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Holiday Wool Haul!!!!

Posted on by April-Rose Appleby

So after a trip to Seal Island Wools where I met the lovely owner and her son who were true wool officionados in my opinion.

I ended up adding knitting patterns that I don’t have in my small but growing collection. I wanted to get some very cute designs that were “easy knit” but small enough that I could make them and not go insane like I have been with that cable knit jumper that has been barely growing at all. Yes they are baby cardigans but no there is no “news” in that department. I just thought they were some really cute designs for “one day”…

Well I got some wool I am excited to make into a blanket (yes another one) but I can’t decide if I should do the spiral knit like the other one I am working on or to do a giant simple granny square blanket, I must admit I do like the granny square blanket idea that little bit more, however I think I should wait a little while to do that after I have finished the current spiral knit blanket in progress… however I have put a picture of the wool just below, its a gorgeous combi of mint green, lilac and cream.

 

I ended up buying a rather soft lemon colour to make a lemon yellow cardigan with ducky buttons just like I had when I was little, however I haven’t yet decided which pattern I want to do with it. I quite like them all and I don’t know what one I want to commit too but I am sure it will still knit up a gorgeous little cardi.

I also brought this very cute lilac speckled wool that I wanted to contrast with the minty green which I think would look great with that frilly cardigan in the patterns I brought. I wanted to do something rather cute and unusual and that wool combination looks perfect in my opinion.

So all together my little haul from my holiday… and yet I would love to get lots lots more wool so I think another trip to the shop is in my future! I loved how friendly the owners were and how knowledgeable and how passionate they were. I loved the sense of welcoming and friendliness and relaxed come sit and spend some time here feel that the shop had. It was certainly cozy and gorgeous and the wool on offer was beautiful and I could have spent a hell of a lot more there if I had the money I would have too… I had to sort of stop myself going crazy in there considering it had to be carried home too!

 

The 2018 Project

Posted on by April-Rose Appleby

Well the cable knit jumper now has a front and a back, its the sleeves that are driving me up the wall now.

I think I can safely say Christmas is wrapped up! YAY! So that means I have ticked off number 19! I feel better for it, especially as I am watching the prices begin to rise.

I have even begun writing the next big project for the site which ticks off number 23 😀 I am surprised that I get to tick off two of these goals now. Just one more complete tick off and I can say I completed my New Years resolution! I am so excited for the prospect of having completed it two years in a row for the first time ever!

 

24/7 Goals:

  1. Do Nanowrimo
  2. Write The Diary of Elliot Parker (4)
  3. Draft up book 2 of The Big Project
  4. Re-edit book 1 of The Big Project
  5. Edit book 2 of The Big Project
  6. Learn to drive
  7. See a West End show
  8. Complete at least one of the tattoos
  9. Improve on last year’s site views
  10. Keep learning guitar
  11. Create and keep a manageable writing schedule
  12. Look for/find an agent for The Big Project
  13. Finish the cable knit jumper
  14. Start and finish a cross stitch project
  15. Win the lotto jackpot
  16. Keep growing hair out
  17. Keep doing daily positive aspects
  18. Complete at least one minor savings goal
  19. Have Christmas wrapped up before October 31st
  20. Read around 12 books at least over the year for fun…
  21. Be more time efficient, come up with a better schedule.
  22. Fit into the blue dress again and go somewhere to celebrate it
  23. Begin writing the next big project for the site
  24. Enjoy 2018 as much as possible, be happy at every chance!!!!

6/7 goals complete!

Halloween

Posted on by April-Rose Appleby

Well, Happy Halloween!!!

Not going to write much today, not because I don’t want to but because today I am off to go and see the Phantom of the Opera.

It has become a semi tradition now to try to get to see something on stage in London for Halloween, its just fun. Who knows if I can keep doing this new tradition but for the third year in a row I am off to the West End today for a date day/night with the other half so hello and goodbye.

Happy Halloween to you all…

What do you all do for your Halloween traditions?

Author Update (October 2018)

Posted on by April-Rose Appleby

What happened in October?

Honestly? Not too much, work mainly. That and knitting and well… being lazy as hell.

Oh I saw my bestie and we went to lunch 😀

The closest progress I made on my schedule? Setting the morning alarms for meditation and the morning routine. The meditation has increased which is good, I feel more at ease but again, that doesn’t mean I have done much at all on anything else. It gets to me sometimes but I am trying to curb my own laziness which has always been a struggle… I’m one of those “I’ll do it later” people that never does it, which is why any writing being done often feels like a miracle.

I tried to restart the diet, I quit. Whoops. I think I set an impossible deadline but that is ok. Healthy is my aim right?

What am I watching on Netflix? Well, to be honest, I am still watching The Vampire Diaries again. I binge watched the Originals new series which could be why not much has gotten done recently. I am still knitflixing but that should come as no surprise. Currently working on a spiral knit blanket. I am sure I will post some pictures when it is done… I keep trying to do more of a jumper too, but the pattern is frustrating and fiddly and I don’t think I will do it again.

 

So Darling Daughters is OUT NOW , so for those of you wanting to get your hands on the ending… here is the link for Darling Daughters!  OUT NOW!

The Diary of Elliot Parker  Ninety-One to One hundred and Twenty!  OUT NOW!!!

Or if you want the whole collection in one neat and tidy book, here is the link for the Complete Collection! OUT NOW!!!!! 

Nothing changes here in terms of throwing plugs in for my amazon books on my author page… I haven’t lost my hope just yet.

May luck and adventure be on your side!

ARA

xxx

Holiday!

Posted on by April-Rose Appleby

So I mentioned a trip to the seaside, and we went to see some sights in Selsey. Which is a new little area of the UK to me, and bloody hell it is a cute little place.

We had lots of fun in a self catering little cabin thingy just relaxing to be honest. We went on daily trips to the shops and got to do some very out of fashion things that you don’t do in the city. We went to a butchers shop, which was a strange new adventure for us. I think we struggled with the amount of choice we had each day.

On our first day after arriving we had a kebab take away I admit but most of the time we cooked. We made a pie the first day to kick it all off. I think that is why I got back into the idea of cooking again. I even made a brisket for the first time ever which I found really exciting and it was really easy. We made pastry twists for puddings and we had lamb chops and it all just felt fresher, even though we often cheated for lunch and had a pot noodle, it was a quick solution after a trip back from the swimming pool when we were starving. Sure I still can’t swim but I had lots of fun trying, and often floating was some of the most fun.

I really enjoyed the trips to the shops and our little routine. We even broke the routine a little and went down to East Beach and had our first ever crab melt panini for breakfast (late breakfast) discovered that crab melt panini’s are very very filling. We saw the life boat station and the boat, which was bigger than we expected …

As you can see there were some cool views and ducks and some very yummy drinks. The other half loved the cold water and I got to relax and sit down for a while. The drinks that you can see was a coffee frape thing and mine was a bubblegum millions flavour milk shake that we had on our first day trip to the shops exploring, which was actually a really delicious drink if I am honest but very sugary!

We saw some gorgeous cottages and fell in love with some of the architecture. There was a really cute shop with a really nice lady inside who made her own jewellery, I got a couple of rose rings made from wire. I haven’t got any pics of those yet. Oh and I made three trips to a knitting shop in the town which I thought was brilliant. I think I will make a post dedicated to that later.

It was a wonderful week, we spent the evenings either trying to annihilate each other playing Mario Kart or watching The 100.

I wish we could rewind time a little and go back on holiday again, it was really great quality time just enjoying each others company. It gave us time to get into a nice rhythm and relax in a really chilled way. I like the peace and quiet and the time away from the day-to-day routine, I think it really helped to give me some more direction in a way. Getting that space showed me the kind of future I wanted and what it was I wanted to do. I really want to pursue a vocation over the idea of a career. I want to feel like my work is my passion, and I think writing is one of those really big passions.