Wednesday 11 April 2007

I really must get a faster pc



If anyone is actually following this blog then I must apologise for the infrequency of my blogs. The mind is willing and I do try to get on the site but eventually I get fed up of trying and refreshing and retrying to get to this page where I can actually write something. Today I managed it - yeah yeah!

A lot has happened on the crochet scene since my last blog. My niece bought a book from the Birmingham Knitting Exhibition called Total Crochet Fashions by Gayle Bunn. A US book of course (where all the good UK crochet designers?) I have managed one from it and am tangling my way through the charm school shrug which has the strangest shaping in the world and I have unripped the fronts more times than I would wish to and they still look a weird shape to me. Hopefully I can rectify some of the strange shape when I am doing the front edgings by doing a bit of treble as well as the double crochet to sort of infill the bits where the shape looks a bit dodgy. The shawl collared cardigan which I thought would cause the problems crocheted up like a dream, but I do find the US patterns are a bit short on instructions. Only the experienced could work out exactly where to put the increases on the collar, the instructions are very vague.

I have just finished the "Short and sweet" short sleeved jacket from the Happy Hooker book by Debbie Stoller and it worked out correct tension with some silk aran my niece bought but I do feel that it would look better in a DK weight and have started a sample piece just to see how I can work the size out by adding stitches etc, Now I have made one and can see how the pattern works out I am sure I can revamp it in a finer wool. I think if I was to make it for myself I would prefer the look of the finer yarn as I would be wearing it more as a summer jacket over a T shirt.

I am still coming to grips with knitting on 4 needles for the petal hat I showed the photo of in an earlier blog. I really cannot get up speed on 4 needles so feel that I will have to adapt the pattern onto 2 needles if I make any more hats from the book and do a careful seam down the back of the hats. It wouldn't be me if I made a pattern as written from start to finish! My finished articles rarely are "as written on pattern" . I suppose it's years of knitting and crochet experience. Probably many more years than the designers!

I will try to attach photos of the two finished crochet articles and hopefully I will be able to get back on to blog again another day and will give you the update on the dodgy shaping of the charm school shrug and how I have managed to make it look reasonably human being shaped.

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