The Debra Jacket Is Finally Finished

I feel like this jacket has been going on for ever. I started it back in September before my knee operation. To be honest thought I have done other things and kept putting this jacket down in favour of crocheting other things so the actual length of time that it has taken me to crochet it isn't that long if I add up the hours. It is quite an intense stitch though as it is all done round the post so I could not work on it for too long or my wrists ached. The pattern is called Debra and is from the Crochet It, Love It, Wear It book by Drew Emborsky.

I am very please with the end result even though the fit is a bit snug at the moment. I am supposed to be losing weight anyway and also my crochet tends to spread a bit in the wash and in wear so no doubt it will give after a couple of wearings. I still have to put some belt loops on the jacket and then I can leave it open without losing the belt. I don't know how many balls it took as I lost count part way through.I will have to weigh the wool that I have left over and subtract it from the total amount that I started with. The wool was one of those label free bargain packs from Bury Market. The stall tells you that it is branded wool but is not allowed to tell you whose it is. This was quite a thick double knit but fine if it was meant to be an aran thickness.

Part of my order came from Purplelinda yesterday. The silver and white metallic thread is what I was waiting for as I will use it to crochet some ornaments for the Kings Arms Christmas Tree when I go to the Islington Mill on Saturday.

The navy Patons cotton is for something for my sister in law but the pattern is yet to be decided upon. The large ball of navy aran is one of two that came from the Yarn Barn in Shaw and I am going to cast on my younger niece's friend's jacket tonight. I also ordered some beige cotton from Purplelinda but that is to follow later.

Today I went to the Hospital for some more physio exercises. The swelling in my knee is going down a bit and so the physio was quite please with my knee bend measurements today. My knee straightening exercises still need a lot of work as I feel like I am walking with my knee slightly bent all of the time.

Debra Cardigan - I Could Not Resist You

The first pattern in the Crochet It, Love It, Wear it by Drew Emborsky grabbed my attention from the moment that I opened the book. I had a similar colour in stash with hopefully the right amount so I could not resist starting it. I am, after all, stash reducing. I need to after the stash additions that I have bought recently. I knew that this colour would come in useful one day.

The pattern is quite easy. It is an alternating V stitch with a crossed around the front loops stitch that looks like a mini cable. It is slow going at the moment as the jacket is worked all in one piece until I have to divide for the armholes.It will have a wide front border after it is all finished off. The wool I have is, I think, a double knit. It is one of my label less bargains. I have bought bags like this before and have always been happy with the quality I get for such a small price. The hook I am using is a 4mm so I am getting a nice firm texture. As it is a long jacket I think it will be very useful for those colder days when I don't need a coat.

As you can see I have finished off Baby B's aran cardigan. It is from a Sirdar Baby in Aran pattern 225. I have quite a bit of wool left on the 400 gram ball that I used so I am going to start an almost plain pattern in the aran thickness and pray that I have enough wool. My friend Sylvia has bought me a pair of gram scales which will come in very useful for weighing part balls when I am using up my oddments. I will pick them up when I take the cardigans around to her house on Sunday.

The postman brought the missing book yesterday. I looked in the porch around 4.30pm and nothing was there but when I went out to pick up my evening newspaper around 5.30pm it was there. I have never know a postman deliver post so late in the day. I haven't had any post today so maybe it will arrive with the newspaper tonight.

I hadn't realized that the Hooked for Toddlers book that I had pre ordered was by the designer Margaret Hubert. She is also the designer for the Plus Sized pattern book. Once again it is spiral bound which I really like for a craft book. I will post more photos from the book tomorrow.

I got a phone call this morning from the hospital and I have to go for my pre operative tests tomorrow. I do hope that they don't find any reason to postpone my operation again but I am still not getting excited as it got cancelled at the 11th hour last time. I think that I will only believe it after I wake up after my operation.

I have ordered two more books from Amazon just in case that I do go in. I love Stephen Fry's sense of humour so decided to buy two of his books in case I feel well enough to read after the op. I find it very difficult to crochet when lying or sitting in bed. I will take some crochet to do though just in case they want me out of bed and sitting in a chair. I can't bear to just lie in bed watching TV and I am supposed to get as mobile as I can as soon as I can. I can't bear to have idle hands even if I only get a few rows done. Last time I was in hospital I knitted half a sock as I could not sleep the night before my operation. they had taken me in the night before as my spinal operation was scheduled for 8am.

Torrential rain again today so no change there then. Tonight I will be alternating between crocheting the Debra cardigan and knitting the plainish cardigan in the left over aran wool. I do hope that it doesn't rain hard when I have to go to the hospital tomorrow or it will be a taxi ride both directions.