Hello February

Goodbye January

January is supposed to be a blue kind of a month, but to be honest, my January has been quite nice. 

Here are a few things I've enjoyed most this month. 

Bath Bombs

Firstly, I've been enjoying a weekly bath - using Lush cosmetics bath products. On boxing day, I managed to get my hands on a half price advent calendar - thanks to the Ninja-like skills of my girlfriend. This calendar really does include some gems! My favourites being the Sleepy body cream, and Shoot for the Stars bath bomb. I like to save my bath bombs for a Friday night because it's nice to relax after a week of work - and the scents seem to help any headache I have. 

Christmas Chocolate

Next, I have to admit that I've spent most of January eating my way through Christmas Chocolate!

Now is the time to start eating healthy - but who can complain about chocolate?

My absolute favourite chocolates (excluding Cadbury's Dairy Milk) are Lindt Lindor Chocolate Truffles mmmmm. :) 

La La Land

La La Land has made my January! I have seen it 3 times now, and just can't get enough. I could honestly watch it over and over again. It just gets better the more I watch it. I really can't recommend this film enough, especially if you are the arty type, and appreciate performance, dance and music. This film is a piece of art, and the sound track is mesmerizing. It's currently getting played on repeat on my Spotify. The arrangement and composition in some of the tracks is comparative to the music in classical Ballets. 

Instagram

Since New Year, I've put a lot more effort into my instagram account - and it's paying off. 

When Gran died, I lost the one person I could talk to and share all the little details of my WIPs with, and in this respect - I've been very lonely. 

I still haven't mustered up the courage to return to my local knitting club by myself. Although I know I will eventually, I keep putting it off. I worry that people might not want me there and I might not fit back in. 

Anyway, back on track - Instagram! 

Now that I'm on this so-called journey to self acceptance, I have realised I've released the crochet beast and so my instagram account has become more specialised with a specific theme. I still want to be able to post photos of anything so I haven't restricted myself to craft only - just increased the volume of crochet photos. 

I've connected with some lovely people, and it's been so nice to have dialogue with other crafters. Even just likes <3 are encouraging and supportive. 

Here are a few instagrammers that have been most encouraging to me:-

@lollymakes

@goslingandplumb

@gezzy_b

@bjorgbjoberg

@nans_olive_torana

@m0chii

@countryside_crochet

@crochetbetweenworlds

Moorland Blanket CAL

Finally, the best part of my January has been the Moorland Blanket CAL by Attic 24. It's given me something to work on each week, and something to look forward to. I've enjoyed taking part in a crochet-along too, because you get to see other crocheter's progress, and there's a real sense of community online. Also, because it's Lucy's design, and she is a very popular (if not most popular) crochet designer, there are a lot of people interested, and want to talk about your WIPs. It's so lovely that a crochet pattern can bring people together. 

So, Goodbye January, thank you for not being shitty as expected... 

and Hello February, I hope you are as good, if not better than January. 

Love Charlie, Xxx

Last Day of Christmas Ramblings

Last Day of Christmas Ramblings

Today was the last day of my Christmas break - tomorrow it's back to work. I spent the morning cleaning and putting presents away. Then I has my friend over with her children for coffee and chocolate :) It was nice to catch up and we must meet up more often. 

I had plans to return to the local knitting club tonight (first time since losing Gran) but I couldn't face it without her. I know the women there are lovely, but I just felt that going alone was too overwhelming. Maybe next week. I did however spend the evening crocheting. I finished a shawl that I started on New Year's Day with the wool that my Girlfriend's Nan & Granddad bought me for Christmas, I'm going to make a lilac and silver one too soon. 

The pattern was from Simply Crochet magazine - which my Mother in Law bought me the subscription to for Christmas -  the pattern by Davis De Herraiz. The pink is really glittery, although you can't really see that from the photos. This is the first crocheted thing I've really made myself - the year's off to a great start! Also, after watching the whole series of 'The Crown' on Netflix, I started watching 'Victoria' on Now TV. Kinda into the Monarchy at the moment. :)  

Today was nice because I got a lot of jobs done and the flat is clean and airy and ready for my return to work. I made overnight oats for my breakfast and a salad for lunch. I washed my hair and yesterday, I painted my nails, and drank a lot of green tea. I think it's done me good to take a bit of time for myself. 

I hope to continue like this. I always put things off and end up with lots of washing and other chores on the weekend. I am an adult now! And need to get off my lazy bum and get things done. A little each day and then I can enjoy my weekend. I think it's called optimizing your time?

It was also a good day because I caught up with an old friend. We don't get to see each other often, so when we do - we talk about all sorts. Today we talked about not being so negative. It's so easy for our first reaction to be negative 'I'm too fat' or 'I'm not good enough' or 'I'll get it wrong' without even giving ourselves a chance. I don't want to be like this anymore - and maybe it's the New Year Vibe that's got me like this. (#newyearnewme) But, I'm just feeling so laid back and I don't want to underestimate myself anymore. We also talked about our lack of new year's resolutions. How we don't want to set ourselves up to fail - but just be happy and appreciate the small things in life. 

I don't know how long I'll stick to it - but I'm trying to write down things that have made my day good in a diary each day so that at the end of the year I get to read how many nice things have happened. (Like the bits of paper people put in jars - but without the mess) 

Anyway, that's it for today. Sometime this week I'll do a blog post about my crochet plans for 2017. I can't wait to start the Moorland Blanket CAL! So excited. 

Love Charlie, Xxx

Gifts I made for Christmas

Gifts I made for Christmas

I made a few presents this year... I love making things for friends and family. In fact, the only thing I've ever made myself is a teapot cosy. 

Anyway - this year I made two blankets, an embroidery, a crocheted bag, and a stuffed sleepy cat... and a few coasters.  

Sunburst Granny Square Blanket

The first blanket I made was for my girlfriend's Nan and Grandad. I used the Sunburst pattern from CraftyMarie. 

http://www.craftymarie.com/2015/07/easy-free-sunburst-granny-square.html

I used the women's institute wool from Hobbycraft, as it's super soft and great value for money. I managed to get exactly the colours I was looking for and I think the end product is nice. 

Victorian Lattice Square Blanket

The second blanket I made was for my mother-in-law. I wanted to make a big blanket that could be used for either snuggling up on the sofa with or using as a bed spread. I used a beigey brown? colour and cream so it would match the interior decorations. This blanket turned out lovely. I used the Victorian lattice square from Destany Wymore. 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/victorian-lattice-square

I chose this pattern as I wanted the blanket to look vintage and classic but I didn't want to use plain granny squares. I felt that this pattern was kind of shabby chic and antique. I used the women's institute wool from hobby craft for this blanket too - it's just so soft and snuggly. 

Sleepy Cat Plush

I made my mum a crocheted cat plush from Nekoyama. 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/amineko-crocheted-cat

This project was fun and was my first proper amigurami-type finished toy. He's been named Bob Cat and he looks cool however he's sat. For this I used a varied coloured yarn from my stash. Not sure what the brand was, 

Cotton Bag

For my girlfriend's great grandma, I made a bag. I made this pattern up myself, taking inspiration from photos on Pinterest. I lined it with pretty floral fabric.

Embroidered Elephant

Finally, I made my mum an embroidery of an elephant. I got the pattern off Pinterest. It is an embroidery that my Gran wanted to make my mum, but I only remembered this as I was halfway through making it which I thought was quite cool. This is the first embroidery I've ever finished so I'm proud of myself. 

That's it for 2016. I'm very happy with my handmade gifts. I like to make gifts specifically for people I love as it's so much more thoughtful, and shows you care. 

Hope you liked these, check my projects out on my ravelry page:- http://www.ravelry.com/people/lovecharlieblog

Love Charlie, Xxx