HENSLOWE SHAWL

A year ago, I grabbed a pair of 12 mm needles (not knowing those were huge of course) to knit some warm hats and snoods (all knitted flat haha). The word shawl mostly reminded me of my grandma, or a Jane Austen book. Definitely not something a 25 year old would wear. And here we are, a year later, and I can tell with certainty that this shawl is my favorite thing I've made in 2014. Shawls you guys! They're big and warm yet drapy and light. They are awesome to knit, just challenging enough that you never get bored and there's a bit of magic in them too. Seeing them grow when being blocked is just the best!

And this one, I just love it. I loved knitting it (definitely would recommend the pattern to a beginner shawl knitter, lots of cool techniques!), I LOVE the yarn (it's Madeline Tosh Merino Light), it's so crazy soft and has the most beautiful shades, and I love wearing it. It's super light yet because it's pure wool you get warm immediately. So comfy. I need one in every color. Not kidding. I might make one for my mom. Unless I decide to keep that one too ;)

ps: that's my big sister modeling for me so I could take so cute photos of it. 

ps bis: what's your favorite knit/project of the year?

A THANK YOU & A NEW YEAR

Merry December everyone! Hope you had a lovely week filled with food, presents and warmth. The holidays aren't my favorite time of the year but I did try my best to enjoy it this year, mostly by watching all my favorite movies, knitting presents for everyone and going out for fresh air as often as possible. Like everyone here had predicted my stressing out over the imperfection of my knitting was very much useless because everyone loved their presents! If I'm to do it again next year I will have to remember to start knitting in June at least though! I too loved my presents, which included a SEWING MACHINE! So so exciting!!! (like I needed a new crafty obsession right!) :)

It's very clear now that 2014 has been knitting year for me, and honestly between health issues and unemployment I'm pretty sure I have to thank all that pretty yarn for saving me from being completely depressed. More seriously, I have met amazing, kind and generous people who have inspired me and encouraged me when I needed it, so thank you all who stop by this little blog, my Instagram or Ravelry. You are the best and I still think that the Internet is magic!

2015 now! I'm excited for this one! I've recently grabbed my copy of The Happiness Project (have you read it? It's amazing <3) and started working on my goals and on getting organized. There's just something about to do lists and goals on paper that works for me! I want to focus on spending time doing the things that matter rather than wasting it dreaming of what I could have done. My focus for January will be Work and my motto, Be Brave. So I will try to. I'm also hoping to write more on the blog, and focus on the stories along with the projects. Remember at the beginning when blogging was almost like a diary? I miss it sometimes. Hopefully, there will also be traveling, crafting, moving and let's not forget the knitting. But that's for another post ;)

Wishing you all a very lovely end of year and an even better New Year! 

In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on. 

Robert Frost

LIFE RIGHT NOW // DECEMBER 2014

TIS THE SEASON EDITION!

loving my new PJs! Christmas/Scotland style. sort of.

thinking about 2015. and what needs to change.

eating way too much chocolate. 

wondering what will be under the tree? 

listening to my nephew sing Christmas songs. he's the cutest.

enjoying my morning tea. I am learning to like tea, it's hard. 

making preparations for my Happiness Project. (that book you guys. read it!)

struggling with sleep. and too much thinking.

feeling like giving essential oils a try. Any books you recommend?

dreaming of knitting projects for the new year. so many ideas!!

finding it hard not to spend money. 

celebrating almost a year of knitting!!! stay tuned!

watching Parenthood. lots of crying happened obviously. but that show is so good!

hoping for snow. still. always. 

THE 20 MINUTE LAYOUT

most of which was spent hand stitching that small pink line. True story.

So last week I saw on Sian's blog that the latest Jot magazine was out. Obviously stopped everything to browse it. Saw some cute stuff, got inspired by some challenges (need to try your bucket challenge Sian!! I need to get more words onto my layouts!) and saw a couple layouts that made me think "hey let's scrap lift!" Which is how this layout came to be. (this particular layout was inspired by the one on page 65!)

One central picture, a photo border I had been hoarding FOREVER (it's from Love Elsie, that's how old it is!!) and then a few embellishments based on the colors of the photo and border. A bit of stitching because why not. And then decided it needed more pink so i added the other paper as a border under my white card stock. I considered adding a lot more but hmm, not really me. I love that photo so much honestly that I could have just glued it on the background and still would have been happy with it. 

I also really like that it's a very "empty" photo that alone doesn't say anything and could be anything and still I look at it and that particular moment spent on the beach comes rushing back to my mind with all the stories that go with it (stories being told in greater details on other layouts. like this one and this one.) So yeah, it took me three layouts to record an hour spent on the beach. and I have more photos waiting!

YARN ALONG // THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Joining in with Ginny for the Yarn Along.

I love to knit. I love to read. Here's a little bit about both.

Christmas knitting you guys, it's the worst. I'm so behind. I want everything to be perfect if it's going to be given to someone other than me so of course I'm stressing out. I'm also super lazy clearly. Well maybe lazy is not the word. It's more like I know it need to be ready for the 25 so my brain is like oh that's so far away we've got plentyyyy of time. And then suddenly there's only 8 days left and my brain gets like whaaat? Which you think would help me to make progress on those projects. But no I decided to start a Henslowe shawl that's very much just for me instead! It might have a lot to do with the fact that my first Christmas Project, the Warble cowl i'm making for my sister (and started back in October!!) is not a pleasure to knit. It's a lovely pattern, easy to memorize, it's going to be awesome to wear for sure but I just don't like working on it! There is something about the stitches, the needles and the yarn that makes it a pain (literally for my hands) in the ass to knit.

Also, I just discovered that I had learned to make yarn overs the wrong way (don't ask why, I have no idea!). I will admit to a little meltdown when I realized it (while knitting on my Henslowe). Then I grabbed my Warble (which has a lot of yarn overs). I did a few rows with the correct yo, and obviously it got super pretty and oh super different than the (hundreds of) previous rows. At this point I was 75% done with the cowl. And I needed to decide whether I wanted to rip everything or not. I ended up ripping half of it (basically to where I had joined skein #2) and then knit again. I'm basically back to 75% again. I am hoping blocking will help with the differences between the two half, and also secretly praying that my sister won't even notice. Can't wait to be done with it seriously…

Which is why I have spent so much time working on my Henslowe. I love it, love it, love it! More on it once it's done! Also on the needles: a hat and cowl combo for my nephew. He's 3 which is awesome because that means everything knits super fast since it child size! I'm using my Knit by Numbers wool which I loooove, such a pleasure to knit with it! So yeah, merry Christmas everyone! ;)

On my Kindle right now: Little Women! Tis the season for classics I guess :) I'm 6 chapters in, so not so sure how I feel about it quite yet!

1 PHOTO & 20 WORDS // THE SEASONS

Fall has always been the warmest season to me. 

Something to do with colors, spices in my drinks and cozy chairs perfect for reading. 

But Winter is coming.

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Joining in with Abi from Creating Paper Dreams for One photo & Twenty words. Check it out!

PINNED IT MADE IT // a DIY kind of Christmas Tree

'Tis The Season to make pompoms, hang stuff on the walls and spray everything in gold. So on Thursday, as I decided to decorate my desk area, I thought, hey let's make a tree out of branches. I mean, that looks cool and doable!

To create your own Christmas Tree you will need:

Branches (I gathered mine in the woods last Fall)

String, glue and nails

Pinecones, pompoms, Christmas decorations, handmade or not!

Glue, scissors, gold paint, wool

Ready? It's super easy:

1/ Gather your branches and arrange them from smaller to bigger to get a triangular shape. You can leave your branches raw like I do your you could have fun and paint them, crochet them, whatever you fancy!

2/ Using string and wires, connect your branches together, starting at the bottom. Make a big solid knot at the top to link the two strings. You will be using it to hang your tree! (all you see on mine is a big fluffy pompom but behind it is a nail on the wall to which the tree hangs!). If you fear your knots are not super solid you can also add glue on top to secure everything!

3// Decorate your tree! First I glued some pinecones to the branches ('Tis the season idea: spray paint your pinecones in gold! it's the cutest), then I made pompoms with some wool I had in my stash and finally I went through our christmas stash and chose a selection of small decorations that I tied to the tree using some scrap wool. You could also add some christmas light if you feel like it!

4// Hang your tree and enjoy <3

Pinned it Made it is hopefully going to be a recurring series here on the blog. I love Pinterest, I spend way too much time on it, I have lots of very inspiring boards (like Knit It, Do It Yourself, Crochet It, Scrap It…) and let's be honest, I've been meaning to create this feature FOREVER. But life happens, you pin, and then nothing happens. No More! Let's make stuff!

Thinking of it, I could even add a linky widget thing at the end of the post so you guys could participate and make stuff inspired by your boards. That could be like a monthly thing. What do you think??

I LOVE BOOKS // FALL 2014

Here's a few words about what I have been reading this past Fall. I'm always looking for some good stories so feel free to share your current favorites in the comments :)

OUTLANDER - Diana Gabaldon 

Outlander is, in just two words, historical fiction. But I could also talk about it in 2000 words and that wouldn't even cover it. I loved it. Seriously, seriously loved it. Proof is, there are 8 books so far (she's working on the ninth!! yay!) and I read them all in two months like the crazy person that I am. I don't think I've felt like that for a book series since Harry Potter and the Lord of the Ring. So yes, amazing. The writing is brilliant and smart (also, not for children by the way) and the books cover everything a good novel should be about: love, adventure, action, history, fantasy, family, bravery, passion, Scotland, and so much more. I got completely lost in the epic story of Claire and James (aka JAMMF), and I just can't wait for book 9. 

Fave quote: "Don't be afraid. There's the two of us now."

(and a zillion other. basically every other line. read those book you guys!)

NOT THAT KIND OF GIRL - Lena Dunham

So, i did not like that book. I felt very very very uncomfortable reading Lena's words. Also, I think she got the title wrong. It should have been TMI: Too Much Information. I should also say that I love her show (Girls) and what Lena stands for as a public figure. I just didn't learn or take anything from the book. It didn't inspire me, it didn't make me feel like a strong, beautiful woman who can do it all. I just felt uncomfortable. And slightly worried about her mental health. If you are looking for a similar book I would highly recommend Mindy Kaling's book: Is everyone hanging out without me? It's AWESOME, funny, inspiring, everything Lena's book ended up not being for me.

This season's list feels kind of short (even though I actually read 9 books) so I thought I could share my Top 10 all time favorite books for fun. Would love to hear about yours!

Harry Potter and the philosopher's stone

Alice's adventures in Wonderland

The Lord of the Rings

Pride & Prejudice

The adventure of Sherlock Holmes

Around the world in 80 days

Wild

Matilda

The Mists of Avalon

Outlander 

Next on my list: Yes Please by Amy Poehler, Anne of Green Gables, Are you there God it's me Margaret (how awesome is that title??) oh and I am currently listening to Wuthering Heights, audiobook style!