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I’ve been nominated for a Versatile Blogger award by A Pile of Sheep – thank you very much!
The award comes with the following rules:
- Thank the person who gave you this award;
- Include a link to their blog;
- Next, select 15 bloggers that you follow regularly or have recently discovered;
- Nominate those bloggers for the Versatile blogger-award;
- Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.
Here are my nominations (apologies to my nominees if I don’t mention all your skills):
A Beader’s Life – anniebead is the most versatile crafter I know. She can knit, crochet, sew, bead and do papercrafts. She’s brilliant at them all, extremely modest and very generous with her advice to other crafters.
Stitched Together – she knits, crochets, sews and designs patterns. All whilst coping with a serious health condition. A true inspiration.
Eskimimi Makes – an amazingly talented crafter with a fantastic eye for colour. She created Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, which was so successful it has become an annual event.
StephCuddles – she knits, crochets, sews and spins. She has set up her own business selling awesome handmade stitch markers. All while she’s studying music and theology at university.
Fourth Edition – she knits, designs knitting patterns (check out her beautiful shawl designs on Ravelry) and sews. She finds the most interesting web links, which she regularly shares on her blog.
minniemoll knits and crafts – she knits, crochets, spins, weaves and sews. I am totally jealous that she can do colourwork (and I can’t).
knitting up the ravelled sleeve of care – she knits (she has a fabulous collection of handknitted shawls which she often models in daily outfit posts) and is learning to sew.
No Knitted Knickers – she knits, sews, has great ideas for home decor and is now a published writer (oh, and she has the best blog name ever).
Handmade Jane – she has a handmade wardrobe of beautiful clothes which inspired me to try dressmaking. We share a love of polka dots and gingham.
Custom Style – she’s a freelance professional seamstress. She’s incredibly generous with her advice on sewing. I’ve picked up loads of tips from the comments she’s taken the time to leave on my blog.
KraftyKat – she sews, knits and crochets. I won a giveaway on her blog (I never win anything normally, so I was delighted) and she enclosed a really sweet note in the parcel encouraging me to keep on sewing.
seweclectic – she crochets and sews – check out her beautiful versions of the Colette Sorbetto top!
Un Peu de Couture – she knits and sews – we have very similar tastes in patterns. She has the courage to tackle sewing patterns that would make me run a mile (like a coat!).
Little Red Squirrel – she knits, crochets, sews and has fabulous vintage inspired style.
LandGirl1980 – another lady with enviable vintage style. She writes really interesting posts about historical events. It’s because of her the phrase “poke off” has entered my vocabulary.
So there you go, 15 talented bloggers who all inspire me. Now for the hard part, thinking of 7 things to share about me… I struggled with this a lot. I’m really not very interesting!
1. I know a surprising amount about the Star Wars films, particularly the original trilogy. OH is a fan and I think I’ve picked it up by osmosis. I’ve been known to out-geek the boys in my office with my knowledge of Star Wars trivia.
2. I am arachnaphobic. Spiders (especially the big, hairy ones) make me feel physically sick. Even if there’s just a picture of one in a book or magazine, I can’t look at or touch the page.
3. I have no sense of direction whatsoever. Even if I’ve been somewhere lots of times before, I can still get lost. This is particularly worrying if you have to be driven anywhere by me.
4. My favourite perfume (nay, signature scent if you will) is Chanel no.19. I wear it every day, even though it’s eye wateringly expensive.
5. I love crime dramas. Inspector Morse is my all time favourite. I’ve been watching the new Scandinavian drama, The Bridge on BBC Four and The Mentalist season 3 on DVD most recently.
6. I’m a triskaidekaphile – I love the number 13. I was born on the 13th of the month. The first letter of my first name begins with ‘M’, the 13th letter of the alphabet.
7. I’m a useless cook. I don’t enjoy cooking at all. If a meal replacement pill was developed, I’d happily take that rather than spend time in the kitchen.
So there you go! Thanks again to A Pile of Sheep for the nomination.
Next week is Knitting and Crochet Blog Week. I’ve taken part in this event for the last two years and it’s a huge amount of fun. This year I won’t be participating, mainly because I can’t commit to blogging every day (even with advance preparation), but also because my head is chock full of sewing at the moment.
So what happens? Every day for a week there’s a blogging topic (you can find the topics here). You write a post on the topic, which you can interpret however you like. There’s a tagging system and you include the unique tag for that day in your blog post (you can find the tags here). To find other participating blogs, simply enter the tag for the day into a Google search and hey presto!
In the previous two blog weeks I discovered lots of new blogs and it challenged me to be more creative with my blogging. It’s fascinating to see how every blogger has a different take on the same topic. Also, this year there are prizes!
Knitting and Crochet Blog Week is organised by the supremely talented Eskimimi and you can find out more information on her blog, Eskimimi Makes. Thanks to Eskimimi for creating the graphics I’ve used in this blog post and for all her hard work in organising Knitting and Crochet Blog Week.
This is just a short post. I have been doing some crafting, but nothing I can share yet. I’ve talked a bit about being ill on this blog, but I’d like to keep it as a happy place. So, I’ve started another blog here where I can post about the difficult stuff. I hope to back here soon with a longer post and something to share.
My name is Monkey and I live with a girl in winter. I’m writing this whilst she’s out because I want you to know the truth.
You thought she knitted all those things? She can’t knit a single stitch. I do it all. She keeps me prisoner and makes me knit for 12 hours a day until my paws are raw. Then she takes all the credit for the things I’ve made.
She feeds me on one banana a day. If I don’t knit enough, I don’t even get that.
I can’t stand this life any more, it’s more than a monkey can bear.
If you’re reading this, HELP ME!!!
I was very happy to receive the Liebster blog award this week from Claire at No Knitted Knickers (best blog name ever). It’s for blogs with less than 300 followers, and the idea is to give “small” blogs some recognition. Thank you so much Claire, it was lovely to receive your nomination.
If you haven’t come across Claire’s blog, do take a look. She blogs about her life in Manhattan and her crafting endeavours. She’s very funny and she takes lovely photos.
Part of the award involves nominating 5 blogs with less than 300 followers which you enjoy reading. So here are mine (in no particular order):
Just Me
Fridica
Stephcuddles
Where the Nodding Violets Grow
Crafty Cripple
I always look forward to reading new posts by these bloggers. They’re all talented crafters and I get so much inspiration from them.
Last year, I took part in Knitting and Crochet Blog Week. I enjoyed it immensely, mainly because it introduced me to lots of new crafting blogs. This year, Eskimimi has kindly organised another Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, which will run from 28 March to 3 April 2011. If you didn’t take part last year, here’s what happens…
Each day there’s a blogging topic, plus a wildcard in case one of the topics doesn’t appeal. You write a blog post giving your take on the topic of the day and you can visit participating blogs to see how other people have interpreted the same subject.
Last year, it was great to be involved in a community of crafting bloggers. Around 200 bloggers took part and each one had a unique take on the topics. For me, it was a challenge to blog more and to think creatively about what I was posting.
If you want to know more, you can find more information on Eskimimi’s blog, which also contains the list of topics and wildcard. If you’re a member of Ravelry, there’s more information in The Blog Hub Group.
Thanks to Eskimimi for creating the graphics I’ve used in this blog post and for all her hard work in organising Knitting and Crochet Blog Week – it’s very much appreciated.
Once again too many days have gone by since I blogged. I have one more week of work madness, then I hope to regain some time, energy and sanity. The last few weeks have been difficult. I’m physically tired – I slept for 12 hours on Friday night – but I’m also mentally drained. I’ve been really down and it’s been a struggle to keep going.
On Sunday, OH and I went out to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. It was a glorious, warm afternoon – perfect for lifting downcast spirits.
We had an icecream at the quay, where we watched swans and seagulls squabbling over bits of bread.
The swans behaved with more composure when the food was gone.
I’m plodding on with my Central Park Hoodie. I’ve seamed the fronts and the back, and I’m working on the hood. I’m enjoying it, but I’m looking forward to starting something new.
Ooh did you see the article in The Guardian about yarn bombing in London?
In case anyone was wondering, I am still alive. I’m sorry for my long absence. I was on leave in the last week of August, but I was buzzing about Getting Stuff Done. I’m back at work this week and it’s been so stressful that I haven’t felt like crafting or blogging when I get home. Instead I lie on the sofa staring vacantly at the television and wishing the tight, panicky feeling in my chest would go away.
So, what’s been happening? I’ve finished a couple of shawls, which I’ll share with you once I’ve photographed them. I’ve got a new gadget to show you, plus a project relating to that purchase (ooh mysterious!). However, I’m pressed for time today, so this is only going to be a quick hello.
I was given a great cross stitch book by my friend anniebead. It has charts for some really cool designs, borders and alphabets which I’m looking forward to trying out.
On the subject of cross stitch, I came across this Orla Kiely bag. I thought the design was printed on the surface of the bag at first glance, but as far as I can tell, it looks like it has actually been stitched onto a panel. I think £330 is a bit steep, but it’s inspired me to think about using cross stitch in different ways.
I’m trying to get back into my crafting groove, so I spent this lunchtime sitting outside enjoying the sunshine whilst listening to a Yarngasm podcast and knitting a monster’s leg.
Since I got into crafting, I’ve got to know some lovely people on Ravelry and in blogland. I’ve never met them face to face, but I’ve chatted to them online and I’ve been inspired by their posts. When I blogged about not being able to knit, I got so many supportive comments and suggestions for crafts I could do instead and, as you know, I’ve taken to cross stitch like a duck to water.
One of the messages was from nodding violets, who kindly offered me her stash of fabric and floss, as she doesn’t cross stitch any more. I got home on Friday to find a big parcel waiting for me.
I couldn’t believe how much she had sent me – sheets and sheets of Aida 14 count fabric in different colours and a bag full of DMC floss in all colours of the rainbow. Enough to get me started on all the projects I’m planning.
I was overwhelmed that someone who I’ve never met would do something so kind. She wouldn’t accept any money for the kit or for postage. I’ve already thanked nodding violets privately, but I wanted to thank her here, too, for her thoughtfulness and generosity.
I’ve been tagged by Rachel at Bmore Crafty and Steph at Stephcuddles’ blog to answer an 8 question quiz, so here goes…
1. What’s your staple meal (ie. what meal do you cook most often when you can’t be bothered to be adventurous)?
I’m not very good at cooking and I don’t enjoy it, so I tend to keep it simple. I guess my staple meal is tofu marinated in garlic, ginger and soy sauce stir fried with frozen peas and broccoli with rice noodles. Nice and easy.
2. What do you want to be when you grow up?
Not a librarian! When I was growing up I wanted to be an academic, believe it or not. I got a degree and masters in English literature, but I couldn’t face going on to do a PhD. Now I dream about having my own yarn shop (I think most knitters do).
3. What book are you reading at the moment (if any)
I tend to have a couple of books on the go at any time. I’m reading ‘Wolf Hall’ by Hilary Mantell but it is roughly the size and weight of a brick, so for some light relief I’m reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. It’s about the German occupation of Guernsey in the Second World War. I’ve been to Guernsey a couple of times with work; it’s a beautiful place and I’m enjoying learning more about the history of the island.
4. How do you relax?
I find knitting really relaxing (unless it’s going wrong). I’ve always been a reader; I get absorbed in another world, which helps me forget about real life. Also, I watch far too much bad television.
5. What color are the interior walls of your home?
Cream. Always.
6. What is your guiltiest pleasure?
It has to be my inexplicable fondness for The Jeremy Kyle Show. I know, I know. I’m ashamed of myself.
7. What time is bedtime and getting up time?
I’m naturally a night owl, so if I’m not at work my bedtime gets gradually later and later. It should be around 10.30 on school nights, but it’s usually 11.30 because I never have enough time to do everything in the evenings. I should get up about 7am for work, but I tend to hit the snooze button until 7.30. I hate mornings.
8. How long do you spend reading blogs (per day or per week)?
I use Google Reader which makes blog reading a lot easier. I don’t honestly know how much time I spend reading blogs per week – a few hours, I suppose. I am in awe of some bloggers’ creativity.
Thanks to Rachel and Steph for the tag – do go and look at their blogs which I really enjoy reading. I’m going to cheat a bit, I’m not going to tag anyone specific, but I tag anyone reading this if you’d like to participate.
