I have a weekend visitor

I have got Buster for the weekend. He was an unexpected, but welcome, visitor. My son and his wife had made other arrangements for both of the dogs but they fell through at the last moment so they have taken Skye with them and I have got Buster. I don't mind having him but he is too much for me permanently at the moment.Plus he is shedding like mad so I look like a yeti every time he comes near me despite my brushing him through night and morn. He is in doggy sniff heaven as since he was last here I have looked after Zippy the Staffordshire Bull terrier and Bear the Siberian Husky and they have left their scents everywhere.

I had a calendar given to me for Christmas which has a knitting saying on it for every day. Yesterday's saying was particularly apt considering Buster's shedding has halted my crochet somewhat. It says
"Knitting folklore says that if you knit a strand of your hair into your work, you will forever bound to the person who receives that work. In my life , this means that a lot of people are forever bound to my cat."
As my hair sheds all the time and I am always unwinding it from my crochet there must be quite a few people out there forever bound to me and an awful lot of people forever bound to Buster!

As you can see I have finished off the crochet sweater that I was working on when the filming for the BBC was going on. I crocheted it all freehand just using a well fitting sweater as a template. It took 10 balls of Patons Fairytale Velvet which although has a recommended needle size of 4mm I found to be quite thick for a double knit and it worked up quite closely on a 5mm hook. I worked up from the bust line to the shoulders in two separate pieces and then worked the body and the sleeves downwards so there was very little to sew up. I made the sweater empire line in an attempt to draw the eye away from my expanding waistline. The pattern stitch is a well loved 5 treble fan alternating with a double crochet. I like this stitch as it is pretty but also a close stitch for a sweater and can be worn without the need of a camisole.

I have put Deb's shawl to one side while Buster is here as the wool is lovely but will act like a magnet for his shedding hair. I have started a cotton shawl for Bev as cotton does not attract dog hair. I am using the Sweet Pea pattern from The Happy Hooker Stitch and Bitch and I just hope that it doesn't look too stringy when it is finished.

Caroline from the Knitting Noras called today as I had stupidly left my coat in her boot when she gave me a lift to the Knit Out a few weeks ago. I showed her the cotton shawl and we decided that it might look better as it grows and then gets blocked out when it is finished. It will be quite openwork and lacy but that might be a good thing with cotton as a shawl would weigh heavy if it was worked closely.

No crochet done so far today but I am hoping to get a bit done tonight.

The calm after all the excitement

I think that I am starting to calm down after the excitement of the last couple of days. Firstly I would like to thank everyone who stops by and leaves comments. I really appreciate them even though I rarely mention it on the blog. You really lift my day ladies. In answer to a couple of comments I have copied the link to the TKN blog to take pre-orders for the calendar and if you click on my blog title it will take you there. If you know that you are definitely going to buy one (or more)once they are available it would help us greatly to get a general idea of how many we are needing to order from the printer when the time arrives. The more we order the cheaper the printing costs will be but we don't want to over order and be left selling the calendars to any people passing by. Mind you I am up for a bit of pouncing, if needs be, provided they let me "mug" the handsome eligible men of my neighbourhood and frisk them down to find their wallets. I think the threat of that alone will make them give me the money for the calendar and run!

Ailsa I will definitely sign a calendar for you and will even throw in a personal appearance for free, as I can't guarantee it will be signed before posting, if I can find the right bus to your area. I will do anything legal to sell a few calendars as all the money is for such a good cause (Christie hospital for anyone who might be reading this blog for the first time)

The soon to be famous "As seen on TV crochet sweater" is progressing and is starting to get sleeves. I still have no idea of the finished result as I now only have 2 balls left and really need longer sleeves and a bit more on the body length. The tie is actually at empire level on me (downside of having boobs) so although it looks long enough on the photo it is still stopping at waist level on me.

I have started another Blue Curacao shawl in Rowan Cashsoft Aran for Deb one of my fellow Knitting Noras. The colour is closer to the photo of the ball rather than the start of the crochet one. The weather is so dull today that the camera flash brightens up colours and makes them appear lighter.

I am making this shawl and a couple of others for fellow Noras as my personal fund raiser for the calendar. Before any copyright police start screaming at me I am not infringing the copyright rules of patterns (or at least I don't think that I am) as I am not selling them or asking for any money from the shawl recipients for my labours. I am using their own wool and saying that if they are pleased with the end results then please give a donation to the calendar fund. One day I will have a site and be able to sell some of my crochet but until I can use some patterns that are all my own designs that idea is still a pipe dream for me.

I am hoping that I might settle down to some crochet today as the old knee could do with a rest after my walk up to Tesco yesterday but looking around me I think I do need to make an effort to tidy up. I love chaos when I am crocheting and it usually looks like an explosion in a wool shop all around the house. Having said that eventually I take a hard look and think enough is enough - it's time for a tidy, dust and hoover, I think today is one of those days.Perhaps if I can find a cupboard with some empty space so that I can scoop it all up and hide it in there?

Another All Shawl

As I said that last time that I made the All Shawl by Doris Chan it really is a simple fast shawl to crochet. I finished this one a few days ago and made it with 4 balls of Rowan Lux in Blue and one in Silver Grey to finish off the edging as I ran out of blue.

I will be taking this shawl up to the Blundell Arms to the next Knitting Noras knit out on Tuesday along with Lisa's birthday multi coloured All Shawl and a top that I made for her out of cone that came along with the oddments that she gave me for her Granny Takes a trip Jacket, I will take some photos of that for tomorrow's blog.

The bottom photo shows the way I like to crochet. I take a sweater that fits me (in this case Jewel by Doris Chan) and I think of a design in my head and crochet my thoughts using the sweater as a size pattern. It is the way that I learned to crochet when I was a teenager. There were so few crochet patterns back then and hardly any for garments so I used to make up my own. My idea is top up from an under bust empire line which is what you see here and then downwards. I have not yet decided how the under bust section or the sleeves will look but I am sure I will improvise as I go along. The wool I am using is Patons Velvet and I have 10 x 50 gram balls so the finished garment will be governed by how much wool I have left after the bodice is finished.

The official photos of my niece's wedding have arrived online and all I will say about those with me on them is fat ladies should not wear patterned dresses in cream. Not one of my better wardrobe choices.

The knee support means I can hobble about a bit better but it still feels like something is loose and moving about inside my knee. When this happens the pain makes me catch my breath. Ah well - not long until my hospital appointment in June.