Instagram Sunday #1

1. WIP, Orchids & Fairy Lights Hat 2. 3 in a bed 3. Cat standoff

4. Bad day + double Ndulge points leads to this 5. Feeling glum but liking my hair 6. Chilling with Boris

7. Meet our new shelter cat, Boris 8. Knitting hexipuffs 9. Christmas outfit #1

My to-knit list

1.Mr Fox Stole My Heart 2. Oh my bear 3. GAP - Tastic Cowl

4. Orchids & Fairy Lights 5. Woodsy Association 6. Vanilla Socks

7. Meow Mitts 8. Sophie 9. Sweet Robin Wristees

Yarn Haul

At the weekend I went to iKnit in London with Rachel (allthingsrach) and Estée (essiebutton).

I wasn't really meant to pick up any yarn, because I was waiting on the Malabrigo to come, but out of the corner of my eye I saw this gorgeous ice cream coloured yarn that I just had to have.

It is a fingering weight yarn by Araucania and is 100% sugar cane, I didn't even know you could make yarn out of sugar cane!

It is incredibly soft and I think it cost £9.99. 

If I can't think of another project for it I will be using it on my Beekeepers Quilt.

The Malabrigo I ordered as I already had projects I wanted to make with them.

I ordered them from Fabstract, which I was a bit dubious about ordering from because I couldn't find anyone who had purchased from them, but I went ahead anyway and I'm glad I did because I actually received the package the next day! I was super impressed with the service.

I got the Malabrigo Worsted in Polar Morn to make the Orchids and Fairy Lights hat, which is the current knit along on the Tiny Owl Knits group.

I'm very excited about this project, but quite nervous as well because not only is it my first project on circular needles, it's also my first cable project.

I thought it was out of my skill range, but as some one said to me, if you know how to knit and purl you can do anything, just take your time, so I'm very excited about this challenge and will be casting on tonight!

I also got the Malabrigo Chunky in Polar Morn to make the GAP - Tastic Cowl to keep me warm now that its getting to freezing point in the UK.

The chunky weight on Fabstract is buy two get the third free at the moment so a great excuse to buy and very helpful for me because although the pattern says you only need two balls, a lot of people commented that to get the right thickness they would've had to use three.

The Malabrigo itself is gorgeous. It is 100% Merino wool so it is very soft and buttery, and I can imagine it is going to be lovely and warm to wear.

One thing to note about it though is there is a lot of colour variation, the chunky in Polar Morn looks a lot different to the worsted in Polar Morn, although they are both gorgeous colours.

I can't wait to get stuck in to these new projects!

Malabrigo chunky in Polar Morn

Malabrigo worsted in Polar Morn

Araucania 

Schwarzkopf LIVE XXL Shake It Up Colour Foam Demo/Review

So I dyed my hair red and made the whole above video about it!

Here are the before and after comparison pictures:

          

This is the colour in artificial light (my bedroom). 

            

And here is the colour in natural light.

Unfortuantly I took the natural light photo at 4pm which is when it has started getting dark here in the UK, but hopefully you can see that there is a fair difference in colour.

I like the end results, although as I said it is not as red as I want it to be, so I will just keep on dyeing until I receive the results I want! 

Home Fragrance Haul

It's no secret that I love candles, I like the ambience they create and I like making my bedroom smell clean and fresh.

I have just finished my Aromatherapy Associates candle (which I wouldn't recommend) so I decided to treat myself to some new ones.

Marks & Spencers had buy one get one half price across their beauty department which I saw as a good excuse to buy more than one!

I picked up the French Linen No 1 candle, which was £7.50. I think this is my favourite of the Marks and Spencers candles, it is gorgeous!

It smells a bit like baby powder, very clean and fresh with a touch of floral.

I have actually been burning this in my room at the moment and for such a small candle it has quite a large scent throw.

Next up is the candle and reed defuser in the scent La Maison De Senteurs Blanche. 

The scent is quite similar to the French Linen candle, but a bit more floral and sweet.

I decided to get the reed defuser as well as the candle because the price was right, £7.50, and I want to be able to fragrance my room at all times.

The candle was £5 which I think is a great price because it seems like good quality.

The last candle I got was bit of a splurge, well a huge splurge.

I have been lusting after a Jo Malone candle for ages, and actually visited the shop for the first time last week.

The shop itself is beautiful with lovely knowledgable staff and great products.

I think I tried most of their fragrances, my favourites being the French Lime Blossom and Nectarine Blossom & Honey. Both are gorgeous, however I felt the Nectarine Blossom & Honey candle didn't have much of a scent, so didn't really want to spend such a large amount on something that could be a dud so I opted for the French Lime Blossom.

It is such a gorgeous scent, once again it is very clean and crisp, with a slight touch of floral, but it also has a tiny bit of citrus in it, not enough to make it a citrus fragrance, but enough to keep it more clean than floral. I love it so much I got the cologne too!

I have my eyes on the Dipytique range next....

Finished Knitting - Beret With a Bow

Please excuse the make up less face, I just had to show you the latest thing I have kitted because I am so proud of it!

It is a beret with a bow.

The pattern I used was by the lovely Helen Limbrick of 40 per cent fringe, 60 per cent face.

The pattern itself is knitted on the flat and is very simple and easy to follow. Its a great pattern, I would even recommend this to beginners like myself.

The yarn I used was King Cole Galaxy double knit in red. The yarn is 65 per cent acrylic, 31 per cent wool and 4 per cent other.

The yarn actually has tiny sequins already on it, so it knits up a lovely sparkly fabric, although the sequins did make sewing up my work difficult, I had to cut them off to sew up the hat! 

Sunday Pampering

On Sundays the only time I leave my house is to go to a family members house for a traditional Sunday Roast at lunch time.

To stop me from feeling so lazy and disgusting I treat myself to some pampering, it also gets me prepared for the dreaded monday morning! 

I start with the triple threat face mask. This is largely inspired by Vivianna Does Make Up.

I start off with the Aesop Parsley seed mask to cleanse and purify my skin, followed by the REN Glycolatic mask to exfoliate my skin, and finish with the Elemis Exotic Cream Moisturising Mask, I only apply a thin layer of this and leave it on for the rest of the day.

Next up is the hair pampering.

I start with Lush Fair Trade Honey shampoo. This shampoo gives me incredible shine, however it is very light weight and not moisturising enough, so I only use it when I am going out, or on Sundays when I use it with a hair mask, which will give me the moisture I need.

The hair mask I use is Kérastase Nutritive Masquintense Cheveux Epais Treatment for Dry Hair, as the ends of my hair still have a bit of bleaching from being dip dyed. I also have long hair that has been dyed and I use heat styling so this is the perfect hair mask for me. 

And lastly, we have the body products.

In the shower I like to use Philosophy shower gels as they do lots of gorgeous bakery scents and they don't dry out my skin. I am currently using Vanilla Birthday Cake which smells delicious.

I exfoliate my skin using Soap & Glory Sugar Crush. This is actually now discontinued, but my mum loved it so much she bought loads of back ups when she heard it was going. It smells like old school lemon soap and is just a great gritty exfoliater, I hate scrubs where its just tiny beads suspended in liquid!

I finish off by moisturising my skin. I normally prefer the thicker body butter type moisturisers, but I got this Burt's Bees body lotion in a grab bag. It is Milk & Honey so smells gorgeous, a bit like Lush Mange Too if anyone has ever tried that. It's also very light and runny, but actually sinks into my skin quickly without leaving me feeling sticky.

So there you have what I do on a Sunday! I feel like a million bucks, well maybe not that good, but pretty good afterwards. 

Yarn Wishlist - Gynx Yarns

I have been a bit obsessed with sock yarns at the minute, and when I found some gorgeous yarns on Etsy that are named after my favourite anime characters I just had to share. These are by the amazing Gynx Yarns. 

Here are a few of my favourites:

Gaara - if you didn't know Garaa is from the anime Naruto and is essentially leader of the sand nation. I think this yarn does a wonderful job of embodying that.

Yachiru - I love this one, in case you didn't know my favourite colour is pink. It is inspired by Yachiru, a character from Bleach. She has pink hair and a childlike appearance, despite being deadly.

And lastly Sakura. Another absolutely gorgeous yarn. Sakura is another Naruto character, she is actually one of my least favourite characters in the anime yet this is one of my favourite yarns.

Gynx Yarns do an amazing job with naming their yarns because I can really see why each one has been named after the appropriate character.

They also have lots of yarns named after Studio Ghibli films and video games characters! I can't tell you how excited this makes me, two of my favourite things in one.

The yarn is hand dyed and ethically sourced, with a lot of them being organic which is always a bonus. A lot of the yarns are 100% Merino, although there are some blends of 80% Superwash Merino, 10% Cashmere and 10% Nylon, so nice and luxurious and practical as well.

They come in 100g skeins and are £14-£16 depending on if they are organic or not. Postage is £4.50 which isn't bad at all considering they will be shipped from the USA.

The best thing about these yarns is that even my boyfriend was interested because he is an anime fan, which is great because I have asked him to get me some for Christmas so hopefully he will finally be able to remember what I have asked for.

Thank you Gynx Yarns for letting me use your images.

LAB Bar

Last night I went to LAB (London Academy of Bartenders) bar in Soho.

The bar prides itself on being at the forefront of making exceptional cocktails for the past 10 years, and after trying a couple I can tell you that they are definitely doing something right.

The cocktail menu has over 100 cocktails on it, all unique to LAB Bar, you won't find any Mai Tais or piña coladas on the menu.

The selection of cocktails is brilliant, and they are put into sections such as tall, bubbly and martinis. Unfortunately though, having such a big selection can be overwhelming, especially if you are trying to pick something quickly as the bartender is waiting for your choice, it does however force you to try something new.

I went for the Honey Drizzle Swizzle, which contains honey, Drambuie, vodka, lime juice and limoncello.

I loved my cocktail and I think it definitely emphasised what LAB Bar are trying to create.

When you first taste the cocktail it is like a very tart lemonade but then afterwards you get the sweet taste of honey, very unusual in a cocktail but it had me wanting to go back for more, meaning my drink lasted all of two minutes.

Not everyone was as lucky as I was from our panic ordering. 

My boyfriend had a Peardrop, which was very sweet but he liked it and my friend ordered a Cracker Jack which was pretty awful, he did however order it just for the name and when he looked at the ingredients he discovered it contains black pepper and egg whites which may explain why he wasn't so keen...

The cocktails are all around the £8 mark, which is average for a London cocktail place.

The bar does get busy, but the music isn't overbearingly loud and you can ring up to reserve a table which is always welcome.

Something I really did enjoy about this bar is that the bouncer outside wouldn't let it get too crowded, it did mean you may have to wait 5 minutes to get inside, but it means you won't be bum to bum with the other drinkers.

Check out the LAB Bar website, where they have the full drinks menu so you can be a bit better prepared for what drink to order then we was.

Book Review - Coconut Unlimited

This book is one of my 99p Kindle sale success stories (unfortunately it has gone up in price now), which I am very glad of considering how awful the last book I read was.

The story focuses on Amit, as he looks back on his teenage years in the early 90's, trying to make it in a rap band with his two asian friends.

Amit goes to a private school where all the other students are white, so obviously he is instantly considered an outsider and clings to the other two asian children in the school.

In order to try and fit in more, and to get all the girls they decide to form a rap band. They call themselves Coconut Unlimited because coconut is his sisters nickname for him (brown on the outside, white on the inside).

The story follows them from the forming of the band all the way to their first gig, with lots of teenage hormones, underage drinking, a bit of bullying and the occasional bit of weed.

This book is very relatable, and quite cringeworthy, it is a bit like the book equivalent of The Inbetweeners, nerdy guys trying to get all the girls and failing.

I had a huge smile on my face most of the time when reading this, just because there are so many parts of the story that will remind you of experiences you had as a teenager.

It's also very charming and at times a little sad, you just want to shake Amit and tell him what he is doing wrong, despite the fact that you know you would've probably made the same mistake.

This book was a joy to read, and I think anyone could pick it up and relate to it and enjoy it so I give this book 4.5/5. 

I got my copy from amazon.