Woolly Purchases....

Whilst I'd told myself that this year I'm not to spend much on wool/yarn and related items, I slipped today and caved in a little....

I'm trying hard to use up (or at least make a little dent in!) my wool stash.
I'm going to crochet blankets to give as gifts, or hopefully even sell a few!
That way I will then be able to allow myself to buy more!
But in order to be able to buy more, I need to know what to buy.
Due to the Fat Mum Slim Daily Photo challenge, I'm spending a little more time on Instagram than I have before.
And in so doing, I came across a lady called Anita who I believe will soon be starting up her own online Yarn Store.
For now she is on Instagram and Facebook as My Craft Life. And you can contact her by email and place an order even though her store isn't up and running yet... which is what I did today :o)

She has been showing selections of colours of wool, as suggested collections to buy, and this one caught my eye.

I'm not so keen on the darker green or the palest pink, so I have asked for two of the light blue, and added two balls of cream too instead.
This is a make of wool I've not used before- it's called New Fashion DK, and is by Woolcraft.
I've heard on the grapevine it's pretty good to crochet with, and it's a great price.
Well when it arrives I'll find out for myself!

I've also heard great things about the joys of these little gadgets...

It's a Wool Winder, and can change those awful shop bought "balls" into much easier to use properly wound round balls.

Having bad arms that ache at doing the slightest thing (is crochet really a good hobby for me? Most likely not, but hey....!) I embrace anything that may make my life easier.

So yes, I ordered one of these today too! (Available from eBay and Amazon)

So what have you been buying in your wooly/yarny world recently?

Fat Face Penny Tunics - I Love Them!

 

About a year ago I wandered into a Fat Face concession in a John Lewis store. And it changed the clothes that I was to buy from then on.
I'd never heard of the brand before, but immediately liked the styles and colours of the clothes they sold. I think I bought a long sleeved top and a short sleeved blouse to go over it.

Not long after on a shopping trip to Cambridge, with my daughter, I noticed a Fat Face store. Obviously I had to check it out.
There was a dress and a tunic in a small floral pattern, but they didn't have my size.
On getting home I googled their website www.fatface.com and straight away ordered my first "Penny" tunic.

Later in the year I fell in love with another pattern of Penny tunic, but sadly I never managed to track down a Paisley one in my size.
Then I liked the Hummingbird pattern, and bought one quickly as stocks were getting low.
But it was now late September, and the weather started to turn. So after delivery I hung it in my wardrobe ready for Spring.

Over winter I have bought two more Penny's- both with long sleeves.
And now the new season prints are out I have to admit to having ordered two more- the first is the Wispy Floral, and that arrived last week. It has 3/4 sleeves so will be lovely once the weather starts to warm again.

The second is the Busy Floral pattern above- but I have to wait another week before stock arrives in their warehouse.... 

And I so can't wait for it to get here!
The pattern looks lovely, like a small ditsy floral kind of print.

So here is my current "collection" of Penny tunics....

It might sound like I'm obsessed... and maybe I am!

But I'm slightly on the shorter side of average height, and my  body is quite short in relation to the rest of  my body.

So having found an item of clothing that fits so well and suits my shape, I wanted to get a few! I honestly think I could wear them all the time! 

The Fat Face website suggests wearing them with leggings or jeans.

Personally I don't find jeans work very well as I think they are too bulky.

So I wear leggings (nice thermal warm ones at this time of year!) or jeggings.

Fat Face isn't the cheapest brand out there, so I try to buy as much as possible in their sales... They happen quite frequently and have great reductions- just a tip out there for any of their fans out there!

Just Another #fmsphotoaday Update!

Day 19- "Breakfast" and today I decided to try a bowlful of the rather delicious Reese's Puffs. They are gorgeous! And so they should be at the price that Tescos are charging for them (£5 a box!!!)

Day 20- "To Do List" As I don't actually have one on the go at the moment, I decided that if I did it would say this!

Day 21- "Blue" After a rather dull and wet start to the day the sky turned this gorgeous blue.

Day 22- "Nice" 

This was my lunch today, and oooooh was it nice. Pineapple cottage cheese on rice cakes topped with baby plum tomatoes!

Day 23- "Bedtime"

 My new bedtime routine of tablets to help with my arms and hands and to hopefully help me sleep. And back rub too for my neck.

Day 24- "Your Space"

My Space, where I sit each evening. Where I crochet, or catch up with Facebook or emails on my iPad.

More #fmsphotoaday 12 to 18

Day 12- there is nothing more colourful than a pile of my crochet.

Day 13- Looking at these two always makes me smile.

Day 14- Three things sitting on my table in front of me... Some crochet motifs I'm making, my lovely mini iPad, and a sweet little new jug I bought today.

Day 15- Black and White keys on my piano. I woke up today wanting to play some music, so the piano was today's obvious choice.

Day 16- Sun. We didn't see too much of it today, but after a heavy downpour late in the afternoon it reappeared for a bit. Using just my iPhone I caught this lovely glare using raindrops on the kitchen window.

Day 17- I got myself a new book today, despite not liking to read. I thought a good dose of  Miranda Hart might cheer up my mood. But when did they start printing books with such small writing? I'd best be wearing my glasses to read it....

Day 18- today's prompt "Happy Place" sounded quite hard- I'm not sure I really have one. But today whilst out shopping in Cambridge we found a Dalek and a TARDIS in the Forbidden Planet shop. And that made Emily happy.

#fmsphotoaday - Days 6 to 11

Another catch-up post of my next batch of daily photos for the Fat Mum Slim photo-a-day challenge....

Day 06- "Happens Everyday"

Drying and styling my hair. Otherwise I'd always look like a scarecrow!

Day 07- "Upside Down" 

I found this a little trickier until in a need for chocolate I tipped up this box of chocolates!

Day 08- "Lucky Number"

I don't really have or even believe in lucky numbers, but if ever asked for a number, I will usually choose 5- my birthdate.

On looking for a "5"' I noticed 5 spots on my "garden" toadstool ornament (that still lives in my conservatory!)

Day 09- "Natural"

Quite an easy one- I found this fungi on the grass opposite my house.

Day 10- "Manmade"

What to choose? So many things to choose between, but I opted for this rather lovely retro radio toffee tin I bought myself for Christmas.

Day 11- "Looking Down"

I bought this retro camera from eBay, and it arrived today. This photo is looking down the lens.

I'm definitely enjoying this daily #fmsphotoaday photo challenge, I certainly intend to last the whole year!

The First Five Days - #fmsphotoaday

Well so far so good....

I've managed the first five days of the Fat Mum Slim January Photo a Day challenge...! :o)

Day 01: Lunch.

My lunch of mainly leftovers from our little New Years Eve tea round at Grandmas house.

Day 02: Begins with G.

Maybe a little cheaty, but the next square to join onto my crochet Patchwork Granny blanket was "Green".

Day 03: My Town.

But we don't actually live in a town, so I took a little snapshot of  the clock tower in our village.

Day 04: Words to Live By.

One of my favourite phrases, and just seemed particularly apt right now.

Day 05: Found.

I found this cute little jug out shopping today- I went to buy a different one but fell in love with this one instead!

New Year, New Blog

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Well here I am again at last, a New Year, and a New Blog!
I've decided to start blogging again, for myself as much as anyone.
I want to keep a record of daily life, of the little things as well as the big.
I'm not going to promise to post everyday, I don't want to put that pressure on. Because then it'll be no fun.
There will be crafty things- mainly my love of Crochet, when these old hands of mine allow.
There will be snippets of what my little family are getting up to.

There will also be the photos I will be taking daily for the FatMumSlim Photo a Day challenge.
I've dabbled in daily photo challenges a little way back when, but having seen many others posting their pics in Instagram over the last year I thought I'd join in the fun too.

Every month, a new list is published up on the Fat Mum Slim blog giving the daily prompts list.
Here is this months....

Then each day you take a photo using that prompt as a guide- simple!

I will then post my photos daily on Instagram using the #fmsphotoaday hashtag. I might link them to Facebook too. And whenever I put up a blogpost I'll add them here too.

**********

New Years Eve was spent round at Grandmas house, which is conveniently only a 5 minutes walk away since she moved there last year.
We had a lovely time, eating. drinking a little, playing "Quirkle" which is quite a fun colours/shapes matching game. Obviously there could only be one winner....

We also played the Heads Up App which is just fun and convenient new take on an old idea.

Here we are enjoying a game!

We stayed up eating chocolates and watching Gary Barlow on TV until Big Ben started to strike and welcomed the New Year in. We then watched the amazing London fireworks before heading back home to bed.

I hope that 2014 is a good year to all. I wasn't a particular fan of 2013- so hope this year is a little nicer.