One Jazzy Sock Finished

The shawl has now been blocked as you can see. Sorry about the slightly blurry photo but pressing the shutter on the camera and then trying to get into position isn't the easiest of things to do and I guess I moved. This pattern is one of the easiest shawls to crochet and is a free pattern from the net. All Shawl by Doris Chan. This was made from a part cone of machine acrylic that I got donated by a friend who was clearing out his late mother's attic.

I have finished one sock and you can see it boldly modelled on my little fat foot. I have beaten the one sock syndrome as I am almost at the turn of the heel in the other sock. Whilst I find the Regia 6ply a bit thick in wear I do love the way that it knits up in such a short time. The jazzy colours help to keep me interested in a stocking stitch sock. I have only made the socks ankle length as I have quite plump legs plus the further up my leg the sock goes the more I itch. I suffer from eczema on the front of my legs and wearing anything wool just makes it worse so I tend to knit my socks on the shorter side. I can't make them trainer length as when I wear my boots (which is when I usually wear hand knitted socks) they travel down inside my boot and finish up underneath my heel.

I have knitted a sleeve of my niece's chunky cardigan. I wanted to see how many balls I would need to make the sleeves to calculate how the wool was working out as at first I suspected that the balls quoted on the pattern might be wrong and I would need more but the sleeve has taken just over the 2 balls so I think I will be OK. My niece said to cut a couple of inches off the length if I think that the wool is running short.

Tonight I got a lift from Pam down to the Kings Arms Knitting Club. As usual we had a good natter and knit with the usual hilarity. I don't know whether it is being in such close proximity to a bar that lightens the atmosphere but it does usually turn out to be quite a jolly affair even if not a lot of knitting or crochet gets done during the course of the evening.

Ultimate MeMe Award

As I mentioned on Friday I had the honour of being awarded a MeMe award by Queen Belicious whose blog I follow regularly. She is a lovely person who struggles with problems that I can identify with but manages to keep a sense of humour. Once again I have used my blog title to link to her blog.


So, this is how it goes

Protocol

1/ Accept award by posting on this post on my blog. Then post on your blog regarding your award with a link to the name of the blog giving it (http://mycrochettherapy.blogspot.com/) and then post a copy of your award.

2/ Pass the award on to five bloggers of your choice (or not if your prefer).

3/ Post links to your nominees in your post, and let them know by leaving a message in their comments box.

4/ Meme: choose 5 random categories and post and tell us 5 favourite things from these categories.

The choice for me was hard as I follow a lot of blogs so I have just chosen some that I have been following recently. I would award one to Queen Belicious but as she nominated me then it would just go around in a circle. Consider yourself awarded Bea if not named. Some people like the Panopticon and Crafty Andy I would feel too in awe to nominate although I would love to do so. Andy because of his lovely posts and videos and wonderful hat designs and Franklin for making me laugh on a daily basis on Panopticon with his tales of Dolores the Sheep and Harry the Sock yarn. I would also love to give Doris Chan an award as she is so inspirational and helpful on her blog and Ravelry but as she is up there with the Gods I would not dare. Some people I would love to give an award to but they don't have a blog. C'mon June and my other regular commenters - you know who you are! Get Blogging.

My awards are

1. Ambermoggie - whose Mog's Blog always has interesting photos, poems and projects. She overcomes a lot of problems on a daily basis and manages to stay on top of things despite being in great pain. The award also goes to Mr Mog for overcoming his health issues and being so inventive with his woodworking.

1. Zuleika - Life in the Zu - who has become a good friend through her blog and the net despite us living at opposite ends of the country. Her crochet enthusiasm is on a par with mine.

3. Antevasin - aka Knitnurd - who has become a great friend on Ravelry and helped me through many a bad time. She knits a lot for charity and makes some wonderful garments,

4. Beverooni - who I swap many crochet ideas with and read her blog for the crochet and recipe updates. She is inspirational with her projects and patterns and her advice to me when I have a down day. I seem to have lost the link to her blog One Yarn After Another but I will post it as soon as I find it.
ETA - Thanks Bev for the link I have added it to my links under Beverooni. Your latest post is very funny.


5. ArtYarn - this is a blog of Rachael and Sarah founder members of the Kings Arms Knitters. I love this blog as they manage to find interesting examples of art and crochet from all over the net and are always involved in charity projects and communal projects such as the Knit a Square for a poem, Knit a sweater for a shed , street crochet and are covering a balcony with knitted strips at the Art centre.

You will have to look at these blogs via the links on my page as I haven't quite mastered the art of putting links on here yet.


Music

1.Andrea Bocelli
2.Black - It's a Wonderful Life
3.Blake Shelton - Good Morning Beautiful
4.Il Divo
5.Backstreet Boys - Show me the meaning of being lonely

Favourite Places

1.Manchester - it's my home town and I love it's history and beautiful buildings.
2.My home - not a palace by any means but I feel so comfortable here
3.York for it's history and magnificent atmosphere.
4.The Yorkshire Dales on a summer's day
5.The sea shore in a secluded place. I love to watch the waves and hear the seagulls

Things I would do but have never done

1.Go on a cruise to the West Indies
2.Visit India
3.Go on a crochet workshop weekend in the USA where they have such fabulous courses.
4.Have a manicure, pedicure and massage on a health spa weekend.
5.Visit the USA

Things I could not live without

1.Crochet hooks and knitting needles.
2.CPAP machine - as I have sleep apnoea
3.Wool Stash
4.My massive collection of knit and crochet patterns
5.Dark rum and coke now and then.

Favourite crochet designers

1. Doris Chan - for all of her patterns
2, Angela "LaVonne" Best for her short n sweet bolero
3. Amie Hirtes - Sweet Pea shawl
4. Candi Jensen for her fabulous babies and childrens patterns
5. Mary Jane Hall for some unusual designs.


Gosh I found that harder than writing my normal blog! Back to the real world. I have started the chunky jacket in Sirdar Click for my niece and have knitted a couple of balls into the back and knitted part of a sleeve to see how the wool spins out.

I have started some jazzy socks for me with the Regia 6ply but even though I measured the wool sequences carefully my two socks will not quite be the same. One sock has a lovely pattern that reminds me of waves and the other does. not. Good job they will be inside my shoes. I am not a person who is precious about socks. I can't see the point of spending hours on some fancy pattern only for it to get put inside my shoes and not seen. Socks are a necessity to me not a fashion statement. Give me a plainish pair and some normal machine washable wool in a pretty colour and I am happy. I don't want to spend 4 weeks of my life on a complicated pattern only to have to hand wash and de bobble them as it is made from some exclusive expensive yarn that is more to be admired than to be worn and rubs into a hole at the mere sight of a pair of winter boots.

More Sock Wool

Yes I know. I have quite a few balls of sock wool in my stash but ever since I made a pair of socks for my niece in these colours I have been on the look out for some for myself. My niece bought her wool online from Angel Yarns but the trouble it took to get them and the length of time she had to wait put me off ever ordering from them again. I ordered from them at the same time and eventually after a couple of months wait I had to demand a refund to my credit card as my goods never turned up and every time I asked about my order I was fobbed off with some silly story. My friend Kath managed to find them for me at John Lewis in Trafford Park. As these are 6ply and the pair of socks I knitted for my niece knitted up quite quickly there is a chance that a pair will be on my feet this year as opposed to I don't know when with the other finer sock wool.

I have been crocheting away with the two baby cardigans and I have only one more sleeve to make before I embark on the stitching up and finishing. Hopefully I will finish them tonight but as they have to be fringed around the bottom edge it might be at the weekend.

Tomorrow I am hoping to go to the wool shop in Ramsbottom with my niece and on Sunday it is the monthly Knit Out of the Knitting Noras. Lisa and Vicky are on Tower FM radio today. You can see the promotion that Tower Radio have given the Naked Knitting Calendar by clicking on the blog title but I must point out that they have spelt Christie wrong in the title. My two friends who phoned me to tell me about this said that they have been advertising that the Knitting Noras are coming on the radio this week since Monday but I only heard about it yesterday.