What's in my head? A rundown...

I haven't blogged for a while and that's because there's nothing going on which lends itself to one post on a particular subject, and also because I've been wrapped up in a university essay! So instead I'm just going to write everything down that's going through my head (craft related of course!) just so you can all see what lies ahead.

Snoods: These are EVERYWHERE at the moment. Karen knitted herself one and Jane sneakily got her mum to knit her one! My friend bought one in Primark the other day for £5 and while she was trying it out I was wondering whether I could make one for cheaper. The decision was ultimately 'of course I can'! So I picked up some chunky wool that would go well with the colour of my coat (which is a plum colour so some colours might clash!) and have just started knitting myself one in a simple 2x2 ribbing.

As an aside, me and my friend can't agree, is snood pronounced with the 'oo' sounding like in food or like in hood? I was arguing for it being more like the oo in hood, so I say 'snud' and she says 'snoooood'. Haha.

Christmas presents: It's looming, I even went to the turning on of the Christmas lights in my city the other day (and there were lots of freebies and free wine on offer which makes a poor student very happy!) so I'm aware I need to get thinking about pressies. Last year I bought my mum a cake stand because she was insistent that she wanted one, however since I bought it for her it's never had any cake on it and spends it's life as more of a posh fruit bowl! So I've decided that I'm going to make her some Christmas cupcakes (in the style of mini Christmas cakes) so that she can actually put her cake stand to good use! I might also make her a dress, but am still a bit undecided about that.
For my dad, I want to make him my own version of a sweetie selection box. So I'm going to find a plastic toolbox or tupperware with lots of little compartments and fill it with his favourite sweets.
My brothers probably won't appreciate anything I make so I'll probably have to shell out for something for them as they're of an age where designer labels are the most important thing ever!
My housemates also want to do a Secret Santa and they've decided that we should try and make our gifts handmade where possible, this was decided on the same day I gave one housemate her knitted hat for her birthday so I think I may have swayed this idea! So it sounds like there'll be a lot of sewing and knitting going on in the next two months!

Other Christmassy stuff: I've decided I want to have a go at making my own Christmas crackers. I saw the snaps in Hobbycraft and thought I could have a lot of fun making my own and personalising them for my family members! However my mum usually has a specific colour scheme for the table at Christmas so I need to find out what that is before I get started! Toilet roll tube collecting starts now! ;-)

Sewing: I go home for reading week on Thursday which means I'll finally be reunited with my sewing machine and will be able to make the skirt I've been wanting to make for the past month! You see I bought this skirt from Topshop (well I bought it for 1/3 of the price off eBay!):

 

However, when it arrived it was a lot shorter than I would have liked so I sold it on eBay for the same price I bought it at and decided I'd make my own longer length version (though probably not identical to this) since it's an easy make! At first I was unsure about the colour and what I'd wear it with but I'm now at the point where I have so many outfits planned around this skirt that I need to have my own version! I haven't found any fabric yet so I'm just hoping I can find the right fabric in the right colour, fingers crossed for me please!
I'm also going on a night out so I might be making myself a dress/outfit for that too, but I'll keep you posted!

Other bits and bobs: I found these amazing Monkey Cop Cosies on Ravelry but I'm struggling with knitting the ears!

The first one I knitted was a bit pointy so I thought maybe I'd make a cat instead but the second one wasn't pointy and so far every ear I've knitted has looked different which is very frustrating so I've put the project to one side for now!