Over the last week I’ve been making these little fellas. They’ll be in the shop soon! I think I’m in love with the colour scheme :)

It’s official folks – I’ve FINALLY branched out and have a bit of knitwear for sale! Here are some snapshots of Leanne modeling the lovely woolen goodies from this mornings shoot in the local park. The shawls are now for sale in my etsy shop. Priced at £36 each. They measure roughly 45 inches x 19 and come in 3 colour schemes (classic charcoal, rusty red, true teal). If you have any specific colour requests feel free to get in touch, I love to do little custom orders.

ps – Here’s a link to lovely Leanne’s etsy shop. Beautiful prints and more.

I’ve been absent from ye olde blog lately. It’s been a busy time here in old Mapperley-topsville. Halloween’s been and gone (shocking! – no pun intended). The trick and treaters ate ALL my sweets – totally not cool. I spent most of last week either living at the cinema or buried in my paints. The painting right at the top is finished, phew! and it’s the biggest I’ve done so far so I’m really pleased with how it’s come out. As you can see there’s a handful more I’m currently working on. I’m looking forward to framing the finished pieces and who knows they might make a formal appearance in the lovely shop sometime before Christmas!

Talking of Christmas – The cards are back for sale in the shop and a new one will be joining them before the week is out. Not to forget some lovely new stocking fillers will be tagging along too – I just need a new staple gun to complete that mission.

The Makeover mission’s been a proper challenge recently but I’ll come back to that with pictures and heart wrenching tales of sighs and grumps. Until then, for those of you who have some halloween candy left over – enjoy! For those of you, like me, who don’t – Fancy a cuppa?

ps for the next 24 hours (until 11am Thursday) get yourself 20% off in my shop! use the code BLACKCATS.

pps – A little Halloween illya roar for those of you who missed it:

A little D.I.Y project for the house. I’ve got enough fabric for a couple of chairs – I just need the chairs now.

Another little project I finished this morning is my mouse (it’s quite big so possibly a rat) tea cosy. I found the pattern for free here- there are some amazing patterns on that blog. I saw one during my last visit up to Orkney in someones window and wanted it. So it was a bit of a surprise when I came across a pattern so quickly – I didn’t even own a teapot when I started making it. Funny what knitting will make you do… I’m going to alter the eyes a little – bigger beads are needed I think.

An update on the make over mission! Finding comfortable and well fitting top layers are tricky and when you do find one a year or so down the line, when it’s beginning to look a little worse for wear, you start to wish you’d bought 1 or 2 spares. Well I’m prepared this time. I found a lovely lightweight, well fitting jumper with pretty button detail on the back – good for layering as the seasons cool down but I can imagine it’ll be quite comfortable when it heats up again too. Plenty of room to move about, sit and stand and still feel smart and relaxed in. So anyway, I bought 3 – different colours of course (black – basic requirement, teal, dark dusty pink) but essentially the same jumper 3 times round. Today I’m being brave and wearing the dusty pink one…

I’ve started wearing skirts again, which means I’ve been on the hunt for some new winter legs (and by this I mean tights). I found these pretty tights in New Look – somewhere I never thought to go for tights BUT they’re actually really affordable and they have a big selection too. I tend to wear block colours and the textured tights break up the outfit a little and add some well needed pattern and detail – win win!

I’m slowly getting my head round all this and I still have a couple of tatty things in the cupboard I need to pluck up the courage to part with. It was a nice feeling waking up today with 3 lovely new items of clothing to choose from instead of thinking “I’ll wear whatever’s clean and dark”. Progress? I think so.

It’s begun…

In my last post I mentioned my current wardrobe crisis and what I thought I should do about it. Your wonderful positive feedback and stories have encouraged me to commit to this project and this post marks the beginning. Not the most beautiful picture to begin an adventure with but the most meaningful (and believe it or not those bags are big and heavy – they look so tiny in this picture!). I’ve also removed 4 coats from my cupboards, one of them had bus tickets from the start of 2010, so you can tell how long it’s been since I last wore it – it’s time to go! I’ve gathered most* of the guilty of being unflattering and worn out clothes and sorted them into bin or charity bags. I’m ready.

*Throwing out stuff is hard… and I’ll be honest with you – there are still a couple of offending items remaining in my drawers. They will be replaced but I’m predicting this adventure as a slow and thoughtful one. I don’t expect one or 2 shopping trips to solve my little battle with fashion. I’m preparing myself for those difficult and annoying times ahead. So I decided it was probably a good idea to keep hold of a couple of tatty basics until I find their well fitting replacements – otherwise I’ll have nothing to wear – and that will be even more stressful!

I will try and do a couple of ‘make over’ related posts every week (at least one) but you never know, some weeks might be a lot slower than others. I am really looking forward to sharing all this with you and I hope you enjoy the ride and find little bits of it inspiring and/or entertaining.

Beginners luck: I found this beautiful skirt yesterday. It fits like a charm, it’s comfortable and easy to clean. That’s another important ‘must’ for my new wardrobe, I don’t want to get things that need to be dry cleaned. I can’t afford it and I don’t really have the time – plus I sometimes feel a little bit nervous wearing them out and about because I’m frightened I’ll drop or spill something on them. I’m clumsy so it’s inevitable. Anyway, I’m pleased as punch with my new purchase… bring on the rest!

On a more house related note we got the BEST housewarming gift from Tom’s sister (THANK YOU SO MUCH!) the other day. Check out this handmade beauty!!!! I LOVE IT! It even has a tiny illya on it!

I made one of these yesterday! It’s probably the first time I’ve made it my mission to hunt down the yarn recommended in a pattern. Same colour, same everything. And I’m so pleased with the result. The pattern is in the Simple Knitting book I mentioned in this post (about the cushion cover I was working on – which I also just finished, pictured below).

Sorry for the grainy picture – it’s quite a dark room.

I seem to be prepping for a winter that feels like it’ll never come – The suns shining and we’ve been forecast a warm start to October… sigh… I’m really not a big fan of summer – I’m in my comfort zone when it’s cold and fresh. I went out and bought a new winter coat yesterday too hoping in some way that might influence a sudden and dramatic change in the seasons. Nothing so far.

I’m also having a bit of a wardrobe crisis. It’s full… and I don’t like any of it anymore… . Nothing fits properly and there are very few things I can wear and say honestly that I feel comfortable and like me wearing them. Other than take the offending items to the charity shops I can’t really see how to get out of the rut. I think I need a bit of a makeover but I don’t know where to start. I’ve never found it easy replacing bad clothes with good ones. A lot of the time fashion and current trends are against me and my body shape – this is a battle I’m very familiar with. I’m going to make it my mission to introduce some changes and it’ll probably help to document and blog about what these changes are and how the makeover’s going… So fingers crossed this works and I keep my camera on me at all times…

I’ll keep you posted!

I’ve not done one of these doodles in a while and had a sudden urge to document yesterdays outfit. I filled my new bag with activities to keep me going at work – DS and little bit of knitting (The bag was an etsy find from Fox and Thomas – I can’t underline how much I love that shop). The dress was from Tesco (yeah, surprised me too). The jeans need re-dying because they definitely aren’t “black” any more. And the jumper had quite a lot of cat hair on it but funnily enough I didn’t draw those on ;)

I’ve just prepared a bucket of roast veg as my contribution to tonight’s “broadway gal’s wine and dine time”. I am armed with food and drink and very much looking forward to eating and drinking it.

Colourful etsy finds I’m in love with at the moment. 1. Blue Coffee pot from Luncheonettevintage. 2. Feather Garland by kayeblegvad. 3. Striped messenger bag by ikabags. 4. Wooden necklace by Snugstudio.

I got some beautiful slippers from my Ma while I was adventuring up in Orkney. The patterns and bright colours are beautiful and I can feel some projects brewing as a result. Also I’ve dug out some inspirational etsy finds as a result…

5. Folk Peacock from GinghamLife 6. Table cloth from VintageKeepsakes 7. Cross Stitch throw from Lunaparkfoundry. (All pictures credits go to the sellers)

I can’t stop making these blankets and I love making them BUT I have no more room left to keep new ones… so I’m going to sell them. Here’s the first stripey one available in the shop. Priced at £75 and measuring 60″ x 70″. A handy extra bed cover (for when this heatwave goes away again) and perfect for basking on the lawn or in the park. Made using Acrylic and Wool mix Aran weight yarns it’s easy to look after and machine washable (wash at 30 on a wool/delicate setting to be on the safe side)

Now time for some daft illya pictures (it’s been a while since the last.. how can something so small take up so much room??)