Bye Bye Barina

Last night was a horrible night. I've been having a tough week and last night definitely topped it off!

I had plans to go for social dinner and drinks after my netball training with some people from the netball/football club and I picked up a friend to come with me. As I picked her up I noticed the temperature gauge on my car was high - like really hot! I decided that once I got to town I would pull over and check the water and oil etc (as instructed by my boyfriend).

Well, turns out the car couldn't make it that far and we broke down in the turning lane of a busy intersection! I had no idea what to do. My friend was thankfully a little more relaxed than I was and we phoned the NRMA to come and help.

Firstly I must say, there are still people out in the world that are kind hearted and willing to help. A couple saw us stranded with my hazard lights flashing and helped us push my car to safety. So thank you SO so much to these friendly strangers, who ever you are!

After the NRMA turned up it was decided that my car had to be towed to the mechanics (whom funnily enough I had booked in to service my car on Monday anyhow!)

So, after almost seven years of life together it might be safe to say that Beep Beep the Barina is on her way out. Even though I had imagined at least another 6 months with her before I would trade her in. At this stage I am waiting to hear her prognosis before I decide what to do, but I am sure I am going to up-grade.

It's kind of sad really. This was my first car, I have had her since I was in year twelve at high school. She has been everywhere with me and there have been fond, and not so fond memories with her but I've always managed to get around OK.

It'll be sad to see her go, but hopefully my next car will be just a reliable (hopefully more reliable in this case!)

Oh also, to top off such a fabulous night, I decided that in my distress after breaking down and then not being able to get anything to eat from town (since by this time all of the eateries kitchens were closed), I was going to spoil myself with an ice-cream from the 24 hour McDonald's which would be open. (Horrible thought I know, but ice-cream makes me happy and I was feeling pretty down at this stage)

Turns out Macca's wasn't serving ice creams last night.

Flock it!

Catch up

Hi all, I've been a little slack on the the blogging front as of late with no real excuses except that not a lot of exciting stuff has been happening lately!

I am back into uni full swing and the time is going by sloooooowly. I am currently in a long distance relationship with my boyfriend who lives in our home town which is over 500kms away from where I am at uni so time is always a factor for me.

This term has been rough for me so far. Its nearly been two weeks since I last saw my BF and we have another two weeks before we see each other again and it is killing me! We Skype and talk on the phone all the time but its just not the same. We are both committed to doing what we have to do this year to work towards our careers (he is in his final year of an apprenticeship and I am in my final year of uni) but it doesn't replace the fact that it is super hard.

So this past week, following my whirlwind trip to Filex, I have been more motivated than ever to get in shape and I have to admit, I am loving the motivation. I worked out six times last week and felt amazing for it!

This was after my first workout back - not too bad since I hadn't been working out in weeks!

While I was at Filex I finally got a heart rate monitor/calorie counting watch that I have been wanting for ages! I used it for the first time for my first workout back last Monday and I am in love. I love knowing how hard I have worked in a work out and try and beat it each time I go back to the gym.

The best I did last week was burn 536 calories in one workout! I was stoked! I tried so hard to beat it yesterday at my workout but for some reason I just couldn't get there with only burning 451 calories. I'll get there eventually!!

I have been trying to stay super motivated and even managed to convince myself NOT to go to the movies on Saturday afternoon because I knew I wouldn't be able to resist the yummy popcorn (its one of my biggest weaknesses!) So I got out of the house and went for a walk! I figure that some exercise is better than none! I was still pleased with the amount of calories burnt on this brisk walk and didn't get any 'after indulging' guilt that I would have felt if I had gone to the movies.

I tracked my walk using the Lorna Jane iPhone app - its probably not 100% accurate but gives me a good idea of how hard I worked.

Its no secret that I am a HUGE fan of instagram and I am constantly finding new accounts to follow for motivation and awesome food inspiration and I attempted my own version of what quite a few foodie peeps are calling the 'parfait'. It was such a yummy breakfast and a nice take on the usual oats that I have been eating every morning for the past week.

Please excuse the blurry iPhone quality!

I made this using whole oats, almond milk, 2 tablespoons of natural yogurt and some frozen blueberries. Super yummy! Try it if you need a refresh on your ordinary morning oats!

That was pretty much my week! Lots of working out but feeling great! I'm determined to continue to work out most days this week with Saturday being the start of my new netball season with a new team! I'm super excited!

What are your goals for this week?

XO

Monday Motivation

I'm following in Fit Mum's footsteps today and posting my Monday motivation.

I've been sitting at my laptop for over an hour now slowly plotting through some homework and I've now totally lost my drive.

I think I'll head to the gym because it always gets me feeling 100% more pepped up and feeling like I can tackle more things again.

Whats motivating you this monday?

I only have this week left of uni classes and one exam next week and my year at uni is done! I can't believe it, but the thought of holidays and taking up a real job and earning real money again for the holiday break is really motivating me to push through!

What a week (in pictures)

Its only been a week since I've been back in to my "normal" uni routine and it already feels like I have run a marathon.

This week has been a long one, with plenty of happenings. Here's how it started...

I spent my last lovely warm day at home in the "country" packing up my winter things to head back down south to tackle term 2 of uni. My parents were away visiting my baby sister  in QLD so I was on "animal duty" which means feeding the  four family dogs (sadly our number is now down to three as our little mate Turbo passed away today. RIP little buddy.) along with our kitty and our hens.

I love feeding the chooks, I love having chooks and I wish I had the space here in my one beddy unit to have my own chooks because the never ending supply of eggs is always welcome and I love the "farm-y" feel you get from having hens clucking in the yard.

Later in the week, especially on Wednesday morning I felt my real taste of the new season, "early winter". I got up at the crack of dawn (well, technically earlier) and made my way to town to witness the Anzac day dawn service. It was lovely, a HUGE turn-out and very very cold! I had my winter woollies on and still didn't have enough layers on!

By the middle of the week I was feeling a little lonely and pulled out all of my winter comfort tricks and snuggled in my bed with porridge and tea.

Today saw some more strange weather with a high morning fog around the city but brought out a yummy warmish afternoon.

I had some time to kill after class this afternoon before my last shift of work for the week and purchased these gorg aqua bowls. I eyed them off in Bathurst during my holidays and didn't get a chance to buy them, until today! I am really digging the colour aqua right now and these bowls are just perfect.

Now I am kicking the weekend off with a big glass of red and a tad bit of guilt from a bad "binge" eating day (Oops). So I plan to wake up feeling happy and motivated to tackle a "get-back-on-track" session at the gym tomorrow and meet one of my gorgeous friends for an organic breakfast at one of our fav eateries in town in the morning.

What are your plans for the weekend? Whatever they are, have a relaxing weekend! I plan to do some uni homework, relax, maybe even catch a movie at the cinema (I love the movies!) Happy weekend friends!

I'm in print... well, sort of!!

Hey bloggy friends! I have been one busy bee this week! Week 1 of term 2 of uni is almost over! Hectic let me tell you! I'll be posting about my whole week in pictures later this week!

Firstly, happy belated Anzac Day! I trudged out into the freezing cold at dawn yesterday morning to attend the dawn service here in town. It was mighty early and mighty cold but was well worth it. I even got a little choked up when I was listening to the trumpet play. There was a huge turn out which is so great to see that so many people support our past and present troops! I got some pictures of the service for a photography assignment, I'll post these later.

Now, to my exciting news! I'm in print!! Well kind of. I have just completed an assignment for one of my design classes that involved us designing an 8-page magazine called "LOL" (as in life out loud. Pretty lame name but this was a pre-requisite and we could do whatever we wanted for everything else.)

This week I got the magazine printed and it looks great! We had to use a professional printing company and all, it felt all very official and new. I had to contribute one double page spread to my magazine and then I got to choose two stories from my class mates to use.

I was lucky enough to interview my good friend Jodie from Jellywares for my spread and I'm really pleased with how it all turned out! Jode was great to interview, her creativity inspires me all the time!

Here's a look at what my interview with Jodie looks like (in the magazine it is a double page spread.)

It was such a learning experience working with a professional printer. It definitely opened my eyes up a little to what the "real" world of graphic design may be like. I loved every minute of it!

It feel great to say that I love my job. Well, its not really my job yet but hopefully it soon will be because it feels good to love what you do! Do you love what you do?

Chasing the clock

When did time "all of a sudden" become so scarce? I feel like in the last 6 months or so I have done nothing but cross the days off my calendar at lightning speed!

When I was a kid I wished for the school term to end, counted the days until Christmas and prayed that my high school years would hurry up and be over already! Now I think to myself... you silly silly girl!! I'd give anything to have another few hours everyday on my watch just to get the "me-time" stuff sorted (or the housework.... Oh my bathroom is in deep neglect right now!)

I'm finding myself getting busier and busier as the days go on. I have to admit, when I got my "cruisy" uni timetable earlier this term I was thinking that this course was going to be a breeze and I'd have so much spare time for myself.... WRONG! So so wrong!

I spend a maximum of 3 hours a day on campus in class lectures or tutorials or hands on workshops. With the little amount of face-to-face time with my lecturers comes a mammoth amount of homework in my "me-time"! Since I have taken up casual afternoon/night work also I am finding myself running from home to class to work then home to quickly whip up dinner and do some more homework and then crash in bed sometime around midnight. Squeezed in there is also an hour gym session and sometimes a load of washing!

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When did life get so busy?

I like to pride myself on keeping in touch with friends and family at least via email or the odd Face Book message or comment. Close family I like to Skype with or call but I cant even seem to find the time to do this. I'm flat out squeezing this little blog-post in today!
How do the incredibly successful, highly busy, mothers or wives do it all?! I don't even have kids  thank God for that at the moment because I know the poor things would go hungry right now because my fridge is bare and the groceries might have to wait until tomorrow!

How do you keep on top of everything and stop "chasing the clock"?

Mac vs PC ???

This week I almost had a melt down.

I was rushing last week to get one of my photography assignments completed by Friday before I had to be in Sydney over the weekend for little Sisters birthday (see previous blog post for details!).

Thanks to the crazy nature of the flood evacuations and being unable to return to my house until wednesday last week, my "actual picture taking" stages of my assignment were completely thrown out and I found myself to be all over the shop and unorganised.

Friday night I had everything uploaded onto my PC and ready to go for me to just re size and save as jpegs on Monday morning for my assignment presentation this Monday afternoon. Much to my distress when I got to uni half an hour before class was to begin, I had done something wrong on my PC and putting the PC jpegs onto the Mac computer just didn't work! I was in such a fluster, sweaty and hot, holding back the tears as I frantically re-did all of my photoshop work quickly and managed to get the pics onto the Mac computer just in time. I nearly cried my eyes off feeling so embarrassed that I had even had this problem as it is common knowledge here on campus that "computer problems will not be an acceptable excuse for late submission of assignments".

It got me thinking right away, maybe I need to give up my long love affair with PC computers and invest in an Apple Mac? Practically everyone in the Graphic Design industry uses the Mac's and most of the software that I am aware of is made initially for Mac's then introduced on the PC.

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I just don't think I can give up my PC! I love the PC. I know how to navigate everything, it all looks familiar, everything is set out right... it just works!

When I use Mac's I know the basics but for some reason everything feels a bit backwards to me. Maybe this is the lack of practice in using these systems, I don't know but my little "almost meltdown" earlier this week has definitely got me thinking.

Do you have a Mac or a PC? Which do you think is better? Which do you prefer? Are Mac's easy to get used to?

Just like my IPhone post back here, I'd love if you could all give me some of your feedback and thoughts! If you're a Mac user let me know what you love about it! Maybe I could love a Mac just as much as I love my PC too?!

Floods are no fun!

Last night about 10pm-ish, right about the time I was getting ready to snuggle into my bed, I heard a knock on my door. This is strange for my place since I have practically only moved in to this new unit (and I only just met my neighbour for the first time yesterday arvo at our shared clothesline!!) It was my neighbour telling me that we need to evacuate.

"What? Us? Here?!" Was my response. She said that she had spoken to the SES and all of Wagga Waggas' CBD was ordered to evacuate as the river was expected to reach its peak the following morning (this morning at 7am.)

Naturally being from the country (where over the last eleven years or so we are so used to having drought that the new loads of rain we have been getting have been not only unusual but hard to get used to) I started to panic a little. I've never had to be evacuated from my home before. (My hometown never floods like this!)

(I took this picture on my way home from class yesterday arvo of some of the water lying around the uni campus! It has gotten worse in the last 24 hours. These paddocks are usually bare!)

Although I am only 2 weeks new to this town I have a good friend who I rang immediately to confirm if we had to evacuate or not. At this point I was thinking it must be a mistake because I don't live that close to the river and I didn't think the flooding was that bad! She confirmed it with me on the phone and told me all of the things that I should do to make sure my unit was safe.

I unplugged all of my electrical goods (except my fridge) and put everything that I could lift on my own up as high as I could (I ran straight for my new TB boots! A girly thing to do, yes, but the thought of my new shoes floating around in smelly flood water was scary!!)

We ended up loading a small plastic box of my beloved things (including my laptop, some pictures of family and a small bag of clothes) into my car and we headed to higher ground. Thankfully my friend has other friends in Wagga that we are lucky enough to stay with while we wait to hear whether the levy bank that is protecting the city CBD from the flood water breaks or not when the river peaks.

We were told that the river was to peak at 7am this morning, then this time was pushed back to 9am, then to 3pm, now the latest news from the SES is that the river is moving slower than expected and now we are waiting until later this evening to hear that the river has peaked.

So at the moment its much of a waiting game for us. There are 9 of us "crashing" at Heidi's friends house until we get the "OK" that we can move back to our houses in Central and the CBD.

(Yesterday arvo this was my view - stuck in traffic trying to get home from my uni. You can vaguely see the flood waters of North Wagga in the distance. This water has also risen a lot!)

Of course the idea of a day off work or uni might sound exciting to most people but to be honest, I think I'd much rather be at uni class! Sitting around waiting, not sure whether your house and belongings are going to get wet and ruined is not a nice thing to have to do. Plus I miss my bed! :( I am currently sleeping on a couch, which is better than the floor like some of the other couples that are also staying here are having to do, but nothing is quite like sleeping in your own bed!

We are all hoping that the news is over-reacting a little and by tonight we will all be given the OK to go back to our homes, but who knows at this point? All we can do is keep checking online for updates and the listening to the radio and the news to find out what lies in store for us and all of the other 8000 evacuated residents from Wagga Wagga.

Please keep us in your thoughts. Floods are so not fun!

Simple design... primary shapes

This week in design class we have been set a task to look at logos. We have been given a hypothetical task to design a logo and an image for an ecological friendly, luxury resort.

One of the tasks has been to look at the stages of the design process and how long it takes to get from the initial stages of design to the final finished project.

Initially we are just brainstorming and having to use our creativity to use primary shapes (squares, circles, triangles) to create images that could look somewhat like logos.

Working on this task has really made me think about the simplicity of design and how simple shapes can become a well known identity of a major brand or label.

Of course these "Symbols" look very boring at present, but teamed with the right text, font and colour, any of these images could pass for a business logo.

Take the Commonwealth Banks' log for example; its just a diamond right?

Who would have thought that simple "primary" shapes slightly manipulated (added to or subtracted from) could make a simple, effective logo?!

Design continues to surprise me. I love the simplicity of it and how simple it can sometimes be.

Bright and happy snaps!

I was cruising the halls of my uni the other day in the Creative Industries department where I take my Graphic Design classes and I noticed something.

I'm studying a Bachelor of Graphic Design and minoring in photography, along the walls of the halls at uni are big prints of (I am assuming) ex-students photography work. They are all really good and interesting but they all have one thing in common.... they look "dark".
When I say dark I don't mean the contrast or shadows or that its hard to see whats in the pictures, I mean the whole feel of the pictures are dark and a little depressive.

I am by no means trying to be nasty or criticize any ones photography work because these pictures are really very good but to me I get a little gloomy when I see these types of photos.

When I think of photography I want to be able to take pictures that give off an emotion of course, but I am thinking more along the lines of bright, happy, beautiful emotions. I think if I do end up pursuing a career down the line that dabbles in photography this will be much more my style.

I get inspired by good pictures, and one photographer that I often follow is a lady by the name of Heidi Rookyard. She is awesome! She does weddings, family photos, portraits, engagement shoots... capturing all of the beautiful things in life! I found her on Facebook through some local people around my home town. She is based in the Central Western NSW area and creates some gorgeous pictures!

You can find her page of FB here.

Heidi's photography is definitely more my "style".



I have my first technical photography assignment due in about 2 weeks so I am going to start brainstorming some bright ideas for my subject!

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(If only it would stop raining here so I can get outside and explore for my assignment! It has been non-stop this week and I can hear more coming down on the roof right now, it sounds wild out there! I guess my backyard will be flooded again - which means that my laundry is cut-off, dang it! The washing will have to wait!!!)

How is the weather at your place today? I hear most of NSW is getting down-pour?!

The new girl...

In our lives at some point or another we have all been the "new girl" (or guy... whichever gender you are!).

At the moment I am the "new girl" everywhere. I've just moved to a new town, I've started a new uni course and all my classes are new, new faces at my part-time job, new people at the gym, new neighbours (that I still haven't met or even seen. I've been living in my unit and sharing a wall with this lady for almost 2 weeks now. Isn't that weird?!)

Hi, my name is Ellie and I am the new girl.

I guess I'm not the only one to a certain degree. The fact is that most of my new uni class mates are also "new".

With friends and family or in a place that I am familiar with I feel confident and bubbly and can chat to anyone. Most of my friends will disagree with me when I say this but, when it comes to meeting people, I am generally shy. The only thing that seems to get me by most times is the fact that I talk a lot. (Ask any close friends, or my boyfriend - he bares witness to the "Ellie" chatter a lot) I am an uncomfortable talker. I yip-yap and chitter chat and often do the awkward laugh or giggle when it feels necessary (of course when things get awkward.)

I think being a bit of a chatter puts me at an advantage when it comes to meeting people. Often I find that if someone doesn't start a conversation at some point, one will never start and all the "newbies" sit around awkwardly playing on their iPhones or twiddling their fingers. I'm every shy, new persons dream! That girl who tries to make the uncomfortable silence comfortable... if that's possible?! lol

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How do you meet people? What are your "tactics" when it comes to introducing yourself or making new friends?

M.I.A

Hello Bloggy Friends! I am sorry that I have been M.I.A (missing in action) lately!

Last weekend I packed up my little car and my Dad's car, loaded the trailer and headed down South to the Riverina! I have relocated here to finally start my uni course for the year! Uni hasn't officially started yet (my first class is on Monday the 27th!! Exciting!) but I decided to take some time to unpack and set myself up in my new little unit off campus!

During this move I was Internet-less!!! I can't believe how much I missed having readily available Internet. I didn't realise how much I used and depended on it until I had none! Even Internet on my trusty IPhone was slow and almost non-existent.

 (It seems that my new unit is in a bit of a black-hole when it comes to internet service because I can't even get ADSL wireless net connected here... sad face!)

Anyhow, I am back home in the country this weekend to get a few more things that I forgot and to have a night out on the town with some close friends because I wont be seeing them for a little while when I'm full time at uni.

Thankfully I am taking back to uni with me a new USB internet connection and I will be online in my unit when I get back to Wagga on Sunday wooo!!

I have much more blogging to do now that things are getting busier in my life!

At the moment I am kicking back in my mums new lounge room! She's been slowly re-doing it since my Dad finally agreed to let go of a ridiculously old brown leather couch that we have been trying to convince him to get rid of for years! (He is a bit of a hoarder my dear Dad!)

Mum purchased 3 gorgeous new white leather couches and has decided on a blue and white theme. I love it! She is slowly getting bits and pieces together and is re-using most of our timber furniture that we already had in the room. Its a work in progress but it already feels nicer to sit in this room and relax or watch TV. Isn't it funny how you change a few things in a room and the "vibe" just feels nicer?!

I am also lusting over my new Tony Bianco Tupelo boots that just arrived in the PO Box yesterday! Ahh, I love them! I am so in love with Tony Bianco shoes and they are currently having an awesome sale online. Some of their top-selling heels are on sale! Get in quick to get your size!!

On a final note, Feb-photo-a-day is almost over! I am still playing along on Instagram, you can see all of my posts there!

Until next time, take care :o)

Today I am grateful for...

Ambition!

Ever since about September last year I realised exactly what I wanted to do with myself this year!

I decided that I wanted to get myself together and go back to university and finish my degree in Graphic Design. As I was tripping around Europe I got a sense of "drive" come over me, a feeling of certainty and I knew that I was ready to work hard towards something that was not only going to make me happy but also be helpful towards my life in the future by hopefully opening up some career doors!

I feel grateful that I have a new found sense of ambition that drives me to look towards good things in my future and pushes me to work hard and strive for good things!

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What are you grateful for this week?

Share it with us over here at Maxabella's.

Living on a budget...

The phrase "saving money" has never been something I have ever taken so seriously before in my life until now. It's true that when you are a kid you don't really take spending money as seriously as we do when we are grown ups.

I have been so extremely fortunate in my life so far that my parents have supported me through almost everything that life has thrown at me, and most times they have always been there to offer financial support or backing if I needed it.

Now more than ever I am starting to FREAK out about my finances. Today I officially got enrolled in my Graphic Design uni course (YAY) after multiple conversations with my uni since October trying to get enrolled properly. I have rented myself a cute (and very tiny flat in Wagga Wagga) so I can live and go to uni and now that things are starting to unfold and the beginning of semester one is looming I am really having to think very hard about my finances and how I am going to go about saving (and making) money while I am at uni.

"Save your pennies" is going to be my new mantra.

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I'm not going to lie though, I do have a bit of a shopping problem!

PLUS, ever since I got back from my trip of a lifetime to Europe last year I have not thought about anything else than to travel again. I'm already looking up flight prices back to London at the end of this year providing my finances can help me get there!!

I decided the best way to learn about living on a budget is to Google it, right?! (Where in the heck would I be without Google?! Seriously people! lol).

Here are a few things that I learnt during my Google research:

1. Saving money is one of the hardest things that any one person will have to do in their lifetime. (No sh*t Internet!) - Savings Guide.com.au

2. Some good tips for saving money, from here: Cook at home often, brown bag lunch at least a few times a week (as in, make your own lunch in stead of buying it), instead of buying books borrow them from a library, ride a bike or try to carpool as much as possible and plan vacations ahead of time.

3. I found a really handy "Budget Planner" online from a Government website! Its actually pretty handy once you add in all of your own expenses and things. I've still gotta work it all out but it looks pretty handy to me!

Check it out here.

4. Also on this same website there is a link to a "Savings Goal" calculator which helps you work out how long it will take to reach a certain goal (i.e another expensive overseas trip!)

How do you save money? Or what are your handy tips to living on a budget?

Fill me in on any secrets you may have in a comment below!!!

Must have patience

So some of you may be wondering... what the heck happened the Ellie's "Lady Kina" cardi?!

Well folks, despite being hugely overwhelmed and bogged down by chemistry experiment reports, tonight I decided that I needed some "down time" from study and added a couple of extra rows to my cardi.

So here's a sneak peak of the (almost finished-but not quite) cardi.

(PLEASE PLEASE excuse and ignore the grey sweater shirt I have on under the cardi, I've been hanging about in comfy clothes all day at uni and was so not bothered to change into a nice singlet that would have looked better under the cardi to take pictures in! LOL)

I'm thinking at the moment that I may have made the "collar" part of the cardi a little too big (around the neck) but I'm sure it shouldn't look too bad once it's done and sitting right.

All that is left to do now is finishing knitting the garter stitch edging and then sew up the arm seams!!! How exciting!

Not far to go!

I'm off to do some more study.

Keep smiling :o)

Ellie..........x

Hitting the study books... again!

Hey there bloggy friends, I have once again been missing my special Blogland time as I'm "on the road again" headed to another uni session slog for 2 weeks on my university campus!

I'll be studying my little heart out for the next 2 weeks starting bright and early tomorrow morning with a 4 day chemistry lab session! (secretly shaking in my boots with nervousness!!! eeek)

(pic from here)

I'll try my very best to pop in over the next 2 weeks to catch you up on some of the happenings around here but I can't promise to be too interesting and crafting (unfortunately)

:o(

Hope to see you all again soon!

Ellie ....... x

All things knitty...

Hello there! I'm back in Blogland and thank goodness! I finally finished my exams for uni (the last one was today and I'm actually very pleased with how it all turned out!)

I'm so happy to be back blogging and crafting, even though my break was short I still missed knitting and crocheting (and was naughty and still squeezed some crafty time in between study! hehe)

Lately I've caught the knitting bug!! Since learning not too long ago I've been trying to learn a few new knitting skills here and there and in stead of being too scared to tackle projects on my own I have been very brave and have started some new knitted goodies!!

I've got so much on the go at the moment that I think I really need to start finishing some projects, but I'm just sooo inspired to start new things at the moment, I love it!!

My newest knitted project (started today) are some super cute winter garter mittens. Now, I know it isn't cold anymore but I thought that these little pretties would be good practice for me and will look awesome for next winter!!

How awesome does this yarn colour look?! I'm in LOVE with it. It's another of the gorgeous Cascades 12 ply in "Irene's fury" colourway. I think it looks great all knitted up!

For the pattern I'm using Jodie's garter mittens project to follow from Ravelry and she did some modifications on the original pattern by Ysolda Teague, you can find the pattern on Rav here.

Also currently in the workings is the "Ruff Neck Warmer" scarf that I mentioned in an earlier post from the pattern book "Pints & Purls". It's turning out soooo beautiful and I am in love with it already!

So far its just continuous rows of stockinette stitch (purling/knitting) so its fairly easy. The yarn I'm using is just too gorgeous to work with! It is quite slippery but just enough that it slides right off the needles and makes the 200 stitch repetition go pretty quickly.

More to come on these two projects! Can't wait to show you how they both turn out! What have you been crafting lately?

Ellie x

Hitting the study books....

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I have to apologise for being a little slack with the posting as late. I am currently in "exam mode" for my end of year uni exams. My first one is up tomorrow, (for those of my followers that don't know, I study Equine Science at uni via distance ed due to living way out West!).

So instead of crafting away like I'd LOVE so much to be doing right now, I've been trying to force myself to study. After the exam tomorrow I have one more on Monday and then I'm a free woman!!! (so to speak! lol)

I hope to get A LOT of crafting (crochet, knitting, sewing - I'm starting classes soon, can't wait to tell you all about them!!) done in my uni holiday break.

Until then, sadly I may be a little absent from my trusty blog :o(

Take care,

Ellie x