It's a cravey day..

I'm a self-confessed Coca-Cola addict. Seriously, I drink far too much of it, and I'm fully aware of how bad it is for me. So I decided at about 11.30pm on the Tuesday before, to give it up for Lent.

Today is my fifth day of no Coca-Cola consumption, and also the first day it has been remotely difficult.

Sunday has proved itself to be a day where I just crave junk food, regardless of what I'm doing with my weekend. I'm currently debating whether or not I should include Dr Pepper in my little rule, because it must be just as bad for me, and is essentially the same drink?! A little help on that one please.. My housemate suggested that I might drink non-branded Cola, but I shot that out of the water immediately - it's the drink I'm giving up, not the brand.

So, so far it's been relatively easy, which I wasn't expecting. That said, I'm absolutely dreading going to the cinema. You know the little ads they run before the trailers? There's always one that tells you, "There's still time for a Coke". That ALWAYS gets me, and back outside I run to get an ice cold coke. I fear that this is when I may relapse..

It's this bit when you can see the cold, fizzy goodness moving through the straw that really gets me..

Sackboy!

My boyfriend is a gaming nerd. (I wouldn't have it any other way.)

I'm sure you can only imagine my joy when it came to my attention that I too could be a part of this world! By knitting my very own sackboy, from Little Big Planet!

For anyone who cannot imagine my joy, I was incredibly excited and everything else was dropped in order to focus on this little man!

A friend of mine mentioned in passing that a friend of hers had knitted her a sackboy and she would see if she could find the link for the pattern for me... lo and behold..

Sackboy!

So here is how my Sackboy turned out..

I think it's not too shabby!

Personally, I see no difference.
I jest, I jest.

I am aware that the eyes and mouth are more than slightly wonky, but it all adds character. I am super pleased with how it turned out though and I think the boyf will love it. I've also discovered an absolute love for toy stuffing, so versatile, so soft! I might whack some into some cushion covers that I made over the summer; will report back!

I'm going to pop him in the post tomorrow, I'll be back later with the verdict.
Next project - BUNTING. Oh yeah!

Image credit: Stephanie Robyn and google images.

Caterjunes: a whaling term.

On Wednesday evening, I was fortunate enough to be able to see The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, at the Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden.

It is one of my absolutely favourite musicals, so needless to say it was a rather successful night!

The musical contains a rather large amount of audience participation, which might not be to some people's taste. That said, it can be quite easily ignored by just keeping your head down! The story follows a group of children taking part in a spelling bee, alongside a few members of the audience, where we follow their successes, failures and young romances! You may have noticed, but I'm finding it really difficult to talk about it and not babble, there is just so much to say.

If you want to check it out, I would seriously recommend it, I paid £7.50 for a standing ticket, so it is possible to do on a shoestring student budget! You can get tickets here.

Friendship star!

That is apparently what this patchwork pattern is called. It makes little to no sense to me.

I said when I posted my first square, that once I got back to uni I would have to hand stitch, due to lack of a sewing machine. So this is my first EVER hand sewn patchwork square. I hope you are all as pleased with this as I am! :-)

It was so relaxing to just sit and sew whilst talking to my housemates, Skyping the boyfriend, or watching CSI (addiction). It obviously wasn't as fast as with a machine, but doing it like this means it's not your sole focus, but more of an accompaniment to other things. I think I will hand stitch all of my quilt now, there is far more of a feeling of achievement, and it is MUCH easier to control the accuracy!

All of that said, I have recently received news that made me bounce around my house; my Grandma has bought me a sewing machine! 

It's a 3321 Singer Talent machine. I haven't got it up in London yet, but already I absolutely love it. I think we're going to be very happy together.

I'll let you know how I get on with it!

Image credit: Stephanie Robyn and www.singerco.co.uk

In times like these.

In these times of dissertation madness, I have but one thing to say.

GO!

Fabric shopping..

Just sharing some lovely fabric I picked up for some patchwork the other day.

I'm making a big sampler quilt for my first project. It's progressing really slowly, but I don't mind about that, it's just something I pick up every now and again.

I'm sticking with a floral theme, obviously with some non-patterned light relief, but I don't want the colours to match, obviously within reason. Look back at the Eni Meni quilt I posted, something like that!

I'll keep you updated.

Also, I say obviously way too much.

Image credit: Stephanie Robyn

In the spirit of love...

My favourite thing to do at this time of year is to pick Valentines Day cards. Obviously. Because it would be weird to do it at any other time of the year.

I'm a very pedantic card shopper, everything about the card has to be completely perfect, so much so, that I usually make my own. That said, the Valentines Day spread at Selfridges hits the spot EVERY year.

I was wandering through the other day, and spotted this Smythson Valentines card, which was just so lovely in the flesh.

Sorry about the quality of the image, but this is the best I could find; the text is Shakespeare's Sonnet 116.

It does come at quite a price though, I recall somewhere in the region of £10, which is slightly excessive for a greetings card, even when it is as luxurious as this one!

I think my boyfriend's reaction to the price tag has confirmed that I won't be getting this in the post on Monday! 

You can shop the Selfridges card range here. Share the love!

 Image credit: www.smythson.wordpress.com