Readings... January

With all the excitement of January coming to an end, I forgot to share my reading for the month.

I read...

• Joan Didion - Slouching Towards Bethlehem
• JK Rowling - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Richard Ayoade - Ayoade on Ayoade
• JK Rowling - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

I always plan to read the Harry Potter series from start to finish, but find invariably that I get distracted by something else around "...Goblet of Fire", so this time I started at the end, with the last three books. I am halfway through "...the Deathly Hallows" now, and so pleased that I've done everything the wrong way around. 

I think I may have started in the wrong place with Joan Didion though. I hadn't read anything else she'd written, and although "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" is famous for being a good representation of the time, quite honestly it was too much of it's time - essentially before mine - for me to understand the context or some of the references. I will persevere though because I loved her style. 

"The impulse to write things down is a peculiarly compulsive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it, useful only accidentally, only secondarily, in the way that any compulsion tries to justify itself." 

Joan Didion from "On Keeping a Notebook"

My Week...

Last week was one filled to the brim with adventures and crafty making! I visited Liverpool for the Tate and shopping, went to the theatre for date night, bought a vintage embroidered cushion from a lovely trader in the market, had cake with a dear friend, and got very excited at the arrival of Harry Potter tour tickets. I've been working hard on my granny square blanket, and finished the second full row of my year-long blanket, and tried to make progress with the three (!) pairs of socks that are on the needles. 

My Week...

Last week was quiet and full of yarn and craftiness. 

The postie delivered a wool winder to me, and it's been the perfect little device for neatening my stash. 

Taking Stock... January

Borrowed from the lovely Pip at Meet Me at Mikes...

Making : Blankets. Always blankets!
Cooking : Wintery warmers like soup and crumpets
Drinking : Lots and lots of tea
Reading: Harry Potter books 5-7 (I always intend to read the series and run out of steam at book four, so I've started at five...)
Wanting: Vintage brooches and Tea Dresses
Looking: out at my poor windswept garden
Playing: My favourite albums over and over
Deciding: if it's time for a new hair colour or a shorter cut
Wishing: for spring, and seeing the world come back to life
Enjoying: cosy days at home, crocheting with kitties for company
Waiting: to go to the Harry Potter studio tour in March to see the Hogwarts Express
Liking: cardigans and winter woollens
Wondering: which book to start next
Loving: watching my lovely mum make progress knitting her first pair of socks
Pondering: how big my latest granny square blanket should be
Considering: my next adventure
Watching: "Sherlock"
Hoping: to let go of some of the things that take up too many of my thoughts, to make room for nice new things
Marvelling: at driving my little car around
Needing: to go and see the last "Hobbit" movie before it disappears from the cinema
Smelling: my lovely windowsill garden with Hyacinths in full bloom
Wearing: pretty dresses for good cheer
Following: lots of beautiful instagram feedsNoticing: my "stashbuster projects" don't seem to be running down my yarn stash very quickly
Knowing: that I should buy flowers because they make me happy
Thinking: that I should make more of an effort to enjoy the wintery season and not wish it away
Admiring: more yarn that I don't need
Sorting: out exciting things to look forward to
Buying: crafty bits and bobs - needle felting needles already arrived and a wool winder on the way
Getting: more tea
Bookmarking: some pretty new patterns to try
Disliking: my allergy to lemons, and missing lemon drizzle cake
Opening: my sketchbook to try and get some ideas flowing
Giggling: at "Brooklyn Nine-Nine"
Feeling: excited for my next day out with some of my dearest friends
Snacking: on Raspberry and Chocolate biscuits
Helping: to keep our little home cosy with obsessive blanket making
Coveting: the special limited edition Laduree Macaron Sonny Angels
Wishing: for more time to read and crochet
Hearing: my favourite new saying - "not my circus, not my monkeys"

My Week...

A little bit late, but this was what last week looked like. It was full of small things, quiet moments. The winter-blues have done lots of coming and going, so I've been crafting my way through them. My proudest moment of the week was finally finishing my chevron blanket, which has been a Work-In-Progress threatening to be an Unfinished-Project for a jolly long time. But now it is done, and cosy on my sofa, with a selection of vintage florals and crochet cushions. It is a pretty happy feeling. 

My window-sill garden has been added to, there are new socks on the go, and there's been some new jewellery in the making. It's been a productive sort of week really. 

Makings...

As I am hibernating January away, I am busy making lots of little bits and bobs. I was very kindly given a tea-cosy kit for Christmas, so now my tea-pot is looking all kinds of fancy. 

 My first sixteen Sunburst squares are done, and all joined in a pretty row. I am rather pleased with them. I have a little pinterest board up and running to keep track of my squares too, so I know what inspired each square. 

 I am busy working on little crochet flower brooches for my stall today, trying to fight off the Winter Mopeys, and encourage the spring.

2015 so far...

Here we are, halfway through a crispy January, and only now am I finding myself back into my daily routines. It was a delightful festive season, and I fully immersed myself into the holiday spirit, with plenty of crochet, reading and good food. I finished my granny-a-day blanket at a nicely cosy ninety squares, which is plenty big enough for my sofa, and began a new daily square blanket on 1st January. I took the plunge with rather large ambitions to make a Sunburst square for every day of 2015, the plan being a blanket that will be 16 squares by 23 squares, hopefully finishing up with a somewhat impressive 368 squares. I am holding out high hopes for this one, I really do want so much to complete a year long project. 

As is always the way, I was completely unable to get through a holiday without starting a new project, and I am very pleased to say that I finished it yesterday - a sunburst square cushion. It was a low-concentration stash-buster project, and I am rather pleased with it. 

Some of the other adventures from my holidays were passing my driving test on New Years Eve (a rather lovely way to end 2014), turning 30 on 8th January and the mountains of tea and cake that followed it, and being enlisted as Bridesmaid for one of my most wonderful friends - I am so terribly excited, I have never had the honour of being asked before, and I hope to do her proud.

I also had a splendid trip to London with my dear husband! We visited the British Museum for the Germany and Ming exhibitions, as well as the National Portrait Gallery for the Grayson Perry exhibition, which was fabulously inspiring. 

So I suppose that after all of those adventures, my plan to hibernate for the rest of January seems completely reasonable. 

Happy New Year lovely friends, I hope 2015 is a wonderful year for you!