Thursday 20 January 2011

Hearts To Spain



I have finished some crochet hearts for the Art Gallery in Spain. I ventured out in the cold up to the Post Office and they are now on their way. How long it will take them to get there is another thing. One reason that I posted early is that they are needed for the 10th February so I didn't want to leave it until the last minute.

I had to nip out also to pay an installment on my credit card bill. I have gone a little mad with it of late and when it arrived today it was like a dash of cold water to the face. Time to fasten up the purse strings tightly until I have paid it off. Admittedly I still have the electric arm chair and the mobility scooter payments on there so in my defence it is not a total wool buying bill although I think that I have paid someones wage at Amazon over the Christmas and New Year period! I still have some books to arrive from back orders and pre orders but after that it will be Whoa no more!

Having said all of that I am going to the Yarn Barn in Shaw over the weekend but that won't count as my niece is buying some wool for me to knit for her and I will only be buying a pattern or book for some wool that I already have for her sister's jacket. I will try to blinker my eyes to the rest of the shop and concentrate on what I am there for. I do have some bargain chunky in stash that I got from E Kemp so I might just have to browse for a pattern or two that I like for myself. That's not really stashing is it? Or am I just fooling myself? I need a nice pattern to de stash so that's my excuse and I am sticking to it.

I watched a programme on TV last night about hoarders. Of course I was doing the tut tutting like everyone else until it was mentioned that she had a pile of wool underneath all the stuff that was enough to open a small wool shop. Now that kind of shook me. I call myself a wool stasher or collector but just when do I tip over the edge into being a wool hoarder. I used to stash it all in a very small bedroom but it does seem to be creeping down the stairs in boxes into my dining room. At night I tend to have everything around me in my armchair and sometimes I look like I am sitting in a sea of wool (depending on what I am making). It is starting to worry me now. I am not fond of housework, very untidy, would rather be crafting than hoovering and dusting. Am I more than half way there do you think? For the record though I do have clear pathways all through the house and my bedroom doesn't have any clothes on the floor preventing me from finding my bed. I recycle cans, plastic, paper and glass in my bins so maybe I am only a quarter of the way there ;-)

Today I started another crochet hat. I found out from Enid that I had missed the Big Issue Knit Out at the Nexus cafe that I went to last year. I am still carrying on though and hoping that someone will drop them in for me. Today I tried to make a hat on the machine. I have to finish it off by hand and needles for the decreases at the crown but I am just seeing whether making a lot of it n the machine will be quicker. Unfortunately this one appears to be going to turn out another one for a big headed man. It's hard to judge just how many stitches to put on for machine knitting. I used the amount from a hand knitted one but obviously I am going to have to adjust the sts if I make another one.

Time to see if there is anything good on the TV tonight,. The better the programmes the more I knit or crochet. I tend to wander around the house if the programmes are not enthralling.

5 comments:

Enid said...

Jan, those hearts are very cute. From my experience, mail to EU countries take less than a week.
As for the size of hats, don't worry about 'em being big; the brims can always be folded over.
Better that than being small.
xx

CajunBlu said...

You're quite welcome for the link.  If you haven't browsed around then do so when you get a chance.  There's some very nice patterns in there.  The hearts look great   :-)

BTW -- aren't all crafters "hoaders" in one way or the other?  I have a large walk-in closet with lots of 16-gallon plastic totes filled with yarn and there's also two closed-door bookcases in there filled with books on knitting, crocheting, sewing, and all other manner of crafts.  Give me another year and I'll probably have more stuff downstairs as well.  Just know . . .   you are NOT alone.   :-)

Mimi said...

This woman's stash is my measuring stick. If it gets bigger than hers I need help :)http://mochimochiland.com/2007/07/the-worlds-biggest-stash/

Ladeewolf said...

I only wish my stash were that size, I have only 5 large boxes, and several small ones. Oh and one large box of perle cotton and thread and a three drawer stand full of bamboo thread. and several bookshelves of patterns and craft books. I wont even talk about the fabric and sewing stuff. I am trying to use only from my stash too and it gets difficult when you only have two or three of one and need at least 6 or eight(balls that is). I always wind up going out and getting some more and having some left so it just keeps growing. It's some concilation that most crafters have a large stash.

CajunBlu said...

I always have extra yarn left over from completed projects so I have this large container that I put the yarn in.  With each left-over yarn, I attach to the previous yarn in the container -- it doesn't matter what color goes next to what color.  When the container is full, I make one-foot granny squares, joining each granny to the other on the last round.  It makes for one really "crazy" quilt but people like these for some strange reason (maybe because they're like the crazy quilts made with fabric?).  They pay me for them.  Now I have more money for more yarn -- make me happy   :-)