March 2015 - Making, Wearing, Reading

Photos from my Instagram

Get a look at me, uploading my monthly favourites post a whole two days before the end of March. The fact that the clocks sprang forward yesterday means that I'm mourning an hour's worth of sleep embracing Spring and getting things done a little earlier than needed. There's nothing quite like a bright sky and warmer weather to get a to do list ticked off a little quicker, is there? So, here's all things March...

What I've Been Making

It's been a while since I've done a post on the details on what's on my sewing table/knitting needles, and whilst I'll probably go into a little more detail in a future post, I'll just give you an outline of my current makes here. I've recently finished up knitting the second draft of my turban beanie, and am quite happy with the changes I've made to the first draft. I won't know whether it'll be the final version until I block it and sew it up, but I'm hopeful. It's typical that I've just finished this when Spring is literally just around the corner, but I'll still wear it on cooler days. Keep your eyes peeled for further details and a pattern!

I'm making steady progress sewing myself a suede skirt too, I've actually never sewn myself a skirt, and of course I had to make things a little more complex by throwing leather into the mix. Actually though, I'm enjoying how tactile the leather is, and so far the results are actually some of my neatest, sturdiest sewing. More details coming soon!

What I've Been Wearing

It's official: boot season is over! Which naturally means that it's totally fine to treat yourself to some new, more Spring appropriate shoes. The local catalogue surplus shop has had an influx of Asos shoes, so it would have been rude not to indulge, non? Loafers are up there with brogues as my shoe of choice, and this black fringed pair are super comfy as well as super chic. They look great when paired with rolled up jeans, and I know I'll be wearing them a lot in the coming months.

What's better than a pair of shoes? Two pairs of shoes! I couldn't resist this cute pair of Mary Jane pumps, they are just too adorable. They're also a complete dupe of a pair I had my eye on from Topshop not too long ago (great work Asos!). For a mere £4.99, these might just be the most bargainous pair of shoes I've bought!

What I've Been Reading

It's taken me a whopping three months to make my way through The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell, and I'd love to be able to defend my pathetic reading habits by saying that this was a really hard, difficult book to read, but the truth is, it really wasn't! The Bone Clocks follows the life of one character, Holly Sykes, from her teens in the 1980s to old age in the near future, but does so through the narratives of five very different characters. Being Mitchell, there is also a science fiction sub-plot intricately woven across these narratives, so events covered in each narrative range from the everyday, to more unconventional occurrences.

One thing I really enjoy about Mitchell's writing is that he creates such distinctive characters, with individual narratives that make you instantly understand and identify with each character. I found it really interesting to compare the narrative of the first chapter to that of the last chapter, as both are narrated by Holly, but from completely different points in her life, and definitely made me question what it meant to mature and grow older. When I reached the end, I felt like I wanted more narrative from each character - as you are only getting to know about some characters at one point in their life, I would have loved to have seen their point of narrative develop too, as there are some really complex characters in this book.

I was loathe to compare this too much with Cloud Atlas, on account that I loved that book so much, and I wanted to judge this one on its own merits. It became really difficult not to though, especially as it is written in a really similar format (different points of narrative), and deals with similar themes (the human soul and mortality). One difference with The Bone Clocks though, was that the plot felt more character driven, and less fatalistic than Cloud Atlas - the big plot reveal does not happen until quite late on into The Bone Clocks, which instead leaves the reader to focus on the characters, and the relationships and acts of each character.

Overall, The Bone Clocks is an undeniably fun read. Recently, both my university reading and reading for pleasure have consisted of books which deal with quite weighty themes (Lord of the Flies, anyone?), so it was a great relief to be able to read something written for pure enjoyment.


What have been your favourite things from March?