Back to crochet for a while

I have used some of the yarn bought yesterday in Ramsbottom. The colours are my niece's choice as she wanted subtle colours for her Kilim cap. I had to buy 50gram balls of 4ply in 3 colours and the black was in 100grams so it seemed the obvious thing to make a matching scarf with the large amount of left overs. There is a huge snag with this as you can see from the photo. The pattern has only one row of each colour so the yarn cannot be stranded up the sides. No - it is not a fringe that you spy up the sides - it is a huge amount of tails that will all have to be woven in once the scarf is finished. Don't you just hate it when that happens? I have managed to complete the hat and about a quarter of the scarf. I think I will try to weave the ends in every now and again rather than leave them all until I have finished the scarf and it becomes an overwhelming chore.

I haven't done as much on my Christmas projects today as I would have wished as I gave in and did some housework. The dust bunnies were breeding like mad and the dog hair was collecting. I usually hoover every day and if I miss a couple of days then it is amazing when I empty the vac afterwards just how much dog hair and dirt there is in there. I take off my boots at the front door and wipe Buster's feet but it still manages to work it's way in. I had another chat to the builder today and he assures me that he hasn't forgotten that I need a new garage roof and doors. He is just up to his eyes with work at the moment. Once that work is done then I can come into the house through the garage and into the vinyl floored kitchen area after wet muddy dog walks. I need my carpet cleaning but there is no point until I get my garage entrance sorted out.

My back has been very bad today. Stabbing pain and leg weakness. Culmination of two things. On Thursday the swimming baths had apparently had a leak overnight so the water was lower than usual as it was filling slowly and was colder than usual as it heats slowly. I usually exercise in water above my damaged back area and in warmish water so I came home with an aching back. On Friday I went to Tesco and had to use one of their larger trolleys as I was buying a large washing powder and several tins of dog food plus my week's shop. I don't know who designs these trolleys but they cripple my back. It's not just the pushing, it's the unloading at the till. Having to bend right into the trolley and put the articles on the belt made my knees buckle as the pressure it put on my back made my legs go numb. I hate it when that happens in public in case people think I have been on the vino when I stagger about. I had to cling on to the trolley to walk back to the car. Then the loading and unloading of the car finished my back off altogether. Buster is sulking today because I only managed one walk this morning. I just couldn't coax my back and legs into the second walk in the rain.

Tonight it was head pads on the back whilst I crocheted but I stopped around 10pm instead of continuing on until bedtime as usual thus losing a couple of hours crafting time.

I have had no side effects from my flu jab despite the nurse using a blunt needle. Just a slight bruise is all I have to show for it.