Things I have made.

During the month of November I have finally completed the crochet project I had been working on since September, the Nordic Shawl by Annette Ciccarelli. I have known how to crochet since I was thirteen or something, but this was my very first big project. The thought of making a sweater was a bit daunting and hats don't really suit me, so I opted for a shawl. 

I chose the wool carefully (it's undyed Bluefaced Leicester by West Yorkshire Spinners) and really thought about how I could make this shawl really mine. That meant choosing a muted colour palette as opposed to using six contrasting colours as the pattern called for, and skipping a few rows to make it a bit smaller. 

Of course it's not completely perfect - far from it, in fact. The DK yarn makes it a bit too bulky and slightly stiff; I bought the wool online and so I didn't realise two of the yarns I picked for the accent colours were almost identical, but as you can imagine my yarn budget is not unlimited so I had to roll with it. Oh, and I'm pretty sure I made tons of mistakes along the way... but it's so cosy and I made it. I absolutely love the fact that I was able to control everything about it, and most of all I love that it will make me think about all the hours spent making it every time I'll wear it. 

The other project definitely wasn't as time-consuming as the shawl; I'm pretty sure it didn't take more than an hour to make. I was inspired by this Flea and Bear post to make my own Autumn wreath, so a couple of weeks ago I used my very precious lunch break to go foraging around my neighbourhood. It didn't take long to find myself completely immersed in the moment, observing and not just looking, while I was trying to find the prettiest branches and leaves for my wreath. I shortly realised how little I know about even the most common plants and I definitely want to fix that in the future. I am already planning to do a Winter wreath... maybe with pinecones and dried orange slices. 

Have you made anything this month? Are you planning to do any Christmas DIYs? :)