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

WIP Wrap-up

WIP Wrap-up

The last two weeks, I've been busy finishing some WIPs and continuing my two main projects - my Moorland CAL and my Cosystripe blanket. After finishing the Cosy stripe baby blanket, I was a bit behind on the Moorland CAL and I wanted to finish part 2 before the next part was released.

I had last Friday off work as me and my partner were looking after her parent's dogs and her brother and sister whilst her parents were away for the weekend. One of the dogs had a poorly foot, so he was especially cuddly, and a great crochet companion. I spent the majority of the day on the Moorland CAL, getting half way through part 3. 

This blanket is getting quite big now, and the pattern is extremely satisfying - both to make and to snuggle under. The repetitive wave pattern is relaxing and therapeutic - and I look forward to seeing the development of colours each week. 

On the Saturday, I made a baby hat to match the blanket I made. I designed the pattern myself, and was quite happy with the outcome - although I don't know it it is the right size or not. 

I then wrapped it up with a thick pink ribbon. I love to put ribbons on finished projects as I think it makes them look special. 

On the Sunday, I went to Blakemere with my Sister in Law and we went pottery painting. 

I chose to paint a travel mug, as I've wanted one for a while but couldn't find one that I really loved. I wanted a Cath Kidston one, but the patterns I love the most are her old ones - which don't tend to be printed on new products. When I saw a travel mug - I thought it was the perfect opportunity to create a mug that I knew I would love. I copied (tried to) one of my favourite Cath Kidston patterns. 

The picture on the left is the mug before it was 'baked' and the second is after. The colours become vibrant and the texture goes from matte and powdery to shiny and smooth. I'm very happy with the outcome! 

I also made a bit of progress on my Cosy Stripe blanket, and I'm now on the second repeat of colours. The further I get with this blanket - the more content I am with the colour palette. I'm using Stylecraft Special DK Yarns that Katie bought me for Christmas. You can see on the photo below on the right, the names of the colours I've used. I've started to keep a notebook with colour palettes for projects so that I know where I'm up to in a pattern that has several colour changes. I also think it's very satisfying to see a row of neatly stapled tassels of yarn. :)

Finally, I finished a WIP that I had started a while back. I finished my Attic 24 Yarn bag! 

I didn't use multi-colours, but instead stash busted some tweed Aran yarn that I had, and used up some grey I had left from another project. I didn't intend to put handles on this bag - but wanted to use it as more of a basket for yarn. It's great having the balls of wool stood up in there, packed in - because when you pull from the centre of a skein, it doesn't snag or pull your ball of wool around the floor. I made the bag tall so I could fold the top down and give it a bit more structure, but in the end I decided to add handles anyway. I thought 'There's no harm' and also thought it added the convenience of being able to just 'pick up and go'. So far, I'm loving the practicality of this bag and also love that when I don't need it, I can fold it up and put it away - unlike a wicker basket. 

So as you can see, last weekend, I was extremely busy-not busy. Haha. I had nothing important to do, so really cracked on with some of my current projects. I enjoyed ignoring adult responsibilities at the flat and crashing with the in-laws for the weekend - even if I did come home to a pile of washing ;)

This weekend wasn't much different from last - although I did go into work on Saturday to catch up. It's amazing what can be done in 4 hours on a Saturday morning compared to a whole day during the week. I think it's because the phones aren't ringing!

I am excited to celebrate 200 followers on Instagram! To some people, this is insignificant but I'm so happy. I'm really trying to commit to posting photographs often... and photographs that I'm proud of. I'm so thankful to everyone that is supporting me and liking my photos. It's making me feel 'not quite so weird'. 

charlielittlearty

Hope you liked this little catch-up. 

Love Charlie, Xx

A Great Sunday

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A Great Sunday

I had a great Sunday! Usually, I hate Sundays because I spend all day thinking about all the jobs I have to get done for Monday. Yesterday however, I didn't. 

Here are 4 reasons why I had a great Sunday!  

1. YARN HAUL

I woke up, and Katie took me to Black Sheep Wools in Culcheth, Warrington. http://www.blacksheepwools.com/ 

Immediately, this was going to be a great day!

I wanted to pick up the wool for the stylecraft ripple blanket.  I bought 12 colours (forgot to pick up a green) as I already had the grey. I also bought 8 balls of cream wool so that I could start edging the squares on my 'TV blanket'. 

I love it here. I love to go to my local wool shop the majority of times I need craft materials as I like to show loyalty, but sometimes it's a nice treat to go to Black Sheep Wools as there is so much choice! 

2. La La Land

I went to see La La Land in the cinema with my mother and sister-in-law. Oh wow, this film. It's a musical but it's fresh and innovative with influences from classic musical theatre. The soundtrack to this film is incredible and beautiful and soothing and clever and just wow. I love Emma Stone, so that was great. I can't really find the right words to explain how this film made me feel. I thought it was good whilst I was watching it... but in the 24 hours since seeing it, it has grown and grown in my mind. I need to go and see it again! 

The love story is so real. The ending is not what I expected but it's the truth, and I respect that... even though I left the cinema devastated. 

There's so many special moments in this film. It's so cheesy but I know already that it's going to be one of my favourite films.

3. Finished the Baby Blanket

I finished the baby blanket, and it turned out lovely. I made this in less than a week so I'm actually quite proud of myself. I can't explain how easy this pattern is, and it works up really quickly. 

The Cosy Stripes pattern by Attic 24 works into a neat 'lacy' classic looking blanket.

I'm also super happy to finish this blanket because now I can get on with part 2 of the Moorland CAL. I can't wait to see the colours develop and start using more of the purple shades. 

Check out my other projects on instagram and ravelry!

4. Organised and Prepared!

Although this is mundane and boring... I feel so much better about things when I'm organised and ready. I had a shower and washed my hair, painted my nails, and put on clean Pajamas. Then I lit candles and put music on and started dinner whilst drinking gin and pink lemonade. :) Mmmm. 

I made lunch and breakfast for Monday and did the washing up. It took no time at all and I didn't spend any time worrying about all the things to remember in the morning. 

This was a bit of a scrappy and poorly written blog post, 

but I wanted to document what a nice day I had. 

Have a nice week!

Love Charlie, Xxx