I Must Get Back To My Knitting Machine

No excuses. When I have finished off the sleeveless jacket that I am crocheting for my niece I must try again on the knitting machine. I am sure that once I sit and read the instructions for the lace carriage it will all come back to me. I can knit plain but I want to make some lacy baby cardigans.

These are another reason why I must get back to machine knitting. I already had the baby cones and today my friend Sue has been in her garage and given me these cones of cotton from her stash for my machine. I can't complain that I have nothing to machine knit with now.

Sue also gave me  a pack of each colour in Patons Zhivago. it is beautifully soft and silky and will make lovely crochet sleeveless jackets. I have a couple of patterns that I bought but haven't made as yet that will really suit these colours.

She also gave me these balls of QK which she inherited from an old lady's stash. It has the aroma that my other donated wool from a couple of years had but once it is left open to the air it fades eventually. It's a strange rather musty smell. I often wonder where old ladies store their wool.  Quickerknit is hard to buy these days and I have a few old Patons Quickerknit patterns that I can use this wool up for.

I am not in my second childhood. I wanted a baby doll for when I design my baby patterns but unfortunately when this doll arrived it is more the size of a premature baby. I have ordered another larger doll so hopefully that will be a newborn baby size. I already have a doll that was used for display when I had the shop but she has seen better days and is about the size of a 9 month old. Next time my son calls I will have to make sure that the dolls are  put away in the spare bedroom or he might think that I have gone a bit strange dressing dolls at my time of life. Crocheters will understand when I say that I want a life sized model to design for but other people won't. The doll is anatomically correct. I could have ordered a little boy doll but I didn't want any extra pieces of plastic spoiling the line of the baby clothes.

I  have spent some of today looking for Oscar. They still haven't found him. They want me to keep an eye out and phone them when I find him. It's very unusual for him to disappear like this. Perhaps he has realized that they have moved and in his cat like way has found himself a new place to stay. Usually when they are not home or on holiday the first place he comes for food is here. He has done that for years. I hope that he turns up soon.

I am on the finishing straight for the Doris Chan sleeveless jacket for my niece. I have about 8 more rows to do on the body and then all the edgings to crochet. After that I hope that I can force myself into some machine knitting. Once I start I will be fine and probably will machine knit for a while. It's just the starting that seems to be the problem.

It has been raining most of the day today. By the time the weather was nice enough to go out shopping it was too late. I managed to find things in the freezer to eat so I will try again tomorrow. I have got a rain poncho and rainproof trousers and jacket but I still don't like scooting in the rain unless I have to.

Sirdar Mega Chunky Quick Knit Jacket

On the 27th April 10 balls of Sirdar Denim Ultra Mega Chunky and Sirdar pattern 9102 were sent to me by Kemps. On the 28th April the yarn was in my house and on the needles. I knitted my way through the Royal Wedding and by yesterday it was all sewn up and a matching hat made with the left overs. I had to cut the hat length a bit short as I didn't have a full 100 gram ball left over. It is still wearable even though it could have done with that extra inch on the length.

I am thinking of changing the buttons. These were the only ones that I had in my stash that were the right size but the next time that I am near a button shop then I will buy some different ones that match better. The jacket is super thick and much too warm to be worn indoors ( hence the matching hat) but as the wool cost me £19.90 plus 99p for the pattern I am pleased with the finished jacket. I will use this jacket when I am out on my scooter as I feel the cold even on a lovely day.

I am always rambling on about my knee so I thought that I would give you a pictorial update. Sorry if the sight of my leg has put you off your dinner. I know that I am a big girl (as you can see from the photos of me in my jacket) and so can't expect to have legs like Twiggy but this is what my knee looks like at the end of the day. If I have been out walking anywhere then it looks even bigger. My foot is swollen and has the lovely purple red hue that you can see on the photo. I am not convinced that this red rash is eczema as it is not responding to any of the creams and potions that I have been prescribed and it is now very itchy and the skin is bumpy. I only have to absentmindedly scratch at it and it bleeds like mad.  My other leg is similarly afflicted with this scaly rash on my lower leg but the left leg isn't swollen like this knee. Now you can see why I can't bend it and find it difficult to walk around and do my chores.

The sun is shining again today but we still have that dratted wind. great for drying the towels on the line but not great for sitting out in the sunshine. I love to sit out and relax with my knitting or crochet in the garden. I have a sunshade umbrella that fits in the centre of the patio table so I can sunbathe without getting burnt. I still manage to get a bit of a tan in the summer despite not actually sitting out in the glare of the sun.

I have a lodger cat asleep on the bed. This time it is Oscar the black and white cat from next door. He came in early this morning, looking knackered after a night on the tiles, and is now in a deep sleep. He likes my house because it is quiet and no -one disturbs him. Next door has 2 teenagers and a 12 yrs old and so it can be a bit noisy at times so he can't get his proper relaxing sleep.

I have picked up my niece's knitted jacket again and finished off the front and started the last front. After that I have quite wide bands to knit so it will be a while yet before that is finished and stitched up.

My steam mop hasn't arrived yet so I have an excuse for not doing any cleaning in the kitchen today. It will probably arrive tomorrow and then I will have no excuse for not doing the mopping.

Long Long Scarf

I feel like I am knitting a mile long scarf. This has been my going to physio project. I have knitted it whilst waiting for the ambulance to give me a ride home. The scarf isn't actually going to be a mile long that's an exaggeration. I have knitted approx 70" and it is supposed to be 100" long and then the fringe is added to make it even longer. Louise's birthday is not until the 8th December so I still have time to knit the final 30".

I haven't started anything else as my wool orders should arrive this week and when they do I can start to knit my London niece's jacket.

I smiled when I read the comment on my last post from Ailsa (Mad about Craft). She has given me a brilliant excuse that I can use to persuade myself that ordering more wool is not a crime. She says I should tell myself that I am saving money by buying now as the VAT tax is set to go up after Christmas and so the prices will rise because of this. Thanks Ailsa for giving me a perfect excuse for ordering again before Christmas. See I am saving money!

I did pay another chunk off my credit card today so I am feeling very virtuous anyway. OK OK so I know that at my age and with my resources I shouldn't be building up a credit card bill but hey it is almost Christmas and a girl has to do what a girl has to do.

I crocheted 3 holly leaves and berries last night for the Kings Arms Christmas tree. Not the best looking leaves that I have ever made and for some reason the spikes on the holly leaves want to point in the wrong direction. Perhaps no-one will notice once they are on the tree.

I had my lodger cat Oscar sleeping the night. I went to put out the dustbin last night and he dived in through the open door and straight into the spare bedroom. Hey Oscar - you live next door remember. He went home this morning and when I came home from shopping he darted in again whilst I was parking my scooter in the garage. He is getting very cheeky. He doesn't wait to be asked in any more he just pushes the door open with his nose and dashes in. He doesn't like this cold weather and wants to spend as much of his life indoors if he can.It must be tea time at his house as he has just asked to be let out. It's a cats life alright.

Inside Crochet Issue 11

This is not an issue to set my heart a fluttering nor does it give me any urges to rush for a hook and wool.

The boyfriend hoodie on the front cover (see previous post) by Shannon Mullet-Bowlsby is plain to the point of boring. Anyone who has ever made those kangaroo pockets on the front of a sweater will know how unflattering they are when they bag out after a couple of washes.

The Circles scarf by Linda Permann is actually crocheted in strips that are joined together and not made from hundreds of little circles which would be mind blowing boring. Although I doubt that I will make it, it is one of the nicer patterns in the magazine.

The Candystripe legwarmers by Amy O'Neill Houck seem a bit pointless. If it's cold enough for them then it's cold enough to wear a pair of trousers. Maybe someone would like them for baby yoga?

The Geometric Sweater by Melissa Horozewski is another pattern that leaves me cold. With or without sleeves.

The Nautical Sweater by Claire Montgomerie seems very ill fitting around the neck and the sleeve heads. If you must crochet a sweater for a man at least make it one that fits him! As for 6 buttons fastening the shoulder - not something any man that I have known would have wanted to wear.

The Lucky Goldfish purse by Irene Strange might appeal to my great grandchildren as a bit of a novelty item but as they would probably lose it the first time that they take it out I am not going to bother.

The Cosy Chevron afghan and cushion by Helen Jordan are quite pretty if you are into crocheting afghans (which I am not) but I have seen this sort of thing in many guises in other books.

I didn't bother to photograph the mystery shawl by Annette Petavy. It has taken 3 editions of the magazine to reveal the final shawl and to be honest it wasn't worth waiting for. To me it looks like 3 mismatched pieces of crochet where the only thing is common is the colour. Should have stayed a mystery in my opinion.

The Bubblegum beanie by Shirley Macdonald is quite a useful beanie for the winter. It is made from a quite thick chunky so I suppose it would make a warm hat for the winter.

Words fail me with the Harlequin Cardigan by Lesley Arnold-Hopkins. I think that the colours are vile for a start and what is going on with the awful button band that is gaping all down the front? The jacket looks marginally better from the back except for the too wide fluting cap sleeves. I like the idea of using harlequin squares in a jacket but this is not the best example I have ever seen.

The Vantar Mittens by Erssie Major and Absinthia Artisan will probably be quite warm mittens as they are crocheted very firmly. I prefer gloves myself for flexibility of the fingers but I suppose these might be useful in very cold climates.

Sorry if I sound very critical of this edition but when I know how many good crochet designers there are in the UK and see the projects on Ravelry that are 10 times better than any of these I do wonder why do they not appear in our one and only UK crochet magazine? I am not sure but I doubt if many of these designers come from the UK anyway.

I have got to the lacy edging of the All Shawl but the white Blue Curacao shawl hasn't progressed any. My son called today and brought some more provisions so I should be set up for the week with food. I will have to venture out on Pearl at some stage as the newsagent pinned my bill to the Sunday newspaper so I guess he wants paying.

I took off the large dressing from my leg tonight and bathed the part that hasn't healed. I have put a small sterile dressing over this part and will see what it looks like tomorrow morning. I was going to phone the District Nurses anyway to see if they are calling any more so maybe I can chat with someone and get them to make sure that there is no infection coming from this small hole. I keep getting little stabbing shooting pains in that area also.

My lodger cat Oscar has just arrived to escape the wind and the noise of the fireworks. Bonfire night isn't until Nov 5th but last night there was so many bangs it was like living in a war zone. I don't mind people having fun but I do wish that they would limit it to just one night or two and stop scaring all the pets in the neighbourhood. My late cat Ollie used to watch them all from the window sill but as he was deaf the bangs didn't bother him at all. Buster used to make it a big excuse to sit on my knee but I don't actually think that he was frightened at all.

Last night and today and tonight we have had a hoodie on one of those teeny tiny motorbikes zipping up and down the street. As I don't recognise him I doubt if he lives on this street. So dangerous. No helmet and the bike is so small he would not be seen by a car. It reminded me of one holiday abroad where everyone rode motorized bikes without exhausts and it sounded like a swarm of buzzing bees all night long. Not one of our better holidays!

What To Make With A Bag Of Purple Oddments

The funny shaped socks are finished. They fit beautifully so who cares how weird they look. Best pair of crochet socks that I have made so far. I am not sure if it is the pattern stitch or the wool that makes these socks so comfy as usually I find crochet socks a bit uncomfy underfoot to wear them inside my shoes. I normally wear my crochet socks as house socks and my knitted ones in shoes and boots. I will definitely make another pair like this although they are a bit boring to crochet so I will wait a while before I do that. My niece likes a pair of slipper socks from the other book so as soon as I can get out to get some suitable wool then I will make them for her.

I think that I like purple. In fact I think that I really like purple otherwise why would I have so many part balls from projects that I have made in the past.After sorting out my oddments into colours and seeing what a huge bag of purples that I have I decided to make yet another All Shawl by Doris Chan.I really must find another pattern that uses up oddments but this pattern just seems to lend itself to crocheting a couple of rows of one colour without looking too striped. I think that it's because I crochet in between the stitches of the previous row rather than into them. The second photo is the next run of colours but on reflection I think that I will take the lighter colour out. It looks a bit too light now that I see it in the daylight.

My cat Oscar (sorry my next door neighbour's cat Oscar) is now sleeping on the sofa. I woke him up with the camera flash but he has now gone back to sleep.Fortunately for me he completely ignores my wool when I am knitting or crocheting. He is a strange cat. Never wants to play. I have tried with bits of wool and balls and he just looks at me as if I am completely mad (he is not far wrong there then)All he does when he visits is sleep and eat.

The amaryllis has bloomed further overnight and is now almost in full flower. It is probably because the house is quite warm. I will worry about the heating bill when it arrives but I am sorry I just cannot stand the cold. My knees hurt on a good day but on a cold day they are unbearable. I had a very bad night again last night. I don't know why but as soon as I get into bed the pain in my knees worsens considerably. I just seem to get in the right comfy position to sleep when I should be getting up. I have tried everything. I have put pillows under my knees, rolled up towels under them. I have rubbed them with Ibuprofen and Peppermint udder cream but none of them have worked. When the snow goes I must discuss with my GP about stronger pain killers if only to take before bedtime. I have an appointment with the specialist next week but he wont prescribe any painkillers. All he does is eventually write to my GP with his recommendations.

The snow is slightly melting and I might try to venture out today. I need to collect a prescription and although I have placed an order with Tesco there are of course several things that I have forgotten.

Time Share Cat

Yesterday I introduced you to Dillon and today it is Oscar my time share cat. I call him the lodger as although technically he belongs to next door he spends a great amount of time with me. He comes in on cold evenings and makes use of the spare bed as you can see. He is a very timid little cat. He will tolerate my stroking him for a very short while and then whoosh he has gone to hide somewhere. Next door considers him to be an outdoors cat and treats him appropriately. He considers himself to be an indoor cat and when she puts him out he comes around to my patio door at the back in the daytime or the porch at the front in the evening. He is a clever cat. He knows which bit of the house I am likely to be in depending on what time it is. Last night when I was drawing my bedroom curtains to go to bed he was on the bonnet of the car across the road staring at my window as if to say hey it's cold out here have you forgotten me? As soon as I went downstairs and opened the front door he ran inside like Linford Christie and gave me a look as if to say - about time too!

I was very good last night. I didn't pick up my crochet hook. I continued to slog on with the aran jacket. I have almost completed the first sleeve now but decided to make the collar next as I might have to shave an inch off the sleeve length. I would rather not complete both sleeves and then not have enough wool for the collar. I could get another ball of wool but that would involve asking my very busy niece to go up to the Yarn Barn in Shaw to get it for me as a trip involves a long journey by tram and bus for me which would take me the best part of a day and I can't afford to lose a day's knitting time. The sleeves look quite long so I am sure that my other niece would not miss an inch if the wool doesn't pan out.

Today I am off to the hospital to get my CPAP machine checked out and the pressure turned up. I have been having problems for a while with this machine and have finally managed to convince them, with the aid of a sleep study, that I was right and the pressure was wrong. It has only taken me 12 months of nagging to get to this point. Maybe now I won't feel so tired and have a headache when I wake up. The machine is supposed to ensure that my oxygen levels are up and my carbon dioxide levels are down whilst I sleep so if it is set wrong then everything goes to pot. I have sleep apnoea which means that I forget to breathe when I am sleeping and so starve my brain of oxygen. Having my brain cells deprived of oxygen is not a good idea at my age as I seem to be losing enough through old age and would like to hang on to the remaining few that I have.

I will take a bit of crochet with me to the hospital in case that I have to wait. I don't usually waith long in this department but I never like to have idle hands. I will just take a hook and some dishcloth cotton. Every few rows counts when I am on the countdown to Christmas. Oscar will have to be rudely awakened before I go out as he hasn't had a toilet break since 1am this morning and I don't want to come home to a smelly house.

Crochet fine mohair scarf

I was given a ball of Laines Du Nord Kiddy Print Mohair Sh 600 for a raffle item. I had not used this mohair before so decided to crochet an openwork scarf as I wasn't sure how far one ball would go. I was surprised just how far the one ball went.Although the scarf is narrow it is of passable length. It is always difficult to crochet with mohair as I am never quite sure if I have crocheted into the fluff or the whole stitch.

It was sunny this morning so I went out into the garden to do a bit of crochet but finished up chatting to Julie over the fence as Poppy had come through it once again to visit me. I am not sure if I was the attraction or the fact that she had seen Oscar next door's cat (who I am feeding as they are away) come in the house for his breakfast. The cat wisely legged it upstairs and I had to hobble as fast as I could to close the door to the stairs before Poppy chased him. Undeterred Poppy kept trying to get through a closed door to get to the cat.

I haven't done much today. I had planned some housework and some crochet and in the end nothing got done. Ah well tomorrow is another day.

The Culprit

I went to knit club last night at the Kings Arms. A good time was had by all. I came back and found next door's cat Oscar lurking in the porch. I let him and gave him a drink and he scuttled off to sleep in his hidey hole somewhere in the house. I went to bed later and completely forgot that Oscar was in the house. I woke around 5am to the overwhelming stench of either cat spray or cat wee. If you have ever smelt an un-neutered tom cat then you will know what I mean.

I came downstairs and let him out but at that time of the morning I was still half asleep and I had a quick feel about but could not find any patches of wet. I went back to bed and when I got up this morning the stench was even worse. I have therefore spent all of today scrubbing and cleaning every place I can think of but I still haven't discovered that tell tale wet patch. My throat hurts and my cough is back courtesy of a cocktail of disinfectant and a full bottle of Fabreze. The sad part is that even after all my efforts I can still smell cat wee !!!

He may look like an angel but Oscar is not my favourite cat at the moment. I have had cats of my own who have had accidents but I have never smelt anything this bad and can't find it. I swear it is in every room. Either that or I am losing my sense of smell.

The good side of it was that when I was cleaning the spare bedroom I tidied up my stash of part balls of wool and sorted them into colours. My head is now buzzing with ideas for shawls in shaded purples and lilacs or shades of green. There is always granny square shawls to use up all of these oddments. I need another pair of hands for all the things that my head plans.

I started knitting some of my stash at the Knit Club last night but after using up 100 grams I realised that I will not have enough yarn to complete that pattern so I have unravelled it. That is the only trouble with keeping wool in stash. Invariably you have not bought quite enough for what you now want to make and the chances of getting anymore are very slim.

I am going to have a shower now and settle down with a different pattern for my knitting and hope that the smell will fade from wherever it is coming from soon and fade from my nostrils.

I commented on Jam & Jerusalem's blog that she was making me feel guilty with all of her spring cleaning. I am not feeling guilty now as I have cleaned every surface that I can. I hope when I get up tomorrow that the stench will have faded. I have had all the windows wide open all day to try to blow it away.

Knit Out on a Sunday

Not much to blog about today. I have been trying to do some housework as the house is getting rather tatty - well I should say tattier than usual. I foolishly pegged the bedding out on the line but of course if rained all over it and so indoors it had to come. I put the tumble dryer on as I cannot abide wet bedding drooping about.

My niece came this afternoon and did my hair to banish my Bet Lynch dark roots once again. She browsed through a few patterns and has come to a pencilled in decision as to which pattern she would like for Christmas. She is on holiday this week so plans to visit a couple of markets and shops in the hunt for wool.

My little cat friend Oscar, from next door, came to visit me again today. He is still very timid about coming in as I think he expects Buster to appear from somewhere and chase him off as he has done in the past. He ate the remnants of the turkey leg, had a drink and left when the rain stopped.

On Sunday I went up to the monthly Knit Out of the Noras. We had quite a good turn out. I had hoped to finish off the peach prem baby blanket whilst I was there but I finished up giving a guy crochet lessons instead. The blanket is now finished and I will give it to Vicky when I see her next. I will try to make another before Thursday. I have not done much in the way of crochet (or knitting) these last few days so not much to report.