Summer Reading Suggestions

Anyone that follows me on Twitter knows that I LOVE reading and am constantly asking for suggestions. I will confess that I hardly ever actually read but am a complete audiobook addict. The second I wake up I press play on my ITunes and for the rest of the day whenever I am alone I will be listening to an audiobook. It may seem a little strange and is probably not the best way of reading but it means I get through a lot of books and that I am never ever lonely. It also provides great company while knitting. I absoulutly love every book on this list so if you do feel like reading any of them please tell me if you love them too. And if you hate them then please dont blame me!

My Favourite Author - Kazuo Ishiguro.

I finished Remains of the Day at 3am and went running into my parents room crying like a lunatic, mostly because of how sad it was but also because it was over. Not a day goes by when I don't think about these two books and what they mean. 

One For The Knitters.

If you love knitting, and if you are on this blog there is a pretty big chance you do, read this book straight away! Not only is it about knitting and New York (the best place on earth) but it is also a really, really great book.

The COOLEST Book I Have Ever Read.

I read this book a few months ago and have been forcing it on every single person I know. It's impossible to explain so just read it... NOW. 

Comfort Reading.

The Best Book to Read on Holiday.

HILARIOUS

This is the not only one of my favourite books but my single favourite AudioBook of ALL TIME. Michael McIntyre reads it and its basically 8 hours of stand-up. I love him so much anyway that I was always going to love his book but I actually think it's a really great and beautifully written book. 

Moving/Sad/Beautifully Written.

VERY Scary.

Two Classics.

Favourite Authors

Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh are two more of my favourite authors and it's really hard to pick just one of their books each as I love everything I have read by both of them (especially handful of dust). One of the reasons I love both these books is because everyone thinks you are very clever while reading them and your teachers love it, but in my opinion they are so cool and clever they could have been written yesterday.

What I'm Reading Now... (and LOVING)

Love Scarlett x

Twit Knit Club Project 2 - Update

I am very pleased to announce that Twit-Knit Club project 2 is well and truly under way. And it is going very well. We have had loads of new, interesting members and everyone is doing the most amazing projects! I was a little nervous about toys as I thought some people might think they were silly, or find that the patterns on offer were too hard. But everyone has been GREAT! And I think that the toys idea is working very well.

I decided to go with Rebecca Dangers Momma and Baby Monster Pattern and I am doing it pale blue and white. It's not a super tricky pattern however it is much longer than most of the patterns I do and it is my first time using Magic Loop knitting. I found a great video for how to do magic loop here. It also is my first proper time using 2 balls of wool. I keep getting them tangled!

Starting the first leg.

My project so far.

@baileysbear is knitting her perfect boyfriend (if only it were real)

a new member @louiseefcampbell is doing this cute elephant.

This is her progress so far.

@MrsVelvet has made an awesome comic of her Twit-Knit achievements.

the beginning of @bakebakegirl VERY neat ladybug.

@happy_bunny23 only has stuffing left to do on her stripy bear!

@megeroberts and @kateeroberts are both doing these camper vans. i am very jealous.

Check out @originalcoolski lovely blog about her pepper pig.

Check out @goldenblades91 amazing frogs on her blog.

Remember it is still not too late to join Twit-Knit Club and the we would be so happy to have some new members. I am going on holiday to Montenegro for a week and will be working on my project there so if you are taking part, work on your project this week and we can decide on a deadline when I get back!

TWEET ME if you want to join and make sure you follow the Twit-Knit Club List.

Good luck to everyone working on there toys and keep on knitting!

Love Scarlett.

Spot the Puppy

For anyone who follows me on twitter you will already be familiar with my familys new favourite game - Spot the Puppy. It's like 'Wheres Wally'... only much much cuter.

Love Scarlett and Posy

Make it yourself... Rainbow Craft Table

I once again found the inspiration for this project online, and I couldn't help trying it out for myself. I does take a bit of time but it is a lot easier than it looks and will turn any ordinary surface into the funnest table you have ever come across. FACT.

Supplies:

1. A white or wooden painted table.
2. Some multi-coloured masking tape.
3. Some scissors.

Step One (there really is only one step):

Decide what order you want your colours in and while sitting at the end of the table you are working on, begin to lay the tape out flat onto the surface.

You must make sure you pop any air bubbles stuck under the tape as these could mess up the finished project. And make sure the table is nice and clean before you start.

After a few lines you will really start to get into a rythem and work out how to make the tape as straight as possible. And a few minuites later... TA DA. A rainbow craft table.

Tell me if you decide to make your craft table as fun as mine. And make sure you send me a picture.

Love Scarlett.

Twit Knit Club Project 2 - Toys

After the HUGE succes of the first Twit-Knit project we have decided to launch project number 2. After much discussion on twitter there is a general agreement to go with Toys.

This is how it will work.

- Pick a pattern for a toy that you want to do and that you feel suits your personal knitting ability. Toys are very popular in the knitting world and there are thousands of patterns out there for you to choose from. Two of my favourite toy pattern designers are Rebecca Danger and Mochimochi Land and each pattern only costs about £4. However if you don't fancy buying a pattern there are lots of great free ones under 'Softies' on Ravelry

- Try to start your pattern sometime this week and then make sure you tweet your progress on twitter and tell everyone how you are getting along with your project. Using the hashtag #twitknitclub on twitter will mean that everyone taking part in the club can see how your doing.

- Once we have all begun our projects we can decide roughly how long we think it's going to take and then decide on a deadline.

Remember to TWEET ME and tell me what pattern you have decided on.

I think this is going to be a really fun project and I'm off to start looking for a pattern.

Good luck!

Love Scarlett.

P.S. For any Twit-Knit Club members who are also Harry Potter fans (which you should all be in my personal opinion) - I was re-reading The Half-Blooded Prince and found this quote from Dumbledore right at the begginning:

"No, I was merely reading the Muggle magazines," said Dumbledore. "I do love knitting patterns."

Pretty amazing if you ask me. I'm sure he would be an avid member of the club.

Make it yourself... Heart Shaped Crayons

I'm very excited to blog my first how too! I feel a bit cheeky doing this one as I actually found pictures of these online and that's what inspired me to make them myself. However they are so fun and easy I couldn't resist sharing them.

Supplies:

1. A lot of crayons in all different colours.
2. A silicone mould that can be put in the oven. I used some heart shaped silicone cup cake cases but have a look around as there are a lot of different shapes out there. If you can't find anything you could always use some silicone re-usable cupcake cases and make circle shaped crayons.
3. A sharp knife.
4. An oven (pre heated to 110 degrees Celsius)
5. A chopping board.

Step One - Chop your crayons into small chunks (about 5 per crayon)

Step Two - Fill your moulds with the chopped up crayons. You can use as many or as few chunks of crayon as you like, depending on how thick you want your crayon.

Step Three - Put the moulds on a baking tray and place in the oven for 15 minuites or until the tops of the crayons become flat.

Step Four - Carefully remove the tray from the oven. Remember at this point the crayon is still liquid so be careful not to spill.

Step Five - Watch some TV while waiting for the crayons to cool, preferably Greys Anatomy or Friends.

Step Six - When you are sure the crayons have cooled and hardened pop them out the mould and draw a beautiful picture. It might take a while to find the right angle but once you do it's very fun!

Good luck! And please comment if you decide to make them.

Love Scarlett.

Lots of Puppys

OK... I have a confession to make. Up until very recently... I was NOT a dog person. In fact I was pretty much what you would call the opposite of a dog person. We had 3 cats, had never even considered getting a dog, and to tell you the truth dogs mostly terrified me. When I was one year old (I am told) I was sitting on beach when a large dog decided to dig a big whole right by the place where I was sitting, he chucked a mountain of sand up into my tiny sun burnt face and I have pretty much been terrified of dogs and sand ever since.

Then a few months ago everything changed. I spend a lot of time on my own (as you can probably tell by the ridiculous amount of craft and movie watching I do) and the cats just weren't proving the best company. So it occured to me that a dog could be exactly the companion I was looking for... and then we found...

(its actually meant to be spelt POSY but I got so excited about biscuit making that I spelt it wrong)

Tomorrow is our official two week anniversary together and I am in shock every day at how well its going and how much I love her. She has settled in AMAZINGLY and is already about 80% house trained. She seems to spend most of her time either sleeping on my bed or trying to kill my feet and running around like a mad man. She has a little pen in our kitchen and there has not been one person enter the house so far who has not fallen in love with her. Its official.. I'm dog crazy.

Here is a little fact file so you can get to know her better.

Name - Posy Kate Middleton Freud Curtis

D.O.B. - May 3rd 2011

Mother - Apricot Toy Poodle named Coco.

Father - White Maltese Terrier named Santos.

Favourite Food - Chicken and Chedder Cheese

Favourite Colour - Pink (obvi)

Favourite Things - Her Donut toy, her mini tennis balls and my burts bees lip balm which she takes everywhere.

Mortal Enemys - Yarn and my feet.

Favourite Book - Ballet Shoes (her namesake Posy Fossil)

Favourite Movie - she hasnt managed to stay awake for an entire movie yet but lets assume we have similar taste.

I know I may seem a little puppy crazy at the moment and I'm pretty sure my endless tweeting is going to cost me a few followers but believe me, if you met her, you would be too. However I do swear this shall be my most Puppy filled blog and then I will try to go back to normal.

Although Posy is of course incredibly distracting I have still been managing to keep up with my knitting and in my Puppy Frenzy decided to knit a dog. I found this INCREDIBLE blog called Mochimochi Land which has some of my favourite patterns of all time! I downloaded their pattern for 'Pileable Pups' which was five pounds and worth every penny! I have decided to call the knitted pup Cooper as that was what I wanted to call Posy if she was a boy. I originally wanted Posy and Cooper to be friends but after seeing her rip a ball of yarn to shreds I thought it might be best to keep them apart...

The pattern was definitely tricky but so worth it in the end. I love both my new puppys!

I hope you have enjoyed this puppy filled blog post and have an amazing weekend!

Love Scarlett and Posy xx