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?!

Lost on the Moorlands

Do you ever buy yourself Christmas or birthday presents? I know I do! I like treating myself and usually with something creative. Last Christmas I bought a gorgeous mini skein pack from The Knitting Goddess and a crochet-a-long kit for the Moorland blanket designed by Lucy from Attic 24.

I was still relatively new to knitting and crochet last Christmas and only cast on my first sock near the end of 2016 (post here). So while I got just as excited about yarn as I do now, I knew even less about how to use it. Fast forward about 11 months and I have finally found the perfect project for the mini skeins - the Surprise Party Shawl by Helen Stewart! Although I now have other minis so I may change my mind. Stay tuned for that one.

However, except for the boyfriend scarf, the Moorland blanket has been my longest languishing WIP. The CAL finished months ago and I haven't even finished the first clue. The colours are gorgeous and I know I will use the blanket a lot when it's done. The main problem is that I have moved around a lot for placements and its not a very portable project for commuter knitting. But all that yarn makes it look like I have a huge stash! And it's all for one blanket! So the time has come to try and put a dent in this WIP. I crocheted one colour line over the weekend and I forgot how mindless and relaxing the pattern is. It has a simple stitch repeat and doesn't require too much thinking. 

This is where I got to earlier this year:

Look at those colours! Don't they remind you of walking in the countryside?

And this is where I got to over the weekend:

The lighting in my room isn't great but you can see the progress! It looks like a cosy scarf at the moment.

My plan is to add one row a day. How do you run a marathon? One step at a time, so that's what I'll do with this blanket :)

Have you got any mammoth projects hiding among your WIPs?

Charlotte and Harvey x

Flax 2

Gift knitting number 2 complete!

I'm living in hospital accommodation during the week at the moment but I remembered to take a quick photo before I left home yesterday. I'm really missing having all my knitting projects nearby! 

This is another Flax sweater by Tin Can Knits from their Simple Collection. This is aimed at beginner knitters who want to improve using patterns with helpful tutorials. Each pattern has sizes from newborn up to XXL adult. 

I'm a big fan of the Simple Collection as it has made jumper knitting really straightforward. It also includes a shawl, socks, a hat, mittens, a cowl and a cardigan, all with step by step tutorials. I can knit socks and have knit a hat but next on my list is the cardigan. And the best bit? They're all free! If you'd like to knit your first garment, I would definitely recommend this collection. If you're not ready to knit a jumper for yourself then you can make a smaller version for a child. That way you learn the techniques but it's not a mammoth project.

My own flax just has one sleeve to go! Planning to get that finished in the next two weeks in time for Christmas.

Link to the Simple Collection here. 

Are you gift knitting? Including something for yourself?

Hope you've had a lovely start to the week x

Mind Blank

As you may have noticed, I've been off grid for the past few weeks. The main reason for this was the exam I took on Friday. It counts for half of my job application for my first post as a doctor providing I pass my final year. So not a big deal.... The second reason and title for this post is that when it came to writing for this blog I just couldn't put pen to paper, fingers to keyboard to write a whole post. There are a few half finished posts hanging out together in the background but that's it. I've been trying to work out why and I realised as an avid reader of many other blogs I felt lacking. And my mind went blank. The last time I wrote an essay was nearly five years ago and they were science based. I haven't written any literature since school except for a very occasional piece for the university newspaper. So I stopped. I have been working on self confidence in all aspects of my life and after looking at the pause on this blog, I made a decision.

JUST WRITE

The biggest failure in life is not trying in the first place. 

I can't remember who said this but it is so so true. If I hadn't tried I wouldn't have:

1. Passed my A-levels (like a high school diploma I'm guessing?)
2. Got into my first choice university for Biochemistry (my first degree)
3. Applied for medicine at all, let alone got a place
4. Found myself four months away from completing medicine (Eek!)
5. Started anything creative - knitting, crochet, felting etc
6. Started this blog

And if I think my writing skills need to improve? Practice! And how do you practice? By writing more posts!

I have been working on positive thinking as part of my esteem building process. This includes thinking of three good things every day and also at least one thing I did well that day. It is far too easy to self-criticize and very hard to self-compliment and I want to change that.

So...

What have you done today to make you feel proud? 

Thank you Heather Small for such an inspirational song!

I hope you all have a wonderful week x

Autumn/ Winter Meander

Despite the time of year the weather has been glorious! It's not as cold as it normally is for November and there have been multiple days of blue sky and bright, wintery sunlight. I find the winter sun is a lot paler than in the summer but it's so bright that it catches your eyes when you look up.

We've had a few cold snaps early in the morning especially around commute time but it quickly thaws by lunch. I love the feel of the grass crunching underfoot and the freshness the frost gives to the air in the morning. It is the perfect antidote to the busy train just five minutes later. 

I managed to finish early on Friday and took a few photos on the journey home:

This is from London Blackfriars Station

And this is next to the iconic Tower Bridge and Tower of London

There was still enough daylight to go for a walk when I got home although you could tell it was leaning towards the end of the day. Well I say the end of the day, sunset is around 4.30 in the UK at the moment so darkness usually sets in before most people leave work. I was grateful to get half an hour of light to soak up the sun. 

It feels as if the trees and plants can't decide which season they should be in. Its still surprisingly green near me intermingled with red and orange leaves and bare branches.

And the squirrels were out in force!

The light was really beginning to shift at this point but I wanted to get a longer walk in before heading home. Got to get the London fumes out of my lungs!

The last of the rosehips

I call these winter berries, does anyone know their proper name?

Although I don't like ivy, I loved the pattern of the vines and leaves. If I could draw, I think this would look great in pen and ink.

And then the sun started waving goodbye through the clouds and it was time to return home.

I felt so lucky to catch the sun especially as it rained all day Saturday! The knitting is steadily plodding on and I will give an update later this week :) I'm thinking about doing a sock knitting review from a beginners perspective in case anyone is thinking of trying out socks for the first time. I've been trying lots of different techniques so hope it's useful! 

Have a great week everyone x

Happy Halloween!

Wishing you a spooky and magical Halloween!

Free crochet pumpkin pattern by Charlotte Heilling available on Ravelry.

Organised Knitting

I was going to start writing a post reviewing the first three quarters of the year and realized there's only two months left! I also realized that I haven't really been keeping track of everything I've been knitting and trying this year. Cue a really handy email from Space Cadet! Space Cadet is an Indie dyer based in America whose newsletter I enjoy reading every week. I haven't bought any yarn from her yet as postage from America makes the price way out of my budget. However, I hope I'll be able to in the future as she has some really interesting colourways. 

In the meantime, Stephanie from Space Cadet has produced a great template to organise your projects. I'm a tad old fashioned as I love notebooks and I know I'm not alone in this. Just look at any creative person or the hashtag 'bulletjournal' and you'll realize how much everyone still loves paper and pen. I don't think technology will ever replace this fully. There's something magical about the smell of a new notebook and of course a multitude of colourful pens. 

Stephanie's template is designed to be printed for both A5 and Traveller notebook sized notebooks. I have a pile of notebooks waiting to be used and I chose this lovely one for all my knitting adventures:

Then I printed and filled in my first ever project notes! I chose my baby flax jumper to write up as its the freshest in my mind. 

Note the lack of swatch.... These may happen one day! It contains sections for pattern details, needles although I need to add the sizes and a modifications section which I really like.

The template is available when you sign up to Space Cadet's newsletter which I would definitely recommend! It includes not just yarn updates but also links to interesting articles. I'm now wondering if I can do something similar for my weaving and sewing projects as well. Just a note - please don't copy these images and use them! Time has clearly gone into designing this and if you could show some love for Stephanie by signing up that would be awesome. 

Do you write up your projects? Are you more techy or paper based?