Life at 100 Miles an Hour

Hello Creatives,

Our move to Bristol has been relatively smooth, however I’ve not had 10 minutes to sit down yet! As I managed to bag myself a part time job, I’m currently sat in a hotel room in Leicestershire after 4 days of working as an Ecologist on some of our sites, with my suitcase packed ready to head back to Bristol!

One thing I love about being an ecologist and the position I’m currently in, is that nature is my office and with the early starts, I get to witness the most beautiful sunrises!

(Don’t get me wrong there’s many things I’m not a fan of, e.g. getting caught in the rain, slipping on my arse in mud etc…)

But today’s nippy 2 degree weather with the sun shining through brought along the best sunrise I’ve seen all year. Frost on the ground for the first time, and also the first time I had to scrape the car windows of all its ice!

Enjoy these photos I managed to capture today:

I’m dying to fish my crochet hooks and wool out of their boxes and whip up some cosy items for this winter season! I reckon that’s what I’ll do when I’m back this evening….

Until next time,

Lana xxx

And breath….

Hello Creative!

Guess what?! MY MASTERS DEGREE IS COMPLETE! That feels sooooooooo good to say! I submitted my thesis last Monday, celebrated so hard that it took me 2 days to recover, and now I’m enjoying all the guilt free sofa time!

I popped to our local Aldi (a cheap supermarket, for those who don’t live in the U.K.) as a little birdie told me that they were selling 400g balls of yarn (or packs of 4 x 100g balls) for £3.99!!! Bargain!… and picked up more than I could carry!

So far I have only tested out their baby yarn, which is super soft, and this was the outcome!

I’m in love with this little guy! I haven’t a clue what animal he’s meant to be, but I don’t care! You can’t really tell in the photos, but the cream has shiny flecks all through the wool which are surprisingly not scratchy!

I also attached (in a very strange way) my label to its booty, however, I really do want to look into the faux leather style labels as the ones I have are a nightmare to attached to crocheted items… especially chunky ones! (Suggestions very welcome!)

Below is another one of the many balls of wool I picked up (a total of 1.2kg worth!) and I can’t wait to see what patterns this candy floss coloured ball of fluff can make!

So there’s a little update on my life and my crochet projects! I have a very busy few weeks coming up, including moving house, and now that I’ve picked up the hook again I can’t imagine it will be put down any time soon! I will surely keep you updated.

Until next time,

Lana xxx

Army Surplus Store!

Hello Creatives,

So you may or may not know that George is very into Airsoft and attends many events across the country. This is the second half to the Bristol Travel Blog Post! – as i dont have any photos of george during the Stirling Airsoft Military Simulation event that he attended in Caerwent whilst we visited Bristol (the main reason we went to Bristol), below is a vlog of our first visit to our local Army Surplus Store!

Please excuse the camera constantly going out of focus and the low quality of editing! It’s not something we do very often! and if we continue, a new camera is definitely needed.

Enjoy!

Until next time,

Lana xxx

 

Beautiful Bath

Hello Creatives,

Are you ready for the next part of the travel blog post series!?

So this one will be in two parts, and the reason for this is because two main events happened over the few days that we stayed in Bristol!

We travelled down to Bristol as George had a Military Simulation Airsoft event he was attending (more about that in the second half to this post), but whilst we were down there i caught up with one of my close friends from Uni and her daughter in Bath! If you don’t know much about Bath i reckon you should have a little google as it is beautiful and filled with history.

The first time i met Sophia’s little girl was when she was only 3 weeks old! The second time i caught up with Sophia, her daughter was then 4 months old, and this time she was 8 and a half months! Time flies way too fast, and babies grow way too quickly! Although, little Tabytha is at a very fun age, and i could have just sat with her, watched her absorb the world around her and play with her for hours – she’s the happiest baby you’ll ever meet.

We went for lunch, walked around the city, and took in its beauty all whilst catching up on each others lives! Her partners mum also joined us for the day as she had never been to Bath before! She was such a lovely lady, and we all had the best girly day!

I loved every minute of this day, and i can’t wait till we get to meet up again!

Until next time (the second half of the Bristol series),

Lana xxx

Surprises in London!

Hello Creatives,

So this is the next post in my travelling/life update series and could possibly be my favourite!

I was meant to be catching the train down to London to meet up with one of my bestfriends Liya to spend the weekend with her as it was apparently the ‘only weekend she was free’ – it’s a good thing i was free… you’ll soon see why.

I arrived off the train where she met me at the platform and we continued to walk back to her accommodation (she’s also currently doing her masters!) which i was going to be seeing for the first time. The plan was to get in, go for a wee (i was bursting!), drop off my bags and then head out for lunch.

As we got to her room and she unlocked and opened the door… well… watch the video below:

The other girls of my friendship ‘group’ surprised me all the way from Wales, Manchester and Surrey!

If it wasn’t obvious in the video, when i get a fright i lose feeling in my legs, which always creates a humourous outcome haha (i was okay, just incase you were wondering hahaha).

If that wasnt enough, i found out they were staying for the weekend, i got a homemade cake that was mouth-wateringly good, lots of little bits, and TICKETS TO MAMMA MIA ON THE WEST END! – they’re too good for me, i don’t deserve friends this amazing! 

 

Over the weekend we had park picnics, flat picnics, meals out, visited the British Museum, movie nights and lots of laughter. I wasn’t ready for us all to part again when Sunday came around!

I can’t wait for their birthdays to come around so i can show them how grateful i am to have them, and make their days just as special as they are!

The start of my twenty-second year of life has been incredible thanks to these wonderful ladies. I love these girls heaps.

Until next time,

Lana xxx

I Don’t Know About You… But I’m Feeling TWENTY TWO!

Hello Creatives!
He’s post number 1 of my recent travel’s (im hoping to post one a day!). If you have no idea what i’m on about and have wondered where the crochet has escaped to, have a catch up here!

So as i was selecting photos to add, i realised just how many i had from this week away! George and i flew into Malaga from East Midlands Airport where my mum and dad greeted us with the biggest smiles as always!

We then drove out to Golf Hills, just outside of Estepona where our house is. It was also the first time George had seen this property as we only recently purchased it (when i saw we, i mean mum and dad, i definitely dont have that kind of money just yet)!

We arrived on the first of July, and at 2.29am on the 2nd, i turned 22! Madnessssssss

We went out to eat, went to the local markets, and during the week we also drove two hours to Granada where we visited the Alhambra!

Enjoy the photos:

This was the best week, surrounded by people i love in a place i love.

Until next time,

Lana xxx

I Tried Rug Punching!

Hello Creatives!

So I've heard many names (I believe latch hooking may be one?) and seen different techniques but I've given it a go with what I have, and I have found that I love Rug Punching! I've also found it's a great way to use old scraps of yarn that are too short to crochet!

So don't go getting all excited and expect some wonderful creation, I've simply spelt out LOVE on a piece of burlap/hessian and forgotten to take photos of my progress…

Or maybe I'm saving that for another post

I used a crochet hook as I am yet to purchase a rug punching tool (which looks totally cool, in a really nerdy way)

Here we go:

I did this completely free hand, as apparently I don't own pencils anymore! However I managed to get myself some and then proceeded to add some floral decoration to the outside by drawing outlines to follow!

I haven't decided if I want to fill the background in yet as I love the way it looks currently and I may end up turning it into a wall hanging or frame it!

I'll post an update once I've decided what I'll do next… or if I can't decide and need some opinions!

Rug punching seems to be growing in popularity lately, and I want to make a stool cover/topper at some point! But unfortunately my Masters Thesis deadline is fast approaching and I have some serious writing to do – I reaaaaaally don't want to!!!

Have any of you tried it before?

Until next time,
Love Lana xxx

My First Crochet Pillowcase

Hello Creatives!

On the 2nd of July it was my 22nd birthday so George and I decided to jump on a plane to Spain to spend it with my family! I really wanted to bring a gift along with me, but had been so busy that I hadn’t been able to pick anything up, so naturally I decided to crochet something! 

I started the night before we flew off, and realised I wouldn’t be able to finish my project before we had to leave, so I decided to bring it with me!

I decided to crochet a pillowcase that matched the houses ‘theme’. 

Here was my view whilst I crocheted away on the plane:

They loved it! I’ve found that I’m not the best at joining squares together. It seems to be even whilst I do it, then once I’ve joined it all together I just don’t think it looks right!

Above is my pillow case on the sofa in our Spanish home!

Any improvements I could make? I should have taken a photo of the back, but the pillow is fully removable so that the case can be washed if needed!

Love lana xxx 

My very first stall!

Hello creatives, 

Long time no see/write! I’ve been super duper stressed with my masters second semester deadlines fast approaching (and counting for a third of my masters degree 😭!). However, I have been busy crocheting away as today I held my first stall! 

It was held at my university campus, and was the first of its kind – BRACKFEST! 

My campus is beautiful and very much an agricultural/environmental based campus with grounds to compliment the courses of course! There were so many other things going on such as tracktor rides, a petting zoo, a climbing wall, live music and food! 

Anyway, back to my stall! Here’s a photo f a sad excuse of a stall! I was so underprepared as I only decided I wanted to take up on the offer of a stall (all free of cost) two weeks before the event! Silly silly me… ! Also, look at my stalls view! Wonderful! 

Despite thinking it was awful, it was apparently a hit! I even had some requests which I managed to finish within the period of the event as well as a few asking for my contact details! All in all, I sold everything apart from one headband and one hat – I’d say that’s a WIN! 

Because I managed to sell so much, the lady in the stall next to me kindly offered to keep an eye on mine so that I could have a look around the rest of what was going on! 

Here’s a few photos of what else I got up to (yes.. I got my face painted!):

Thanks for stopping by! I can’t wait to tell you about my new loom knitting rings I purchased and fingers crossed a post about getting a job! (The job search is currently ON!) 

Love, Lana xxx

I Tried Tunisian Crochet!

Hello, Creatives!

So I’ve recently given Tunisian Crochet a go, and I absolutely love it! I’m currently doing it on regular crochet hooks, but my Tunisian Crochet hooks are on their way in the post! I love how similar it looks to knitting, but isn’t! 

Here’s theee different stitches I’ve managed so far (I can’t for the life of me remember the names of them): 

Is it just me or does Tunisian Crochet work a lot quicker than other forms? I’d love to make a blanket or a cardigan out of Tunisian Crochet! 

Have any of you tried it? And tips, advice or fun things to make with it?

I’m horribly sick with the flu currently, bundled up on the sofa with a toilet roll and constant hot drinks! But Crochet is keeping me going haha! 

Love, Lana xxx