday 4 January 2015

The Year In Books: January

In line with my new year resolutions I've decided to take part in 'the year in books' organised by Laura on her lovely blog 'circle of pine trees'. I've been reading posts from others participating for a while now, the aim is to read at least a book a month and then blog about it, joining up with the others: a super flexible book club :)

I'm quite a quick reader, but very lazy: I read lots of the same genres and authors so this year I've decided to step out of my comfort zone. I saw this reading challenge posted on 9gag and thought it might be a good prompt to widen my reading: some of the categories are a bit silly but it's all good fun! I think a lot of books fall into more than one category so I may cheat a little... Not every book I read will correspond with this but every now and again I want to use it to guide my choices!


So for January I am going to read 'A book your mum loves'. My Mum's absolute favourite book is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, I've read it once before but a long time ago, and am looking forward to re-reading.

I am also in the middle of reading 'Necessary Lies' by Diane Chamberlain, so will aim to finish that as well.

What are you reading? Have you got any recommendations for me? Check out what others are reading here.

Until next time,

Helen