Magic Pink Narwhal

Oh gosh, I can't believe it has been so long since my last post... To anyone who follows me regularly I'm so sorry! My health has got much worse recently so blogging has taken a back seat while I focus on getting better.

Anyway, I have popped in to tell you about a little thing I have recently created:

Meet the magic pink Narwhal!

Super cute isn't he? :-)
I created the pattern myself and I think I am going to sell it on Ravelry :) It is my first pattern created completely by me so its pretty exciting!
When its up I will post a link on here so you can buy it if you want to make one for yourself :-)

I have been working on a commissioned piece for a while (way too long, I got really ill in the process so it got put on hold. Thankfully the person it is for is very understanding!) It's finished now and once it has reached its new owner I will show you all what it is :-) For now it has to remain a secret!


Thanks for dropping by and hopefully I won't leave it as long before popping in next time!

xxx Sam xxx

Etsy finds

Over the past few weeks I have come across some amazing things on etsy and thought I would share them with you :)

I loved all of these! So cute! Here are their links :)

Owl magnets
Giraffe print
Owl print
Plush butterfly monster
Matryoshka doll
Munchy monster cushion

The amazing video I shared with you on Sunday has reached 3000 hits and growing, that is such a great achievement for everyone involved! A lot of celebrities have re-tweeted it so I imagine that by the end of M.E awareness week that number could easily double! To everyone who took the time to watch it, thank you for your support :)

Thank you for visiting, Sam xxx

M.E. Awareness Week

This week is M.E. awareness week, and I hope to help raise awareness by doing a few posts on here about it.

Today I am posting a video made by someone I know who also has M.E.

I hope you watch it and it helps you to understand a little bit about this horrible illness. If you have any questions please send them to me and I will explain anything you need to know :) I have had M.E for 9 years, and had it very severe for 2-3 so I am quite experienced!

Also, for more information look here

Thank you for reading, and hopefully I will be back soon with more information on M.E awareness week! xx

Meet Poppy :)

On Wednesday we got a new addition to our family! Meet Poppy

She's 7 weeks old today :) As I write this she is curled up on my arm watching me trying to type one-handed!

Her main colour is black and white, but she has a lot of grey and brown mixed in. She is very loving and loves a cuddle, especially in the morning! She is the most adventurous kitten I have ever known, and on her very first day here she climbed the stairs! Our stairs are "floating stairs" so each step has a gap between the next. We expected it to take her a few weeks to get used to them, but brave little Poppy bounded up them! She also likes to play on them... (usually high up too!) She seems to love danger!

  

She is very naughty though, and if she is not meant to do something she will try with all her might to do it. Her newest obsession is to crawl under the fireplace. This worries us lots, if she gets stuck we wouldn't be able to save her easily. I think we've managed to block it off for now though! 

She also thinks attacking the camera as I try to take pictures of her is very fun! I disagree... Although its very cute! :)


Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed meeting our little Poppy <3

xxx

Happy Easter!

This is just a quick post to wish you:

Hope you all had a lovely Easter and ate lots of chocolate! :) The weather has been lovely recently, I hope it carries on!

Love and hugs xx

Oops!

Well, that didn't start well did it? I was meant to write more frequently and its been a week! I do have a good reason though. The day after my last post I went to the doctors and picked up a very nasty virus. This left me way to weak and sniffily to think straight (or write straight for that matter!). I'm starting to pick up a little so decided to squeeze a post in before I get ill again!

So I came across these beautiful fields whilst looking through some blogs (I'm really sorry but I can't remember which ones! The pics I'm about to show I got from google!). I think these are so beautiful, and a perfect picture of spring!

One day I totally have to visit these fields... They are so magical, I didn't even know such colourful fields existed!



Sam xx

Day Seven! - 2KCBWDAY7

Day seven of the annual knitting and crochet blog week

"Write about your typical crafting time. When it is that you are likely to craft – alone or in more social environments, when watching TV or whilst taking bus journeys. What items do you like to surround yourself with whilst you twirl your hook like a majorette’s baton or work those needles like a skilled set of samurai swords. Do you always have snacks to hand, or are you a strictly ‘no crumbs near my yarn!’ kind of knitter."

I feel sort of sad that we have come to day seven of the knitting and crochet blog week already. I was just getting into it! My ultimate hope is that this challenge will make me remember to blog more frequently. I have so many things lined up so hopefully I will manage!

Over the past year I have been almost completely bed-bound because my health has dipped further, so everything I do is from my bed including crocheting, knitting and blogging. I find I either crochet or knit (or sometimes both!) every single day, and always have the TV on through my laptop whilst doing it. If I'm following a particularly tricky pattern I choose something to watch that I don't need to concentrate on, like the Create and Craft channel or something I've watched a few times before.
As far as snacking goes, I have snacks near but hardly ever eat them whilst I'm knitting or crocheting. If I need to snack I put my work down for a while! I always worry I will make my work crummy or greasy or something, and worry even more when I'm making it for someone else!

To finish of the week, I have put together a selection of pictures from my posts for the challenge! These are my favourite ones, and I think they sum the week up nicely :)



Well, for the last time, thank you for joining me to see what I did for the challenge! If you are a new visitor hello! *waves* I hope this is not the last time I see you, and welcome all of your future visits!

Much love, Sam xxx

Day Six! - 2KCBWDAY6

Day six of the annual knitting and crochet blog week 

"Something to aspire to: Is there a pattern or skill that you don’t yet feel ready to tackle but which you hope to (or think you can only dream of) tackling in the future, near or distant? Is there a skill or project that makes your mind boggle at the sheer time, dedication and mastery of the craft? Maybe the skill or pattern is one that you don’t even personally want to make but can stand back and admire those that do. Maybe it is something you think you will never be bothered to actually make but can admire the result of those that have."


This is an interesting one. I have soooo many patterns that I plan to try when I can afford the wool that if I told you about all of them we could be here for a few weeks! Don't worry though, I will only show you a few ;)
The biggest thing I have tried so far is a scarf, and the most complicated I've ever tried is either a hat or the amigurumi patterns! Although technically the biggest thing I have made is the blanket from the art of crochet magazines, but I don't count that as 'big' since its worked square by square! I will probably change my mind on this when they are put together though.

So, what is on my list of things to try? Here are a few of them off the top of my head:

• Blankets - Pretty blankets, granny square blankets, zigzag blankets... I think you get the picture!
• Cushions - Follows the above pattern!!
• Jumpers
• Dresses/tunics
• Cardigans
• Various types and styles of garlands (I know these are simple, but I just haven't got round to making any!)

I'm sure there is so much more but these are on the top of my list! Cushions, garlands and blankets are pretty easy, but the jumpers, tunics and cardigans I think will be tricky. I'm worried that they will look completely misshapen, and that the shaping will go a bit wrong... However, I still plan to take on the challenge and hopefully not do too badly!

So here are a few pictures of what I would love to make:

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I love this jumper. Its just so pretty! I love the grey with the pattern at the top, its not too in your face with pattern and I feel it adds a lovely element!

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This one is sooo pretty! I have the perfect top to wear under this and it would be perfect for those colder days.

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This jumper is my utter most favourite!! When I first joined Ravelry this is the first thing I favourited, and I still really want to make it! It looks so comfy and the colours are lovely!

For knitting, this hat is my goal. It is sooo beautiful, and not to ambitious for one of the first knitting project I try. I receive emails from Interweave, an American magazine, and recently they had this pattern for free. Oh gosh I really do love it, and it will give me something to strive towards!



I would love to make all these with the yarn used in the pictures, which is unusual for me. I usually have my own ideas of colours but I love all of these!


Thank you for visiting, and if you've been joining me everyday for the knitting and crochet blog week then an even bigger thank you to you!

Much love, Sam xx

Day Five! - 2KCBWDAY5

Day five of the annual knitting and crochet blog week

"And now for something completely different: This is an experimental blogging day to try and push your creativity in blogging to the same level that you perhaps push your creativity in the items you create.
There are no rules of a topic to blog about but this post should look at a different way to present content on your blog."

A Day In The Life Of Wurm The Stitch Marker

Hello! My name is Wurm and I would like to tell you all about me and my special job!
To some people I may look just like a piece of thread, but I am much more important than that! I have a super special job of making sure my owner (She's called Sam, you might know of her...) doesn't lose her place in her crochet! Sam often makes friends for me to play with like Bee and Ladybug that you met on Day 2, and to make them she has to crochet in circles! This gets confusing for her and that's where I come in :) I slip into a stitch to mark her place! That way she never gets lost! Yay! Apparently some people use strange hard ones, but Sam says I am the best at the job! This makes me very happy :)

So, what happens in a typical day for a special wurm like me? Well! I am very busy! Here's how it goes:
I wake up bright and early in my home - the desk. I have my usual breakfast of fluff then take my morning stroll around the rest of the desk, inspecting various objects as I come across them. I often have a lovely chat with the pin family! They are early risers too, and all 50 of them go for a little walk too! The view from desk is amazing and I often find myself gazing across at the big mountain: Wardrobe. So beautiful! I would love to move home one day and live near Wardrobe! I would recommend coming to view it one day, you will be amazed at its enormity! Of course if you do you will be welcome to come to my house for tea. I love visitors!

So, after my morning stroll I have a little nap then wait for Sam to need me. She doesn't need me everyday, but I'm glad because I have my own projects to work on! Of course, I have been knitting and crocheting for longer than Sam so when I am not holding stitches I give her tips and advice, she very much appreciates all the help I give her and tells me every day! She makes me feel very special :)

So there you have it! My day. I hope you enjoyed it! I will leave you with this little picture. This is a picture of me demonstrating how I hold stitches. It is in a ball of wool because Sam didn't have any projects for me to use, but I think you still get the point :) As you can see, I enjoy it soooo much that my tail glows! According to Sam this makes me a very special stitch holder!

Thank you so much for reading my special story, I hope that one day everyone gets their own wurm!

Lots of love Wurm and Sam xx

Day Four! - 2KCBWDAY4

Day four of the annual knitting and crochet blog week

"Where are they now?
Whatever happened to your __________?
Write about the fate of a past knitting project. Whether it be something that you crocheted or knitted for yourself or to give to another person. An item that lives with you or something which you sent off to charity.
There are a lot of different aspects to look at when looking back at a knitting project and it can make for interesting blogging, as much of the time we blog about items recently completed, new and freshly completed. It is not so often that we look back at what has happened to these items after they have been around for a while.
How has one of your past knits lived up to wear. Maybe an item has become lost. Maybe you spent weeks knitting your giant-footed dad a pair of socks in bright pink and green stripes which the then ‘lost’. If you have knit items to donate to a good cause, you could reflect on the was in which you hope that item is still doing good for it’s owner or the cause it was made to support."


I struggled with finding something to talk about for this one. I Have only been crocheting since last May, blogging since October and knitting since January this year, so finding something that has been around long enough to count has been hard! The first ever gift I made was last June. It was a little amigurumi mouse for my sisters birthday. However, I completely forgot to take a picture of it! (I do plan to ask her whether I can borrow it for a little photo shoot one day, but keep forgetting!)
I am going to bend the rules a little bit. I only made these little things a few weeks ago so they haven't been around for long, but I feel they are the best interpretation of the challenge set.

Meet the monster couple! These were made for my youngest sister Sarah and her boyfriend Deccy. Deccy was very impressed when he saw some of the things I had made so I decided to make them both a little something :)

They are both quite gothic style-wise, so I chose darker colours for them. Red and black seemed perfect for monsters! I decided to do opposite colours, so one started with red and the other started with black. They needed their own characters :) Their eyes and teeth were made out of felt (I had ran out of my usual toy eyes!!) I originally sewed them on, but was not happy with the look of the stitches through the felt so re-did them and glued them on with super-glue (the only glue I had at hand!). I finished them both really late at night, the day before I planned to give them! I was exhausted but it was very worth it, they both loved them! I have no idea whether they have survived any wear and tear, but I will ask them and let you all know! I also will find out their names :) The one on the left with one eye was given to Sarah, and the other one was given to Deccy.
Here are a few more pictures:

 

So there you have it :) My little monster couple! Hope you like them as much as Sarah and Deccy do!

For those interested, the pattern can be found here


Thank for visiting again! Sam xx

Day Three! - 2KCBWDAY3

Day three of the annual knitting and crochet blog week

"Tidy mind, tidy stitches.
How do you keep your yarn wrangling organised? It seems like an easy to answer question at first, but in fact organisation exists on many levels. Maybe you are truly not organised at all, in which case I am personally daring you to try and photograph your stash in whatever locations you can find the individual skeins. However, if you are organised, blog about an aspect of that organisation process, whether that be a particularly neat and tidy knitting bag, a decorative display of your crochet hooks, your organised stash or your project and stash pages on Ravelry."

I have a little problem with this one! When I was planning my blog posts earlier today I took pictures of everything I needed for the post. However, I forgot I was also doing this post, so forgot to take pictures of my stash! So my plan is to tell you about my stash but show you pictures of other peoples that I like :)

So, my stash is rather small. It takes up 3 small, flat boxes. Nothing exciting, but enough for me to make things spur of the moment. (However, I plan to rectify this by buying many many more yarns as soon as I can afford to!) If I ever plan to do a specific project for a present I buy the yarn I need, so so far I have had no problems. My crochet hooks are stored in the wrap that I got with my subscription to the art of crochet, and my knitting needles are stored in a rather strange long case that came with the art of knitting!

So here are the images I found through google images!

These are loooovely..... I would love to own all these!!! *sigh*

Wow that's one tiny image! Sorry about that! However, I love the colour organisation of this!

WOW! This one looks like a shop!! (And it checked, it really isn't!!) Oh I'd sooo love to have so much yarn and have it on show....

I loved the neatness of this. I'd love to have my yarn so neatly in a wardrobe!

And I couldn't resist this when I saw it... Totally off topic, but so so beautiful! My new yarn crush!!! If only I knew where it came from....




So there you have it! My yarn stash wishlist! :)

Much love, Sam xx

Day 2! - 2KCBWDAY2

Day 2 of the Annual knitting and crochet blog week

Lets see if I can manage two posts this time! ;)
Topic for today:
"Look back over your last year of projects and compare where you are in terms of skill and knowledge of your craft to this time last year. Have you learned any new skills or forms of knitting/crochet (can you crochet cable stitches now where you didn’t even know such things existed last year? Have you recently put a foot in the tiled world of entrelac? Had you even picked up a pair of needles or crochet hook this time last year?"

This time last year I was waiting for my subscription to "The Art of Crochet" to arrive so I could learn how to crochet. I had decided to take up crochet January last year thinking it would be something to keep me occupied whilst ill in bed, but due to some problems with printing the first issue didn't arrive for a few months. I finally received it in May and started crocheting my first ever square! I chose the art of crochet because I liked how it taught you how to crochet whilst making squares to eventually be put together for a blanket. You make one square an issue (weekly) and I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn! The instructions are written out simply and even have pictures to follow. The only problem I have with it is there is a lot of repetition with the squares with a lot being the same.
From squares I went on to create hats, scarves, gloves and amigurumi animals (MANY amigurumi animals!!). I have not yet ventured to make anything big, but I have a long list of things I plan to make!

This year I decided to also try my hand at knitting. As I liked the Art of Crochet so much I decided to buy my younger sisters magazines of her (she didn't really take to knitting). She had a lot of unused wool too so I had lots to practice with.  I find it much slower than crochet but still enjoyable! However I still haven't finished my first square...

Gosh that's a lot of writing! Ready for some pictures? Okay, here you go!
The most recent thing I have been making is this:

This is a scarf I am making and for the first time I have tried cable stitches! I found it quite confusing at first but picked it up fast. I also decided to do the raised bits in a very soft fluffy yarn, and I think it looks like something sponsoring Dairy Milk chocolate! I am actually testing the pattern for someone who is donating it to people to crochet, then sending them off for the survivors from the Japanese earthquake. I was meant to be finished yesterday though.... However my health had to come first and I have been suffering from a very bad virus that has left me unable to crochet anything more than a square for days :( However I am a little further on with my squares for my blanket!


The other things I have recently finished are these:

 

My bunny, bee and ladybug family :) They will all get a proper blog post in the future along with my finished scarf so watch this space! Oh, and the baby ladybug isn't quite finished, if you look carefully you will see she has no legs! Don't worry though, that will soon be fixed!

The last photo I am showing you today is my knitted square! Or rather, my half knitted square...

Thanks for popping in again! Hope you enjoyed looking through my many achievements of the year :)

Sam xx

Annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week! - 2KCBWDAY1

Sorry I've been so quite recently! This is about to change as it is the annual knitting and crochet blog week, and I will be posting every single day! I've missed one day (it started yesterday) so I will be doing day one and following it by day two straight after.
For more information about the week go here, and if you take part let me know and I'll come and take a look!

Day 1

"Part of any fibre enthusiast’s hobby is an appreciation of yarn. Choose two yarns that you have either used, are in your stash or which you yearn after and capture what it is you love or loathe about them."

I find yarn magical. I love everything about it! I love to imagine the things that could be made with it, I love to feel its softness and look at the different colour choices for each set. I especially love yarn with different colours running through it, and also find it is more of a surprise as to how the finished product will look! I have a major obsession with yarn right now... Like, really major! Thankfully I have managed to refrain from buying any recently, but I have a biiiig list of ones I plan to buy! My latest yarn crush are these:

  

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They are sooo beautiful! I have never made socks, but I imagine these would make the most wonderful socks! Soooo pretty and colourful... *sigh*

Yarn that I own and love is this: Creative Yarns Reflections. I own it in green, grey, fiery, and blue! I am just mesmerised by it! Here's a picture of the fiery one :) Mine is slightly different though and has orangey sparkles through it! It reminds me of autumn, and bonfire night, and warmth...

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I want to own every shade of this beautiful soft yarn! The site I have linked doesn't have all the shades and is missing one of my favourites - Pink!

Okay, now for a yarn I don't like.... Well, I love it and hate it to be honest... I love it because its pretty, and has lots of potential to be something wonderful. I hate it because I can not work out how to use it!! I have tried many times with both of these types of yarns, and can not seem to crochet anything with it successfully however hard I try! (if anyone can help please do!!) 

Ready to know which yarn it is? Its this:

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Yep Pom Pom yarn... Sooo pretty, but it manages to beat me every time! This is not the Pom Pom yarn I own, mine is purple and much smaller, but I didn't have chance to take a picture so this will have to do! The other yarn which I completely struggle with is eyelash yarn.... I can't crochet it without causing knots!

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So there you have it :) You now all know a little bit more about my yarn obsession! I am looking forward to the tips on how to use the pom pom and eyelash yarn ;)

It is now rather late so I might do day two and three together instead of one and two like originally planned! See you all tomorrow and thank you for visiting!!

Much love, Samantha xx

I'M ENGAGED!!!!!!

It was mine and Roxi's 5th anniversary on the 25th and she proposed to me! :D I am so happy and excited! This is my beautiful ring :)

She specifically wanted a velvet heart shaped box and managed to find this beautiful one:

It is only just sinking in! We have been looking at venues and dresses so we can get an idea of what we want. Eeeeeep! Sooo excited!!

Sorry it's taken me a week to share this wonderful news with you all, I have been soooo busy!!


Love Sam (and my new fiancée Roxi!!) xxx