Well, once again, I haven’t managed to post every week. I’m going to have to let that sort-of-resolution go. The state of my health means that I’m not always able to take photos of finished projects, or indeed be in the right frame of mind to string together coherent sentences. There’s no point putting myself under unnecessary pressure; blogging should be fun and not a chore.
Anyway, I’ve been lucky enough to be nominated for three blogging awards recently (although I hardly deserve them, given my lack of posts).
Emily at My Vintage Visions nominated me for for the One Lovely Blog Award. Thank you Emily!

The rules for accepting the award are:
- thank the person who nominated you done
- add the “One Lovely Blog Award” image to your post done
- share seven things about yourself see below
- pass the award on to seven nominees see below
- include this set of rules done
- inform your nominees by posting a comment on their blogs see below.
Brooke at Custom Style nominated me for a Very Inspiring Blogger Award. Thank you Brooke! She has been amazingly supportive since I’ve been learning to sew.

The rules for accepting this award are:
- display award image on your blog page done
- link back to the person who nominated you done
- state 7 facts about yourself see below
- nominate 15 other bloggers for the award see below.
Finally, Mrs B at Crazy Crochet Mama nominated me for a Liebster Blog Award. Thank you Mrs B!

The Liebster Award is to recognise blogs with fewer than 200 followers. The rules are:
- list 11 random facts about yourself see below
- answer the 11 questions set by the person who nominated you see below
- nominate 11 new bloggers see below.
Now I’m going to cheat a little. There is some repetition between the blog award rules, so to avoid a never ending list of random facts about me, I am just going to answer the 11 questions set by Mrs B for the Liebster award. I’m really not that interesting and I can’t think of any other random bits of info that I haven’t shared already. So without further ado, the questions and my answers…
1. What was the first thing you ever crocheted? A granny square. Very badly. My mum taught me to knit when I was young, but I could never get the hang of crochet, despite her best efforts. I had to spend many, many hours trying and failing before I worked it out. I don’t crochet much, actually, I prefer the process of knitting so much more.
2. What is your favourite film? Brief Encounter. Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard. What’s not to like? I’ve seen it dozens of times, but I cry at the end every single time.
3. Who is your favourite band/singer? The Smiths/Morrissey. Always.
4. If you’re a crocheter/knitter what is your favourite yarn? It’s difficult to choose one, but I would have to say Excelana 4 ply at the moment, which I used to knit Ena’s Sweater.
5. When did you discover blogging? (reading or writing them!) I can’t remember how long I have been reading blogs, it seems like something I’ve always done (although I know that’s not the case). I started writing a blog in March 2009 called ‘Knitting Keeps Me Sane’, which was the precursor to this one. Believe it or not, I was even worse at posting there than I am here.
6. What’s your favourite book(s)? That’s a tough one. I did a degree and a Masters in English literature, so I’ve read a lot of books, from Middle English up to contemporary fiction. I can’t choose just one, it would be like trying to choose a favourite child! However, some books I go back to regularly are ‘Jane Eyre‘, ‘I Capture the Castle‘, anything by Jean Rhys and the Sherlock Holmes stories. My most used book these days is the ‘Reader’s Digest Complete Guide to Sewing‘, but that’s another story!
7. Favourite smells & flavours? I like the smells of vanilla and cinnamon. However, my favourite perfume is Chanel no 19, which is a green, fresh scent. I LOVE chocolate but I like salty foods too (salted caramel anything, crisps, peanut butter).
8. If you won the EuroMillions, would you tick the publicity box, and why would/wouldn’t you? No, definitely not. I am a very private person and I can’t imagine anything worse than being all over the media. I would like to enjoy my fortune in peace, thank you!
9. Do you have nice handwriting? Do you like it? No, my handwriting is awful. It was reasonable until I went to university and then I had to write very quickly to get everything down in lectures. In fact, my writing was so illegible that one of my tutors used to ask me to read my essays aloud to him (this was in the olden days, before PCs were so common). These days I hardly write anything by hand, apart from messages in cards and lists.
10. Brown paper packages tied up with string? What are a few of your favourite things? Tea, gin and tonic, my bed, red lipstick, bags, reading, crafting (of course) and Monkey (the best £20 I have ever spent).
11 If you could go anywhere right now, where would you go? I would collect Mr GiW and take us both off to Paris to eat Laduree macarons and drink wine in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.
I’m not going to nominate other bloggers by name, but if you follow my blog and you are reading this post, consider yourself tagged (if you want to be).