Catching Up

I have had a busy couple of days hence no blogging done.

I gave up with the Tunisian crochet (temporarily) as I could not get my tension right. If I got my width tension right by going on a much smaller hook then I had too many rows for the tension square and the fabric felt too tight. I think perhaps a bit of practise on something without a pattern or shaping will be the next thing on the agenda then it won't matter if my work is coming out too wide.

I finished off the white, blue and red crochet jacket using a simple pattern by Rindy Carpenter (free on Ravelry) but once again adapted it by using a different pattern stitch and colours. I only had one 50 gram ball of white and as anyone knows white is the worst colour to match so although I had several part balls of white none of them matched so I used the different colours to eke out the 50 grams.

I started knitting a larger size knitted baby cardigan with the James C Brett Bliss DK that I had been using for the Tunisian. The colour changes are rather large so I have finished up with a strangely marked cardigan. It will keep the baby warm in the winter.

The reason I say in the winter is that the foster baby has finally arrived at my friend's house. He is a dinky little thing weighing just over 5lbs as it turns out that he was born premature. I am now rushing through some premature sized cardigans as he will be swimming in some of the jackets that I have made so far. That is the only problem with knitting or crocheting for foster babies they can range from 5-9 lbs when they arrive so it's knowing what size to make. I am not looking after Buster this weekend so I hope to visit the baby and take along his cardigans as he needs them to wear now.

Yesterday I went up to Towneley Hall Burnley again with Rachael. Rachael had to finish photographing the tea cosies and the doilies to keep a record of her project. The sun was shining and it was a lovely day. Fortunately the fire alarm didn't sound today as it did at the weekend when she went up to photograph them so she was able to complete the task. I have put the link to her Artyarn blog (click my blog title) as the photos that she took of everyone's tea cosies came out much better than my blurry ones did. The only two of mine that came out OK were the ones of my tea cosies with a close up of the pink one that I haven't shown you before.

We came back home through Rawtenstall. A place that neither of us had been to before and Rachael bought me a sandwich in a cafe there which although was really nice had raw onions on it. Rachael had a baked potato and beans with salad which also had the same raw onions in it so we were a bit stinky on the way home. I took a photo of Rachael taking her photos.Artist at work. Towneley Hall is really interesting and I really must go back one day when I can walk the grounds and the Hall properly. I have really enjoyed my small part in the project as it has been fun and I got to meet so many nice people in Burnley that I otherwise would have never met and to see Towneley Hall which I am ashamed to admit I knew nothing about until Rachael's project. I am not sure how long the tea cosies will be on display but the rare and antique tea pots will probably be on display for a while longer. The Hall change the exhibits regularly to keep the Hall interesting.

Nice sunny day today so I might do some crochet sitting in the garden. I need to push on with my small baby jackets so the small baby has something to keep him warm by the weekend.