Plus size Crochet - Part Two

As promised - the rest of the photos from the Plus Size Crochet book. I am sorry that your scoop neck cardigan didn't turn out right for you Bea. I will let you know what happens with mine should I decide to make that design.

Although I like the stitch pattern of the lime green lace pullover I would change the sleeves to longer narrower ones. Since I made my blue cardigan with the bell sleeves I have decided that any extra width that hits around the hip area is just not flattering for me.

The pink pocket cardigan is very basic and as such is not grabbing my attention at the moment. I don't think the addition of baggy pockets right on the stomach area is very slimming so I would make it without those. Another photos where the model is wearing a cardigan a couple of sizes too big for her.

I do like the design of the black and white sweater. I am not sure if I would make it in two colours though. I would maybe choose a nice patterned yarn instead.

The bag looks quite attractive but as you know I am not a fan of crochet (or knitted) bags as I am no good at sewing and they stretch beyond belief if they are not firmly lined. Plus the straps tend to carry on stretching when they are crocheted in the direction they are on the pattern.

The poncho definitely does not have any pizzazz for me. I personally think that it is awful. There is nothing about it that I like - sorry.

The orange cardigan is another example of a pretty cardigan being worn by a two sizes smaller model. I think this is where the comments on Amazon about the garments not being flattering come from. There are plenty of pretty plus size models so I am sure that they could have found one large enough to model these cardigans better.

The striped cardigan pattern I do like but I would choose more subtle shadings for the stripes. Those colours are a little too bold for me. They remind me of a deckchair although I do think that downward stripes make a flattering garment.

I like the turquoise aran style cardigan. Once again it is too big for the model but if you look past that I think that the design is a good one for autumn and winter months. I do like the swagger coat style. One for my to do list I think but I would hope that mine would fit me a bit snugger. Wearing clothes too baggy does not flatter anyones figure.

The elegant mohair shawl is a nice bigger size to fit anyone who is a plus size. It would be useful in the winter as a warmer or in a lighter colour to take on holiday for those colder evenings to put over a sundress.

Although I like the style of the short sleeve pullover the stepped edge is definitely not for me. I would make it as a conventional shape chaining all of the stitches on at the bottom edge. I think that it draws attention to the hips with the different length steps.

I am not that keen on the bow tie pullover. I have never been a fan of cutaway style patterns that reveal too much of what is underneath. Not for me I am afraid but still I do like a good majority of patterns in this book so I can't like them all.

I got a phone call today from the hospital. Providing that I pass my pre operative tests they are bringing my operation forward by a month. All being well I should be in toward the latter end of this month. I am not getting excited as yet as there are still a lot of things that could go wrong between now and then. I know that I sound pessimistic but they had issues about my weight at my last pre op test and I don't think that I have lost any weight since then.

The other book didn't turn up today even though it was posted out he same day as this book. Still I may have post tomorrow. Today I have finally finished the bands off on Baby B's aran cardigan and stitched on the buttons. I will post photos tomorrow.

Torrential rain again for most of today. It started to brighten up around 4pm so it was a bit late for doing any shopping. I prefer to go in the morning when there are less people in the shops as it makes it easier to navigate Pearl around the aisles.

I Don't Like Thunder and Lightning

As I am writing this loud thunder is overhead and the rain is torrential. The satellite TV has lost it's signal and I am trying to distract myself by writing the blog. I don't like thunder and lightning but as a small child I was petrified of it. Days like this remind me so much of my Dad. He knew how afraid I was and used to sit by the open back door with me cradled in his arms and tell me to watch the storm and tell me stories about God doing his housework etc until the storm passed. I remembered this when my son was really tiny and used to do the same with him even though I didn't like the storm myself. I suppose it's trying not to pass on your fears to your child. I learned from my Dad much later in life that he didn't like the thunder or lightning either and sat on the step with me so that I didn't inherit his fear of storms. Hey Dad - you did your best but I am still a complete wuss when it storms like this. The lightning is overhead and the rain is coming down too hard for the gutters to cope with and so I have a waterfall down the windows. The water has found it's way from the gutter down the windows onto the kitchen window sill now and I have a mini lake on my front driveway. Surely we can't be short of water now?

There must be a rainbow somewhere as the sun is starting to shine. It's been a weird day. Thank goodness I did my shopping yesterday and don't have to go out on Pearl today.

Last night was great. The food from the Thai Wu was great as per usual and I made a friend in the taxi driver who took me down there. He said that anytime I wanted to go to Bury or to Manchester shopping that he would take me and Pearl as he has one of those mini van type taxis and Pearl would fit into the boot easily. I did forget to take my camera and so sadly there are no photos of us or the food. I did get to sample lots of different kinds of dishes but my favourite has to be the duck with shredded veg on wafer thin pancakes with hoisin sauce. I found out that my second favourite is deep fried crab but I limited myself to two pieces as I try to avoid anything deep fried.

I haven't taken any photos of myself wearing the No Sweat sweater yet. When I thought about it today the light was so dark in the room (before the storm) that I decided to leave it for another day.

All that has got done today so far is finishing Little Leg's cardigan. I am sorry but the only buttons that I could find in red that were the right size are little red hearts. I don't think that he will be scarred for life though through wearing girly buttons. Sylvia is not a fan of fancy shaped buttons as they are a bit hard to fasten but the hearts have very smooth edges so should be OK.

I have picked up Big Leg's aran cardigan and knitted another pattern sequence into the back. I am not starting anymore machine knitting today so I will work a bit more on that.

Hooray the storm is passing over. I will put on my boots and try to sweep away the mini lake on the driveway into the drain. My ex husband concreted the driveway and I think that it slopes slightly away from the house and therefore away from the drain so everytime it rains really hard I have this problem. At least I live at the top of a hill so at least the rain runs away from me on the street and down the hill.