Friday 26 April 2013

Finished Tea Cosy

Between present knitting and the two giant secret projects (which are technically present knitting as well), it's been a good couple of months since I knitted something purely because I wanted to, even longer since I knitted myself something. This quick knitting tea cosy was the perfect antidote.




The pattern is For your eyes only in Sirdar Escape DK, shade Ravishing.

I love the colour combination in this wool, especially how it makes both sides look completely different. Also, it was my first time knitting bobbles, and I was pleasantly surprised to see how easy they were. I'd definitely knit it again, with maybe a slight adjustment for the fact that my teapot handle is on the top rather than the side!

Saturday 20 April 2013

Three things I'm loving at the moment...

I'm currently getting over a bad case of tonsillitis so to cheer myself up, I'm going to talk about things I'm loving at the moment.

1. Botanics All Bright Hydrating Night Cream. I started using this about a month ago, and I've not looked back since. It has left the skin on my face feeling lovely, smooth, and well moisturised. No more skin feeling taut for me! I love the pale pink colour of it, and it smells lovely. I've found it to sink in incredibly quickly, and it doesn't leave my skin feeling greasy afterwards. Better yet, a little goes a long way so the £4.99 pot (currently reduced to £3.49) is going to last me another couple of months, even with daily use.

2. Sinful Colors Nail Enamel. There is such a fantastic array of colours available, it was hard to pick which ones were coming home with me. (I ended up with Cinderella, Social Ladder, and Call You Later.) Cinderella was a three coater, but only because I like a nice solid colour on my nails - one coat gave a lovely even opaque coverage, and the drying time was fairly average. The staying power was phenomenal - after four days of washing dishes, handling money and general abuse, there was hardly any tip wear. It was only after I scrubbed down some woodwork that any wear started to show. Taking it off was not particularly difficult, and I couldn't stop staring at my nails the whole week.  All that and only £1.99 for 15ml? I'm seriously waiting for the catch.

3. Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch. Just before I fell ill, I fell in love with this series. I raced through them, and hated anything that pulled me away from them. I love everything about them - the worldbuilding of the magic, the characters, everything felt believable and authentic, and the fact they are essentially magical crime-solving. Sold, sold and sold again. I can't wait for the fourth book in the series due in July, and the books are going on my birthday list so I can reread them to my hearts content.

Friday 5 April 2013

What I'm reading

This week has been rather stressful, but I'm off the whole weekend, and one of my cacti is flowering so it must be spring!

What are you currently reading?


Still reading Quiet by Susan Cain – actually it’s been the sort of week where I haven’t picked it up at all. I did finally start Believing the Lie by Elizabeth George. It seems all right so far, though it hasn’t sucked me in properly yet like some of George’s earlier work has. I also started A Place of Execution by Val McDermid as my break time read. I am rather enjoying it so far – I didn’t want to put it down and go back to work this evening.

What did you recently finish reading?

Someone Like You by Cathy Kelly. It was, all right I suppose is the word. I raced through it but thought it dragged a little in places, some things were just a little too pat to seem properly plausible, and I didn’t like one of the protagonists at several points. I did finish it though, and it was an enjoyable enough book to read curled up with a mug of tea on a miserable afternoon. I feel like I’m damning it with faint praise but while it wasn’t brilliant, I did enjoy it enough to keep reading. I can’t ever see myself rereading it though, and I won’t go seeking out anything else by Kelly.

The Husband Hunt
by Lynsay Sands. Well I didn’t finish it exactly. I correctly guessed who the villain was at his first appearance, and normally that wouldn’t put me off, but by page 70 I hadn’t connected with the characters at all, and it really wasn’t shaping up to a book that I would enjoy so back it went.

It feels like a rubbish week for books. Hopefully next week will be better.

What do you think you’ll read next?

I would like to get further into Quiet, and finish Believing the Lie so possibly only Fade to Black by Francis Knight as it came in at the library, and I’ve been looking forward to it since I read a sample chapter.

Link of the week - fantasybookcafe is hosting Women in SFF month. It’s only just started but there are some great posts already.  I'm looking forward to the rest of the month.

Still on the subject of books, the blurb for Val McDermid's new Tony Hill and Carol Jordan book was released this week. I wasn't impressed with the last one at all, and I wasn't sure if I was going to bother much with this one, but I'm pretty sure the blurb has been tailored to get me waiting on the edge of my seat until it comes out.