I have a weekend visitor

I have got Buster for the weekend. He was an unexpected, but welcome, visitor. My son and his wife had made other arrangements for both of the dogs but they fell through at the last moment so they have taken Skye with them and I have got Buster. I don't mind having him but he is too much for me permanently at the moment.Plus he is shedding like mad so I look like a yeti every time he comes near me despite my brushing him through night and morn. He is in doggy sniff heaven as since he was last here I have looked after Zippy the Staffordshire Bull terrier and Bear the Siberian Husky and they have left their scents everywhere.

I had a calendar given to me for Christmas which has a knitting saying on it for every day. Yesterday's saying was particularly apt considering Buster's shedding has halted my crochet somewhat. It says
"Knitting folklore says that if you knit a strand of your hair into your work, you will forever bound to the person who receives that work. In my life , this means that a lot of people are forever bound to my cat."
As my hair sheds all the time and I am always unwinding it from my crochet there must be quite a few people out there forever bound to me and an awful lot of people forever bound to Buster!

As you can see I have finished off the crochet sweater that I was working on when the filming for the BBC was going on. I crocheted it all freehand just using a well fitting sweater as a template. It took 10 balls of Patons Fairytale Velvet which although has a recommended needle size of 4mm I found to be quite thick for a double knit and it worked up quite closely on a 5mm hook. I worked up from the bust line to the shoulders in two separate pieces and then worked the body and the sleeves downwards so there was very little to sew up. I made the sweater empire line in an attempt to draw the eye away from my expanding waistline. The pattern stitch is a well loved 5 treble fan alternating with a double crochet. I like this stitch as it is pretty but also a close stitch for a sweater and can be worn without the need of a camisole.

I have put Deb's shawl to one side while Buster is here as the wool is lovely but will act like a magnet for his shedding hair. I have started a cotton shawl for Bev as cotton does not attract dog hair. I am using the Sweet Pea pattern from The Happy Hooker Stitch and Bitch and I just hope that it doesn't look too stringy when it is finished.

Caroline from the Knitting Noras called today as I had stupidly left my coat in her boot when she gave me a lift to the Knit Out a few weeks ago. I showed her the cotton shawl and we decided that it might look better as it grows and then gets blocked out when it is finished. It will be quite openwork and lacy but that might be a good thing with cotton as a shawl would weigh heavy if it was worked closely.

No crochet done so far today but I am hoping to get a bit done tonight.

Wow mum my favourite toy !

I got the hoover out to get all the dog hair off Kath's cardigan. I had crept upstairs to use the attachment on the upstairs hoover. No I am not posh I can't carry hoovers up and down stairs to I have one up and one down.

As soon as the hoover came out I had a very excited Buster running up and down brushing up against the cardigan wagging his tail shaking his hair all over the cardigan. Argghh. I have a strange dog who absolutely LOVES to be hoovered. It's his favourite toy. I gave in and hoovered him. I figured the less on him the less on the cardigan. Hah! he waited until I had hoovered it, sticky rolled it, sellotaped it and was almost satisfied with it. He then jumped up on the bed and had a really good shake - yep - all over the cardigan. I wouldn't mind but he had that look on his face that said - Aren't I a clever dog mum?

I banished him and started all over again and then discovered that one cuff was stitched on backwards. Boy I didn't have a good stitching up day yesterday. I have rectified it and now the cardigan is safely de haired and stashed in a plastic bag never to be taken out until it reaches it's destination.

Whew!

By the way sellotaping it means wrapping sticjy tape around my hand sticky side outwards and it works great on lint and Buster hair grabbing.

New crochet book arrived today

I have almost finished the black K2 P2 ribbed polo neck sweater. Just got 10 rows on the neck and then I am done. It's all stitched up as well. All I need now is to rinse it through and try to de- dog hair it. The first photo will explain to you to the problems I have on a daily basis. That lump of hair is just from one brushing. No wonder it is all over anything I make. If I had a spinning wheel I am sure that by the end of the year I would have a bag of the year I would have enough to spin something. Instead I just throw it in the bin.

My reward for knitting the sweater for my niece was a lovely crochet book called Sensual Crochet by Amy Swenson (I have posted a couple of photos). I had put quite a few books on my wish list for Amazon and so just asked her to choose something and this arrived this morning. They are very prompt at Amazon as I am sure it was only ordered on Friday.
My hook is itching to start something but I have my orders to fulfil first.

My son came today and brought a new car battery for me. Just when I thought I was economising this month. These things can never been for seen unfortunately. I had sent a link as a joke to him of a fun hat I saw on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=7889450 and guess what - my daughter in law loved it. I think I know the principle of how she made it so I will have my own version shortly if I can find all the jazzy colours.