Happy February (and a winner)

 Happy February everyone! 

Today we woke up to sunshine, followed by a hailstorm, rain and now we have sunshine   again with very blustery wind. To say that January has been crazy busy is an           understatement for me, I have not been able to be as creative as I would have liked, but then again, I have a achieved a few other things. I have been very busy in my job and this has left me rather tired and drained, needing the weekends to recover. 

I have achieved a few of my January goals which feels good, Andy and I managed to have a date night last Saturday and it was really good fun and we realised how important it is to make special time for each other in our busy lives. I started doing a pretty intensive exercise class three times a week and going for a run once a week, I sorted my eyebrows out :o) and made the dreaded dentist appointment for February (2014 is going to be the year of my teeth!) and last but not least finished my January #theyearinbooks and did a huge charity shop sort out.

I have also been really enjoying Instagram here and have made these collages of some of my January insta-gramming. I am not sure about the app that I chose to make these collages, they haven't come out quite as neat as I would normally choose, I will keep searching for a good app for my iPad. Maybe you use a good one you could suggest?

I hope that January has treated you well and a HUGE thank you for following along and entering my giveaway. Once again, you are all so lovely I would love to give you all a little parcel in the post, but alas Mr. Random number generator has taken that out of my hands and voila, the number it generated was FOUR..... that's the lovely Sarah of Mitenska a simple blog from the blustery north. Congratulations Sarah, please can you email (violetsandvelvet@gmail.com) me your address and I will pop the giveaway in the post to you.

I am going to go back to beavering away at my comfort crocheting granny square blanket while we wait for the next unpredictable weather surprise. Take gentle care and see you all soon xox

Ps. Sorry about all the weird typing in the first paragraph, blogsy is doing weird stuff today!

 

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The year in books: January

It's time for me to talk about my January book that I chose for #theyearinbooks that I am taking part in. As you can see I chose Donna Tartt's second book that took her ten years to write, (she has written 3 books which have each taken her a decade each to write, amazing!)The Little Friend. I read her first book The Secret History about 15 years ago and found that a real page turner, but in all honesty I forgot about her until about a couple of months ago when I heard her being interviewed on the radio and then on the television about her latest novel The Goldfinch and my fascination with her grew. I love that she is a recluse and rarely allows interviews. I love her sense of dress and style and that she dares to take so long to write her novels. Quite frankly I am a little obsessed with finding out more about her, no I am not quite stalking her!!!

So, back to this book, all 576 pages of it were real page turners once again for me. It begins as such: "For the rest of her life, Charlotte Cleve would blame herself for her son's death because she had decided to have the Mother's Day dinner at six in the evening rather than noon, after church, which is when the Cleves usually had it."

This novel is not directly about a murder. It is about the effect that the murder has on the main character Harriet's immediate and extended family and it is through Harriet's desire to come to terms with the past and find her brother's killer that Donna Tartt Takes you on a journey through one of aged 12 Harriet's lonely summers, encountering misunderstanding, bereavement, solitude and straightforward cruelty, she drifts further and further into her obsessions.

As the story progresses, other, tougher, meaner characters are dragged into her world and she is almost destroyed by her attempts at revenge on individuals who bear illogical grudges against her.

This book felt multi-layered to me, lots of sub plots going on which I enjoyed keeping up with. It delves into South American history which I have always liked learning about and as I followed Harriet it became evident to me that she had to learn lessons in betrayal, loss, guilt and unfortunately lessons which crossed a threshold into pure evil. It became a bit of a thriller for me, full of suspense which made it an immensely satisfying read. I almost found myself not reading every day to try and draw out the the enjoyment of suspense for longer!

I would highly recommend this book if you like what I have described and of course you can read many other much more intellectual reviews about this fascinating read. I give it a good 4 out of 5 and can't wait to read The Goldfinch, but will wait for it to come out in paperback as I am not a fan of hardback fictional books.

I am excited about my new read, Kartography which I should finish in February and will be talking about on my blog. I hope this might have inspired you to pick up a good book that appeals to you, I am feeling rather inspired with having got back into my love affair with books.

I will be next on the blog with a winner from my giveaway as seen here. Until then happy reading xox Penny

 

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Giveaway

It's about time I did a giveaway on my blog, I've been meaning to for a while and bought these 2 small balls of Eric Knight yarn in November last year as I love the colours and and the fact that they are pure British Bluefaced Leicester wool makes them extra special. The book is a stunning homage to stylish ideas and handmade projects by Sarah Moore and I just felt like spoiling you lovelies who come and visit and say hi.

If you'd like to enter please become a follower of my blog and leave a comment and your email if you don't have a blog. I will use the random number selector to see who the winner is on Saturday the 1st February. Good luck :o)

 

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Comfort crocheting

Hi there, how are you all?

Thanks for your lovely comments on Frederick Barbosa II he has been enjoying being part of the menagerie of cuddly creatures and pillows on Alice's bed.

I have been a rather busy bee this week, working and doing horrid home stuff like sorting out paperwork for the car and insurances etc. I really am not very good at that kind of "grown up stuff" and usually rely on Andy to steer me in the right direction. More like I stick my head in the sand and hope it will go away, but alas it never seems to!

So in the spirit of cheering myself up, instead of comfort eating (which is a usual default for me) I have found my comfort in crocheting. Yes, crocheting very simple monotone granny squares from some Stylecraft Special DK I bought last week. My purse is sad this month and I bought this yarn because it's affordable and one of the better acrylic yarns in my opinion, oh and it's easy to wash without shrinkage!

So it's been a week of evenings on the couch movie watching, radio listening and The Great Interior Design Challenge iplayer catchup watching with a cuppa and my comforting, easy peasy crochet. Six rows of easy treble granny squares which bring such comfort to body and soul after a long days work.

The yarn's "acrylic-ness" is rather evident in these photographs which may be a little close up, but I don't mind as it's sometimes not about the product its about the process and other times it's about both.

I think I will put a border of grey around each square before joining them together to make me a huge comfort blanket in these last few months of Winter.

So, instead of comfort eating, I'm comfort crocheting. Sounds like a high fibre, zero calorie good plan to me :o)

How about you, what's bringing you comfort at the moment?

Hooray for Friday tomorrow

xox

See you all soon with my New Year and long overdue giveaway

 



Frederick Barbosa II

Would you like to meet Frederick Barbosa II? He is our new bunny boy that had his arms, legs, ears and tail sewn on yesterday?

He was christened yesterday evening by Alice who is determined that he is a boy and despite me pointing out why I thought he might be a bit more girly, she is determined he is a boy and promptly gave him his name. She has allowed me to call him "Freddy" as a compromise!

I must say that he has turned out rather sweet and has already carved a space into our hearts. I crocheted him from some Aran beige wool I had left over from another project and some Aran Noro yarn from my stash. The pattern can be found in the September (2013)issue of Inside Crochet and despite being a bit fiddly to make and sew together, I think he has come together rather well.

This fabric was given to me at a street market in Brighton last year from a kind man who saw me admiring it and wondering if it was a Liberty print. Not sure about where the fabric comes from? I still like it though and have enough left over to incorporate into a patchwork or make a small purse if I like.

So there we have it a new bunny boy to plop on Alice's bed. He's definitely got that home made look about him, one arm and leg fatter and longer than the other. One ear bigger than the other and some odd stitching, just the way we like it round here. I don't know about you, but I always get excited about knitting or crocheting bunnies and teddies and then when I am half way through think it's harder than what it looked like and takes much more time and effort than initially thought. Always worth it in the end and I vow never to make another until the next cute one comes my way!

Other than that there has been a lot of veggie soup and home made bread munching going on around here to warm the cockles of our hearts on the chilly evenings and a little bit of playing around with some cotton and a hook.

I have a thing about geometry at the moment after being re-taught by Alice this past week! Amazing how I can just about remember to calculate the degrees of angles after all these years! Little did I know that maths would hold me in good stead in my fourties with a hook and yarn in hand :o)

Happy days to you all this coming week

I have seen a few photos of snowdrops on Instagram this weekend, so exciting the thought of tiny little blossoms everywhere.

xox

See you soon

Ps. I am now on Instagram now and loving it x

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Greens and yellows

I am so thankful for all your lovely messages about my funny old crochet hanger covers, I was grateful for the light relief they gave me after last weeks crazy busy time at work. It's such an odd time of year January where I feel such ambiguity. One day I am high as a kite thinking of Spring coming and the joys of new life emerging full of inspiration for what the year will bring and then I feel not so joyful, kind of blue and damp and dark where I gain solice in reading and hiding away from the world once I am home. I am also such an anti-social creature, I don't go out much in the winter and tend to hibernate on weekends, trying to recouperate from my working week. I wish I was a bit more energetic, but alas this is just what I am at the moment. I like my own company you see, I am the girl who is sitting on her own in the movies, in a pub reading, in a cafe knitting, in a live gig dancing on my own. It's what refuels me, being on my own. I like thinking.

Despite all of this, I have found myself being attracted to all greens and yellows in the past few days and have been snapping away...

This is my latest crochet venture, a sweet Bunny doll which I first saw on lovely Lisa's blog here, thank you for inspiring me Lisa, I loved your bunny and simply had to make one for Alice too. Her arms and legs and body all need to be sewn up, but hopefully she will make her debut sometime soon on the blog :o)

Taking of bunnies, this little one is a new addition to my printers tray found for 20p in a charity shop and the one below was bought from the Tiger shop in Brighton ages ago, she's the yarn guard bunny girl!

The daffodils have been making dark morning cups of tea and coming downstairs a whole lot more brighter and lighter

Alice's Headgirl badge that I couldn't resist putting in her stocking this Christmas has been popping up all over the house, the yellow is cheery for grey coats at this time of the year and we can giggle about it too.

Last, but not least I was rather pleased when my Christmas present to myself plopped through the letter box on Saturday. I love this beautiful bi- monthly magazine and a gorgeous friend of mine was ordering a years subscription for her sister as her Christmas present and in order to get the excellent deal there needed to be 2 people subscribing, Helen thought of me and after a couple of texts I had me a selfie Christmas pressie!

There are definitely some greens and yellows in there. How about you? Do you ever buy yourself a present at Christmas or on your birthday? I must confess that I always do....very naughty but nice.

I'll share more of this beautiful magazine which feels more like a book to me in the near future, it's got some great ideas.

Hope you week is going swell

xox

See you soon

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Moody blues (and greys)

These past few days I have been a little grumpy, I think it's that January feeling and just always being tired. I haven't felt inspired to start knitting a new pattern and have been grateful for the smallness of crochet flowers and BBC iplayer catch up of The Bridge

I have really enjoyed covering my wooden hangers with left over yarn in my stash, which is looking rather low on the stock front, may need to correct that sometime soon! I initially thought, happy, light, bright, beautiful Spring themed hangers full of the breathe of new life and waking up from the Winter, however my mood won in the end and my moody blues and greys were the first colours I gravitated to. I love blues and greys and despite maybe representing a darker side to me they make me feel very normal and if I say so rather happy and complete. I am pleased that I can accept that each day, depending on my mood my colour palette can change. I try not to think that I have a default colour, but if I was pushed it would be every shade of blue on this good earth. Teal, turquoise, Prussian blue all melts me away.

So enough blabbing, do you fancy seeing how I added pops of colour to my moody blues and greys? Here goes...

That very bright pink was far too zingy for the camera!

The bright blue flower in the centre is from Lucy's pattern May Roses. I love the idea of fields and fields of blue roses. The very bright pink centre flower in the photo below is also a May Rose and all the little flowers on the sides are Lucy's teeny tiny flower pattern.

The light pink rose in the centre was a pattern from this Nicki Trench book which I have on my crafty shelf. It was the first time I have ever crocheted the dtr stitch which sure is a yarn gobbler, but good fun with all that twisting and flicking of the hook.

 

So there we have it, my sweet and simple moody blues and greys with pops of hopeful pinks. I love that these are now going to have an important function in my domestic life and that they will remind me that it's good to give into your moods at times.

See you soon and thanks for stopping

xox

 

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