2017 A Review in Pictures

Hello! How is everyone? Have you recovered from the double whammy of Christmas and New Years? I'm not sure I can even look at a mince pie I ate so much over the holidays! I used December as a complete break from having to do anything whatsoever that wasn't essential. My term finished on the 17th December by which point I was so tired I found myself sleeping through the five alarms I set for every morning. Yes five. Yes I slept through all of them. Yes I need a better system! Or more sleep. I had a great Christmas holidays which you will see at the end of this post. By the 1st January I felt recovered from 2017 and ready to approach 2018. I didn't want to rush my goals and reviews for 17/18 and now a week in I'm ready to review 2017. This post is a look back at what happened in 2017 through pictures!

January

January signaled the beginning of my first full year of knitting and crochet! I had my first yarn kit, my first sock and my first crochet swatch. How many times can you say first in one sentence?!

2017! What are you going to do with a whole new year?

2017! A fresh year, a fresh start and lots of exciting opportunities! I have been so inspired by all of the creators, makers, designers, teachers and bloggers I have come across in the past year since making my way into the wonderful world of yarn and creativity. The main word I can think of to describe all of these people is welcoming. People love sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm for their individual crafty loves and I am so grateful for all the little tips and lessons I have been given along the way so far. Two memories immediately come to mind. The first is the stall holder at Fibre East who taught me how to use a drop spindle without even hinting at buying any of his products. I immediately bought a drop spindle and some fluff to spin! 

My drop spindle and bundles of fluff from www.wildcraft.co.uk

The second was remembering all the lovely women I took around London as part of the Great London Yarn Crawl 2016. All of them were comfortable knitters and gave me advice and guidance throughout the day. One particularly helpful lady sent me a message on Ravelry filled with useful links for beginners as a small thank you for enjoying the day.  

Knitting with the lovely GLYC ladies in the Wild and Woolly shop in London

Because of all these fond memories, I am really looking forward to continuing my crafty adventures in 2017 and want to include creativity in my new years resolutions. 


New years resolutions 2017

I have a few personal ones like exercise more and cook more healthily but here I want to think about the exciting goals! 

Creative:

1. Declutter
2. Blog more
3. Do more creative things in 2017 such as classes, events and projects
4. Plan my creativity for 2017

I read recently that one of the most common reasons that new years resolutions fail is that we make statements but don't necessarily plan how to achieve these resolutions on a weekly, monthly or daily basis. The other is that we try to change too many habits at once which causes too much instability and therefore stops us successfully changing our habits (article here). So with these two facts in mind, I'm going to try and introduce these goals gradually and see if it works! 

1. Declutter

Everyone who has a hobby has a secret cupboard or box or in my case huge pile of stuff specific to your hobby. Or hobbies. Definitely plural in my case! Its so easy to walk into a yarn shop or event or an online retailer and accidentally find you've bought something that is vital to your continuing happiness resulting in an increasing mountain of crafty goodness. After just one week away from home for a placement I realised my room has been taken over by this mountain which has slowly crept from one cupboard to another two plastic boxes and all the floor space under one of my sky light windows. So this year will be about using all of this stuff and only buying new things if its for a specific project. Its going to be a challenge! 

2. Blog more

As I mentioned in my last post, my degree has given my social and creative time a bit of a battering! Looking back though, my most stress free weeks were ones that had something fun in them including writing posts for this blog. I'm not going to have a set schedule because my uni timetable is so variable but I will aim for a post or two a month and see how it goes. It'll push me to do creative things as well which will help with my third resolution.


3. Do more creative things in 2017 such as classes, events and projects

I've got a list written in my diary of upcoming events in 2017 such as Unravel Yarn Festival, Farnham in February. I'll be adding this to my Pinterest and on the blog. I've been browsing different classes but nothing stands out just yet! I wouldn't mind a sock class to cement what I have learnt so far. Projects below :)

4. Plan my creativity for 2017

Of course we never know how a whole year will pan out but I have a few initial plans that I am really excited to share with you!

The plan so far:

Attic24 Moorland blanket CAL (crochet-a-long)
This starts tomorrow!! I ordered the Moorland kit from Wool Warehouse which contains 15 balls of Stylecraft DK in all the colours needed for the blanket. The colour layout is beautiful. As a regular hiker, I love the concept of of a blanket inspired by heather and the outdoors. The lovely Lucy from Attic 24 has been posting regularly about the CAL so if you'd like to try it, its not too late! For more information, you can find Lucy's blog here.

Tin Can Knits Simple range

Tin Can Knits The Simple Collection is aimed at beginner knitters who want to learn new skills and want to knit things they will actually use. All the patterns are free and they have lots of tutorials for each pattern. The first two patterns are for absolute beginners and are basic stockinette patterns for a scarf and a baby blanket. The patterns work you all the way up to a jumper (sweater) which is still an intimidating thought but will be doable by the end of the collection (hopefully!)

Yarngasm - Box of socks 2017

This is a bit ambitious considering I have thus far knitted half a sock! The aim of this knitalong is pretty straightforward. Get a box and fill it with at least 12 pairs of socks by the end of December 2017. One pair a month. Any pattern you like and any yarn you want to use. I think this will be great to help me really improve my sock skills. More info here Yarngasm has a great podcast on youtube and beautiful hand dyed yarns under the name Voolenvine. 


I'm going to start with these three projects and take it from there! I don't want to overload or feel like I have too many things I had to finish every month so this will be a nice, steady amount of knitting and crochet. 

Have you got any creative plans for this year? Any suggestions of other things you're trying?

So that was 2016

How are you? Recovered from New Years Eve? Grab a hot brew and a comfy seat, this is a long-ish post! 

2016 was an interesting year to say the least. On the global scale there were a few major political changes (need I say more?) and various people are no longer with us. 

On a much more minor level it has been a year of discovery for me. 

My resolutions for 2016 were:

• Be more organised
• Start a blog
• Do more creative things
• Learn to crochet
• Learn to knit
• Knit a sock
• Do better in my degree
• Sit for five minutes everyday and think of three things that you're grateful for

A bit varied and ambitious considering 'learn to knit' was next to 'knit a sock'! So how did it go? 

Be more organised

I'm definitely more organised now than I have ever been. I actually have a written down schedule and a colour coded task list. However the amount of that list that gets done is a tad variable. Throughout the year I've read a lot of productivity blogs which have helped enormously such as bakadesuyo.com which sends weekly articles on productivity, changing habits and changing your mental attitude. I hope to continue this trend but be more pro-active rather than feeling I have achieved something simply by writing it in a list, colour-coded or otherwise!

Start a blog

I have started a blog but I'd love to eke out some time to actually post here regularly. As will be  mentioned below, my degree has been a dominant feature for the past three years and the next 18 months but with improving organisation I aim to have a more balanced life this year. Lets see how that goes! I haven't really decided the main theme of this blog and I'm looking forward to exploring that this year.

Do more creative things/ learn to crochet/ learn to knit

I've tried a drop spindle, weaving, screen printing, lino cuts, embroidery, crochet and knitting in 2016. It has been amazing! Admittedly a lot of these have only been tried once, put down and looked at longingly while revising for yet another exam. But, I have learnt the basics of crochet and knitting which has been an absolute highlight of this year. My crochet skills are still basic but this will be changing this year which I will discuss in 2017 goals either below or in another post. I have also discovered the joy of yarn and craft events in the UK. I was a volunteer for the Great London Yarn Crawl and met some wonderful yarny people. 

Knit a sock!

Tied in with creativity and knitting is learning how to knit a sock. I managed to sneak this into the last few weeks of last year and after much swearing, grumps and puzzled looks I have conquered the gusset, heel turn and heel. Although I'm sure it will feel less conquered when I try the second sock and I haven't tried a toe yet! You can see my progress so far on my instagram: charlotte_and_harvey

Embracing gratitude

Sitting still for five minutes was surprisingly hard. I always have a list in my mind that I need to complete every day and it can be difficult to just sit. Sit. And not move. And not think about anything but gratitude. And not start doing anything else. Its worth it. Please try it if you have time. It is so nice to flick through my little book of lists and timetables and deadlines and find a daily gratitude list which reminds me how lucky I am in my life even on the days that certainly didn't feel lucky. 

Degree highs and lows

And finally, my degree. I can't remember if I have mentioned but I am in my 4th year of a 5 year medical degree. All being well, I shall be a fully qualified doctor in around 18 months (fingers and toes crossed!). It has been an uphill struggle, mainly because I stupidly didn't thinking when I started that maybe, just maybe, medicine is quite hard! 2016 was my best year when I was in third year and I achieved my best grades so far. Then came fourth year. Long hours, lots of content to learn and the surprise event of my organised dissertation suddenly not happening. Twice. On the positive side, I now have a fairly stable dissertation opportunity which is certainly something I am immensely grateful for everyday. 

Well thats a long post from me! I hope you had a hot drink to get you through it. I'm going to post again this week with my 2017 aims/ goals/ themes and I would love to hear what yours are whether its creative, exercise or for life in general!

Have a wonderful first week of 2017 - C and H x

Meanderings

Summer in England is a precarious thing. There is no guarantee of sunshine or nice weather and when there is, the parks are filled with us pale Brits baring as much skin as possible to try and rake in some vitamin D and that mythical thing - a sun tan. 

On the plus side it does mean we are immensely grateful for any sun we do get and also get to complain about the weather however it turns out, combining this nations two favourite past times - talking about the weather and having a little grumble. We love it!  

Personally, I have loved this summer. Its had the right mix of heat and cooler days enabling me to balance my indoor hobbies with my outdoor hobbies without feeling guilty about missing the sun. 

So what's been happening this week?

Well, I started my first ever knitting project:

So far I have a head and a body made. Two ears, two arms and two legs to go! This particular pattern even has 'easy' in the title which helped push me into actually trying a knitting pattern. Having never gone beyond a few rows of stocking stitch I thought it was time to take the plunge! So far this has been a really easy project as the pattern only uses knit, purl, kfb (knit into the front and back of a stitch) and k2tog (knit two together) and therefore is a gentle introduction into increases and decreases as well as pattern reading. I will post a photo once its done! For anyone interested, the pattern is from Let's Knit magazine, Issue 107 (July) and is Val Pierce's Easy Bunny. I've chosen slightly bolder colours than the original and as long as it doesn't look like Frankenstein's creation when its done, it will be coming to Cornwall with me to give to one of my little cousins. 

If you're a newbie knitter like myself, this is one to try.

I started making the crochet virus shawl, again great for beginner crocheters. However, I was called away halfway through a row and lost my place. So that has been frogged and will be started again once the bunny is finished. Its a great shawl to make as it looks really pretty and has a manageable pattern. Woolpedia.de have created some fantastic videos that take you through the shawl row by row in a really straightforward way. Just YouTube it or its also available on Ravelry. 

In an attempt to get rid of all the acrylic yarn that has somehow gradually appeared in my yarn stash, I have been experimenting with different techniques in rigid heddle loom weaving. Rigid heddle looms are very affordable and provide an easy way to try weaving without having to invest too much money. I currently have an 8 inch Ashford SampleIt loom, which is tiny but enables me to learn basic weaving without storage issues. If I could go back in time though, I think I would have bought a larger loom instead as the SampleIt loom is quite great to start with but is then limited in what you can make with it.  

                                          

As you can see the selvedges are a little wonky but I'm so happy I've learnt a few new techniques! The very top is a type of lace work, then I have Danish medallions, 2/2 twill with and without a line of plain weave between the rows and an attempt at pick up stick techniques on the bottom. Using pick up sticks was a little bit fiddly as I had to change them so often even for a simple pattern but I think the end result is worth it :)

                                

And finally, non craft related but I tried a new recipe this week - Thai prawn curry. Delicious! Preparation took about 15 minutes and cooking about the same. Easy to make and soooo tasty! You can find the recipe here. 

That's all for now! I will leave you with one more picture of Harvey enjoying the sun and his favourite drink.  

                                       

Have a great weekend! And feel free to share any of your current works in progress (WIPs), I would love to hear about them :)

Charlotte & Harvey x

P.S. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @parfitt_cm and Instagram @charlotte_and_harvey

Loop Knitting

Name: Loop Knitting Shop
Address: 15 Camden Passage, Islington, London, N1 8EA
Opening times: 
Monday Closed, Tuesday-Saturday 11-6 except Thursday (7.30), Sunday 12-5
Website: www.loopknitting.com 
Blog: www.loopknitlounge.com/
Phone no.: 020 7288 1160
What it stocks: knitting and crochet patterns, wool, yarn, haberdashery, knitting needles, crochet hooks, ribbon, buttons, vintage buttons, bag handles and a lot more.
Visited: No but planning to this summer
Classes: Yes - knitting and crochet
Bought a product: Not yet!
Comments: I have been drooling over the wool in loop knitting's online shop for a while now, there is a mind boggling range of just about every wool you can think of. The haberdashery department looks just as good. 

Clothkits

Name: Clothkits

Address: Clothkits Ltd, 16 The Hornet, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 7JG, UK

Opening times: Monday to Saturday 9.00am - 5.30pm  Sunday Closed  

Website: http://www.clothkits.co.uk/

Phone no.: 01243533180

What it stocks: Fabric, wool, kits, knitting needles, crochet needles, haberdashery, sewing patterns, sewing machines, books. 

Visited: Yes
Classes: Yes - sewing, dressmaking, patchwork, knitting, crochet, home accessories, children's classes.
Bought a product: Not yet.

Comments: Beautiful shop that is a joy to wander around. I only had ten minutes to spare as I was moving but couldn't resist going in when I passed by. The staff were really friendly and the fabric was gorgeous. They have some really unusual kits as well as the more standard stuff. Great if you're looking for something that really catches the eye.