Child Size Short n' Sweet Finished

The child size version of the Short n' Sweet shrug is finished and is blocking on the board. I decided to give it a good soak in fabric softener in an attempt to give it a bit of drape. I am still in the dark as to what the yarn is made of.

I can't find any information about Fantasia other than on Ravelry when they insist that it is wool. I did the burn test and the bleach test and it is definitely not wool. My guess is either cotton or one of those synthetics that mimic cotton. After soaking in bleach it had the consistency of hard string and in the burn test it flared up but there was no smell of burning hair as there would have been with wool and I was left with a hard black brittle fused thread that crumbled when I tried to break it.

The shrug or bolero took 5 x 50 grams of Fantasia but I found it to be very thick for a double knit. I think that the bolero would have looked better in a finer yarn. I put two buttons on to fasten it as I think a small child needs to have things fastened as they rush about. I ran out of yarn so there is a row missing at the bottom of the bolero but I don't think that it is really noticeable.

Today has been mixed weather. Mostly it has been pouring down with rain. At times coming down in torrents and then the sun would shine for a few minutes. I am still waiting for summer to start. Where is it this year?

My play mats have arrived

No I am not aged 3-8 and going to start doing hand stands on my new play mats. They are going to be used, of course, as blocking boards. I bought 2 packs as they were such a bargain price and I will need more than 4 squares to block a shawl. I had to try them out but discovered two problems.

One - I couldn't find my glass top pins they must be somewhere in my work box stored at the top of the pantry. I needed far more pins than the yellow daisy pins that I bought recently. I had to search about in drawers but could only find ordinary pins which aren't ideal.

Two - I couldn't bend down to use the boards on the floor and so I had to try to pin out with the boards leaning up against the wall which isn't exactly ideal as they wobble. I hope that I don't have to do much blocking until my back has recovered a bit more as today my back has not liked the blocking experience at all. I hope that my efforts make this cardigan super special as it's a present for Christmas.

Last night I fell out with my knitting and only did a few rows. I am going to have to give in and start some crochet soon. It's just not me to sit and just watch TV without something in my fingers. The only problem is that most of the crochet that I have planned is for gifts so there will be few photos on here or Flickr as my family and friends would see things and so spoil the surprise. Stand by for photos of other things. The squirrels were not obliging today nor was next door's cat. They all came for a visit but vanished as soon as the camera came out.The cat is getting very brave since Buster has been at my son's house.

I am going to start making my Christmas present list (yes I know - big groan but it's not that far away if I have to make things) as I am determined not to finish up in a huge knit and crochet frenzy in the last couple of weeks before Christmas as I did last year. I probably will though as I seem to gain more people for presents every year and being on a budget I have to try to do as many home crafted presents as I can. I like to think that by making something it shows that I have thought more about what I am giving rather than just going into Superdrug and buying loads of toiletry sets or searching online for something suitable. I may be up to the hurly burly of Christmas shopping in town for the first time for about 4 yrs but just in case I had better start early.

I am knitting for a change

I have started my Christmas knitting. This is the first of the garments. I can post it on here as my sister in law doesn't read my blog. Things for other people knitted or crocheted later might come under the heading of secrecy and photos will have to follow later as both of my nieces occasionally read my blog. This cardigan is from a copy of Knit Today magazine that was kindly given to me by Vicky J. My niece chose it for her mum but I am not making it with the frilly collar. I will adapt it into just a plain neckline when I get up to that bit. I am also adapting the pattern from Rowan Kidsoft which is an aran thickness into a double knit one as my sister in law would think Kidsoft to be far too thick for a cardigan. I am using some rather lovely discontinued Jaeger Roma which I bought at a bargain price from Dunelm sale but shhh don't tell my sister in law. It is Viscose, nylon and Angora and the yarn is tubular and lovely to work with. I have done a little more than the photos show and have only got another inch or so up to the armholes. It is very slow going compared to my crochet.

Talking about crochet my friend Zuleika (Life in the Zu) sent me a link to a crochet granny square skirt by Doris Chan which although it isn't for me it led me to another site of free crochet patterns. Let's face it ladies - we all love free patterns. I have tried to post a link on here but I don't know if it has worked, If not I guess that you will have to cut and paste this link to see the free patterns

http://www.naturallycaron.com/projects/item_index/crochet.html

There are some lovely garments on it and like Ambermoggie I love the Belize Wrap and the Barcelona Jacket. I can feel a stash bust coming over me! Hold me back I am supposed to be making Christmas presents!

I got rather annoyed with my Sky last night as I was just up to the last 5 minutes of an old episode of Taggart that I hadn't seen and I really hadn't guessed whodunit when the rain came down hard and I lost my signal. Unless I see the episode listed again I have no chance of knowing who it was! I hate all this rain. Plays havoc with my TV viewing. Sky keep trying to tell me it is my top box or my dish to blame and want to either sell me a contract for £8.95 a month or charge me £65 for an engineer to come out. If it was my fault then how come the Sky box and dish work perfectly most of the time? They seemed more intent on selling me a new Sky digital plus box for around £200 fitted than bothering to find out what was wrong with mine. I can't even programme a video so why would I want a box that I can supposedly programme to watch every episode of something? If I am in then I watch it - if I am out then I don't and I miss it - it's a simple as that in my eyes.

Today I am trying to do a bit of house cleaning. My niece kindly came and pushed the hoover around for me but I need to do some tidying, dusting and bed making. The sun is actually shining today and I have risked the duvet set on the line.

I have rung my son to look out in Asda for a set of kids playmats to use as blocking boards. I can't find any in my local Tesco, Aldi or Lidl. I found some listed on the Early Learning site but they wanted £35 for 12 (enough for a super sized shawl for everyone?) but even those were out of stock. I found some on E bay for £14.95p but I objected to paying £8.25 postage so they will be my last choice. Everyone I speak to seems to have found them in their supermarkets without any trouble. I will just have to presume that the children of Manchester and Bury don't play and so don't need any mats! Perhaps they are tough nut kids who don't mind banging their heads on the floor. Having said that my son never had such luxuries but we did have good carpeting to fall on and not the hard laminate flooring so popular with the modern mums.