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?

Blue Curacao modelled

Oh the North wind doth blow and we shall have snow. I woke up this morning to snow. Not the inches of snow that my cousins in the US and Canada are experiencing but an inch or so. I was supposed to be sampling the wonderful coffee and cakes at Slattery's today with Vicky but it has been postponed. Not just because of the snow but Vicky thinks she is coming down with a bug of some kind.

Everyone I know has had some virus or another over Christmas. My friend Charlie has not recovered from her bout of glandular fever and Marie has a cough that put her in hospital for a few days and is now on steroids. I can't get rid of my cough and am having a few Tena lady moments when a racking coughing fit overtakes me. My cough does seem to be slowly recovering but I have had it since before Christmas. I had originally blamed the calor gas fire for my cough but I now think it was a bug. I hope all this snow and cold weather kills some of these bugs.

I have now almost finished the second sleeve on my chunky crochet jacket and will post a photo tomorrow. I started the wrong way around as I wanted to make long sleeves and there was no point in making the bolero if I didn't have enough for long sleeves. One 200 gram ball has almost made 2 sleeves so I think I will have enough to make the bolero long enough in the body for me.

Today the photos are once again the Blue Curacao shawl but this time being modelled by it's new owner. The shawl laid flat looks a strange shape and I wanted to show how the shawl sits on the shoulders in wear. I will make one for myself one day but for now I am still stash reducing. I still haven't worked my way up to knitting the socks yet but I can feel the urge building up for a bit of knitting.

Julie has lent me her Paul McKenna book "I can make you thin" and I have been watching him on the TV this week. I hope that something works soon as I was looking through my wardrobe to find something to wear today and the only item of my best clothes that still fits is a necklace! I will have to try and find some cheap, warm filling diet meals that I can eat. The cold weather makes me think of potato hash and stews rather than things that are slimming. Yesterday I made a big pot of Leek and Potato soup so that is my lunch menu for the next couple of days. Not particularly slimming but cheap, warm and cheerful.

First resolution broken

OK I admit it - I am weak. It's only the 3rd and already I have kind of broken one of my resolutions. I caved in under the pressure of counting up to 9 over and over in my head. The blue cardigan got to me last night. I am on the second sleeve as you can see. It is worked downwards so I was not only counting to 9 (for each shell) I was also counting rows to decrease and all on a 3.50mm hook. I have promised myself to work on it today and try to finish it over the weekend.

Last night it was either stop crocheting and just watch the TV or start something new. Since I hate sitting idle I decided to start another Blue Curacao shawl from the Amazing Lace book by Doris Chan. This time however I am using some stash brushed chunky and making it to the pattern. Last time I used finer wool and hook and so had to improvise and add lots more rows to the pattern. This shawl is for my next door neighbour Julie who is recovering from several ops for cancer. She mentioned that she is often cold in the house but wary of having her central heating on too often. I decided to make her a shoulder shawl to wear indoors to ward off the chill. I find my crochet shawls, and the knitted wrap made for me by Ambermoggie so useful for warding off the chills. I am making it in chunky to be warm instead of just being a decorative accessory. I just hope that she likes green as I am trying to use up my stash instead of buying more wool.

I must go to the shops to get some bread and milk. I am not going to Tesco as I go in there for 2 items and come out with a trolley full. I still have so much food in the freezer that I over bought at Christmas so this year I am trying to only buy in food that I actually need and not things that I finish up putting in the bin because I forget about them and they go out of date before I get to use them.

If you will forgive me for starting something else then I promise to do some more rows on the blue cardigan when I get back from the shops!

Blue Curacao Shawl - reprise

As promised better photos of the Blue Curacao shawl on holiday in Menorca wth Vicky. What a difference a professional photographer makes to my work!
The shawl is Blue Curacao from Doris Chan's Amazing Lace book.
As these photos were taken by Laurie please don't reproduce them without permission as he has been kind enough to let me put them on my blog.

Anisette Vest - take 2

This is the 2nd version of the Anisette vest from the Amazing Lace book by Doris Chan. My first version turned out really small. It's amazing how differently the same yarn and the same hook can turn out with different patterns. The Drops one turned out too large, in my eyes, although the finished version was supposed to be 42" which to me isn't S/M! I think that the Anisette will turn out fine once it is blocked and stitched to resemble the photos from the book. I will leave that joy to Vicky J as I haven't got any blocking boards yet. That's my excuse and I am sticking to it! She will know how much it has to stretch to fit her anyway. It just gets stitched up under the arms for about an inch once it is blocked to size.

Today my neighbour Julie drove me up to Tesco and pushed my trolley around so that I could do a bit of shopping. After than I walked up to the Post Office to post off a parcel to Ambermoggie. She admired my purple granny square shawl and I decided that I probably wouldn't wear it myself so I posted it off to her. I am always making things that I finish up not wearing and so have decided in future if in doubt pass it on instead of cluttering my cupboards up with things I may never wear.

I have finished off the 3 colours of the granny squares for Vicky J's shawl and am awaiting the 4th colour so that I can make the last 10 squares in order to finish it. Last night I started a red version of Rah - Boom - Dee - Ay by Doris Chan as a bit of a fun item for my wardrobe. I will probably chicken out and not make the edges so frilly in the end. I will try it and see. If too elaborate when finished I shall unpick the edging and go for a more conservative one. I know - I am such a boring old chicken but I really can't picture myself in flowing lacy sleeves dripping in the water whilst I am washing the dishes!

My niece Vicky is coming tomorrow to re-gild the lily (do my roots) and on Friday I have been invited to a birthday house party at my neighbour Julie's. I think she has got so fed up with all the negative news she has had lately on the cancer front that she has decided to throw a birthday party to cheer herself up. I must enquire if it is her 40th. I have just bought a normal birthday card. I don't want to depress her even more by giving her a card saying Happy 40th and she is only 39! It will be good to get out of the house but I will probably only stay a couple of hours as I can't really drink and can't get very comfortable unless I am surrounded by my cushions. My back is still very tender and ordinary clothes annoy my back. I have only been able to wear sweat pant type trousers that are soft and baggy as I can't bear anything with a back seam. I have to cut out all the labels even though they are nowhere near the scar. It's like all my nerve endings in my back top to bottom are still raw and jangly. I am sure everything will improve with time.

Farpoint Topper is finished

My version of Doris Chan's Farpoint Topper is finished. It has taken 400 grams of James C Brett's Marble Chunky. As you can see in my version I have distinct lines around the raglan where I had to extend the motif to make it wide enough for me. I had to press out the motifs, which I normally would not do with acrylic as it takes the nature out of the yarn, in order for it to fit also. The pattern was easy and quick to make (2 nights) but it does need to be super chunky for best results. I have also stitched up the neckline to make a slash neckline and double crocheted around there and the bottom edge as it tended to curl, I have also stitched up about 2" under each arm so that it figure hugged as before I did that the topper flared outwards like a bib. It has got 2 sides to it as every motif came out a different colourway and as there is no front or back to it I could wear a different colourway tomorrow! I tried it on over several outfits and decided that it looks best either over a black dress or black skirt/trousers with a black T or sweater underneath. It would look OK with purple or green but needs to have matching top and bottom to look right. I tried it with a different colour top to bottom and as there were too many different edges it distracted from the V edge of the topper.I am not sure at this stage whether I will keep it on a long term basis. I will wear it and see. It's one of those sweaters that get hooked up on every door knob in passing so not exactly a day to day sweater. The bottom photo and yesterday motif photo are the correct colourway for some reason my web cam bleaches colour out of things but I cannot take photos of myself with a digi cam. I have tried the looking through a mirror thing and always finish up with a halo for a head and reflection everywhere.

I phoned the hospital about the letter I got yesterday. It is my POST op letter! The secretary said she would be phoning me very shortly with a new operation date but when I asked which op and which surgeon I got passed around from pillar to post. I got told various things including the fact that I signed my agreement to the lesser operation and should have discussed my concerns with the surgeon. I did say that I tried many times to ask him why it got changed but he never gave me a direct answer. Apparently now I am in a surgeons pool (wish it was a swimming pool in the South of France) and so it is unknown who is doing my op. I have expressed my concerns to Patient Liason who said I was speaking to the wrong person. Apparently I have a right to ask for a consultation with the surgeon or a second opinion (what good would that be if they are all consulting amongst themselves anyway) but that would mean that I say I don't want the operation planned for me now until it is sorted out - so more delays. I got referred back to administration who say they will try to get answers for me as to why I have got changed to a lesser op and who is doing it now. Watch this space. It just seems to me that they can do whatever they think they will and I have no say it what gets done at all. Interestingly amongst all the reasons quoted at me was a very quickly mentioned and very quickly passed over one about financial concerns and budgets. Is this what it all boils down to - big operations cost too much money to the NHS?

I am off to watch Loose Women on TV and have a cup of coffee as I haven't yet had my pills. I have wasted most of the morning on the phone so have only just had my breakfast and haven't even washed my dishes.

Doris must be a considerably smaller lady than I

I am making a top like the one that Doris is modelling from her Amazing Lace Book (sorry Doris I borrowed the photo from your Flickr site) but am having a little difficulty. Not with the pattern this time but the fact that it is one size fits all and as anyone who knows me can see there is twice as much of me than there is of Doris. Plus the fact that I don't think my wool is as thick as the one that she has used.

It is so difficult to gauge what thickness US yarns are compared to UK. US 3 seems to be equivalent to most double knits but US 4 although listed as being thicker seems finer than our Aran and so I have used double knit for those patterns also and just adjusted for size. Not only do the US use different crochet stitch terms but their yarn appears to be different thicknesses also. I have used James C Brett chunky for this garment as it stipulated US 6 but now I look at the book again they call US 6 super chunky and not bulky which I think my yarn is. My wool is probably more of a US 5. My motif, as you can see, I have had to put 2 rows of trebles around it and even then I am doubtful if it will fit around my corpulence. I think Doris has used a super thick ribbon type yarn so that is probably where the trouble lies, Ah well I am sure it will fit someone when it is finished. I can't crochet or knit with ribbon yarn anyway as I flick the yarn as I work and ribbon turns into a twisted string. (Refer back to the chenille shawl which is still untwisting and looping - Grrr) I made 2 motifs last night and it only requires 4 for the garment so it is super quick to crochet. I will let you see the finished results later. Ambermoggie - search your stash for some super chunky (600 grams) as I know you like the pattern. It is so easy to crochet I could make you one in a couple of days! It would come out the right size in thicker wool.

The socks didn't make an appearance last night. When I am in the crocheting frame of mind then knitting takes a back seat. They will get finished off soon,

I went to Bury market yesterday and just happened to pass the wool stall on my way to the Fish and Meat Hall. They had some good bargains but luckily for my purse mostly not in my colours. I did buy some more James C Brett chunky and some purple double knit. The pale blue Beehive chunky I spotted in a charity shop for 25p a ball. Naturally I snapped the 2 balls up as I am sure I will find a use for them either in a shawl or for a hat later. There are loads of charity shops in Bury but I wasn't in the mood for searching every one of them, in the rain, to see if there was any wool (Usually not). I had Ivy my trusty stead with me and as most of the shops are very small and crowded on Saturdays the customers don't like me taking the trolley into the shop and bashing them behind the knees. The shops, unlike the market, are open most days so I can always do the rounds another day.

Today the sun is trying to shine so I have my bedding on the washing line to dry. Buster is lying hopefully on the grass with his ball in his mouth (no chance Buster) Housework is the order of the day I think. Vicky and family have gone to watch kite flying in Morecambe today so check her blog later as I am sure there will be some lovely photos of it on Monday. I never did get the hang of flying one of those things. I have 2 left strings. I used to run and run down hills etc and my kite never got off the ground so I admire anyone with the skills to make one fly.

Car journey Sweet Pea

When I was in the car (as a passenger) on the way to and from Morecambe I got quite a lot of crocheting done on this purple Sweet Pea shawl. It is from the Stitch n Bitch the Happy Hooker book but I do a sort of frilled edging instead of the fringing as illustrated in the book. This one took 250 grams Patons Fab double knit and crocheted up quite quickly. I have made quite a few of this pattern and apart from a quick check at the pattern when I first start I can almost crochet it from memory now. I finished it of last night and sewed the tails in this morning.

I have also done a small amount of work on the new crochet square shawl but the 2nd pair of knitted socks for my niece have not had a row knitted on them for days so they should be my next alternate project. I like to have one knit and one crochet on the go and alternate to give my wrists and fingers a change of movement.

I am planning my next crochet project and have to decide which one of Doris's Amazing Lace designs to start next. Her designs are quite thick in what she describes as "exploded lace" and whilst I can understand what she means and why she has done it anything too thick is not to my taste so I will be doing some jiggery pokery to adapt her designs to be more "me".

I am really tempted to go back to the market stall in Bury market to get some more of the lovely yarn I got last week before he sells it all out. He tends to have job lots so if you miss it and go a couple of weeks later then there is none left. There were a couple of colours in the £5.99 Silky Look packs that I really liked. He is only there on Fridays and Saturdays so if I get up early tomorrow I might risk an outing.

When I came back from the Leisure centre I double checked everywhere to see if I had accidentally left my other sock at home and not packed it in the rucksack. Last night I noticed that somethings under the sewing machine table had slipped down and bent to tidy them up. What was there? My other sock!!! How on earth did it get there? I had not gone anywhere near this table whilst I was packing my bag.

I once went with a friend to see a woman who was Spiritualist and whilst I am not totally convinced I will go along to with people to different religious gatherings, tarot card readers, fortune tellers etc as I have a curiosity about all things in life. I never pay or go personally but will accompany other people. This lady told me that I had a mischievous boy who was my unborn son living in my house who liked to re-arrange things to tease me. There was no way she could have known about my 4 miscarriages so I just thought she had made a lucky guess. I thought no more about it but over the years I have misplaced things and have them re-appear in plain view a couple of days later. So I will put this down to a mischievous imp or wonder if a sock can play hide and seek. I am pleased to have a pair of socks once again.

New books have arrived

As you can see from the photo heavy blog today my new book from Doris Chan has arrived. I also got a sock book but haven't even looked at that yet!
What can I say the photos speak for themselves. I love a lot of them but will have to adapt (no change there then) as I prefer my shawls to be more ethereal than chunky but that is my personal choice. Most of these garments and shawls appeal to be either in Aran thickness or chunky and whilst I love their design I don't think I would want the weight.
Nothing much to blog on craft wise except that my finger end has almost healed and I am back to my crocheting.
The hospital technician decided, without warning, to yank my legs skywards to put a cushion underneath my knees whilst I was lying on the MRI scan table. I think my yelp of pain echoed around the corridors and I could barely walk back to the car. thanks for that one mate - I will avoid you like the plague if I need another scan.