Christmassy Fun

As I mentioned last week, I put my tree up.

I've also been to 3 different Christmas markets, 2 Christmas meals, and bought a lovely Christmas jumper...

So I'm feeling pretty excited about Christmas now!

Christmas is coming!

It's 4 weeks to Christmas today - hasn't it come around quickly!

Rob surprised me by coming to visit me for the weekend last weekend which was such a lovely surprise.  We went to the Christmas market in Sheffield which was very nice and festive and we ate roasted chestnuts and drank mulled wine.

At work we have been discussing when we are putting up our Christmas Trees - most of us agreed that this Sunday is the correct time but one of my friends wanted to put up his tree last weekend and had to be persuaded not to by his housemates.

I'm putting my tree up on Sunday and I can't wait.  My Christmas shopping is going ok so far - mostly at the planning stage but looking manageable.

The swap group I am in on Ravelry has been having a Christmas swap too - we got randomly paired with a swap partner and given a list of items we should make/ buy for them.  I've posted my parcel now and already received mine from my partner (but not yet opened it).  It's lovely to make new friends in the swap group and send each other Christmas gifts!

Halloween Pumpkin Carving

This year for Halloween we went to a friend's house to do pumpkin carving.  He has a garden so we were all able to sit outside and be messy.

I've only done pumpkin carving once before but naturally I had big ambitions.

The 8 of us all sat in the living room drawing out our creations then set out into the garden to get carving

A while later we were all ready to reveal our creations:

And of course to light them:

My pumpkin all lit up

The creations of my 2 closest graduate friends

All of the pumpkins together

They look good all lit up

I really enjoyed the pumpkin carving - more than I thought I would and I've been promised some of the pumpkin seeds once they have been roasted.

Getting a pet

Just wanted to say - I got hamsters!  I'd been thinking about a getting a pet for a little while but I was limited in my options because of being in a flat.  However I decided last week that I wanted hamsters - more precisely dwarf hamsters.  I contacted the local hamster breeder, made arrangements with her, and bought all the necessary equipment.

Today, Rob and I went to the breeder's house to choose my hamsters.  I chose two males.  They are Winter White Russian hamsters and I chose a pair that had one white and one dark coloured hamsters.

They are called Zeus and Odin.  Zeus (the white hamster) is a bit more active than Odin and likes running on the wheel.

I'm looking forward to them getting used to me and learning more about them.

All settled in

Firstly, hello.  Starting my new job and moving has seen me rather busier than I expected so I haven't been around recently.  I've done so much in the last few weeks that it may take a couple of blog posts to talk about it all.

As I mentioned a while ago, I was moving to Sheffield for my new job and... well... I'm settled in my lovely new flat now and getting used to my job.

The van is completely full ready to move me to Sheffield

My flat now I am properly unpacked 

  Moving was fun but I am glad I have everything unpacked now and it is feeling like home.

A Day Out at the Zoo

I went to Chester Zoo on Saturday with my Bestie.  We had been wanting to go for a couple of years and finally got around to it last week.  The zoo is so much fun!  I hadn't been in years so I'd forgotten most of it.

As chief photographer I was in charge of taking all the photos of the animals (I took 254 photos and Bestie took 29).  Here are some of the nice photos:

Graduation

In my last post I said that I was about to graduate from university.  My graduation ceremony was lovely - mostly just getting to see all of my friends and knowing that all the effort we put into our degree over the years has now paid off.

We had to wear full robes all day even though the weather was so hot.  The colour of the hoods of our robes signifies the type of degree - in the case of our uni orange is for engineering.

Outside my department before the ceremony

On the stage accepting my degree

Rob was also graduating at the same time as me

Me and Rob both in our graduation gowns

Now that university is officially out of the way I can get on with thinking about work and my new flat - too exciting!

Today I ordered a sofa, armchair and a futon to be delivered to my flat in September.

I had already decided on what colour furniture I wanted so when I was in town last week I bought a cushion in John Lewis because it was nice and bright (and reduced).

Anyway this then inspired me to crochet a cushion-cover to match/complement it and got making it straight away.

I'm using the join-as-you-go method to crochet the squares together.  The cushion will be 25 granny squares on one side and one big granny square on the other side.

I've also finally cast-on the first sleeve for Rob's jumper but then the weather turned warm again so I've not got much of that done.

The friendship blanket I'm constructing from squares swapped with other crafters on Ravelry is making progress though:

It is looking good so far and I'm meeting lots of new people by taking part in the swap

Exploring A New City

I mentioned here a few months ago that I had received a job offer to work in Sheffield starting in September.  Since I came back from holiday, I've been searching for somewhere to live and have visited Sheffield twice.

I have to say it is a lovely city (which is a relief!) and I am starting to know my way around.  Here are a few photos that show-off the city nicely:

Nice Buildings and Open Spaces...

...Tonnes of Theatres...

...and lots of beautiful parks

Even better news is that I have signed for a flat!  Rob and I visited Sheffield at the start of this week to view flats.  Two viewings were cancelled while we were there but we still got to see 3 different flats and agreed on a favourite.

Anyway tomorrow is a big day for me and Rob as it is our graduation.  I can't believe 4 years of university have flown by so quickly.  The ceremony is at the same concert hall that Rob and I saw Al Murray at (The Liverpool Philharmonic) and my family have seats in one of the boxes

A Lovely Holiday to Italy

Last week I went on holiday with my parents and my sister to Italy (as usual my Mum managed to blog about it first - you can read what she wrote here).  I personally took about 450 photos, Mum took about 300 and Eve was taking photos on her phone too but I'll only show you a few.

We were based at Lake Garda in a little town called Malcesine but because it was a tour we had day trips arranged for us to Venice, Verona, and the Dolomites as well as a full day exploring different towns on the lake itself.

Around Lake Garda:
These photos are from our tour around the lake and our walks along the lake to the town of Malcesine

View of Lake Garda from Malcesine

The town of Salo

View from Salo across the lake

Venice:
It was lovely to see Venice again but because of the nice weather (and being tourist season) it was much busier than when Rob and I visited

The Bridge of Sighs

The Doge's Palace

St Mark's Square

The Rialto Bridge

View of the Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge

The Dolomites:
These photos are taken at the top of the Pordoi Pass where there was 8 inches of snow the night before we visited and it was still snowing while we were there

Me in the snow

View down the mountain from the Pordoi Pass

Verona:
We didn't know what to expect from Verona - apart from Juliet's balcony - but the city was very picturesque with lots of interesting history.

Juliet's Balcony

Statue of Dante in the Piazza dei Signori

Piazza delle Erbe

The fun of a crafty swap!

I recently received a Ravelry message inviting me to join a new group that swaps 6 inch blanket squares to create 'Friendship Blankets'.  I had been wanting to make another blanket for myself and this seemed like a fun way to do it.

My request for squares asked for bright rainbow colours and purples to be used.  I was initially bombarded with messages from people wanting to swap squares with me resulting in me having 7 swap partners simultaneously.  I managed to make all the squares for these partners (14 squares in total) and got them sent off on Thursday.

So now I'm waiting for squares in return and busy finding new swap partners.  I received my first parcel yesterday which was a bit too exciting for me!

Here is a photo of the lovely squares along with some extra treats - a sachet of hot chocolate and a few pretty buttons.

If you are interested in joining the group or finding out more information then you can find the group on Ravelry - The Global Square Exchange

My Best Friend's Birthday

Last Saturday was my best friend's birthday and so I went and visited him.  We spend the day wandering outside in the sunshine, watching films, playing darts, and eating cake.  I managed to win at darts - despite being out of practice - by hitting the bullseye twice:

For his present I decided to crochet a pattern I've had my eye on for a while - 'Fierce Little Dragon' by Lucy Ravenscar as we both play an online fantasy game called Legend of the Green Dragon.

I love how the dragon turned out - think I may have to make myself one at some point!

I also bought him some jelly beans as they are his favourite sweets and I crocheted a bag to put them in to make it a bit special:

The bag is a free pattern called 'Crocheted Treasure Bag' by Erin Kortering.

For my best friend's card, I was inspired by a geometric block card but instead of all squares I decided to change 2 of the blocks to be iconic images from the artwork of Magritte, as we went to a Magritte exhibition together a long time ago.  

I'm pleased to report that my best friend loved his presents and card.