The yarn I ordered from Woolspire.com arrived yesterday, and I absolutely love everything! So. Much. Gorgeous. Yarn!!! I have decided to split the yarn haul into two posts, because I've already started working with some of the yarn. I have so many ideas for the yarn, and I'll share some of them below. Let's get started!
This yarn is the "Stella" metallic yarn by Järbo. It's so freaking soft! I'm thinking this would make some awesome arm warmers, possibly a cowl. The yarn is fairly thin though, so a cowl might take forever to make.
This is the Mayflower "Divine" yarn in the colour "rainbow". It's actually a sock yarn, but the product description says that it can be used for other things as well. I'd love to make some colourful arm warmers with this yarn. I might buy more of this yarn at some point, and make myself a pair of awesome rainbow socks.
This is the Mayflower "Sunset" yarn in neon green. I got two balls of this one, because it was on sale and also because it's such an awesome colour. My camera made the colour more muted, and though I tried to make it more vibrant again in photoshop, it still isn't as bright as it is in person. Seriously, it's so bright that it almost hurts my eyes when I look at it! =P I want to make arm warmers with this one.
Can you tell that I'm really crazy about the Mayflower yarns? =P This is the Mayflower "Italy" in blue and silver. I'm thinking this one will look nice as a cowl, which should be fairly quick to make since the yarn is so thick. I got two of these.
This is Du Store Alpakka "Sterk" in the colour "lindegrønn", which obviously is a shade of green. =P
I intended this one to be part of a project I will reveal in the next yarn haul post, but I decided that it didn't really fit with the rest of the colours. I don't have any plans for this one right now, but I'm sure I'll find some use for it eventually.
That's what I'm calling it. I recently applied for a summerjob at one of the hospitals here, and I had promised myself that if I got it, I would treat myself to some yarn from Woolspire.com. Well, I got the job, and today a whole bunch of yarn accidentally fell into my shopping cart and I accidentally ordered all of it. Ahem. I did get a 15% discount when I made an account on that site though, so there's that. I actually think I got a lot of yarn for the money I spent. I shall update with pictures when the package arrives.
I already have a nice stash of yarn here, so it's not like I needed any of it, but I just have so many potential projects in my head. I'm not supposed to crochet so much either, because I have lots of school work and a huge exam in June that I need to study for. Can't wait until I'm done with the exam, I'm going to crochet like mad after it!
One of my current projects, which I'm almost done with. Not so easy to see, but it's a wavy cowl in merino wool.
I've been planning this post for a while, but actually sitting down and writing it has taken some time. I'm pretty sure I've written a million times that I'll try to post more often, but I never manage to do it. This post might make it a bit clearer why this is so difficult for me. The short version is that I just can't be bothered. The slightly longer version is this:
When I started this blog, I was really into hair care and growing long hair. It was one of my hobbies and I felt quite passionate about it. Over the years, the passion has faded. It turns out that it's really difficult to write a blog about something you don't care about. I have tried to write things, planned blog posts, but never managed to actually sit down and write any of it.
I even find that I'm tired of TLHC, which has been my safe haven for several years. I just feel so tired of seeing all the same questions asked again and again, the obsessing over hair length, texture and quality, the same misinformation about what products are good and bad, and the biotin thing. No, taking ridiculous amounts of biotin is not safe and it will not magically make your hair grow. You risk seriously damaging your kidneys! It's one of the most frustrating things I see on that forum.
I realise that I shouldn't complain much, because I used to obsess over my hair and I had some strange ideas about what products were good and what products I thought were "pure evil". It's how most new members are, and most of them grow out of it eventually. It still makes me want to gauge my eyes out with a flexi-8 though, and I find it annoying to always have to avoid certain parts of the forum. I suppose limiting my time on the forum would be a good idea.
I have other things in my life that makes me happy. Most importantly is my boyfriend and my cat, of course, but I always find tremendous amounts of joy in creating things. I love making kanzashi flowers and hair pins, and crochet is my favourite hobby at the moment. I've been thinking about getting back into fractal art too, which I did for many years. So this will be the biggest change in this blog. It's not about my hair anymore, but about the things I create during my spare time. I will of course post pictures of my hair and hair accessories every now and then, but it will mostly be crochet and kanzashi from now on.
Life is busy with school and lots of homework, but I've had time to make some more stuff for my shop. I'm also participating in my first self-made swap on TLHC, so some time is spent making stuff for my giftee too. I'm not fussing much about my hair anymore, I just let it do its thing. It's currently around hip length, so I'm planning on letting it grow a bit longer and then cut back to waist or something.
I received some more ribbons the other day (because I definitely needed more!), and one of them was in a lovely fuchsia colour. I decided to make myself a cherry blossom comb with it, and here's the result. I was thinking of putting it in the shop, but then I changed my mind. I'd rather keep it myself. I haven't made any hair flowers for myself in ages, mainly because of the summer swap on TLHC. That reminds me, I need to buy some more yellow flower stamen. Off to ebay!
Hi! Yeah, I know, I'm a terrible blogger. I'm just so terribly busy doing all the things, like being a student and working! Today I'm dropping by with some shameless self-promotion great news! I think I've mentioned before that I make kanzashi flowers, right? Well, now I've started selling them too! I opened up a shop on etsy a few days ago, and so far I've got 3 items up and not a whole lot of information, but I'm working on it. Here's a link to my shop. Hopefully I'll be able to put more items up soon. :)
A new flexi-8 from cultmate.de arrived yesterday. Silver dragonfly with blue beads and blue danglies. I absolutely adore this one.
A week ago I decided to spice up my red hair colour with some Directions dye. I used Vermillion Red on the top layer and Pillarbox red on the bottom layer, but I can't see any difference between the colours. Next time I'll stick to one colour all over. I really enjoy the deeper red I get from using temporary dyes over the henna, and it's not too much of a hassle to do either. It took about 1 hour or maybe a bit less to apply, and I left it on for around 2 hours. I know that you're supposed to leave it on for much longer, but I'm too impatient for that. I still think I got a great result.
I've only washed once since I dyed, and I'm trying to stretch washes a bit in order to make the colour last longer. I usually wash every 3-4 days, but this time I went 7 days without washing.
I want to try Flame or Fire next time, and I'm also toying with the idea of using Cerise some day, because I love that colour.
After rinsing out the dye and drying my hair:
Next day, after curling my hair a bit with bendy rollers:
Today, after washing and drying:
I made the ponytail by taking two sections of nape hair, putting them around the remaining hair and securing them on top with a flexi-8 in size XS.
Two new members of the "Itty Bitty Flexi-8 Committee" arrived yesterday! I already have Emerald Dream in size L and Brilliant Bluem in size XL, and I love both of them. When I saw that Emerald Dream suddenly was available on LillaRose again, I knew that I needed a tiny one for half-ups. Both of these are in XS. Sadly I didn't get action pictures, because my camera ran out of battery.
Smashed my hair into a big, messy bun and clamped it down with two Ficcares today. I had to put it up somehow, and I ended up with this. It's very comfortable, and I'll definitely try to recreate it tomorrow.
In other news, I only have one week left of my nursing home internship! Can't believe I'm almost done, these last 7 weeks have gone incredibly fast. I've learned a lot and I've had so much fun there. I'm a bit sad that this is my last week, but at the same time, it's going to be great to get back to school after the easter break. I'm ready to do some hardcore studying to prepare for my exam in june. June is still far away, but I have two enormous books about diseases and medical conditions that I need to read and learn, and I also have a ton of other assignments and projects at school. I think I'll be pretty exhausted by the time this semester is over.
I finally broke down and bought a Pearlized Caramel clip from cultmate.de. I've wanted one for ages, because I love the colour and swirly pattern. It's not as warm and orange-ish as it looks in the pictures on cultmate, but still very pretty. I really want a Dark Topaz Jewel too, but that will have to wait. I also have to say that I'm incredibly impressed with how fast this clip arrived. I bought it last tuesday, and it was here on saturday! Cultmate is awesome =D
With flash
Daylight, no flash.
I call this "the peanut butter jelly bun" =D
I finally cut my hair! My original plan was to wait until Easter break, but then I changed my mind. I cut off 30-35 cm in the end of February, and I love it. I'm now back to around waist-hip with layers and a U-hemline. My hair feels great, so silky and soft, and it's super-easy to detangle. I wear half-ups a lot, and only bun when I'm at work. Bunning is a bit of an issue due to the thickness of my hair, but I usually manage to get it up somehow. I love my Ficcares, because that's pretty much the only clip that can keep my hair in place. I also use a lot of bobby pins, and I have to keep some in my purse or pocket, just in case my updo explodes =P
A few hours after the cut, hair slightly wet.
The day after, combed out and very fluffy.
Half-up buns with claw clips
Half-up with small flexi-8, after doing sock bun curls
Like almost every other member on LHC, I've been drooling over Stella K's gorgeous satin cherry blossoms. I didn't have the correct size ribbons and I didn't have any green ribbons, but I decided to give it a go anyway. The result isn't perfect, but I'm still pretty happy. I glued my flowers to a pice of felt, so I could use it as a flower slide for my Ficcares. I'll try to get some pictures in daylight tomorrow.
I think I want to make one with just the light pink and cream ribbons next time.
I think we should just conclude that I'm a terrible blogger. Seriously. I didn't forget about the blog, I just kept saying to myself "I'll do a post tomorrow instead". Clearly "tomorrow" means "never" in my world. Ah well. Once again I'll try to get better, but I'm not making any promises. =P
Since last time I posted, I've decided that I'll cut my hair back to waist during the easter break. I'm sick of these damaged, ratty, tangly ends, and I also want to wear my hair down more. I guess I'm just in the mood for a big change. I'll probably end up letting it grow long again after that, because I seriously doubt I'll be able to remember to cut my hair. =P
I've also learned to make fabric and satin flowers, which is a lot of fun. I made an obnoxiously huge tulip comb for myself today, and I'm so thrilled with it. I may open an etsy store some day, otherwise I'll probably drown in satin flowers.
I'm finally done with the written exams, and now I've only got a practical exam left. I feel like the exams went pretty well, but definitely not as good as I would have liked. I'll find out the results in a few weeks. If I'm really unhappy with the grades, I can try again in a year, so it's not the end of the world.
In hair related news, I cut my hair today. I had reached classic when stretched, and now it's back to tailbone. My ends were so tangly, ratty and awful that combing was a nightmare, and it was such a struggle to put my hair up because the buns had become so heavy. Almost every updo pulled and was uncomfortable. I'm much happier with my hair now, I just need to buy some new hair scissors to even up the hemline and add layers. I purchased a pair of scissors this week, but it turns out they were completely useless. It felt like I was trying to cut fabric with paper scissors! It was damn near impossible to cut evenly, and I feel like all the hairs are going to get split ends from that cut. It was really awful. :( I'm sure I can fix the damage with another trim and a lot of s&d though.
My original plan was to cut back to hip+, but I'm very happy I decided to not cut that much. My hair is still long enough to do my favourite bun, the figure 8. It's more explody than usual, but holds well with a Ficcare.
Before the cut:
After the cut:
I just realised that I haven't posted since the middle of October. Whoopsie! I really didn't mean for it go so long between each time I post. The reasons for not posting are that I've been busy (as usual), I've been studying for my exams and I've been on the move. My boyfriend bought an apartment a while ago, and we moved in last week. All my stuff is currently in boxes, except for my school books and hair toys. Hopefully things will start settling down soon, and I'll have time to post more frequently.
My go-to bun lately has been the figure 8 with Ficcare. Simple, comfortable, and it looks pretty elegant most of the time (until my layers and grown-out bangs explode out of the bun).
