August Moments

Here are a few snaps from my phone of some of the things I've gotten up to in August. Some of the highlights were seeing the signs of spring more and more everyday (in particular the pretty cherry blossoms and the longer days), making daisy chains in the afternoon sun, and celebrating my 22nd birthday! Here are a few more things that I have been up to...

EATING | Turkish delight cupcakes by the lovely Kristy Hooper, Raspberry pancakes from the raspberry farm, sticky pork belly bun by Eats with Beats (my most favourite thing to eat ever!), Vietnamese food from the restaurant Mekong, and Tacos de Pancho's tacos, just to name a few! Let's say I won't be needing to eat much during September!

MAKING | My granny square blanket, a pattern for my new dress design, a new quilt featuring squares of my favourite vintage fabrics to be able to keep a piece of them all forever. 

BUYING | A new pair of jeans that I actually like, top deck chocolate, a new Essie nail polish, and vintage sheets to make into dresses.

LOVING | Being half way through this semester already, getting back into blogging again, that the days are getting warmer and longer, the fact that I have finally convinced Matt to read Harry Potter, and that I have mid-semester break this week!

Hope you've had a lovely month too!

Twenty Two

On Tuesday I turned 22, and to celebrate Matt and I went on a road trip to the raspberry farm for lunch. This trip, of course, included a stop in Deloraine to visit the cute vintage and antique shops and a visit to the famous shop, Reliquaire (sadly, we ran out of time for the chocolate factory and Ashgrove's cheese). It was such a fun day and it was so good just to spend the whole day with Matt, as we have both been really busy lately and haven't been able to see each other as much as we would like! I'm excited to see what the next year brings, and am kind of hoping that this year slows down a little bit, as it didn't feel like I was 21 for very long at all!    

How To Make A Granny Square

Today I'm sharing a tutorial on how to crochet a granny square. Granny squares are super easy to make once you know how, and the end result is adorable! At the moment I'm making a granny square blanket and if you would also like to, then hopefully this will help you get started! Crochet terms are different all over the world, but for this tutorial I will be using the Australian terms (the same as the British terms, I'm pretty sure!) Okay, let's get started!

First, what you will need:

+ Some cute and colourful wool.

+ A crochet hook (I used a 4mm crochet hook)

+ A tapestry needle (a needle that wool can be thread through)

+ A pair of scissors

1. To begin, make a slipknot with your first choice of wool and thread your hook through it. 

2. Make four chain stitches, letting the hook do all of the work and making sure they aren't pulled too tight.

3. Join the chain stitches with a slip stitch into the first chain stitch, creating a ring. This is the foundation for your square. Make three chain stitches (this creates the first treble for the round).

4. Next to the 3 chain stitches, make two treble stitches. This is the first cluster of stitches.

5. Make two chain stitches in order to create the corner of your square. 

6. Make three more treble stitches to create the next cluster. 

7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 another two times to create all four clusters.

8. Make two chain stitches and poke the hook into the top edge of the first treble cluster.

9. Slip stitch into the top edge of the first treble cluster to end the first round.

10. Finish the first round by cutting the wool and slipping the thread through to hook loop and pull tight. 

11. To begin the next round, take your second choice of wool and slip knot it onto the hook. Then slip stitch into a corner of the first round and make three chain stitches. 

12. Similar to the first round, make two treble stitches next to the three chain stitches, then make two chain stitches and make three more treble stitches to make the first corner of the second round. Make one chain stitch to create the gap between the corner cluster and the next cluster.

13. Repeat this three more times to make the second round, remembering to make two chain stitches in between the corner clusters and to only make one chain stitch in between all other clusters. Finish off round.

14. Take your third choice of wool and repeat the same steps as for round two. Each round has more clusters then the last. 

15. Repeat again for your fourth choice of wool...

16. ...and your fifth choice of wool. I have chosen to only have five rounds for my granny squares but you can choose to keep going for as little or as long as you like.

17. To finish your granny square sew up all of the ends by threading the tapestry needle and threading through 3-4 stitches at the back of the granny square.

18. Then thread through the same stitches again but this time thread the other way to ensure the wool won't some undone. Repeat for all of the ends. As this is the boring part of crocheting, I like to stitch each finished square as I go so I don't end up with lots of squares to sew up right at the very end. 

And there you have it! An easy, and super cute, granny square! I hope this tutorial has help and inspired you to maybe crochet a granny square blanket of your own! If you have any questions leave a comment and I will hopefully be able to answer them. Also, let me know if you do have a go, I would love to see it! 

Shop Update

This morning I added a bunch of new dresses to my Etsy shop, all of which are ready to ship and have been made in a variety of sizes and styles. At the moment I'm working on some new dress designs so these may be the last dresses made in these styles and fabrics. If you like the look of any of the dresses, but there aren't any of your sizes available, feel free to send me and Etsy message or leave a comment here and I can see if I can custom make one for you.
The new designs I'm working on are very heavily influenced by the 1950s and I'm thinking of making them in only vintage and pre-loved fabrics, therefore making each dress unique and one of a kind. I'll definitely share some pictures of the new styles soon!  

Love Eat Make

LOVE | As you might have gathered from this post, I have really been loving Essie nail polishes lately. Above are the shades Forever Yummy and Mint Candy Apple. I love both! Hoping to add a few more lovely shades to my collection soon. 

EAT | Something I have been eating (well technically drinking) a lot lately is T2 Tea, in particular French earl grey. I love a good earl grey and this one is extra special, as it has a delicious floral flavour with petals even mixed through the tea leaves. Definitely one of my favourites! 

MAKE | Yesterday afternoon I went to the park with the kids I nanny and we sat in the afternoon sun making daisy chains. It was so relaxing, and made me very excited for spring! 

Essie Forever Yummy

Over the last couple of weeks I've been working hard on an assignment for uni and after I had submitted it and presented it to the class on Tuesday, I decided to treat myself to a new Essie nail polish. I've wanted a dark red nail polish for ages (I have lots of bright reds) and this one, called forever yummy, was just the shade I was after! I've been really loving Essie nail polishes lately and am very pleased with this one! I've also got my eye on this, this and this and will definitely have to add them to to my collection soon!  

Granny Square Blanket

As I mentioned in this post, I try to make a new crochet blanket every winter. This year I started a big granny square blanket made from some of my mums scrap wool. In the past I've always followed a pattern and a strict colour theme when making a blanket, so it's really fun to just be able to make it up as I go and pick which ever colours I'm feeling at the time. Even though this blanket is really bright and quite different to anything I have done in the past (you can see some of my other crochet blankets here and here) I really really love it and am thinking of maybe doing something similar but with a black or grey border instead of the white next! 

Do you love crochet too? Or would you maybe like to learn how to? I'm thinking of posting a tutorial on how to make a granny square, if I can figure out an easy and understandable way to do it (I have a feeling I crochet left handed which could be a bit of an issue ha!). If I can figure it out, I will try to have a tutorial up before winter ends!    

25 Facts About Me

Today I thought I would share 25 random facts about me so that you might be able to get to know me a little better. Hope you find them interesting, and be sure to let me know if you have any similar facts about you! 

1. I live in Tasmania, a small but very beautiful island just below the Australian mainland.
2. I'm currently studying to become an interior designer. I'm in my second year and even though I love what I'm studying, I'm not really enjoying uni at the moment.
3. I love the colour mint green.
4. I'm left handed.
5. I work as a nanny for the two most lovely kids and I love it!
6. Cats are my favourite animal and I have the most adorable cat in the world and his name is Rocky.
7. I use the word 'lovely' a lot.
8. My favourite dessert is creme brûlée.
9. I dream of one day living in a mint green house that has lots of pretty red roses out the front.
10. I'm terrified of spiders.
11. The 1950s is my favourite era. The dresses were so pretty!
12. I'm contemplating making my wedding dress.
13. I love rainy days.
14. I've never dyed my hair, but I would really like to dye it blue.
15. One day I would like to live in southern France.
16. I'm not a big meat eater and could easily be a vegetarian.
17. My middle name is Louise.
18. I don't like artificial light and would much prefer to have a lamp on instead of using the main light.
19. My favourite season is Autumn.
20. I love crocheting, and try to make a new crocheted blanket every winter.
21. I get really nervous before public speaking.
22. I'm an early riser and am usually up before 7am.
23. I have very fair skin and never tan.
24. I love Harry Potter.
25. I wish I could sew and make things all day, everyday.

{Image by Klara Morante}

Melbourne | Adriano Zumbo

While I was in Melbourne last month, I went and visited Adriano Zumbo's patisserie in South Yarra. My friend Coby (who I was in Melbourne with) is a baking lover and it was therefore a high priority on her list of things to do while in Melbourne. One of the reasons we were really excited to go to Adriano Zumbo was for his amazing macaron flavours. We were not disappointed! The flavours that I opted for on the day were: caramelised white chocolate, salted buttered popcorn, toasted marshmallow, hazelnut praline, finger bun, and salted butter caramel on toast. They were definitely the most amazing macarons I have ever eaten. 

Have you tried Adriano Zumbo's macarons? If so, which flavours were your favourites? 

July Favourites

Here are a few things I have been loving during the month of July...

1. Getting Engaged. Definitely my most favourite thing of the month (or the year!). I can't believe I have been wearing this beautiful ring for a whole month already!

2. One Line A Day. I started this journal at the start of this year but have really loved documenting all of the excitement that this month has brought. The whole idea of the journal is to write down one line about your day, everyday for five years. I'm so glad I started it this year. I think it will be a really nice book to keep and look back on when I'm older. 

3. Wedding Magazines. This month I have added a few wedding magazines to my magazine collection. I have loved reading through all the different wedding stories and finding some ideas and inspiration. They will come in very handy when I begin to really start planning this wedding. 

4. Spaces. A book that I have been really loving is Spaces by Frankie Magazine. It's a nice big book that features lovely, inspiring spaces of creative people. Definitely a good one to read if you are re-doing your work or home space! 

5. Vintage Handkerchiefs. My final favourite that I want to share are these pretty vintage hankies that I have been collecting for an exciting project that I will be sharing sometime very soon! 

I hope you like my favourite things for this month. What's something you've really enjoyed in July?