Stratford and lucky stars

Well, I just got back from Stratford (the Upon-Avon variety). If you didn't know, Stratford is the little town where Shakespeare lived. It has a picturesque river running through it and tons of old old Shakespeare-esque buildings lining the streets, including strangely enough Shakespeare's house. I've been to the town millions of times but somehow I've never managed to actually visit the house, probably something to do with how creepy it feels just standing across the street looking at it.

My new found urge to knit and crochet means that I'm now on the hunt for wool and needles and everything else. Being a small town you'd expect Stratford to be full of strange shops that you wouldn't find everywhere else. It's actually quite weird to walk down a shopping street now, there are so many vacant units because of the current economic situation. It's no wonder online retail is taking off, it seems like it's helped to kill the stores, but the stores' demise has only helped make it stronger as we have no option but to shop online. I can't even seem to find somewhere to go to buy wool to make amigurumi zombies.
Speaking of which I ordered a copy of Creepy Cute Crochet by Christen Haden which I hoped would help me get off the ground with crocheting. I was kinda disappointed to find that there's no guide for beginners for crocheting, you actually have to buy some other book with techniques for beginners before you can start using this book. So I guess I'll be cruising YouTube and other places for some tutorials but I suppose the book will be an incentive to keep pushing forward with learning. I'm famous for my lack of drive, I can pick something up and just drop it when it becomes too challenging or too monotonous only to pick it up months later.

To keep myself occupied while I wait to perfect crochet I've been churning out origami stars which are stupidly simple to make but kind of really addictive. I'm not great at it yet, but as they say practise makes perfect. They'd be perfect as little free gifts to send with Etsy sales, although maybe not these ones I made out of misprints and the Lego catalogue!