Crochet Stories - A Netgalley Review

Crochet Stories: Grimm's Fairy Tales

by Vanessa Putt

I had the pleasure of receiving a netgalley ARC of Vanessa Putt's Crochet Stories: Grimm's Fairy Tales crochet patterns. Vanessa Putt has created a truly wonderful resource for parents, teachers, childminders and any other professional who works with children. This book is a wonderful teaching resource as the author beautifully combines traditional Fairytales with her well written, clear patterns. 
The five fairy tales this book is based on are a mixture between well known classics and a couple of lesser known, the "old english" maybe hard to understand by very young children.
The patterns are all well written, with clear photos. Vanessa Putt gives ideas on how to personalise each figure separately. Beginners should carefully read the initial introductions by the author and use the information at the beginning of the book as a stitch and reference guide. 
I particularly enjoyed the Gingerbreadhouse pattern, although not very demanding to work up the pattern, the beautiful colour choices and creativity that can be put into the decorations are wonderful.
More experienced crocheters may want to adapt some of the more basic patterns, as these are straight forward amigurumis, this can easily be done. 
All in all this is a beautiful collection of patterns, with a new twist that will be a pleasure to have for many amigurumi enthusiasts. 

   

Shtum - A TBC Review

First read of 2016, I think it will be hard to top this one.

Shtum by Jem Lester

One of the best reads I have encountered in years! I was very excited to be given a free copy of this amazing book and to read an advance. I started reading Shtum late on Monday night, as I kept turning the pages, got more drawn into the story of Ben, Emma, Jonah and George, I found myself almost unable to stop. Ben and Emma's 10 year old son is profoundly autistic. In a bid to secure a suitable residential school place for Jonah, Ben and Emma separate. This leaves Ben and Jonah in a position that finds them both moving in with Ben's elderly father, George. 

As a mother of two autistic sons, I related right from the first few pages with the struggle Ben and Emma were facing. Having battled the local education authority twice myself, I could understand the desperation, the exhaustion and the turmoil this alone brings to a family. At times I found myself wanting to strangle the main characters, Ben evolved from a doting, loving father to a self pitying, heavily drinking and irritating person and I felt some sympathy for Emma. However, as the relationship between George, Jonah and Ben develops and little glimpses into Ben's past as well as George's emerge, my outlook on Ben changed again.
If all of this was not enough to take us readers on to an emotional rollercoaster ride, we then discover that this book is like a kinderegg.. you are treated to a story within the story. 
As a German national, whose grandfather was executed as a sympathizer to Jews,  George's own story had me gripped.
Jem Lester has written a book unlike any other I have ever read (I know bookreads says i read 246 but believe me, I have read more than that). It touches on two topics close to my heart: autism and the plight of the jewish population during the second world war. The story is well written, the twists and turns, the ups and downs, the pace at which new background information is revealed, all make for a gripping book. You will not be able to tear yourself away, you will want to know "what happens next" and "what happened THEN". 
The life lessons Ben and Emma are taught will stay with you, the reader, too. I don't think I will forget this book in a very long time.

Is it really February already?

How did that happen? It seems that I am finally getting the hang of this "single life" and I am starting to achieve little victories. I managed to stay with the DailySnappers Challenge for the month (although I cheated on a couple of days .. Shhhh I will have forgotten about this by the end of the year). We saw CJ's 18th birthday and managed to have a lovely time for about FOUR days! His "main birthday party" ended up in a lock in in the local pub - I figured each of my kids only turn 18 once so I have to take advantage of getting them drunk legally for the first time in their lives. 
The Birthday Cake probably deserves a mention too: Can we all say PINTEREST FAIL?!?!
In my defence, even though it looked rather unappealing it WAS quite yummy. Somehow I accidentally ended up making the perfect chocolate lava cake, all crunchy on the outside and fluffy with a molten core on the inside. Looks can be deceiving and as I am trying to let go of my "perfectionism" this year, I will be brave and post a photo of it!

Daily Snappers - January 2015

Turning 18

2015 - It's here, another new year

So, here we are again. Another new year, another promise to myself to be better at keeping with the various challenges I've set.

 I am hoping that I will make it past March this year :) but I know I have a bad track record so I am not putting pressure on myself.

 Last year saw so many changes, so many trials and ups and downs. Most of the time I felt unreal and couldn't make sense of what was going on around me. This year I will try and embrace this new life, I will try and find my way through life. 

I have signed up for #onelittleword and I am, once again, joining in with #dailysnappers.

 I am not sure how I will keep up to date this year but I will make a more conscious effort to do so. 

This year will hopefully be about learning to enjoy life, to accept and embrace any challenges, to know when to ask for help and when to try and work things out on my own. 

A very happy new year to everyone. Herd is to new beginnings, hope and adventure.

Up to date .. but i bet not for long

So, I am finally up to date again.. but I bet it won't be long before I'm "catching up" again. If something so simple as writing ONE blog post a day seems impossible, how on earth am I supposed to cope with daily life?

Anyway, I forced myself out today to find something yellow, no, I didn't enjoy it or find this "sense of achievement" and, to be honest, I can't see why or how forcing myself to go out is going to make me feel better. 

Yellow

February

Days 52 - 59 Trying to keep with this...

I really don't do well with this blogging thing... I wish I had something good to put on here but the best I can manage is some bad snapshots. 

Village

(Didn't) win

Chill

I did this

Knot

Plastic

Tidy

Routine

Day 49 - 51 Still Catching Up

I'm too bored to come up with anything.. 

Last Mint

Practicing Zentangles

Athletic Footwear

Days 45 - 48 Catching Up

This blogging thing really doesn't seem to sit right with me... I wish I could produce a wonderful blog like so many other "Mommy bloggers" (I hate that term but I guess that is what they're officially called) out there, but it just doesn't seem to happen. 

I suppose I could regale you all with some wonderfully weird tales about our life in a household with three autistic family members, it does get hilarious at times especially as the three of us seem to be literal about different things. Or I could impart some of the new, mostly disastrous, recipes I try to conjure up... or maybe give reviews on my recent Ebay antics (now THAT would be funny to read, especially the window replacement story).. or maybe I should just stick with trying to keep up to date with my own 365 photo challenge... that might be a good start!

Life here is the same as normal, resembling the best white knuckle rollercoaster ride you can conjure up in your mind, then do it again and again and again and again.. you get the picture... you get to the point where you just scream "GET ME OFF THIS RIDE" in a wild panic, only nobody can hear you over the deafening soundtrack that is blaring out of the speakers all around you. Today, I am happy to report, was a mostly gentle up and down with no loopdeloops thrown in. 

I finally caved and upgraded my most loved iphone4S to the most hated IOS7, all because i came across FOUR apps that wouldn't work with my beloved, trusty old IOS6.1.x but i NEEDED those apps... I am willing to bet you hard cash that I will now find that most of my old favourite apps won't work on IOS7. 

Oh, in case you are wondering why I'm boring you all to sleep with a lenghty blog post tonight.. it's simple: I'm waiting for said IOS7 upgrade to finish so that I can get my favourite camera app back on there and take a halfway decent photo for today's "short" prompt. I was getting seriously stuck again (and yes, I was also stuck for learn.. and my idea for THAT caused the needed upgrade), had a BIG brainwave for short.. and something that might even be worth putting into a Project Life tiny little 3x2 pocket at some point! 


1. Catch up: Love is.. something weird if you ask me. I am apparently as romantic as a concrete wall or slug or both. I really don't do this mushy, slushy, lovey, dovey doo stuff at all.. I'd rather show people I love them all year round than on just one given day, when the shops tell me to. As the husband had gotten me a card and a mini galaxy bar, I kind of had to go back on my earlier resolution of ignoring Valentine's Day completely and undertook the absolute act of love: I walked all the way to the shops in the pouring rain (I thought some choice words about the little thugs who smashed my car window) and managed to find a not too overly slushy card and bargain box of chocolates! Those I think were meant to be given to a woman, but they were half price and bigger than the galaxy bar I got. And, to top it off, I arranged his food in a heart shape.. now that is as far as my romantic effort goes. 

Learn: Something I covered last year as part of the "Learn Something New Every Day" Challenge that never made it past day 3 of being scrapped. I did find my notes the other day, so I suppose I could carry on making the odd page here or there.. or I could start that Project Life album. Anyway, I had a quote learning and being taught with the blogpost and mentioned how I loved using modern technology to carry on learning all sorts of wonderful and weird things. I often have a look on my ipad or iphone on the iUniversity app to see what they have new... it really is a great app and there are lots of different subject matters that are covered. Another great tool to use is podcasts.. literally millions of bite sized bits of information delivered straight to your idevice.

Medal: My flappy bird medal.. I've since moved to level 33!! And some of son number 1's medals he has collected over the last 3 or so years... he used to have hundreds of trophies and medals in our old home, but, like so many other things, they are now lost. 

I got really behind with the Lucky7s shapes.. this one was the last prompt I took a photo of.. my iphone headphones always turn into a fluid, tangled mess for some reason.

My "short fuse" can sometimes cause problems.. I try to be more patient and remind myself that things are never quite as bad as I think they are, but it is an ongoing struggle. 

Day 44 - close

I am still on the catch up.. but at least I am not behind on photos and actually have quite a few to choose from. 
We had many "close" happenings this week, in just about every sense of the word! But I hope that we will be able to close off some of the stuff and move forward. Some people came very close to actual bodily harm, some people came very close to pushing me over the edge, other people became a lot closer to me. I know this is all rather cryptic and some part of me thinks it might be good for me to literally spell out what has been happening, but not on a public platform such as this. Lessons were learned, and maybe it would actually turn this blog into something with purpose if I did share more, but for the moment I am just putting this here as a "mental note to self". 
For the photo I chose my gathered Project Life goodies, putting them in one pile means I am that bit closer to starting something that I have been planning on doing for the last four years. But, because our life either resembles a soap opera or is so tedious and boring that nothing noteworthy happens, I have never even come close to starting.

The Lucky7s shape is Oval... I don't think you can get more oval than an egg :)

Day 41 - 43 A catch up

Despite all the uproar I forced myself to take some photos.. if I set a challenge, I should at least try to keep up. Blogging the photos seems to be a whole different story though, taking 2 minutes to take a bad snapshot that fits the word is one thing, writing about it on days your mind is in a whirl, well that's something I haven't figured out yet. I'm forcing myself to calm down (or should I say relax) about the situations, at the end of the day, it has happened now and no amount of my being upset, disappointed, hurt, angry, frustrated and betrayed is ever going to change the past. I guess all that is left to do now is to look forward and work with what we have.

When we are no longer able to change a situation - we are challenged to change ourselves.

Viktor E. Frankl

Timed.. My egg timer app gives us perfect eggs every time

Square/rectangle My little cookie dough tin

                                   

Bit of a cheat.. Metal (for my crochet hook) and Circle for Lucky7s

Never fails to cheer me up.. I was stuck with this but the boys really NEVER fail to cheer me up

Silver linings are not obvious ones.. the biggest one must be that I had a really good chat with my mum, anybody who knows about me and my mum, will know how extraordinary that is! For her to agree with me and to tell me that I did a job well, it has to be in the region of perfect. I am learning that I'm living through things I never thought I could, and that no matter what, there is always another day after a night's sleep. It may be just as much of a rubbish day as the one before, but there will be another one.