Happy Hallowe'en!

I'm not a very good Hallowe'en participant. I didn't dress up and I don't have any candy in the house, I didn't carve a pumpkin and I'm not planning to watch any scary movies..
However Hallowe'en does mean a bank holiday here, so I had a lovely long weekend with these guys:

Mr. Ukulele and Mr. Knitting!

I've wanted to learn an instrument for so long but I kept putting it off because lessons are quite pricey. But fortunately, the ukulele is super easy to learn online! I used to play drums but I've never played a stringed instrument before. Over the weekend I've learned to play along with "Foundations" by Kate Nash and "In Five Years Time" by Noah and the Whale - it's so exciting! If you've ever thought about learning an instrument try a ukulele, it's fun and so satisfying to be able to learn a tune so fast. I've just been strumming away all day long with a big smile on my face. I can feel myself growing some callouses on my fingertips already, soon I'll be just like a pro.

Aside from ukulel-ing I also had time to finish another knitted Christmas present.

I got the pattern for this knitted kitty here. Hmm, now that I look at it, the original looks a lot better than mine.

Luckily this little guy is a present for my friend's baby daughter Sadhbh, so I don't think she'll mind too much if he's a tiny bit wonky. Kudos to any non-Irish reader who can guess how the name "Sadhbh" is pronounced!


Did you do anything fun for Hallowe'en? Or do you like to hide like I do?

Double Indemnity

I posted a couple of months ago about attending a Film Fatale screening of Roman Holiday (original post here!) The idea is that you dress up as a character from the movie or in clothes from the era, and everyone there made such a big effort! I was blown away, everybody looked incredible. Well next week Film Fatale is on again, and the film they're screening is Double Indemnity, made in 1944. I'm so excited! The dress I'm going to wear is my grandmother's wedding dress, which she had custom-made. I love it, and I can't believe what a good fit it is! 

vintage dress // Topshop boots

I'm planning to try to put pin curls in my hair, but I'm not very good at hair styling (particularly vintage styles which seem very tricky). If it works out I'll try to take another picture for the full effect!

               

I love the detail on the collar and the buttons are beautiful, they're all hand covered with the same silk as the dress.

H&M tippet // vintage bag

My new favourite fur wrap from H&M will of course be making an appearance. And how pretty are these pockets? This is seriously the most flattering dress I've ever worn. I don't consider it just an old fashioned dress to wear as part of a costume, I would certainly wear it day to day - I'm just a little worried that even to have it dry-cleaned might damage it. So I wear it sparingly!

Do you have any family heirlooms that you still love to wear? Or are you dressing up this weekend for Hallowe'en?

*It looks in a couple of the pictures like there is a stain on the bottom of the dress but it's just a splash of rainwater, phew!

Hair-to-do

I've been so thrilled some recent lovely blog comments about my hairstyle. I am obsessed with my hair - in that I am never, ever happy with it. It has a strong wave through it which has been the bane of my life, and it has never done what I wanted it to. 

I've tried so many styles in my search for "the hairstyle" - the one that I'll love, that will make me feel gorgeous, the one that I won't have to beat my hair into submission to achieve. A selection of my past hair styles:

*please excuse my silly face in these, they are for hair-illustrative purposes only!

Most recent was the long blonde hair which I chopped up into a crop last February. That was fun! I wanted to see what would happen - and now that I've seen it I want it long again! Not because I don't like it, but because I want CHANGE. This photo of Michelle Williams was the inspiration for my crop. I love her! And I still love this cut - I may return to it one day. 

Next up I'm thinking of something like this - a bob with a fringe, then just keep it like that until it's long again! But maybe red. Or maybe dark brown (which is my natural hair colour). The other problem is that my hair grows super slowly. So many hairstyles, so little time!

So do you think you've found your ideal 'do? Would you go for a crop? (I must say it was a scary step). Are you ever tempted to make a huge change?

Faux fur and peter pan

Vero Moda dress // H&M faux fur wrap // Aldo boots

Please please someone stop me buying any more clothes? I've wanted a faux fur wrap and wedge ankle boots since the summer and now that I have them I declare myself all shopped out for the Autumn!

I've had a Vero Moda voucher in my wallet since June however, and in their sale today I finally found something worth spending €15 on... I got this cute peter pan dress in the sale.

If I mention one more purchase between now and Christmas please chastise me severely?

Knitting and news

I've been very neglectful of the crafting element of my blog so far! I love making things, and I dabble in lots of different crafts - sewing, pattern making, painting, felting, printing, cross-stitch.. at the moment my love is knitting! It's so relaxing and yet productive. At the moment I'm knitting this hat for my boyfriend's Christmas present (yes I like to start early!) It's from this pattern:  basket weave hat on the cute Kody May Knits blog, and it's super simple. I love basket weave. It looks great but you don't have to concentrate too hard while you're knitting.

My other current project is a patchwork blanket that I've been working on between other projects for literally three years now. It's multicoloured and lots of different stitches. One day it will be finished.. here are some of the squares I've done so far! There is nothing so enjoyable at this time of year as sitting by the fire with a cup of hot chocolate, knitting and watching some fab tv (aka X Factor).

In non-crafting news, I am thrilled to have been chosen as a featured blogger on the really lovely Wrinkle in Time Vintage blog. I'm not sure what date it will be posted but I will put up a link when it goes live!

Are any of you guys crafters or planning to make some cute handmade gifts for Christmas this year? Am I the only one who starts thinking about Christmas this early?!

Special delivery!

tba dress (via Asos) // H&M tights // Aldo shoes

Hurrah, my Asos order arrived!!! And I am delighted to report that the tba dress fits perfectly. I was a little worried because I ordered a size Small but I have quite a big chest and silk isn't the stretchiest fabric. My wardrobe doesn't have many expensive items in it but it's lovely to have something that's well cut and a good quality. The silk is beautiful, quite heavy with a glossy sheen to it. That said, I think €108 is a fair price for this. I don't see how it's worth the original price of €209 ($290/£180). Also excuse the crumples, I ironed it then put some clean laundry on top of it overnight, oops! I should have ironed it again!

Asos Premium bag

Here is the bag I ordered, reduced from €96 to €16. It's huge! Which is something I like in a bag. The leather is beautifully soft and I like the colours. My only complaint is that there is no division inside the bag and there's not way to close it at the top - but on the other hand it was advertised as a shopper.

Overall I'm very happy with my Asos bargains! Have you picked up anything in the sales recently?  Or is there anything you're keeping an eye on, waiting for a price drop?

Social tweetbooking

 I had the most amazingly good luck this week - I was on Facebook just as Asos uploaded a link to their "You Choose" sale. I didn't even know what it was, but when I clicked in I realised that one of the bags I had on my wishlist was on sale, reduced from €96 to €16! I bought it, but my hands were shaking with adrenaline so much that I'm surprised I managed to enter my credit card details correctly!

There was only one other item on ASOS that I'd been dreaming about.. a beautiful tba silk dress that was over €200. I was too scared to search for tba on the site and be disappointed because I knew it was this season's stock, so browsed through the entire sale section, page by page. And on the final page, there it was! Reduced by 50%! It's winging its way to me know and I really hope it fits..

Thank you social media/ASOS for my bargain hunting thrill ride this week!


And speaking of social networking (good segue eh?) I've set up a Twitter account for this blog. You can follow at @IKnitBlog, or click on my little bird below if you're feeling fancy:

 

Make way for Autumn!

River Island cardie // Urban Outfitters dress // Aldo brogues // Asos necklace

As many, many bloggers are saying at the moment, I love Autumn!! The temperature has suddenly dropped this week and that means it's finally appropriate to bring out the cosy cardies, wool tights, hats and scarves. We had a strange unseasonable heatwave for the last couple of weeks, but that didn't stop me breaking out my Winter wardrobe.. this week I'll be wearing the same things but I won't be sweating half as much. 

New Look hat

What's your favourite thing about Autumn? I love the leaves changing colour, the chance to light a fire in the evenings, and the overwhelming desire to spend all weekend making soups.

Incompetent manicure

I'm not very good at painting my nails. I like having them painted but I hate how quickly they chip. I've only had a professional manicure once - at Wah Nails in Topshop, Oxford Street. It was amazing! So smooth and perfect, and it lasted over two weeks.


I thought I would give this lovely nail tutorial from the Dainty Squid a go, she makes it look so easy!


I meant to make a little tutorial but the whole thing was a disaster. It took over two hours for the various layers to fully dry, during which time I managed to repeatedly smudge my nails, and stick them together with the tape. Also instead of scotch tape, I bought "invisible tape" - NOT the same thing!

Even will all the smudging disasters, I don't think they look too awful (I am still waiting for someone to notice them however!)

My tips if you want to try this would be:

♥ Only use one layer of each colour and one of topcoat or it will never dry!

♥ Make sure you use scotch tape, any other kind is too sticky and will ruin design!

♥ Do not drink while you do this because a bathroom break will cause chaos!

So what do you think? Is nail art worth the faff?