Hectic but settling.

Hi there Knitwear fans,

I do realise I haven’t updated in rather a while either here on my blog or in video form in a vlog but I plan to do a vlog Wednesday afternoon (now being very early Tuesday morning).

For now I’d just like to share a few things. Projects will be on hold until I’ve knitted Christmas gifts and general gifts. However, after that I do intend to keep to previously stated plans and I have made a few more which include branching out into other fabrics and customisation of vintage pieces.

Inspired by the latest issue of British Vogue (November - More Dash Than Cash issue) I plan to buy a boyfriend-style plain black blazer (which will go perfectly with my latest insane purchase - the lumo yellow Christopher Kane lace dress from Topshop!) and intend to customise it with swarovski crystals and/or sequin embellishment.

I always was very good at the textile aspect of Design and Technology at school (only reason I didnt take the subject at GCSE was because I actually loathed the teacher - hi Miss Dumbrill) and I want to embrace that for my own benefits now. I probably won’t showcase the piece since it is a personal project but if you have me friended on facebook or dailybooth no doubt you’ll see a picture or two from a night on the town.

Anyway ta ta for now, I promise more updates soon my lovelies, but moving back to university and actually having bills etc to pay (responsibilities!) has taken over my life in the past month and a half.

Shelley x

Vlog page

Hey hooo, it’s me (obviously)

I just wanted to let you know I’ve set up a VLOG PAGE here which you should go check out. It’s all my youtube videos in one place and they’re all gorgeous colours (I love embedding)

Oh, also, finished my Glove Wars gloves (1st pair) and you can see them here and of course in Knit Vlog 4 :)

Toodles for now xxx

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

The Big Knit

I am taking part in: http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/thebigknit/

Hooray for strawberry hat!

Also, may buy some roving to spin from http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5032001 when they next list some, since I’ve followed her blog and trust her skills as a dyer etc :)

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Alphabet of me (let’s all get to know each other a little better)

A

- Available: No :D Boyfriend called Simon.
- Age: Nineteen.
- Annoyances: Being stuck at home during the summer.
- Animal: Donkeys and sheep :D
- Actor: Ooof I dont really have one, maybe Will Smith o.0
- Actress: Helena Bonham-Carter of course!

B

- Beer: I do like a beer every now and then. They usually make me gag towards the end though.
- Birthday/Birthplace: 17th October 1989, Blackburn.
- Best Friends: A couple of people at university and from home maybe.
- Body Part on the opposite sex: Eyes.
- Best feeling in the world: Being suitably drunk and watching Metallica live.
- Best weather: Sunny summer days with light breeze.
- Been on stage?: Yes, but not for a while.
- Believe in yourself?: When I’m in the right mind-set.
- Believe in life on other planets: Yes. Simply put.
- Believe in miracles: Mmm not really, just coincidences.
- Believe in Magic: Hogwarts is real; I’m still waiting for my letter…
- Believe in Religion: I believe in religion, of course, since it exists. The entities which religion has beliefs in however… not so much.
- Believe in Santa: No :(
- Believe in Ghosts/spirits: Yes I reckon so. I would like to.

C

- Car: I don’t think I’m destined to have a car. But I’d get a VW Beetle and move on to a camper.
- Candy: Malteasers
- Cried in school: Yes, I cry ALL THE TIME.
- Chocolate/Vanilla: Vanilla, mmmm.
- Chinese/Mexican: Oooh that really does depend, I LOVE both!
- Cake or pie: Pie.
- Country to visit: Australia, New Zealand, Japan.

D

- Day or Night: Both for different reasons.
- Dream vehicle: VW Bay Camper.
- Dance: When clubbing, when drunk.
- Dance in the rain?: But of course.
- Do the splits?: Haha I did once. Split my jeans :(

E

- Eggs: Yes?
- Eyes: Mine are brown, as long as they shine I don’t mind what the colour.
- Everyone has a: n opinion.
- Ever failed a class?: Once, I got very upset and blamed the teacher, of course.

F

- First crush: I cant even remember.
- Full name: Mine? Michelle Louise Scholastica Taylor >.<
- First thoughts waking up: urgh what time is it? Do I have to get up now?

G

- Greatest Fear(s): Death and loneliness.
- Goals: To be happy and then successful.
- Gum: Bubbles!
- Get along with your parents?: Yes, although my dad and I are equally stubborn.
- Good luck charm: Knowing what I’m doing is a charm.

H

- Hair Colour: Brown (boringgg)
- Height: 5′5
- Happy: Friends, summer sun.
- Holiday: Summer!
- How do you want to die: Being remembered.
- Health freak?: Naaah. I do worry though.
- Hate: Being left out of things and getting things wrong, wasting time.

I

- Ice Cream: Cornish vanilla.
- Instrument: Heavy metal geeetar.

J

- Jewelery: Rings, anklets, toe rings etc etc when I can be bothered.
- Job: Teacher, I hope to be good at it.

K

- Kids: Yes, lots and lots and lots of babies!
- Kickboxing or karate: Karate.
- Keep a journal?: No, I want to keep up my blogging and vlogging though.

L

- Longest Car Ride: Yeovil to Northumberland perhaps, I can’t really remember.
- Love: I has it :D
- Letter(s): Q because it’s the 17th letter.
- Laughed so hard you cried: All the time, I’m surrounded by pretty hilarious people.
- Love at first sight: Nahh.

M

- Milk flavour: Vanilla milkshake :D
- Movie: Jurassic Park!
- Mooned anyone?: Haa some friends maybe
- Marriage: Maybe one day, it seems to cost so much money and mean very little.
- Motion sickness?: A little bit in the back of cars.
- McD’s or BK: Burger King if I have to choose, but both are pretty greasy nowadays.

N

- Number of Siblings: No, me me me all for me!
- Number of Piercings: 5.
- Number: 17!

O

- Overused Phrases: I dont notice what I say - that gets me into trouble sometimes.
- One phobia: Arachnophobia.

P

- Place you’d like to live: London, New Zealand.
- Perfect Pizza: Pepperoni Passion.
- Pepsi/Coke: Pepepepepepsiiiii.

Q

- Quail: Awwww cute. Wouldn’t eat them!

R

- Reason to cry: Most things :/
- Reality T.V.: Big Brother, Shipwrecked
- Radio Station: Radio 1
- Roll your tongue in a circle?: Nope, just in a trough.

S

- Song: Stupid question.
- Salad: Potato
- Shrimp?: Mrah if I have to.
- Sport?: Swimming, skating.
- Skipped school: Yes :(
- Slept outside: Yeeeeah camping!
- Seen a dead body?: Not IRL i don’t think.
- Shower Daily?: No… Shower rarely lol
- Sing well?: Yes and I enjoy it when I’m alone.
- Stuffed Animals?: Ahaha so many. There’s barely room in my bed.
- Single/Group dates: Mainly single, but group dates are fun to compare idiosyncracies etc.
- Strawberries/Blueberries: Strawberries.
- Scientists need to invent: A sleep machine.

T

- Time for bed: When I’m tired/when it’s time for a boring lecture.
- Thunderstorms: Love thunderstorms!
- TV: The Big Bang Theory, House, most comedy and comedy panel shows. Anything funny.
- Touch your tongue to your nose?: So very nearly!

U

- Unpredictable: Meee :P

V

- Vegetable you hate: Mushrooms, little slimy slugs on the plate.
- Vegetable you love: Broccoliiii.
- Vacation spot: Somewhere interesting.

W

- Weakness: Flavoured peanuts…
- When you grow up: Teacher, nice house, lots and lots of babies.
- Which one of your friends acts the most like you?: Urm Becky? She doesnt act like me I just think we’re pretty similar. I like to THINK I’m like her anyway since she’s pretty cool.
- Who makes you laugh the most: Lots of people, in different ways.
- Worst feeling: Loneliness.
- Wanted to be a model: Nah, knew I never could be.
- Worst weather: Overcast and foggy.

X

-X-Ray: On my wrists.

Y

-Year now?: 2009
-Yellow: Sunshine and happiness!

Z

- Zoo animal: Tigers! :D
- Zodiac sign: Libra.

Last person who:

- Saw you cry: My mum last night lol.
- Went to the movies with you: Simon the other day :) Jennie tomorrow!
- You went to the mall with: Went shopping with Simon.
- Went to dinner with: My friends from school at Easter lol, I’m not taken out to dinner :(
- Talked to on the phone: Er, my dad :)
- Made you laugh: My cats o.0

Tags: , , , ,

Socks and Stuff

I like buying Knitting magazines so I can keep up to date on the knitting world; new techniques and articles I haven’t discovered on the web. In the recent August issue of “Knitting” magazine I read an article about sock knitting and discovered possibly one of the most fantastic sites ever.

www.sockwars.org

Basically, you sign up, get assigned an opponent and then you both knit to the death! If you receive socks in the post before you have finished knitting your pair… you are DEAD. Oh no!! The winner gets $300. Amazing! My favourite rule is #5:

5. You are expected to work as diligently as possible on your weapon. Your target should expect their death at any time and live in fear of you. If you are not able to kill your target within a reasonable amount of time, please be kind to them and let them know, along with letting the Supreme Commander know.

Haaa.

Oh, by the way, if I can ever find the bloody charger for my camcorder I will be putting a Vlog up. (So you can see my sexy peeling skin)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Plans! Such exciting plans!

Shearing, roving, dying, spinning, knitting. All by myself. All from my own produce.

I (or someone I know) owns sheep, reared and sheared in the West Country (either Somerset or Dorset). I then condition those fleeces into roving. Which I then DYE… but get this… using natural dyes from specific plants that I have grown myself.
Then going on to spin the self-dyed wool into yarn and knitting gorgeous products with it.

If you’re anything like me, that will sound very, VERY exciting.

And I am making a start on this, including making my own drop spindle to hand spin roving from a dowel and 2 CDs.

I don’t know why but I love the beginning to end process and would absolutely love to make this work and own/sell garments for which I know:

- have been hand-knitted by myself
- the yarn for which has been hand-spun by myself
- the wool for which has been sheared from a sheep I’ve met in person (hello Sir Fleecealot)
- the colours on which have been hand-dyed myself
- aaand the dyes for which have been hand-grown by myself

And I’ll even know the names of the sheep!

Reminders!

Nothing for you to worry about, it’s just I haven’t really heard of making lists on pen and paper…

  • Finish vest top
  • Finish Steggy hoodie (eehehe secret project of madness)
  • Try complicated pullover for self
  • Do the billion sock commissions I’ve received
  • Take pictures for evidence that I’ve actually done these things…

:D

Oh, and continue to watch this space for the wellie socks too :P

It’s not January 6th but…

…I’ve had an epiphany!

SHELLEY’S WELLIE SOCKS

You know it makes sense. More to follow soon, I must begin this amazing business venture immediately.

Newps in a bag

enjoy!

Selling to Hobos

I constructed my first charm bracelet on Monday. It seems to have worked rather well. I will put pictures up along with the completed Spitfire Shoes in a new Gallery section by the weekend.

However, the bracelet will not be for sale on Etsy yet as I want to go and talk to the manager of a local Vintage store, Hobos; I know they sell custom jewelry and handmade garments: http://www.hobosvintageclothing.co.uk - Not sure the website is up to date though!

Not much else to say apart from those wee gems… Obscure time of writing this is due to a 3am fire alarm that no one came to rescue us from and generally weird sleeping patterns.

Ta ta!

Hmmmm a picture to entertain you, perhaps? The Burger Bed!!