Rain Rain Go Away

Sitting here watching the rain pour down the patio door (I must clear the blocked gutter above it one day) it is hard to believe that it is July and summer. I don't know about the Grinch stealing Christmas I think he has stolen summer as well!

I went to hydrotherapy yesterday and the instructor and I decided that I am getting no benefit from it at all so I am not continuing with it. I decided mainly because her tuition is very lack lustre to say the least. She is obviously disinterested in her job. She takes no notice of the feedback that I gave her from previous sessions. She has this I know better than you attitude, the exercises are making you better. The other lady in the pool with me said she was not coming any more either as she (the instructor) is hopeless. One the way out I met a lady I shared the pool with last week and she asked me how I had been. I said I am worse after the sessions. She said it had taken her a week to get over the session last week and was going to tell her that she was not carrying on with the sessions. I used to regularly go to water aerobics and got far more out of those sessions than I have from these hydrotherapy sessions. I will have to try to make it back up to the Leisure Centre and resume those lessons.I used to come out of the pool feeling really invigorated.

When I was getting dressed I had one of my knee shunting moments. I must have looked dreadful as the receptionist came rushing over and told me to sit down. She asked what happened and I told her my knee seems to detach for a split second and the pain is similar to when you strike your funny bone in your elbow and it just knocks me sick for a moment. She immediately said I think that you need to see the specialist again and tell him the symptoms. I told her that I have told him but he seems to think that I am imagining it! I see him again in August so let's see if he believes me then.

The baby dress is made from a vintage Lister 2059 pattern. It takes 100 grams of Double Knit in the main colour. I have made this dress many times over the years. It can be worn over a long sleeved T shirt and tights in the winter time or as a sundress in the summer(what summer?) months. I customise it by adding little rosebuds and a picot contrast trim. It is intended for a baby girl due later this month.

Today I did a mountain of ironing. I hate ironing and so leave it and leave it until I have a pile to iron. Along with cleaning out the oven it is one of my pet hates. Now I think I have earned time to sit down, rest, relax with my crochet and watch the TV for the rest of the day.

My new hooks and patterns have arrived from Purplelinda

My order from Purplelinda has arrived. I think it was really fast service as I only ordered them late on Saturday night and as most places are closed on Sundays I didn't really expect them until later this week.

For my birthday last year Kath and Sylvia gave me a set of 11 coloured aluminium crochet hooks and I have enjoyed working with the different coloured hooks so I decided to treat myself to a full set as I didn't buy anything at Woolfest.I know I now have several hooks in each of the sizes but I do find that certain hooks work better with certain yarns and so I can't always use the same hook all of the time. For some projects I like a sharp point and others a more rounded one. The only hooks I cannot use are the wooden ones with the long curved handles. They are too long and uncomfortable and upset the balance and the flow of my work. The ones that I bought have now got a new home. I have got 3 Clover hooks thinking that with the wider handle they would be better for my arthritis but I find the crochet area too small and the handle too large. I must crochet quite low down the hook and not at the point. It's funny how we all have our own style of crochet. I see more variations of technique when people crochet than I see with knitting.I think we develop a style that suits us. I usually tell people when I am teaching them to crochet that there is no right or wrong way to crochet. You will develop your own style. The only time I ever show people a different style is when I see them knitting the wool over the crochet hook as that takes so much longer to do and makes them slow crocheters.

The baby bootie pattern that I ordered is one that I have been looking a long time for. I have seen it many times on projects on Ravelry and Flickr but as it is a Leisure Arts pattern not many places in the UK stock them. I took a deep breath as it cost almost £5 but I am sure I will get a lot of use from it. I also ordered a ball of the cotton to go with the pattern so that I could see what the thickness is for future purchases.

The last 6 patterns are some new baby patterns plus two adults ones. A couple of the baby patterns are closed stitch patterns and so suitable for any boy babies and small children. Two patterns are very girlie but I know that one baby is a girl so I can make her these before she arrives later this month. There is also a practical pram blanket done mostly in trebles. A little boring to make perhaps but if I chose a pretty wool then that will add a bit of interest.

My knee is very sore after hydrotherapy. I had a young physiotherapist who seems to have a bit of a sadistic streak and the exercises she made me do were very vigorous and OK at the time in the water but when I had to walk back to the bus my knee kept giving way on me as well as being extremely painful. The last few yard home were a killer.I am very tired today as I have been awake in pain most of the night. Will someone convince me that this hydrotherapy is doing me good as I seem to be worse now than when I started. Everyone medical seems to be convinced that exercise is the cure whereas I am convinced that something is not right inside the knee and exercise is only aggravating it.

Not much progress on Kath's sweater as last night I finished up watching Liz Smith (Nanna from the Royle family) Takes a Cruise on catch up BBC on the PC. Someone mentioned on Ravelry that she was crocheting a hat whilst on the cruise (which she later wore) and so I watched it to see. She is certainly an eccentric old lady with some strange opinions but I enjoyed watching it. If you want to watch it then click on the blog title for the link. The hat is brightly coloured with a huge flower.

The squares are still being assembled

As you can see Kath's sweater is still in the assembly stage. I had hoped to be further on and possibly even finished it by now but it seems to be taking me forever to sew the squares together and crochet all the fiddly bits that make up it's shape. At least it is now looking something like a sweater in the first photo. The second photo shows how the back and front fit together and the third photos shows the sleeves. One flat and one folded ready for stitching together. I still have the collar squares to stitch up yet and all of the edgings to complete. If you click on the blog title you may be able to see the pattern but then again you might have to be a member of Lion Yarns to view it.

Memo to self - do not crochet any more mohair for a long time for the sake of my sanity.

Needless to say I didn't do any more knitting on the baby cardigan. I am off to another session of hydrotherapy this afternoon so will have to find something small to crochet on the bus. I can't knit on buses as I use 14" needles and so tend to spear everyone sitting around me and obviously I can't take Kath's sweater to stitch together so I will search about for another small project to crochet. I don't want to start anything large as I am waiting for the patterns from Purplelinda to arrive sometime this week before I embark on any more ventures.

Purely for decoration purposes

More photos of Kristin Omdahl Floral Circular Wrap now that it is off the blocking boards. I feel that it should have a label attached to it saying for decorative purposes only. I have tried it on but will need a bit more practise or a couple of safety pins before I attempt to wear it in public. I gave up trying to take a photo of myself wearing it. It's hard enough trying to take a photo of one's own back with a web cam without having the shawl sliding off my shoulders before I could press the button every time I got it into a good position to show the centre circle. I will have to be very careful when I wear it not to pass anything with a hook on it, a doorknob or a dining chairback.

My copy of the Interweave Crochet Summer 2009 has arrived but I have not yet had a good browse. I will take some photos or post a link to some projects tomorrow.

Last night I undid the first front of the baby cardigan as I was not happy with the way that the cables didn't show up. Ambermoggie you were right when you said it needed the purl stitch to make the cables pop out. Sylvia said that she had changed the pattern also so when I started the second front and saw the difference so I undid the first front and have re started it.

I managed to crochet 2 more squares for Kath's sweater on the bus and whilst waiting for my turn in the hydrotherapy pool. I think the total is 17 now so not many more to go.

I am not sure that the hydrotherapy is doing much good. The instructor we had today was not as good as the one that I had last week.There were only 3 in the pool today so in theory we should have got better instruction than last week when there was 4 of us. Apparently it depends which day I go as they change the instructors about day to day. He is going on his holidays for 3 weeks so I won't be getting him next week so I hope to get the lady that I got last week as I felt she was far more instructive and made sure that we were doing all the exercises correctly whereas he kept chatting in the pool and didn't really watch what we were doing. This week I took my knee strap for the walk home so I made it home OK.

I am going to make a coffee, hang out my washed swimming things and take a look in my new crochet book but no starting anything until I have finished off my current 2 projects.

Woolfest Part Three and Other Things

I had gone to Woolfest wearing my Circles Jacket but I knew in my heart of hearts that it was not meant for me. As soon as I tried it on I knew that it had Ambermoggie written all over it. As the day turned out so hot I had to take it off and carry it so that was the omen I was looking for. It was definitely meant for her and so I left it with her at Woolfest. I had made the Farpoint Topper for Ambermoggie from the two balls left over from my version as she had admired mine so once again I just knew that the two balls were meant for her. She plans to customise her version with beading around the edge and I hope that she sends me photos so that you can see the finished result.I crocheted around my version to make it longer in the body but I had thought of making another one and maybe long fringing it so I will be interested to see what Ambermoggie's version looks like for inspiration.

I often make things and when they are finished I think this is more such a person than me and so off it goes to a new home. I get as much pleasure from giving as I do from receiving.

Talking about receiving I was given a beautiful shawl by Ambermoggie. These photos don't do it any justice as it has glints of lurex peeping in and out of the black mohair plus beading at the bottom edge.As you saw from my previous post I was wearing a choker neckband with my name worked in colours and this shawl has picked out the exact colours of the band. It's like Ambermoggie knew I would be wearing it. Strange how things evolve isn't it. I rarely keep any shawls for myself so it is a lovely surprise to be given a knitted one especially as I would never make one due to my hatred of circular needles and probably being unable to squash so many stitches onto a pair of needles. Plus the weight on my poor aching wrists these days.

The Debbie Bliss alpaca silk wool pictured is absolutely glorious to crochet with. I am making a Blue Curacao shawl for Eadaoin with it. The only problem is that although it is truly gorgeous it only has 65 yds per ball, is very thick for an aran weight and I only have 10 balls. I have dropped everything else to crochet this as I have a horrible feeling that I am going to need some extra balls and want to get on with it whilst there is a chance of the same dye lot.

The blue mohair squares are destined to be a sweater for Kath. I have now made 12 squares which is half of the amount required but this crochet is on the back burner until I finish the shawl.

Yesterday I went for my first hydrotherapy session at Hope Hospital ( Salford Royal as it is now known). Just the thing for a sweltering day. Exercise in a very warm pool. I felt fantastic whilst in the water and could easily do all the exercises but when I got out and had to walk for the bus and then the tram it was entirely a different matter. My knee felt ten times worse than before and the last few hundred yards from the metro station to my house nearly finished me off. I had to keep sitting on garden walls and bracing myself to walk a few more steps. It must have taken me over 30 minutes to walk a journey that used to take me less than 10 minutes. Next week I am definitely taking my rucksack instead of a bag and then my heavier wet swimming things will be on my back instead of my arm.

Today I will be in the garden resting. The weather is fine but dull but I have my shorts and vest top on as it is so hot and muggy. I am like my maternal grandmother in that I get a tan just pottering about even if there is no sun. She used to say that she was weathering so I guess I will be out there weathering also.

Poppy has a haircut

When Poppy came for a visit today she had been shorn. Her hair was getting long and with this warm weather she was probably a bit hot so Julie took her and Buddy for a trim today. I tried to take her photo but she is such a live wire. She never stops trotting about long enough for me to take her photo. I had to seize the moment when she stopped for a scratch hence the very bad photo. Buster was a total ham he would pose whenever the camera came out so I have lots of lovely photos of him.I am glad that I have them now that I rarely see him. I do miss him but I am still not fit enough to even contemplate having him back again on a permanent basis. He is happy enough with my son and daughter in law and their dog. He is still in the family so it's not like I had to give him away.

Still nothing to report on the knitting scene. I didn't do much crochet or knitting when I got back from the Kings Arms Knit Club last night and today I had to go for physio to the hospital so nothing done today so far.I think that I have done so much over the last few weeks that I am in a bit of a lull. I have so much to do but I just can't seem to motivate myself. I do this for a few days and then I resume again at the same pace as usual. A lot of it is to do with tiredness. If I could just get a night or two of uninterrupted sleep then I would be back to full strength. My physio has referred me for hydrotherapy as my exercises are not producing the expected results. She asked me what I hoped to gain from physio and I said I just want to walk again - that's all I want. To be able to walk relatively pain free again would be a success. All anyone says to me though is that my arthritis is so bad in my knees that I shouldn't expect too much. Bone wearing on bone is painful they admit that bit and say there is not a lot that can be done but then say it's not bad enough yet for a new knee. How bad does it have to get? I bet if it was their knee they would get a new one asap.

The physio has just rung me now and asked me what days/times I can go to hydrotherapy so it sounds promising. I hope that I don't have too long a wait before I get my appointment. I am going to try a bit of crochet or knitting before dinner. I had a very late lunch I won't be ready to eat again for quite a while.