#Cybher – The Day Mollie Makes + Simply Crochet Taught me how to Crochet

I love knitting, I love sewing, painting, drawing, getting in a mess basically although it is very rare that I get to combine digital and crafts. The #Cybher  conference was amazing opportunity to focus on the future of my own personal blog as well as a chance to think about blogging as a way to gain support of a product or idea (More on that another time).
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Mollie Makes is a magazine I was introduced to by a friend and I’ve not missed an issue since! So it was a pleasure to actually meet some of the staff that are behind the magazine. Unfortunately I couldn’t get to grips with the circle so left to carry on attending sessions….

Clearly I still had some more to learn from the experts. I’ve been knitting from a young age, a few family members also knit. My Grandmothers sister was the crochet pro, I never had chance to meet her, I have however seen some photos of her work including a stunning wedding dress!

I have seen many fantastic patterns that I wished I could convert into knitting patterns, somehow two needles seemed much simpler. Same way planting seeds is easier than harvesting them. So I went back to the Mollie Makes area and met one of the lovely ladies from Simply Crochet who was determined to get me “hooked”. Less than 40 minutes later I had got to grips with one needle and managed to complete a circle!

I haven’t yet picked a project to start on yet, but I do have a shelf full of magazines to inspire me. Let me know what sites you use for inspiration.

The Dead Women of Juarez

I’ve always preferred my books to focus on the lighter side of life, more comedies and happy endings. I have to admit that reading a book that focuses on femicide in mexico would not fit with my other reads. The part that strikes me more is that this is a current issue, in may this year there was a call for action to stop these crimes being dismissed and neglected .It scares me to think that as a woman you could at any moment be taken away from all you love, never to be seen again and never to be searched for by the police in a place that you call home.

The book  The Dead Women of Juarez by Sam Hawken is a very interesting read, it tackles not only the devastating impact of these crimes, but paints a picture of the culture that surrounds it. It is not heavy on description in some of the more graphic sections, yet there is no need for heavy descriptions when the act/crime/murder is being committed. Sam Hawken manages to strike nerves with only a few sentences and leaves you with no comfort that it turns out okay. The book highlights the issue that without help, it is a never-ending cycle of crime without punishment. Loss without the ability to truly mourn. The story follows Kelly, an american boxer and Sevilla, a detective trying to gain control in a situation that is constantly trying to crush them. There is no happy ending, there is quite a lot of pain for all the characters. It will be a while until I pick up this book again, mainly due to still feeling unsure of how to read the beginning once you know the ending. I have however been recommending it to everyone!

I am soon to start Tequila Sunset which is also about crime near the mexico/texas border. I would like to know of more books, both fact or fiction about femicide as even though it churns my stomach, I feel it is important to understand the dangers faced by women around the world and how it is has been written about.

One task complete

A while ago I posted about my tasks for this year, a list of things I wanted to do that were NOT focused on my career + education. I completed one of these tasks a few weeks back and forgot to say about it…..I TOUCHED MY TOES….. without bending knees and so on, apparently its all in the one swift movement not the slow stretch (Lesson learnt).

It has been ages since I’ve done a foodie post, for the first time in a while I am attempting a Chinese recipe out of Gok’s Cooks Chinese. I Love cooking and baking…well I love anything I can eat. When I first moved down from Preston to work in the big smoke, a friend of mine took me for dim sum. My first dim sum experience and I LOVED IT! So when I saw the recipe I simply had to try it.

Blogging Fatigue

I’ve been falling behind on my blogging, not because I’m too busy nor is it because I have nothing to talk about.

I’ve found that when I start to write up a blog, I feel drained and then decide to move onto another task. Which is how I’ve been feeling for a few months. I was very lucky to be able to attend #Cybher which gave me the chance to chat to other bloggers. I was amazed at the people there, the blogs they run and how they run them. I also discovered that a few people also felt that their blogs were sometimes forgotten or neglected.

I’ve started 5 blogs so far over the past month and this is the first one I’ve been able to post. I’d love to hear how you get over your blogging fatigue?