Dear 2014 and 2015...

DIY || Crochet Collar

Hello you beautiful humans, I hope you're all getting excited for 2015, I know I am!

Anyway, I am always on the lookout for new and different ways to alter my clothes, so when I came across a pattern to make a crochet collar I knew I had to give it a go! If you dare climb into the attic of my blog and brush aside the cobwebs you'll find this post that I made way back in July 2013 when I first got this dress, I altered it a bit then and I've done a bit more now, it's just the dress that keeps on changing!

Making the collar is actually surprisingly simple! The only crochet stitches you need to know are chain, half double crochet (hdc) and double crochet (dc). There's plenty of tutorials online that'll help you out if you need it! I actually used cooking twine for my collar, you can use wool of course but I'm not too sure how well that would hold up to constant washing!

What to do:

1. Create a chain as long as you want one side of your collar to be (you make two separate pieces to create the whole collar). Mine was 40 chain on a 3.5mm hook and it reaches from the middle of my dress to just over my shoulder. Once you've got the right length do 2 extra chain stitches so you have space to turn.

2. Create a half double crochet stitch in the third chain from your hook and then continue to do hdc stitches in each chain stitch until you reach the end.

3. When you get to the end chain 3 and turn, then skip the first stitch.

4. Dc, chain 2, dc in the next stitch along (this creates the "V" shape that you see in the top middle photo down below)

5. Double crochet in the next stitch.

6. Repeat this pattern all the way to the end of your work (dc,chain2,dc in one stitch and then dc in the next one)

6. Chain 3 once you get to the end and turn

7. Instead of one dc for each side of the V shape this time you are going to do two, so dc 2, chain 2, dc 2 in one stitch and dc in the next (the dc that you do on its own should sit directly on top of the single dc from the previous row)

8. Once again continue this pattern down your work (dc 2, chain 2, dc 2 in one stitch and dc in the next one)

9. Chain 3 once you get to the end and turn

10. We're now going to do the exact same thing as step 7&8, except now doing 3 double crochets to make each V shape (the single double crochet in the stitch after it stays the same)

11. Chain 3 when you get to the end and turn

12. Now for the last row we are going to do 6dc in each V shape from the previous row, and a single dc once again in the stitch after it. So the pattern for the final row is 6dc in one stitch, dc in the next

13. Continue this all the way to the end of your row and you're finished, now repeat the steps again to make the other side!

This collar is actually surprisingly quick to make, yet it looks so intricate! I'm definitely going to be keeping my eyes peeled for more dresses and shirts to put collars on now! When both sides were finished I hand-sewed them to the front of my dress and added a bow to fill the space in between them. I thought it was relevant that the ribbon says "Bon Voyage" because it matches the hot air balloon/travelling theme.

What do you think? Are you a collar kind of person? I know I am!

x Erin

2015 Resolutions

Christmas is tomorrow, but I don't get half as excited for it as I do for the new year. It's as though my mind likes to put all its excitement into one thing and new year's is it. There's few things better than the feeling of a clean slate; 365 brand new days free of anything bad with room for you to change and grow. I know that technically we should be able to feel like this every morning but there's just something so motivating about a fresh new year.

If you're interested you can find my resolutions for 2014 here, but since the year is so close to being over I figured it was time to start focussing on resolutions for the year to come!

1. Use technology productively.

No surprises there. I really want to focus on using technology when it's beneficial not just when it's productive. I can already tell that if I can stick to this it'll help me out with my creativity a lot. It's my main resolution.

2. Be more mindful.

I swear every single month I comment on how quickly it flew by while I was just sitting there watching it go. I want to take more time to be in moments instead of just waiting for the next one to arrive.

3. Put my whole self into everything.

I recently realised that the only things that are a waste of time are the things you do half-heartedly. If you put yourself into everything, even if it doesn't work out you've still achieved something by doing it.

4. Give starting an Etsy a shot.

This is the one that scares me the most. I almost took it off the list but remembered that if you don't aim for something that scares you then you're setting your sights too low. At the moment everything overwhelms me about Etsy/creating products but I really do want to give it an honest shot. If it doesn't work then that's okay, at least I tried right? (PS. If anyone has any helpful hints I would love to hear them)

5. Be bothered.

There's a post in my drafts folder with this title that will never see the light of day. Ironic really, considering what this mantra stands for. Carly said something that reminded me of it the other day, about simply being bothered to do things. Don't just think of something and then file it in the back of your mind to do at some mythical later date, get up and do it. Get inspired by it. The only way to create things is just that, stop sitting around and CREATE them.

So that's my main resolutions for 2015, have you come up with any for yourself yet or do you prefer to enter a new year without any? I'd love to know!

x Erin

Of Interest || December

As I was writing the title of this post I accidentally wrote November instead of December and it's just now hit me how few days are left in 2014.

I've found quite a few wonderful websites since my last "of interest" post so I figured it was time for another. Do you want to get dropped anywhere in the world, go on a book treasure hunt or listen to the sound that knowledge makes? Read on.

1 // GeoGuessr

 I think I could spend the entire day on this thing. Basically what it is is a website that uses google maps to pretty much "drop" you in some random location in the world. You then have to search around your location to see if you can find any clues (signs, buildings etc.) that might help you work out where you are. When you think you know you take a guess and get a certain number of points depending on how close your guess was to where you actually are. My favourite thing about it is just getting to explore these random locations that are seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

2 // Book Crossing

Have you ever wondered how far something could travel around the world in the hands of strangers? Wonder no more. On this wonderful website you can label a book with a sticker which prompts the next person to receive it to put the unique code into the database. Each time this happens the book is tracked so you can follow its movements anywhere in the world. It's pretty simple, you can download a sticker from the website or even have a look to see if there's any books that have been left near you just waiting to be found!

3 // Listen to Wikipedia

There's something so soothing about this. Click on the link (in the heading) and have a listen. Each time you hear a bell noise it is a piece of knowledge being added to a wiki page, each time you hear a string pluck it is knowledge being removed. The more information has been added or removed, the deeper the pitch of the note. I love it.

Have you discovered any wonderful things over the past few months?

x Erin

DIY || 2015 Planner (Template Download)

Oh it's been far too long since I've done a craft/DIY post, but I'm so excited about this one! As I'm sure we're all well aware, 2015 is approaching us at the speed of light, so I've been starting to draw up my monthly calendars to at least try and start the year organised.

Every year I get myself a planner that I can organise myself in, but if you've ever gone on a planner hunt you'll know that it's almost impossible to find one that has everything you want in it. Do I want a planner with a monthly view or one with a weekly view? Why is there no space to write in this one? Why does this one have 100 extra pages of nonsense? WHY CAN'T I DECORATE IT MYSELF? So this year I decided to stop moaning and challenge myself to make my own, filled only with the things that I want in there, and so my 2015 planner was born!

I'm not even exaggerating when I say that this took me an entire day to make. For the whole day I did nothing else but type up each individual page and order them in a way that would print correctly with two pages to a piece of paper and double sided. What did I get myself into! But I actually strangely enjoyed the challenge...

Here's the things I put in my planner:

- Year view calendar

- 2 spaces to write New Year's resolutions (2015 at the front and 2016 at the back)

- "Seasonal Goals" pages: One page at the beginning of each season with a quote relating to that season and a space to write goals

- Monthly view calendar at the beginning of each month (feat. my own handwriting!)

- To Do List at the top of each week

- 4 pages for notes (2 in the middle and 2 at the back)

- Moon phases as well as a reminder on the days when there will be an eclipse

I kept it very minimalistic so there's plenty of room for stickers and random drawings around the edges.

Although it took a long time to make I am so so happy with how it turned out, there's something 10x more special about owning something when you made it yourself! I can't wait until next year to start using it! I thought maybe some of you would like to give making your own planner a go too, so I've uploaded a template for a planner for you to download and use. There's even two files: one for people who live in the Northern Hemisphere and one for the people who live in the Southern Hemisphere, just so the seasons are correct! Plus, the hard work of creating the pages has been done for you, so you have no excuse!

Northern Hemisphere Template

Southern Hemisphere Template

If you download the templates you might notice that it looks like the pages are all out of order, I promise they're not! This is because the planner is split into 5 sections: Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring & Summer 2016 (Or the other way around if you live up in the North). Once they're printed, everything should make sense! Each lot of 4 pages relates to one piece of paper, so when you print them they'll sit correctly. You should set your printer to print 2 pages on each side of the paper and double sided (It'll be 20 pieces of paper in total).

Once they're all printed fold your pages in half and use the page numbers to make sure they all sit in the correct order. You should be left with 5 sections that look like the ones in the bottom right photo.

To stick everything together I used this technique that I blogged about in January (here's a video if you need more guidance) But you could also staple your sections or anything else that will keep your planner together! Personally I think it'd be such an awesome gift idea to give someone a planner you made on your own, if only there was a gift-giving celebration coming up...

I've got doubts that anyone will try to make this, but if you do please let me know and I'd love to see photos! (tag @thehalfwaypoint on instagram)

Are you as excited for 2015 as I am?

x Erin

Recipe || Pumpkin Pie

Alright, let's all just take a minute to prepare ourselves for the thing of beauty that is about to follow. I'll admit, I've never had pumpkin pie before and I had no idea what to expect with this one but OH MY GOODNESS was it delicious. Plus it didn't require baking and it's vegan (unless you decide to add a scoop of ice-cream like my dad did ;).  Basically all you need to know is that I've been parading round like I've become an instant top chef because of how much of a hit it was. It does take a little time but it is so worth it!

I forgot to mention that you should add in the vanilla essence after you take the filling off the stove!

The pie was absolutely scrumptious and definitely something I'll be making again in the future, the family's already hinted at wanting it for Christmas Day!

Is pumpkin pie a common thing in any of your lives? Or were you just as freaked out as I was wondering how pumpkin could possibly make a sweet dessert?

x Erin

Find the original recipe here.