4kcbwday1

Technically Day 1 was Monday (I’m catching up and so today and tomorrow might be a bit spammy on your feed. Sorry!)

So what is 4KCBW all about – well that bit stands for the 4th Knitting and Crochet Blog Week.

4th Knitting and Crochet Blog Week

What is Knitting and Crochet Blog Week?
Once a year knitters and crocheters that blog are invited from all over the world to take part in a community blog week in which they are presented with a number of topics to blog about over the period of seven days. The topics are very flexible and can be interpreted in many ways, so there is a good deal of variety in the posts that this inspires, which then provide wonderful reading for anyone who enjoys reading the blogs that it inspires.

What Do Bloggers Get Out Of It?
The blog week was originally intended as a week in which inspiration for new and interesting blog posts and ways of blogging could be shared by the fibre arts and blogging community to find new ideas and ways of keeping blogging fresh and interesting. The other benefits that participants soon saw were an increase in the number of visitors and comments that they received over the course of blog week and also the many new blogs that they discovered by taking part. It is also great fun and a good way of shaking of any writers’ cobwebs by inspiring a fresh approach to blogging.

So here I am. First task is:

A bit like Harry Potter, but not quite, this year’s Knitting & Crochet Blog Week is split into 4 houses. Don your favourite knitted or crocheted hat and let it guide you to which house you will be in.

There were four to choose from and like Judit from Monster Yarns I decided that  I was in the House of Bee.

The House of Bee

The House of Bee: Bees are busy and industrious, but can flit from one interesting project to the next as bright and shiny things capture their interest.

This is clearly me but I kind of suck for finish what I’ve planned – I have a kit downstairs that my Mum bought me and I haven’t started because I don’t really know how to knit in the round (need to speak to Judit about that one!) I get distracted with knitting and decide to knit and purl even if it just calls for knitting, or I start one granny square only to spot something on Pinterest that I decide to give a go. At the moment, I don’t really have a project. I’m working on squares for a blanket that a group of us are making for Macmillan. My friend’s Mum organised a coffee morning last year after she had been really poorly with cancer (boo! hiss! cancer sucks!) then around Christmas I taught my friend to crochet and her Mum decided to use this to the advantage and came up with an idea that we’d crochet or knit as many 7×7 squares as we could and then we’d auction off the blanket – all the money going to the Macmillan appeal.

books: kept by elle field

A while back I made friends with someone called @ellefie on Twitter. We’d chat about anything and everything – usually books as we’re both massive book worms (just look at our Goodreads pages for that!!)

One of the conversations we have had over the time we’ve been friends is about Elle’s aspirations to become an official published writer. I’ve been a reader of her blog so some how knew that one day she’d reach this goal.

Well the day came, at the weekend I saw a tweet ping up from Elle which caught my eye:

Yesterday morning, Elle told me that her book had gone live, so as I walked from my car to my temp job I quickly got Amazon UK up on my phone and downloaded her book. At about 11:30 last night I finished it and I loved it.

Kept by Elle Field

The blurb from Elle’s blog goes like this:

Life hasn’t quite worked out how Arielle Lockley planned. Becoming the next Coco Chanel, not shopping at Chanel, was always her childhood dream but somehow she’s ended up as a kept woman, living the jet-set lifestyle with boyfriend Piers.

When the recession hits, it’s not just the economy that takes a tumble. Broke and homeless with zero job prospects, can Arielle find her way again in time or will she always have to be a kept woman?

I finished reading it last night – having not done much else all evening! There’s definitely an air of “Confessions of A Shopaholic” by Sophie Kinsella – and I think if you like that, you will definitely like this. This first drew me in, then I wanted to know what happened to Arielle and how her life unfolded. I really liked the “flashbacks” to explain why Arielle is the way she is, and to explain her relationships with the people from her past. By the middle, I wanted Obélix to confess undying love for Arielle but I think it would be too complicated for another love interest!

You can get it here on Amazon UK or Amazon US. If you do download and read it please tweet, FB, review or on Goodreads or Amazon or pretty much anywhere else you can.

st. george’s day

St. George's Day
Back in January, after I had been to a Burns Night party. I asked complained about celebrating St. George's Day. Something along the lines of this:

I’m pretty much completely English and there doesn’t seem to be any traditions where we celebrate being British or things that we’ve achieved. You’ve got Burns who was a Scottish Poet and St Andrew’s Day. You’ve got St Patrick’s Day for the Irish and St David’s Day for the Welsh. Some of the shops in town close down when it’s Eid because of the percentage of their staff have got religious celebrations. There’s Canada Day, Independence Day and Australia Day if you want a few more.Maybe we should be having a Shakespeare Party or making more of a deal about St George’s Day. Well either that or I’ll become Scottish or Irish by adoption lol.

Well, as it happens in my current temporary job we're having a St. George's Day party later today. Well I'm super excited – it means that it'll be harder work today but it'll still be good. See you on the other side.

BTW, it's also Shakespeare's Birthday – Happy Birthday Will!

 

this weekend i… #TWI


Joining with Sar from [Life of Love] and Syndal from Synfully Delicious.

This Weekend I… had a fab catch up with some school friends. We worked out while sat round the table for lunch that some of us hadn’t seen each other for about 13 years – how have we all been left middle school that long already?

This Weekend I… made trifle – well I attempted to make it – I didn’t have enough cream and the cream that I did had didn’t really work and so the custard and cream turned into an interesting mess and so it was nicknamed Eton Trifle Mess or something like that. It still tasted lovely and filled a hole!

This Weekend I… started writing a Pre-30 Bucket List – On Saturday it’s my birthday (and I’m excited!) normally around this time I’m writing a “X before I’m X” list which was the original plan for this year but then I decided I’d write a longer list and have about three ish years to complete it in.

This Weekend I… well we started bouncing ideas round about various things – why is it the best ideas come at the funniest times……

This Weekend I… helped Mum make some birthday cards – well I folded bits of paper and tweaked bits while she finished up some other bits to get started on the cards.

friday questions #7

Friday Questions

Sorry all, I sort of dropped off the map with this one just before Easter but I’m hoping to get back into the swing of it now.

1. What current song is at the top of your playlist?
I don’t have a single one at the moment. I love Ho Hey by The Lumineers (especially this cover by The Stella Sisters) and Pompeii by Bastille (Thanks to JD and The Murf singing it lots!)

2. If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
Could I ban cancer? Would that count?

(then again it’s my questions…..my rules!)

Therefore – cancer it’s banned – no change that it’s cured.

3. It’s my birthday next weekend – how should I celebrate?
Je ne c’est quoi! So Verra Cruz are playing Esquires on Friday so that would be a good thing, my Mum has blocked out time in my diary that I’m busy but other than that I don’t know what’s planned. There is Open Mic on Monday so depending on how rich/poor I am feeling I could start with that in a couple of days time. I also thought of adding a crazy challenge in the stylee of Chris (see Tube Challenge or Monopoly Challenge — then again it seems I didn’t blog about these before – this might need some elaboration at some point)

4. What’s the 7th item on your bucket list?
I actually have no idea. I regularly make reference to “Bucket List Moments” but I don’t think I have a physical list – maybe I need to start one. I guess it would probably be a place to visit or something like that.

5. I am a bit like my Grandad in that I’m a bit of a jack of all trades and master of none. If you could be a master at one thing what would it be and why?
I think it would be crocheting – okay I can do it, but I still look at patterns and decide I can’t do them because they are too hard. I’d like to be able to look at the plans and know that I could complete them.

hannah’s job search – part four

Job

(Image Source)

I had meant to write last week about what was happening, then between what was happening and all the other things that were going on I didn’t really get chance to blog properly. It’s not exciting news like I have a permanent job for as long as i like it but I have something for now.

So what is happening, well last Thursday or Friday, a friend of my Mum’s got a call and it meant that she needed someone to help her at short notice – well I’m jobless and she needs someone.

It would be temporary and it’s part time, but it’s better than nothing right?

So that’s what I’ve been doing this week and last week. I start around 10/10:30 which means I get a lay in (or like today I got up and went to church to help with Playtime before going into work).

I’m doing all sorts of bits around the kitchen. On my first day I made meringue, on the second day I made Pineapple Upside Down cake, I also made the sponge for a Victoria Sponge (my boss put the cake together). This week I made a sultana cake as well as peeling lots of veggies and doing lots of washing up.

It’s tiring but it’s really interesting and I’m learning loads and improving my skills. Definitely beats a desk job for now!

bible…

Books of The Bible

worry…

Worrying

The hardest thing not to do at the moment is worry. Often it uses more energy to worry and so you get tired and stressed out. You go over and over every possible conceivable idea of what may or may not happen, you rehearse your reaction in your mind and then find that “what if….?” springs back into your mind.

I don’t have a permanent job at the moment, I am working temporarily as a kitchen assistant for my Mum’s friend’s company – am I worried – maybe a little bit but right now it’s okay, I think the biggest thing about leaving my full time job is that “what if….?” question(s) that keep pinging back into my brain.

Then I try to remember two verses….

1 Thessalonians 5

104-5

Sometimes it’s not easy and sometimes I do want to freak out, but then I seem to think about something else and then come back to it and realise that, that worry was for nothing. God will provide in whatever shape or form that is.

The Daily Post: April 5th

blogging

Tell us about another blogger who has influenced your own online journey.

We could be here all day – I’m not sure that I could narrow it down to one blogger. But here’s a few for you…..

Yes and Yes

Sarah over at Yes and Yes is so lovely and friendly (we’ve chatted via Tweet and E-mail). She’s a copywriter/blogger-for-hire by day and a fab blogger by “night”. She writes amazing posts that really make you think but also ones like How Do I Become a Grown Up? and The Definitive Packing List.

melissa

Now I think Melissa would say that it was me who inspired her to start blogging but at the same time she inspires me to keep going. We met each other when her and her Hubby were in England as part of their World Tour for their honeymoon. We hung out in London, tried Chipotle (well I did!), and wandered round the shops and touristy bits. She wrote a series entitled “Keeping Secrets, or The Secret Spiritual History of Melissa Jane Savage” – it was really good and so inspiring and interesting. You can read Part One here.

Beautiful Becca

There’s also Becca – we met via Twitter and in person but she’s also my penpal – we both love receiving proper handwritten letters. Becca’s main blog is The Latte Lover – all about her passion for coffee. She’s even blogged about The Fountain twice.

Brooks Reach Building Adventure

Then I have Ruby – she’s another lovely Twitter friend who’s become a friend. Her and her Hubby are in the process of building their own house – it’s all very Grand Designs! She regularly updates her blog to talk about what’s happening with the building – it’s all very exciting. Hopefully one day I might get to see the house in person.

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When I’m struggling with ideas for these posts I’m turning to The Daily Post being ran by WordPress. You can find their blog here.

review – march

Review 2012

Books
(Read and actually finished….)
A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans

(Started and not finished, or carrying on with but not finished…)
Knitting for Good!: A Guide to Creating Personal, Social, and Political Change Stitch by Stitch by Betsy Greer
The Penny by Joyce Meyer (lent to me by Mum)

Films
The Descendants
The Cat Returns
Ponyo
Spirited Away
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Matilda
Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium
Say Anything…
Nine to Five
Limitless
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Gladiator (started but not finished)
I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK (Korean)

The Month in Bullets

  • This was the month of huge changes, mainly with regards to my job. Some of these are specifically scary but at the same time, it’s reminding me to trust that God has a plan and something good is coming.
  • As Chris put it, I’ve not only stepped out the box, I shredded it to pieces.
  • I finished at work on the Thursday before Easter. It was a bit sad to leave, but part of me was really relieved.
  • At some point during the month I discovered Nashville as More4 have started showing it.

Top 5 Posts

Hannah’s Job Search – Part 1
Bloglovin’ and Google Reader
Friday Questions #4
Knitting, Crochet and Yarn, oh my!
Am I a Mummy Blogger?