Three More Books

Today I got three more books from the cheaper books sellers through Amazon

The pattern from the Family Crochet book might be vintage and in black and white but I think that it is still a pretty matinee for a newborn.

The little blue and white set has an interesting border pattern and the stitch of the waistcoat and skirt is very pretty and worth using to make something else.

The look on this babies face just makes me burst out laughing. I do love the little matinee though with it's pale pink trim.

The dress is probably better on the very slim but the tank top is pretty for anyone.

I remember this style very well from when I was a teenager. I had a fabric suit in this style. My mother paid a lot for it but I got my money's worth out of it as I wore it until the skirt and jacket lining shredded.

Well I doubt if I would ever have worn anything like this when I was younger but I can remember that many people did. I never had the courage to dress quite like this but I did live in a small northern town. Maybe if I had lived in a big city.

I must confess that I still have a sneaky love for the granny square poncho. I wore these in my teens and am wondering if I can still get away with wearing something like this on my scooter. I would choose more subtle colours though these days.

This hat is from the Quick Crochet book. Quite a cute hat. I only wish that I suited a hat. I have tried many styles but never found one that I think is just me.

Not sure about this style. It reminds a little of the chain mail helmets that the knights of old used to wear in battle. I think it's the shape of the ear flaps.

The little gloves would make a lovely accessory for a vintage themed wedding. My aunt used to crochet gloves in fine cotton that looked somewhat similar, but with full fingers, which she wore to church in the summer.

This hat reminds me of a jester. I am not sure that I could keep my face straight if I met anyone wearing a hat like this.

Beaded crochet bracelets are on my 'to do' list. I have borrowed a book from Rachael and bought a book of my own but have yet to give beading a try. I need to get some wire and fasteners. I do have some beads that I can practise with.

I quite like these cushions. I doubt that I would ever make them but the pattern stitch is very interesting.

These washcloths are from the Mason Dixon knitting book. The book is part reading articles with a few patterns. It is not the average type of knitting book. It is an expensive book but I managed to find this one on a cheap book site.

This wrap over jacket features many many times on Ravelry. I think that it would have been better for display purposes if they hadn't chosen white on a light coloured page. It is knitted all in one and in garter stitch.

This knitting book is famous for it's log cabin type of afghans.This one is the asymmetrical version. I have never knitted an afghan and am sure that I would never knit one either unless I could scale the pattern down to make a baby sized blanket.

This is the log cabin afghan which must be the most knitted afghan of all time. There are hundreds of these featured on Ravelry. Once again I might make it as a baby sized blanket as I do lack the patience to sit and knit an afghan.

I haven't read the book as yet but I presume that this photo is showing that you can knit with recycled fabric. These balls do look very attractive. I suppose that the secret is in the choice of colours of the fabric that is used.

I am still plodding on with the aran jacket. I have almost finished the back now. It is so heavy now that I have to put the bulk of the crochet on a little table as it was hurting my wrists crocheting round the post on such a big piece of crochet. I love the 'aran' style of crochet but it is very wearing on the wrists twisting and turning my hook around the front and then around the back. At least I have almost finished the biggest piece so every other piece will be smaller and lighter. The sleeves don't have the fancier pattern on them so should be quicker to crochet.

Yesterday my internet was very slow and then it went off altogether. I remember getting an e mail saying that they were updating the connection speed sometime this week. All I can say is that if this is the faster speed then it's still slow. I can almost make a cup of coffee sometimes whilst I wait for it to change from one thing to another.

For those of you who live in the UK, E Kemp wools have put some new bargains on their sale page. Some Sirdar and Rowan yarns have appeared. I have got tempted by one colour from Sirdar that I will show to you when it arrives.

Now it's time for coffee, TV and more of the crochet jacket.

What A Difference Bigger Print Makes

I picked up my knitting last night rather reluctantly due to be it being evening and the fact that I am knitting a dark colour. However with my new larger instructions I am quite happy and am progressing a lot faster. I no longer have to squint along the colours and many sizes to find out what I am supposed to be doing. I wish that there was a choice of larger printed knitting patterns as there is with reading books. It is no longer a chore to knit this cardigan. The pattern isn't showing up too well on the photo but in real life the cable pattern shows up quite well. It would look more distinct in a paler colour but my niece only wears blacks and greys most of the time.

Amazon continues to play catch up with my orders and today I got 2 CD's and a DVD. None of them are the latest ones but ones that I have wanted for a while. I love Priscilla, Queen of the Desert especially this version with Terence Stamp and this was on offer for a bargain low price so I could not resist it. Blake Shelton is someone I had not heard of until couple of years ago as I am not a great country music fan. I do like some country though and Blake's style of singing just appeals to my ears. As to the Disco Anthems - well I just like zippy music to put me in the mood for cleaning. Disco and reggae always put me in a good mood and seem to energise me enough to do a bit of housework. I suppose the music reminds me of my clubbing and dancing days which are long behind me now.

Talking about housework I have ordered a hand held steamer. I am hoping that the steam will get into the corners that I can't get to and, as I don't have much elbow grease strength at the moment, make things a lot easier to clean. I find it difficult to bend these days so low cupboards are a trial to clean. I am also hoping that it will work wonders on my neglected oven too. I will let you know if it works and everything sparkles. Hopefully it will arrive this week although the post is very erratic at the moment.

I am a little disappointed with a couple of the books that arrived today. Once again I must have not read the write ups correctly as I expected the Socks Two book to be for adults but more than half of the book is for children. The Wire Jewellery book is a bit fanciful for me. I wanted to know how to make beaded bracelets and plainer necklaces in knitting or crochet whereas this book has tiaras and strange looking wide bracelets and chokers. I learned more about how to do what I have in mind from You Tube videos.

The Crochet Coats book from Annie's Attic is one that I have looked at many times and balked at the price as it only contains 4 coats. However I saw it on sale on the Book Depository site and bought it. I must admit that I like all of the 4 coats so that makes the price more acceptable.

Thanks to dshood for your lovely comments. I am glad that you found the blog and like it. When I write my blog I always hope that I do inspire others to knit or crochet the way that other peoples blogs and work inspire me. I hope that you manage to work your way through your stash. That is my aim for this year but I do keep getting sidetracked. I am always so busy. I don't know just how I ever found the time to work. As for my style of writing I just type what is in my head at the time which is why sometimes it doesn't make a lot of sense. Everytime I open my blog I think 'I have not much to say today' and then I proceed to write half a novel!

I have been browsing on the vintage knit lady's pattern web site today and she has put some vintage knitted baby patterns on there that I don't have. I think that I have managed to replace most of the old Patons baby patterns that I lent out and didn't get returned to me.

I got a message today to say that the crochet hearts have arrived in Spain. I will look forward to seeing how they display them in the Art Gallery for Valentines Day.

I wish that I could dance as I am getting in the mood with this Disco Anthems CD. Burn, Baby, Burn Disco Inferno. My head is nodding like mad and my body is having a jig about on the PC chair. Come and join me in my Disco Fever tonight and join me in singing I'm Every Woman. Now where did I put those flashing Disco Lights?

Secret Project Revealed

Yesterday was my friend Sylvia's birthday and so I can reveal the secret project that I have been working on. I used the Blue Heaven Sweater pattern from the Crochet Closet by Lisa Gentry. This time, however, I made the body longer and altered the sleeves from the elbow length bell shape of my blue cardigan to a straighter long sleeve. Sylvia is always telling me that she has long arms but I think I went a little mad with the sleeve length and she has to turn the sleeve up a to make a cuff. I used 6 x 100 grams of King Cole Riot DK in Shade 403.

It was nice to have an afternoon out and even nicer to have my dinner made for me. I am not sure how that worked out. It was Sylvia's birthday and yet she finished up cooking dinner for me and her daughter!. That doesn't seem fair does it? Both of the foster babies have not been well with coughs and colds so the elder one was a bit whiny and clingy. The baby was just full of a cold. Sylvia's daughter brought her dog so that cheered the elder child up. Luckily the dog is very patient with being patted and dragged about.

Today I have been out for most of the day. I had to go to physio at the Hospital. I mentioned the swelling in my knee to the physio but wouldn't you know - it wasn't too bad this lunch time so not much for them to see. It's always the way isn't it. It's like dental appointments and when you get there the tooth has stopped aching. They measured my knee bend angle and despite my thinking that my knee was a lot worse they actually said my movement was better by a couple of degrees. Still far from where it should be but still heading in the right direction.

Today the postman brought me a crochet baby book that I had pre ordered ages ago from Amazon and a copy of the latest Crochet Today. I will show you those tomorrow. I have also started knitting the scarf for Louise and managed to knit about 8" whilst waiting around at the hospital. I have still only done the cuff of the first sleeve of my crochet jacket. I didn't want to take that with me as I would have had to carry the hook with me as well to read about the sleeve shaping so I decided that a mindless scarf was better knitting for picking up and putting down in the middle of a row at the hospital.

I am hoping that my niece hasn't been to the Yarn Barn for the navy wool for Kath's friend's cardigan as I have a feeling that I will need more wool for Louise's scarf. She wants a long scarf so it takes a lot more wool than you think especially as I am making it in Fisherman's Rib. Even more wool if she wants a fringe on the ends.

I am still feeling rather droopy despite putting myself on some vitamin tablets. I have no energy and even fell asleep whilst waiting for the appointment ambulance to collect me this morning. Luckily my bag was packed and I was ready to go. The driver had to beep his horn to wake me up! Good job that the recliner is in the bay window so he could see me. I am still not sleeping well at night so that is one cause for my daytime nodding.

Crochet Ugg Style Boots

My niece's Ugg type slippers are finished. They are lovely and sturdy and will be very warm when she wears them. The pattern is Buttoned Cuff Boots by Darla Sims and can be found in an Annie's Attic booklet Slippers by the Dozen 879530. The pattern calls for medium weight worsted wool and as I am never sure what that means in UK terms I just guessed. Some patterns work up better in Double Knit and some in Aran. I think that worsted weight seems to be somewhere in between the thicknesses of wool that we have in the UK.

I used 6x 40 grams of vintage Lister's Kaftan which was an acrylic fine aran that was a bit fluffy. The boots are very firm as I had to crochet the yarn double. For the size that I made I needed a 4mm hook so I used a metal hook as I think that an acrylic or wooden hook would have broken as the work was quite stiff to crochet. I changed the stitch that the pattern used for the cuffs. As with a lot of US crochet patterns I sometimes just cannot grasp what they mean with their description of the stitch. I think this is where the different terminology confuses me. If I could see someone do the stitch then the penny would drop right away

Yesterday I got 2 books from Amazon that I ordered last week.I will post photos of some of the contents on another blog. I am quite pleased with the Crochet for Babies but am still mystified how people can crochet with loopy or textured yarn. There is a lovely white coat and hat with lamb ears but I could never crochet with the "poodle" type wool and I don't think that it would look as nice in plain wool. The front cover jacket is lovely but once again I have read the description of the stitch used and I don't understand what they mean. I will get a hook and some wool and give it a practise. I do wish that they would put a little diagram for unusual stitches showing where exactly to put the hook in as the description isn't making a lot of sense to me and I would like to make the jacket.

I am a little disappointed with the Vintage Baby Knits as I thought that it would have genuine patterns in it whereas it is in fact vintage style patterns revamped in thicker wool in an attempt to make them more appealing to modern mums. I have some fantastic genuine vintage patterns that are far nicer than the patterns in this book. I think if anyone was to go to all of the trouble of revamping patterns then it might have been better to chose some of the nicer ones instead of the ones chosen for this book. This of course if my personal opinion and other people may like the things in the book. I will take photos of some of the better ones and let you make your own mind up about them.

My disability aids arrived today. I thought that they would arrive with a guy to fit them but no. This guy said he is just the delivery guy. He just said phone them up for instructions as to how high to put the legs.He said they are usually adjusted before they are delivered but mine hadn't been. Story of my life? I managed to alter the kitchen stool myself but the toilet aids are a mystery to me. I think that I will have to wait for someone to take off my existing toilet seats for them to be properly positioned. I did sit down on one and the metal arms are very cold to the bare flesh. Considering they are for people up to 25 stones they are very narrow. If I put on another inch then I will be in trouble. I will need a shoe horn to get out of it! I had a bit of a giggle to myself thinking what kind of conversation I would have if I had to ring 999. Visions of the headlines in the local paper. Overweight lady is stuck in the handles of her toilet seat!

Not much sun today. The weather is overcast and quite windy. I have taken a chance and put some washing out to dry. I will have to keep an eye on it as I have a feeling that it will rain very soon.

Yeah for new books and a finished bolero

I love the feeling of excitement when my parcel of books arrives from Amazon. It feels like my birthday when I rip open the cardboard to reveal the goodies beneath. I knew what I had ordered but on Amazon you only get to see the cover page and a brief description so it's all an exciting mystery as to what is inside. I got Everyday crochet by Doris Chan which at my first brief glance is filled with very wearable items. I will tell you more once I have the time later to really browse through it. My second book is Crocheted socks and again looks full of fun patterns. I prefer knitted socks but think that I can rattle a few pairs of dog walking and house socks far quicker in crochet.

I photographed the black Sanctuary Bolero from the Sensual Crochet book by Amy Swenson. Terrible photos but black is so hard to photograph on a miserable dull day. I had to make the sleeves a lot shorter as I only had 200 + grams of yarn left. My niece had bought Patons Diploma Acrylic DK and it was lovely to work with. I love Yarn that glides through my fingers silkily. It has a really good yardeage which is why I had the 2 balls left over from her ribbed sweater. My other niece picked it up last night so it will be on it's way to it's new owner soon.

I started knitting Carrie cropped flared sleeve cardigan from the Fitted Knits book in some brown fleck super chunky I had got from Lidl. I am making it for my super skinny friend Caroline but I had to unravel and re-do the first sleeve I made. The garment is worked top down all in one so it was difficult to gauge the right size until the sleeve was finished. I know she has arms like Calista Flokhart on a thin day but this sleeve was ultra skinny. I unravelled it and increased the yolk to a couple of sizes larger and re-did the sleeve. It is so fast to knit. I am using 8mm needles but the pattern actually uses 10mm which is probably why the sleeves turned out a bit on the slim side. I knit quite loose so normally drop the needle size by one but as I didn't have any 9mm needles I had to use 8mm. I think I will probably have to decrease the body size back down to the smaller size once I join it all together again as the body is knitted downwards. It fastens with one button at the waist so will not look right if it is too large. I have almost finished the second sleeve so should have it finished by tonight. A cardigan in 2 evenings. My kind of knitting!

I am off to get a coffee and drool over my new books. I will let you know the final thoughts about them tomorrow.