The Lure of the Crochet Hook

I heeded the siren call of the crochet hook. After falling asleep 3 nights in a row mid row over the baby knitting I decided that to save my sanity I would have to also have some crochet as well as the knitting. I have been promising myself that I would make a circles jacket ever since I saw the magnificent version made by Svetlana. The pattern is a free one by Drops 99-3 and is called circle jacket. There are many versions of this jacket on Ravelry some good, some bad and some just plain ugly but Svetlana's version (2nd photo) really caught my eye as I am not a lover of anything too big and droopy. As I am a big girl I don't think it does me any favours wearing something huge. I then saw another finished version on Queen Belicious's blog Crochet Therapy and looked at her photos on Ravelry (she is Angrysnail on there) and that made me decide to start one.

Incidentally if you are a member of Ravelry check out Svetlana's projects. That lady is one heck of a great knitter and crocheter. Everything she makes is superb. I wish that I had her skills.

I am making my circles jacket in totally the wrong wool. Well I do like a challenge. I think that I should be using something equivalent to a thick double knit but as I am using a 6mm hook and wanted a firm rather than floppy design I am using my favourite James C Brett's Marble Chunky. It's always rather a gamble when using patterns from the US or the continent as their interpretation of wool thicknesses is entirely different to the UK versions so it's always hit and miss unless you manage to scour the net for the exact yarn which I mostly can't be bothered to do. So far my version seems to be turning out to size which is pretty amazing considering. The big loops that are either side of the circle will eventually be the sleeves. It looks a little strange at the moment but hopefully it will be alright on the night as they say.

I have completed the back and two fronts on the baby cardigan so am going to make a sleeve before I allow myself any crochet today. It is rather like bribing a child to take it's cough medicine with the promise of a sweet at the end. I used to sit and knit for hours a few years ago but now I just get very bored and want to crochet. Not much hope for all of my languishing sock wool then is there? Maybe the knitting bug will strike again if I get fed up of crocheting.

My knee isn't too bad today but that is mainly due to the fact I have not stepped out of my front door since Tuesday. Although it is the short term answer to my knee pain I don't want to spend the rest of my life not going anywhere. I hope that my referral to hydrotherapy comes through quite quickly.