30 Jan 2014

Getting older....

Ah yes...age is creeping up on me. I'll be 47 years young this year and all of a sudden things are starting show signs of age! My eyesight is shocking! I can see long distances great but close up stuff is proving to be a real struggle...even with my reading glasses. Time for an appointment at the opticians methinks!

Apart from the eyesight everything else is starting to head south. Gravity is winning this race!!! To be fair I've always had skin akin to old knicker elastic. Once stretched it never springs back into shape. hehe. Anyways, I've noticed over the last 6 months or so that the crinkles on my face have somewhat developed into proper lines. Not good! I've had a rough year or so and my strict skincare regime has slid into something a little more adhoc, when I can be bothered thing. Last year I bought myself a Clarisonic in the hope that it would be the miracle solution I needed. Unfortunately it wasn't. And I really didn't like that you had to keep buying pretty pricey replacement brushes fairly often.
So where's all this going I hear you ask???

3 weeks ago I had an email spotlighting this new and apparently fantastic new gadget to cleanse and care for your skin. The results were amazing the email said!! Yeah yeah right...I've heard all of that before! Well...on account that I'm nosey and had a spare few minutes I did a little online research and read up on this miracle worker. I read blogs, customer reviews and forum posts. All were saying the same thing....it's fantastic! I couldn't resist and ordered it!


Meet the Foreo Luna!

You can read more about this amazing little gadget here!
I have been using it twice daily for two weeks and my skin feels amazing. Not only does it feel good, it looks great! AND...my lines are back to crinkles!!! The first time I tried it out, I have to admit that the sensation was a little strange. But immediately my skin felt like I'd just had a salon facial. Normally I would wait a good month before I expected to see results due to cell renewal blah blah so I was delighted to see such good results so soon. I've now added some Elemis Bliss Capsules into the mix to give my skin a super boost. If I wasn't such a vain so and so...I'd do some before and after close up shots....but I am!!! I shall keep you informed on how it's working out :-)

Anyways onto some crafty stuff! 


Cue spinning disaster!!!! Oh my!!! What a tantrum I had last night! Granted trying out some new spinning techniques following a migraine was probably not the brightest idea I've ever had ;-)
I've been having some trouble drafting and I wanted to try something new. As the picture above shows...it didn't quite work out. When it comes to learning something new I have zero patience. I want to be able to do it perfectly straight away. No learning curve for me thank you very much! Clearly this is not going to happen. Cue MAJOR tantrum with much shouting of VERY EXTREMELY bad words. I did throw a few things and then ripped the whole lot off the bobbin, put the wheel away, poured a glass of wine and did some hooky....ah much much better. Calm restored. 
I will try again at the weekend. Spinning yarn will not beat me! I WILL GET IT RIGHT EVENTUALLY!!!!

Til next time
Mx

27 Jan 2014

Hold Onto Your Hats Ladies.....

Two blog posts in two days!!! Whatever next???
I'm determined to keep on top of this blogging malarkey, if nothing else it'll be nice to look back on at the end of the year and see how productive I've been!

Sooo....because I've only got a zillion WIPs on the go I decided at the weekend to start something else! Actually one of my new year goals is to finish the WIPs and use some of the yarn I've been secretly amassing. So another project started is perfectly acceptable :-)

Anyways.... a good few months back (like summer last year!) I spotted some gorgeous hand dyed yarn that were one offs and thus reduced in price. And not being able to resist a yarn bargain (well come on! who can???) they ended up in my basket!


Aren't the colours just gorgeous? A heady combination of Blue Faced Leicester and Silk. Lace weight and as soft as soft can be! 
I planned to make a shawl consisting of teeny triangles. I even made a start...


But then the novelty of making teeny things that needed joining, quickly wore off. Especially when I thought of the zillion teeny ends that would needed to woven in! So that idea was quickly scrapped!

In my mind I wanted to make a summer shawl/stole. Something floaty, lacy and quite gorgeous! I needed a pattern that fit all of the above so spent some time trawling through patterns on Ravelry. God I love that site! They have a pattern for almost anything! I stumbled upon the most gorgeous pattern!


How divine is that???? *swoons*
This lady has an Etsy store.... check out her gorgeous designs! I want need them all! My list of projects to make in the future tripled after seeing her designs haha!

So the weekend just gone was spent working on 3 different hooky projects interspersed with some housework and spinning! The lacy scarf was started...


Scuse the crappy picture quality...it was late!


It's coming along nicely!

I have to say that her patterns are lovely and easy to follow. Normally I throw at least 3 tantrums when trying to work out a new pattern but not with this one! Because it's a very lacy pattern, I think a good block at the end will make all the difference. The yarn is lovely to work with if a little slippy due to the silk content. I actually think my vision of a floaty summer scarf will be reality! Oh happy days!

Til next time when I shall be sharing my latest skincare discovery!!!
Mx

26 Jan 2014

Obsessed....

With colour change yarn! Not just any colour change yarn, you understand, it has to be a very gradual colour change.... nice and slow.

An idea popped into my head a couple of months ago. If you had a slow colour change yarn, would it be possible to make teeny shapes in different colours to hook together? Thus saving buying lots of different colours....and having lots of wastage!


Cue the gorgeous Invicta Colour yarn by Scheepjeswol! Now aren't those colours delicious???? I admit to swooning a little when I first saw it. That, and rugby tackling my friend to wrench it from her tightly clenched hands.... 
Mine all Mine ;-) Well.... there are some things in life worth fighting for and this yarn is most definitely one of them!

So the details about this gem of a yarn: 100g gives you 420m of yarn....now that'a a lot of yarn! It's 75% Virgin Wool and 25% Polyamide which makes sure it's soft (oh sooooo soft!) but pretty hard wearing. The recommended hook size is 3mm. 

Oh but look at those colours! This range has a stack of different colour ways.... go see!!! 

As I said earlier, I've had this idea mulling around in my brain for a while to make something with teeny shapes hooked together. I was inspired by some crochet designs by Sophie Digard. This one in particular struck a design chord with me...


Circles and squares! 

A scarf made from teeny circles and squares. Ok so maybe not so teeny as the ones in the photo. I know my limits when it comes to patience! Ooooo I love starting a new project...happy times!

Mx

21 Jan 2014

I'm Back!!!!

Blimey!!! Can someone please explain where on earth the last 2 months have gone? I seem to have totally mislaid December and January!
Well, to be fair, it's been a little hectic round these parts. Work has taken over most of that time but gladly, things seem to be settling down. I say that with bated breath. It rarely happens!

So what's been happening since I last managed to squeeze a blog post into my busy life?
Well...I had a lovely break in Holland. Wow! That seems like a lifetime ago. It was early December. I really really needed a break as I was exhausted. I love my Holland visits. Time to totally relax and recharge the batteries.


Check out that sunset in the clouds....it was totally breathtaking and made me feel quite giddy...


Or maybe that was the wine ;-) My flight was delayed on account of the very high winds in Europe. Well what's a girl to do when delayed....duty free shopping, choke on a blueberry muffin (don't even go there!!!) and have a glass of wine after said traumatic choking episode.

 

We took in a Christmas Market... the donkey totally stole the show! He was a little feisty!!!


The rest of the nativity scene were a little cautious of the diva donkey!


There was freshly baked bread. Oh. My. God. The smell of this stall was totally amazing! No wonder they were overwhelmed. The raisin bread was the nicest I've ever tasted. Delicious.


The market was packed to the rafters. There were out of control fire pits at every corner. The smells were amazing. We had hot chocolate/mulled wine. There was even an ice rink! 

I didn't have any real plans for this holiday other than to relax. I did exactly that! Oh and I had my very first spinning lesson! I've wanted to learn to spin for ages. My friend had a lesson booked while we were there, and thankfully the teacher happened to speak very good english so I booked a beginners lesson! 

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Check out the concentration on my face!!!! I'm not known for my fantastic co-ordination! She was the most patient teacher ever! The picture doesn't include the fabulous log burner that warmed the barn. Oh that place is heavenly. The smell was quite something. Wool fibres have a delicious smell! We spent a very happy couple of hours there before heading off into town then lunch and of course shopping!

I managed to amass a huge amount of Christmas decorations while over there. The dutch do Christmas really well and there are no end of gorgeous bargains to be had. And as per usual, it didn't fit in the suitcase! The packing morning was the most stressful yet! No way was this fitting in the case. Cue hand luggage! Anyways we managed. Thank god for KLM hand luggage allowance. Christmas was duly transported home!


Gorgeous tree decorations.


Pretty tea lights.


Love my newly purchased ceramic house.


Cute little Christmas Tree.


The Christmas hanger.

Christmas came and went. It was lovely. A few days off work. Some down time. Lots of time to relax and sound time with family and friends. Happy days.

Best Christmas present ever????


Meet Mabel! My very own Louet S10. It came in the biggest box ever and I've never seen so many polystyrene chips!!! I love her. 

I've been practising. I think it's safe to say I'm not a natural. But I'm getting better. Luckily, Whitley Bay has a spinning group! Who'd have thought! It would seem that spinning isn't that obscure after all!

Apart from spinning, I've been very busy on the hooky front too. Lots of projects to share. I think 2014 is going to be very productive!

Til next time
Mx

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