Owl jumper

There's a bit of an owl theme going on with the 2012 posts at the mo, how strange. Anyway, here's the finished owl sweater I knitted for Vicky from her Mum for Christmas (incidentally, that's Vicky of the amazing rose teacosy fame. She's hoping to start a blog soon so watch this space, she crafts beautiful things and takes lovely photos so I'm sure it'll be a feast for the eyes!).



I love this pattern with a passion, it's so simple but so effective, I'm planning on knitting one for myself and my Mum this year. Sadly I didn't manage to get any photos of it on, but maybe Vicky will take one at some point! I'd like one in a tweedy green for me and I'm planning a raspberry or paler pink version for my Mum. I'm going to get some New Lanark wool for both projects I think!

Owl purse

I made this for my friend Alison as part of her Christmas present. She likes purple and things with owls on them so I thought I'd combine the two and practice my new-found ability to sew zips (still not very straight though, clearly more practice/less gin is needed).



She actually gave me the material I used for the lining, she brought me back a lovely bundle of quilting fabric from the States and I know she picked out the colours and designs that she liked since we have similar tastes in these things, so I thought she might appreciate it!



I've got a few more Christmas crafts to show you all but my camera battery has been pinched by the battery fairies...

Out with the old...

So, this is the last day of 2011 and my first blog post in over 2 months. I'm still swithering over whether to continue the blog in 2012, I think for the moment I'll just blog when I feel like it and have time, rather than feeling beholden to it. Maybe once I graduate I might have time again to do it properly, my first job being to invest in a new camera! Part of me wants to go back and retake the horrible (in my eyes at least) photos from the past, but then part of me appreciates that they're part of the evolution of a blog, as you learn about the process. It's like anything really, no one is born perfect and looking back on those flaws makes you appreciate how far you've come.

This time of year is the traditional time to look back on your life and reflect and evaluate on where you are and where you're going. In many respects I'm very happy with my life, but in other ways I'm unsatisfied. 2012 may be the year to correct a lot of those issues - graduating (touch wood!), getting a job, having some money and some time to indulge the personal life things I've been feeling have been missing over the past 8 years while I've been a student. Moving house somewhere with a garden, getting a dog and some chickens, having more time to craft and visit friends and family...it's going to be lovely. I'm going to be glad to be done with vet school.



Andrew and I at a wedding this year - I'm in a full hand-made outfit (minus pants and shoes obviously)

I'm not really making proper resolutions this year, they always fail and make me feel quilty guilty (though quilty is an awesome word and will be adopted in 2012). One unoffical one that may well stick though is to craft more for me. I'm still going to be crafting as presents - I have 4 babies and my Mum's birthday present already planned - but I definitely want to make time to finish my Coraline cardigan and knit myself an owl sweater.

In the meantime, I'm having a quiet Hogmanay with my folks and spending the 1st and 2nd of January with Vicky. I hope you all have a lovely festive time!

Break from blogging...

Hello all! Apologies for another long hiatus from the blogosphere, I'm finding it hard to find time to blog at the moment. Uni is taking up a lot of time and when I'm not studying, I'm finding my motivation to blog is dropping right off. I love the process of reading blogs and crafting and sharing my creations with everyone, but when it becomes a chore I guess that's the time to call it quits.

I've not quite decided whether now is the time to close up the blog, I still enjoy it after all, but final year has made me realise that I'm probably not going to be able to make blogging a long-term thing in the future. Uni is more like a proper job now, I'm out from 8am until 6pm and when I get home the last thing I want to do is sit in front of a computer. In the past I've had the odd afternoon off during the week to take photos or write blog posts but now I don't have them I find my free time is taken up with studying, relaxing, or getting those boring chores done that you don't get the chance to do during the week. I imagine this is how next year is going to be when I (touch wood) have a job, so I'm thinking that I might be better off closing down the blog now and focusing on passing my finals.

Source: None via Second on Pinterest

I can always reopen it again in the future, I'm not going to remove it altogether, and I'll still be doing my Etsy shop when I get the chance. I'll still be reading blogs too, but I'll be able to enjoy blogs for what they are, rather than feeling guilty for not getting my own one sorted. I've always felt like I'm not doing my best with the blog anyway, my photos are pretty rubbish and my content and frequency of posting aren't as good as some of the more well-established blogs. There's part of me that's OK with that but then the perfectionist part of me hates not being able to do it to the best of my ability. I'm still going to craft but my priority is vet school and once I graduate my priorities will be work, hobbies, Andrew, pets, friends and family (in no particular order!). Blogging just won't be high enough in that priority list to justify keeping it going.

So for the moment dear people, goodbye. I might still update from time to time, but I think the next few months will be a good test of whether the blog is worth keeping in the future. Now that I've announced my feelings officially I feel relieved and less guilty already. I'll still be reading all of you though, so keep those posts comin'!

Chunky woolen wristies

I was given a knitting kit for Christmas from my gran, from Wool Fish in St Abbs, Scotland. It was a pretty simple kit, with wool, needles and instuctions to make a pair of fingerless gloves. I don't really like long gloves, since they make your jumper bunch up, so I shortened them and made two pair of wristies instead.



I'm considering threading some ribbon through the bottom holes of one pair, to make them a little bit different. They're perfect for typing at my computer, since my fingers get cold in the winter, or for reading in bed now it's starting to get chilly!

Vintage floral cotton fat quarters

A few more new additions to the shop, this time some vintage cotton floral fat quarter bundles. I love making these up, there's something so satisfying about all the cutting, ironing, folding and bundling, especially seeing them all sitting side-by-side at the end. These three are the only ones that have string at the moment (mental note: must buy more twine) so I've got another six bundles to list in the shop.













I love imagining all the lovely projects people will be making with my fat quarters...

Assissnation of JFK

Remember last week I mentioned some vintage newspapers I'd picked up for the Etsy shop? Well, I've listed one of them, it's from 4 days after the asssissnation of JFK.



It's not in the best condition, as you can see from the photos, but I couldn't resist all the same, it's so exciting to have a piece of world history in your hand! It's a Scottish newspaper as well, which I really like because it fits in with the Scottish slant of my shop.



I had some trouble with the photographs, the weather here in Edinburgh has suddenly turned very autumnal, it's pouring down with rain and yesterday was foggy so the light isn't the best. I'm still having trouble getting Andrew's camera to focus properly as well, everything comes out slightly out of focus, it's very frustrating.



There's something a bit morbid about selling this newspaper I think, like I'm profiting off someone else's death. I thought about just keeping it, it's a really interesting thing just to have, but I bought it for the shop and so into the shop it goes.



I figured in some ways, it wouldn't be fair for me to keep it anyway, I'm not American, I wasn't alive at the time of the assissination, I'm not especially interested in history (beyond the occasional documentary on TV and a love of Philippa Gregory books) and so I'm sure there are people out there to whom this newspaper will hold so much more meaning.



You can check it out in the shop over here.