New Bow!

The 'b' button on my keyboard is broken, so this post is more difficult than you can ever know..

But I have made new bows! Keep an eye on Robyn's Ribbons for more!

The fabric is completely amazing for cheer bows, I saw it and snapped up a few metres there and then. Pretty hideous in terms of anything else though..

Personally, I think one of my finest yet..

A few sizing issues..

A couple of posts ago, I talked about my Royal Corgi that I was planning on knitting for twitknitclub, from the Knit Your Own Royal Wedding book. You may think that this blog has just become an outlet for all things crafty that I start and never finish, BUT, I always finish them eventually. I get very impatient when something doesn't take shape immediately.

Now, from the photo, and I'm sure you will all agree, the Corgi looks like an average stuffed toy size. Which I was quite excited about. He was going to sit regally on my bed. Turns out, he's tiiiiny. I'm dedicating a whole post to this because I think it's mostly hilarious. The wool was delivered at the end of last week and I remarked upon how thin it was.. "Oh dear Mum, I must have ordered the wrong wool?!". Then yesterday morning I went and picked up the needles the pattern suggested, 3mm, and they were tiny too! Then I thought, well, maybe the Corgi is just absolutely tiny? Ding!

I was somewhat disappointed about that fact. Until, I saw this.

How cute is that? I think the Queen is amazing and definitely have to get the book to knit that too.

I'm going to make an army of tiny Corgis..

Clarks' Heritage Range..

After weeks and weeks of very careful and calculated budgeting, along with a heavy dose of BEING ABSOLUTELY IN LOVE, I have bought these boots.

Bizarrely name 'Licorice Candy', I have fallen completely and head over heels in love with these boots. I mention budgeting because they carry rather a hefty price tag. However, anyone who knows me can testify that I wear brown riding boots close to every single day of the winter months. I absolutely live in them. so these bad boys will definitely be worth the money. My last pair were from Debenhams and, rather unexpectedly, fell apart at a rather inopportune moment - in the rain.

If you are thinking of getting some winter boots now, as the weather starts to change, it is the best time; enter 'BENEW' in the promotional code box at the checkout and you'll receive 10% off! So you can see that I really couldn't ignore these boots.

The whole range is completely delicious; dubbed the 'Heritage' range, it has an incredibly English countryside vibe. I have a tweed Zara blazer and a jumper that I have just finished knitting (more on that at a later date) that will complete the look perfectly.

Sadly, the dog is sold separately. 

Happy shopping!

IMAGE CREDIT: www.clarks.co.uk

An ode to Mary Berry..

During a fit of late night impulse purchasing last week, I became the proud owner of this...

I was in Asda at about 10pm, you may ask what on earth possessed me to be in there at all, let alone at 10pm.. I was looking for Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute Meals. Which they didn't have. On a complete tangent, I cooked this the other night, and it was incredible. SO easy and absolutely delicious. I never thought I'd be able to cook anything as complex as this, hence my search for the 30 Minute Meals book. It's literally a miracle.

Back to Ms Berry. In Asda, when I was not finding Jamie's book, I happened to chance upon the Great British Bake Off book! I'd only watched the final the night before so was so surprised to see this. Asda has it for only £10, so I thought it was rude to refuse. 

The book is absolutely beautiful. The recipes are laid out perfectly, with a picture for each step and whole page pictures for the technical bakes. All the technical challenges from the competition are in there, along with some of the bakers own creations. Highlights include Mary Berry's coffee and walnut battenburg and some absolutely gorgeous summery tarts. Along with the BBC's Great British Bake Off Masterclasses on iPlayer, this is surely failsafe?

We can only wait and see. I have two days off in a row now, so I'm planning to attack the Battenburg tomorrow, armed with Mary Berry talking me through it via my iPad. I'll try and post some pictures when I've done it, but if it's hideous then I completely refuse. I fear that mine may end up looking slightly, hearty, if you will. Not as neat and delicate as it possibly should. 

Let me know if you bake anything from it, we can have our own bloggy bake-off. :-)

Happy Baking!

#twitknitclub

Twitter. I joined Twitter, I HATED it. Then I worked out how to use it, started following a few people, and found out about this. twitknitclub. Which, I love. Started by Scarlett Curtis, of teengranny fame, the club sees twitterers, (tweeters? twits? tweeters?) complete little projects. Of the knitted variety, naturally. S'all in the name. The first project was a knitted patchwork blanket, which I initially got REALLY into. Then I had to hand in my dissertation and a million other essays and the knitting fell by the wayside. My 6 completed squares are currently sitting, unloved in London, in my desk drawer. I'm heading London-ward to retrieve them next week, (not just the knitting, my other possessions also) and plan to crack on and finish my blanket just in time for the winter months. I'm expecting it to take this long because I want to make it REALLY big. Yeah. I'll update on twitter and on this blog with pictures.

However. The second project, is knitted toys. This makes me so excited, as I have recently developed a love for all knitted animals. I saw this pattern ages ago and printed it, fully intending to do it straight away, but I didn't. Story of my life. So now, I present to you, my twitknitclub project two pattern..

This little guy! This is the royal corgi from Fiona Goble's Knit Your Own Royal Wedding. I'm aware that I'm a little late in doing anything from this book, but a dog is for life, not just for a wedding. And it is SO cute.

Also, bonus, one doesn't even need to purchase the book! In a fit of royal wedding generosity, you can find the pattern here, on the Guardian website.

I'll tweet photos as the little guy starts taking shape. Good luck fellow twitknitters!

Some more David Nicholls..

My last post was about all the things I had been managing to fill all my very spare time with. Cast your minds back; I wrote about a book I'd recently read, One Day by David Nicholls. I've since learned it's been made into a film, which I absolutely LOVE the sound of. Anne Hathaway is playing Emma, which I was slightly dubious about when I first heard, but I'm coming round to it. I think Anne Hathaway is so adaptable and I'm sure she'll bring a whole new element to the character that I never even read into. Jim Sturgess plays Dexter; I don't really have anything to say on this as I have absolutely NO idea who he is. Apologies if this is awfully ignorant. I think I like that I don't know who he is though, no preconceived notions of dislike or such.

So here's the crux, the whole reason for this post, which is supposed to have nothing to do with One Day. I've just finished reading Nicholls' The Understudy. Seeing the familiar style of the front cover and Nicholls' name perched neatly in WHSmith sealed the deal for me. The story follows the journey of Stephen McQueen, destined to play 'Dead Man' forever more, and Josh Harper, of whose wife, Nora, Stephen falls desperately in love with. Calamitous consequences.

I would recommend this book to anyone, actor or not; it's far less intense than One Day, whimsical you might say. And incredibly funny. As someone who has played an understudy, as I'm sure many have, and from someone attempting to navigate their way through the acting world, this book is hugely reassuring in that I'm not missing much; there is a strong chance the rest of my life will remain in much the same vein. As the Stephen C. McQueen so eloquently phrases it, fanTAStic.

Back in the saddle!

I have not blogged for AN AGE. Since I last wrote, SO much has happened. Which is probably the reason I haven't blogged, vicious cycle. Or is it circle? This post is going to be incredibly vague and roaming, so bear with. Bear with. Bear with. (Re-runs of Season 1 Miranda, they're making my life).

So I finished university, much to the delight of my family. I, however, feel complete desolation. Going from having the past three years of your life entirely planned out, to being able to do whatever you want, whenever you want, is not quite as liberating as you might think. I'm taking it steady though, don't you worry. Which leads me to my reading material. I have read not one, not two, but three books this week. I don't think I ever read that many books in a week when I was at university?!

Embarrassingly, and we won't dwell on this, I finished Jilly Cooper's Jump at the beginning of the week. It was vacuous, ridiculous and I was wholly embarrassed by it's calibre. Not the sort of book you whip out on the tube. (I will direct you to the title of this blog, which is a little nod in Jilly's direction, but also a nod to my being back in the proverbial blogging saddle.)

Secondly, came Ben Fogle and James Cracknell's The Crossing. Fogle and Cracknell take us through every minute and gory detail of their crossing of the Atlantic ocean in a two-man rowing boat. It's so interesting to see how quickly they are forced to bond aboard what is essentially a bathtub; they didn't know each other before they embarked on their adventure. Cracknell's Olympic rowing prowess paired with what I at first believed to be Fogle's hunger for media attention, could only mean catastrophic disaster.

HOWEVER. I was proved completely wrong, sorry Ben Fogle, I take it all back. Ben Fogle is not a brilliant rower though. To begin with. I was reluctant to even give Mr Fogle a chance, after his stint on Taransay island and his japes at Longleat I thought he was all front and no substance. The BBC television series On Thin Ice altered my perceptions completely; it would seem that my initial dislike of Benjamin stems from a jealousy of all his adventures. And I AM JEALOUS. I then read the account of their pole to pole race, aptly named, Race to the Pole. I would massively recommend both books, they are bone crushingly honest.

Up next is another piece of literature that I am in no way saying is intellectually stimulating. Massively enjoyable though. I've always loved Sophie Kinsella books and her latest offering is a series of books she wrote before her other, more popular stories, as Madeleine Wickham. I polished off The Gatecrasher in less than 24 hours, a new record I'm sure.



The premise of the story is somewhat ridiculous actually. The protagonist, Fleur Daxeny attends funerals and memorial services of strangers with a mind to preying on their grieving and hideously rich husbands, sons and brothers. Hideous, I know, but it really was good.

Only one more, promise. Another one I read a while ago now, that really deserves a mention, is One Day by David Nicholls.



It is absolutely fantastic. A man and women meet on the night of their graduation; the story follows their lives after university at ten year intervals. I won't say much more because it may give it all away, but this is really worth a read. Reading it on the eve of my finishing university made it all the more poignant.

Ok no more books.

That said, can anyone recommend a few good books? I feel rather bereft after finishing One Day, nothing since as quite lived up to it.

And this, is why I shouldn't leave so long between blog posts. I have so much more to say but I'll save it for another day.

I commend you on making it to the end. :-)