Not enough crochet and too much chatter

Yesterday I had the pleasure of the company of Vicky as she was wanting to learn how to make a crochet granny square. I think we did a lot of chatting (mostly me doing the chattering) and not much tuition. Despite this she did manage to grasp how to make a square. It is such an exciting event for me to get a visitor so I do tend to gab on quite a bit.

She has some lovely kid mohair that she wants to turn into a stole but it is very fine and fluffy and I think it probably will look better in the knitting pattern that she had as a standby. Mohair is quite difficult to crochet with for the less experienced as any wrong moves result in great difficulties with unpicking and bald yarn as a result. I have resorted to scissors on many an occasion when the mohair superglues itself together as it tends to do when crocheted.

I am racing to finish 2 crochet premature baby shawls before Sunday as I want to take them to the Pumpkin carving. I have been making tiny hats as well out of scraps of yarn. They look very small to me but one site did recommend that I aimed for something the size of a tennis ball. They are quite stretchy so I hope they come in useful for the hospital.

I made a knitted top for my friend Caroline's birthday and when she wore it to work a colleague admired it and asked who knitted it. She then said she had some yarn at home as she used to knit and would donate it to me when she heard I was making things for the prem babies. I guess I will be starting knitting and crocheting for them again once this yarn arrives.

Vicky and I got to chatting about knitting machines and I have 2 languishing in my loft that I haven't used in many a year. I have all the attachments - lace carriage, ribber etc so I now have the urge to get one of them down and set it up in the spare bedroom and see if I can remember how to use it. Hopefully it is like riding a bike and it will all come back to me. I have a feeling that it will take me quite a while to clean it before I can actually use it. I am going to resist for a week or so as I have crochet and hand knit things planned for Christmas gifts which will get sidelined if I get the machine down.

My poor dog has another water infection and is on antibiotics once again. He is scheduled to be castrated next week in an attempt to stop these recurrent infections. I am not looking forward to this as he will be very fretful about being left at the vet's. He was originally a rescued dog and panics if he gets put in a cage or left anywhere strange. I wish I could spare him this but I have to think of his health as he gets older.