A 2015 summary in Instagram photos

2015 will go down in my memory as the year I finally got my driving license. That was awesome! Other than that the year was quite uneventful. Very pleasant though. Sometimes uneventful is just what the doctor ordered.

Some of the highlights:

January

On January 1st I started making the Grainline Archer shirt. It was my first ever shirt and my most complicated pattern to date. The feeling of accomplishment when I finished it. Wow.

Josh turned 30 and we went to Morocco for his birthday. Not only was it enormously beautiful and just such a good experience, but sun and 25 degrees C in January - nothing can compare.


February

February was the dullest. The highlight was seeing Carlos Acosta perform in Swan Lake at the Royal Opera House. Both before the show and the next day good food was consumed. In the photo, a hot dog with sauerkraut from Borough Market. Nom. Could so go for one now.


March

To be completely honest, March was kind of shit too (with the massive exception of the driving license!!). But towards the end of March spring was showing its pretty face and nobody was happier than yours truly.


April

Full of confidence of my shirt-making skills I promised Josh I'd make him a shirt as an anniversary present. While I am very pleased with all the finishes it may have ended up a bit on the big side. Oops.

Over the Easter weekend we went down to London. Booked a room in a boutique hotel and spent the weekend eating great food, seeing the Savage Beauty exhibition at the V&A and just spending time together. It was perfect.
You can't really see it in the photo, but I'm wearing a Grainline Scout tee.


May

 May of course meant Me Made May. My first one, and I absolutely loved it. My first outfit of the month included this sleeveless Grainline Scout blouse. It's my most liked Instagram photo to date.
In May I also met up with a friend for a walk in rural Surrey. We met pretty sheep, got lost, got rained on, found a vineyard, laughed a lot, ate a lot of cheese and generally had a fantastic time. These are the kind of days I want to fill 2016 (and frankly my life) with.


June

 June was a great month. At the beginning of it I ran The Color Run in London with a friend. That was pretty awesome! Shortly after I treated myself to some new running shoes. My red beauties. Good looking running shoes definitely make you faster! Scroll down to October for (anecdotal) evidence!
June is also my birthday month. Josh and I spent the day in the Blenheim Palace gardens and went for a lovely dinner in one of the Cotswold villages in the evening. Perfect!


July

I spent most of July running and eating. A friend visited me in Oxford for the day and we went raspberry picking on a new to me farm a colleague told me about. Will definitely be going back when summer comes.


August

 Another good month. Can you tell I love summer? I went to Bath with these two beauties. Ate good food, laughed a lot and depleted my bank account. My favourite activities.
 Towards the end of the month I went home to Sweden for a few days. A trip to Sweden without 'fika' is incomplete, so I made sure to have many.
On the last day of August I went to Rijeka in Croatia with my mom. It's a very non-touristy industrial harbour town, but parts of it are very beautiful. Just look at this view from our hotel room.


September

 I spent the first day of September swimming in the Adriatic sea. So perfect. Worth mentioning here is that while the sea off the Croatian coast is very beautiful, beaches are non-existing. It's all about the concrete slabs. Or with some luck, pebbles.
I started my first cable project. The Brooklyn Tweed Kirkwood scarf in Debbie Bliss Blue Faced Leicester yarn. I loved knitting this one. Very relaxing. It became a Christmas present to my brother. 


October

 A friend was leaving the UK for good and we met up in London for a lunch at Nopi. The food was outstanding, the conversation was fun, my friend shared some great news and then we went fabric shopping afterwards. All in all a great day. Before leaving Nopi I fell in love with this ladies room.
 At the beginning of summer I felt I needed a fitness goal and signed up for the Oxford Halfmarathon. As the date was approaching I was seriously regretting it. While I had done a lot of running during the summer, it was all 7-8 k runs, nothing even close to 21 k. But on the day I felt good and ran at a much better time than I expected. See point above about pretty shoes making you faster.
I love summer, but my heart skips several beats when the leaves start turning colour. My brother visited from Sweden and I took almost a whole week off work, which we mostly spent out walking. So, so good.


November

 November passed by quickly and I didn't take a great deal of photos. I went to London one weekday to pick up my new passport from the Embassy. It was a crisp, sunny day and before heading home I went for a stroll in Green Park where I met this little fellow.
I started my first project on more than two needles. A little hat for my dad. It knitted up quickly and I felt like a knitting ninja!


December

 At the beginning of December I was going to Holland for work. So I decided to fly out two days earlier and spend the weekend in Amsterdam. I stayed at The Hoxton, ate well, shopped, read this magical book, saw some art and enjoyed the pretty scenery. So good.
 December is my favourite food month. Hearty Christmas lunches and indulgent desserts, what's not to love? The photo above is from our work Christmas lunch at The Fishes in Oxford. Despite living in this city for years I had never been, but after being once I'll definitely go again.
And finally, home sweet home. On 22nd Dec Josh and I flew to Sweden and spent a week and a half with my family. Rest, sleep, good food, a bit of snow - perfection.