Broken Toe Cast On

Don't worry I have not done anything else to myself, well not yet anyway. The Broken Toe Cast On is the name of a method of casting on the knitting machine to eliminate the frilly edge of the ribbing that I had on the pink baby cardigan. Thanks to the knitting machine forum on Ravelry I was pointed in the direction of You Tube and a video called Broken Toe Cast On. Apparently it gets it's name
from the fact that if you don't get it right then the machine weights crash down and have been known to land on toes and even break them. I tried it out today and kept my toes well out of the way just in case. I am really pleased with this edging. No frilling as you can see. I hope to make the rest of the pieces tomorrow. I am starting with small things as it is enabling me to practise ribbing, changing from ribbing to stocking stitch, shaping and casting off. I want to get things right before I start on lace or any kind of a pattern and then encounter problems. So for now it's plain all the way at least for another couple of baby cardigans. When I feel confident I will try the lace carriage.

As you can see I need to go and stand in the naughty corner again. I got an e mail from E Kemps telling what bargains they had as they had made further reductions on certain wools. I think that I need therapy as I am turning into a yarnoholic. How could I resist the Sirdar Snuggly at less than £1 a ball when it is the colour that my friend likes for her foster baby boys. I hope that she gets a girl next time but as it's usually boys then I am not holding out much hope although I have got an awful lot of baby wool that is girly colours. I hope that this is an omen and she gets a girl next time. The pink Sirdar Big Softee had been reduced yet again so that had to be bought and also the Hayfield Aran 400 grams is now £2.99 ball but only for the lilac colour.

I know quite a few pregnant ladies at the moment so hopefully there will be a few girls. The barman at the Kings Arms baby girl is due on Sunday. His wife was in the pub last night and looking very huge but yet still high so it might be a bit late.

I went to Knit Club last night. I took some hand knitting with me but as it is a bit dark for my old dim eyes in there I didn't take anything dark. I took some multi coloured James c Brett DK that I initially started to Tunisian crochet with but decided to unravel it and use it on the machine. The wool was too thick for the machine so it got unravelled again and is now half way to being a hand knit baby jacket. I ordered it online and it looked like multi bright colours with red. When it arrived the colours were different to my monitor and it was definitely a deep pink and not red. I therefore didn't use it for the foster baby boy that it was intended for, Making it up it is still pink but not so pink that it can't be used on a boy. Hopefully the other colours will distract from the pink colour especially if I put blue or green buttons on it. Hopefully I will be able to show that to you tomorrow. As I am using an old pattern I am knitting it like wildfire. I slow down and struggle more with the modern pattern than I do with my golden oldies. The pattern instructions today contain too much information for me. Pattern have 3 or 4 pages for one sweater whereas this pattern that I am using has 3 pages for 3 different cardigans but yet still covers 3 sizes. How come patterns are so complicated to understand these days?

Third Time Lucky

I almost got it right the second time I tried the ribber on the machine but as you can see from the second photo a few stitches tucked up on the needles. They didn't show too badly on the right side of the work but I still decided to start again. Apart from a bit of looping at the beginning of a couple of rows I managed the back without any mistakes with my third try. I have never been so excited about a plain cardigan back for a baby for a long time. Shows that I am on the right track.

A Knitting Wrapsody by Kristin Omdahl that I pre-ordered months ago from Amazon arrived today. It does have some lovely designs in it but I thought that there would be more like the front cover design, Instead there are quite a lot of shawls and stoles in it, I suppose the clue is in the title but as it was a pre order I couldn't browse before I bought it. My niece loves the shrug style top on the front cover. It has a beautifully cabled back that runs from side to side, Laid out flat it is an oval shape with a slit in it. The collar is picked up and kmitted afterwards. The pattern however is on a chart and I know that the newbie knitters love charts but I was only ever taught to use charts for fair isle and all of these symbols for cables etc on a chart just baffle me.

I have just put photos of a few things from the book. I am sure that Ravelry will have posted photos of a lot of the other shawls and wraps. I have chosen the pink shawl as it looks very easy and there are really good pictorial directions on how to knit the scalloped edge.

I think that the Infinity jacket is lovely. I have seen the Infinity wrap in crochet but would have never thought of using the pattern as the back of a jacket. There is an awful lot of knitting in this jacket but very unusual and eye catching. It does need a nicely shaded wool to bring out the pattern.It is made in a chunky wool on a 6mm needle so something like the James C Brett Marble Chunky would be ideal for this as it is a lightweight chunky.

I like the wide ladder effect cables on the mobius. It is unusual in the fact that it has buttons to fasten it together so can be worn as a shoulder wrap as well as a mobius. As it is in chunky wool on a 9mm needles I imagine that it is a quick knit.

I didn't get the grey cropped top finished last night as when I finished off the bottom band as per the instructions it frilled away from the body instead of looking like ribbing. It did that on the sleeve edging but I didn't think too much about it until I had finished the body ribbing. I undid it all and am making it all in dc in the back loops instead of one row dc and 1 row half trebles as the pattern. The ribbing is turning out a bit narrower but it will hold the edge of the jacket to the body. I did look on Ravelry at some of the finished projects and one in particular looks really frilly especially around the neck. I know that I crochet a bit on the loose side but at least I know that it is not just me that had a frilly edge. I am going to take back the sleeve edging so that it will all match. Maybe tonight it will get finished but Buster is arriving soon so maybe not. By the time we have said hello and had a few games of catch with the ball it will be a bit late for any crocheting.

Hopefully I will knit the rest of the pieces for the baby cardigan tomorrow. My eyes are not what they where and trying to hook onto small needles in a not too bright light will only lead to more mistakes. That is the one problem with putting the machine in the dining room. The light is central and so is behind me when I am on the machine so I cast a shadow all over my work. Daylight is the best light to work in. I would rather knit or crochet by hand when I am watching the TV. I like to sit in my recliner and be all relaxed with a cup of coffee.

The Patons aran wool that arrived yesterday from Purplelinda is to make another crochet cabled jacket like the one that I made in grey for Sylvia, One of Sylvia's friends admired it so much that she asked if I would make one for her. I had better get back into the rhythm of my knitting and crochet again. I seem to be going slower and slower these last few weeks. I must pick up the charcoal knitting again and finish that off after I have finished the crochet grey top.At least that will be one niece's birthday present sorted out as they are both for her. I then have my other niece and Sylvia's friend to knit and crochet for as well as fitting in some machine knitting. What do they say 'The Devil makes work for idle hands to do' There is no chance of him finding my hands idle unless I am asleep!

Like Riding A Bike

It's like riding a bike. Once you get on a bike after a long time they say that it all comes back to you. With regard to my machine knitting I think that I have fallen off my bike!

I struggled last night trying to get the ribber to work. I read the manuals once again and then resorted to reading the forum for machine knitting on Ravelry. From them I gained the insight that it might be something to do with the sponge bar. No we are not talking cakes here but rather a long slim bar made of metal with a sponge liner that fits underneath the needles under the machine bed and holds the needles in the correct place for the carriage to pass over with out jamming. When I took mine out it was like a flat pancake and perished. Hopefully this is the problem so I have managed to order a new one online which isn't easy when I have such an old machine. If it works I will give a big thank you to the Ravelry machine knitting ladies.

As I could not knit I decided to check everything else on the carriages. I found that one little wheel cog was clogged up with old wool and wasn't turning properly so I loosened the screw to get the wool out. Big mistake. Of course I dropped this minute screw on the patterned carpet. I spent an hour last night searching the carpet with a flashlight and after another hour this morning I finally found the tiny screw. Next time that I do anything like that I will make sure that I do it over the table with a cloth to catch anything that falls off. I am so glad that I found it as parts for my machine are next to impossible to find as it is so old.

For the sake of my sanity I decided to leave the machine until the sponge bar arrives and so I settled back down to the crochet that I started for my younger niece. I still can't get back into her knitting.I am awful with knitting. I have to go from start to finish without stopping or I put it down and then stop. I am, as you know, a crocheter at heart. I like the crochet top that I am doing now as although it takes longer as I am crocheting into the row below on every row I do like the close stitch pattern. My elder niece saw it yesterday and she also liked it. I did find out when I got to the armholes that I had forgotten to shape slightly outwards. My niece is so slim that I don't think that it will matter that the back is a tad small. I can always make a larger size for the fronts. As I am making the top a big longer I think that the shaping would have been in the wrong place anyway as it was meant to increase at the bust line so I should have put the shaping higher up rather than at the beginning. I am sure that it will be all right in the end. The day that I crochet a pattern from A to Z without changing something will be a miracle!

I got an e mail this morning from my elder niece and she said that she wore her Moiselle cardigan yesterday afternoon and it was so lovely and warm. Better on her back keeping her warm than in my stash room in a plastic bag.

I'm Taking The Day Off

I think that I overdid the tidying and house cleaning yesterday. Perhaps the final straw was bringing the big Knitmaster 360 knitting machine downstairs which along with it's ribber and many attachments weighed far heavier than I remembered the last time it was moved. I haven't used this machine properly for about 20 yrs and have forgotten so many things. It also needs a clean and oil to get it moving properly again before I start knitting anything on it. Fortunately I have all of the manuals belonging to the machine so I will have a mammoth reading session before I embark on any knitting.

I prefer to knit by hand but as I am not a lover of hand knitting very fine wools I think that the machine will come in handy for lacy tops and cardigans for summer wear. I also would like to see if I can design a combo lacy knit centre with a crochet edge shawl in fine wool. I also used to make small lacy baby cardigans in very fine wool which are great for newborns.

I was so tired last night that after my shower and dinner I just collapsed into the chair and didn't pick up any knitting or crochet. Even though I was in bed for just after midnight (which is early for me) I zonked out until the postman woke me up at 11-15am.

He brought my Crochet Sweater Book by Sylvia Cosh which I have been looking out for quite a while. I balked at paying the £30 that some sellers were asking and was lucky enough to spot this book at the World of Books for £2.90. I paid more for the postage than I did the book.

I don't know why I didn't buy this book the first time around but maybe it was because when I look at the printing date it is 1987 and yet the styles are more reminiscent of the 60's and 70's. Perhaps I deemed them to be a bit dated when the book first came out. I love so many of the designs in there but there are quite a few dolman sleeved sweaters in there which haven't as yet made a come back. I have fallen in love with the cardigans in shades of purple and fawns. I am already going though my stash to see what colours I already have and what I would need to buy to compliment the stash colours. The cover sweater is actually worked in stripes or variegated coloured strips and stitched together and another one is worked in squares like patchwork and stitched together. My mind is whirling about using oddments. I think that the trick will be colour co-ordinating and that is what Sylvia Cosh and her crochet partner James Walters did so well. They started off using natural dyed wools using things like onion skins to give subtle colours for their crochet.

I love the child's striped sweater but not sure about the large sleeves which still have a dolman look to them. Maybe I could make the sleeves in the conventional manner instead of adding them on as in the pattern.

There are also quite a few poncho type shawls and sweaters with texture and colour which although beautiful some of them are too bulky to be flattering. Sylvia has a great love of large bobbles within the crochet which aren't exactly flattering to a larger sized figure such as mine.

I think that I am going to put my feet up for the rest of the day and try to pick up some knitting. I am still in the house cleaning mood but my back and knee say 'Not today thank you' Hopefully I can continue tomorrow.

Great Afternoon of Crochet

I had a fun afternoon/evening out at the official opening of Purl City Yarns. It was great to sit and chatter knitting and crochet with lots of crafty folk. Some that I had met before and others that I met for the first time. When these photos were taken it was late afternoon and so the crowds hadn't arrived by then. Charlotte's Father and Mother came and as the Mayor of Stockton resplendent in his mayoral chains he cut the ribbon that officially opened the shop and the gallery upstairs. There was a film show later in the evening but as it was upstairs in the gallery and it was heaving with people I elected not to slowly ascend the staircase and hold everyone up. Apparently it will be shown again so perhaps I can view it on a less crowded day.

I had a good chat to Sean and a couple of students from the MMU who are studying design and using crochet and machine knitting. Chatting to them and seeing some photos of Sean's work made me think once again about getting my bigger knitting machine cleaned up and working properly again. I have all the gadgets and gizmos for it and it would solve the problem of my slow knitting. Well it will once I remember how everything works. It has been many years since I used it properly. Crochet will always be my first love though.

As you can see from the photos there is plenty of stock to chose from and Charlie is adding more every day. I had a good browse and decided on some King Cole Cotton and a few patterns which I will show you tomorrow. A lot of the people who came bought something so I hope that they will make plenty return visits as it is good to have a quality wool shop in Manchester. I can't wear wool as you know but there are so many people in Manchester who appreciate the chance to view the top end wools in real life. I have ordered many things from the Internet as my shopping ability is somewhat limited at the moment and it is always a surprise when the things arrive as they are never quite the colour that I thought I was ordering. Purl City Yarns has the King Cole Riot in stock so when I need more stocks I know where I can see the colours properly.

For those of you unable to visit the shop I have been told that the website for mail. order will be up and running very soon - possibly next week. I have also put the blog link through my blog title so that you can keep up to date should you wish to do so.

At the moment I am crocheting a hush hush project so I can't update you on my work at the moment. All will be revealed at a later date. I still have the two sleeves to crochet on my jacket but that has taken a back seat once again as I push on with my secret project. I have just been asked by my London Niece to knit a cardigan for her friend. I did promise this friend that I would knit her one a while ago when we were chatting at my niece's wedding but she has had a baby in between and has only just got around to deciding on what she wants. My niece is going to get the wool for me and send it to my address. My niece is away in Spain at a family wedding at the moment but will be back next week.

I will have to be starting my Christmas presents soon as some of them will be knitted and my knitting is far slower than my crochet.

My knee has felt like it has been run over by a bus since the physio. I am back to day one pain wise. I know that it is going to hurt but what is alarming me more is that since my scar healed my knee is starting to swell back up again making the knee bends even more difficult to do. I just feel that if I could get this swelling down then the knee exercises would be a doddle and I would be walking again. I haven't felt much like blogging over the last couple of days. When I hit a down day I try not to inflict myself on other people. My blog would have just been one long moaning woe is me rant and not very interesting.

I have bought another subscription in for the Interweave Crochet magazine and I am hoping that they don't keep up the trend of adding knitting to their magazine. I debated whether to renew but as I find it so hard to find copies to buy in the newsagents I decided to take a chance on the new editions improving.

Two Old Ladies

I think that it would help if I could find the instruction manual to my chunky machine. I hoard everything so the manual must be somewhere but I can lay my hands on everything else except that. On my searches I have come across many machine knitting magazines ranging from 1969 - 1989 and there are some weird and wonderful things in those which makes me wonder why I ever bought them in the first place. I can't think that they were ever fashionable although I did find a nice book of baby clothes for the finer machine.

The Two Old Ladies (myself and the machine) struggled most of yesterday and managed to finally produce a tank top. I felt so stupid when I could not even remember how to cast on! Poor foster baby B is being used as a guinea pig. The tank top came out a bit small. I hand knitted the ribs, as you can see in the second photo, and when I had finished the neckband I realised that it would not go over baby B's head so I opened up the shoulder seam, crocheted a placket, and added two buttons. If it is too small for him then Baby L (now known as Little Legs) will have to grow into it. I wonder if Baby B is now Big Legs?

I actually fell asleep reading the Bible for Machine knitting in bed so how sad is that. Although it refers to a different machine I read up on a lot of techniques. Today I started a cardigan for Big Legs and thought that I would try the mock rib. I will finish this off but I don't think that I like it as much as the hand knitted ribs. It will have to have a hand knitted button and neckband anyway. I couldn't remember what the mock rib looked like and now that I do know I don't think that I will use it again. My fine machine has a ribber attached to that but I never bought a ribber for the chunky machine.


My main problems is getting the size of the garment right. Once I sort that bit out then I will have a pattern for how many stitches and rows etc and will be able to race away making some more. When I used to knit for Ian as a small child I had everything written down and as he grew I just updated my template pattern. The cardigan is looking more like the size of Big Legs as I imagine him but as I haven't seen him for 4 months he may well have grown. I will e mail the finished measurements to Sylvia and ask her to check on his back length and sleeve size before I make any more. I want to get the size right for when the new wool arrives later this week. I am making my mistakes on stash wool.

I don't think that machine knitting will ever take the place of my crocheting. I don't relax when machine knitting whereas I can stretch out in my recliner with my crochet and watch the TV. I will carry on using the machine though when I need something knitting very quickly as the machine does have a very neat tension which is something that I no longer have due to arthritis.

I am going to try to finish off all the pieces of the cardigan and then I can sew it up and finish off the hand ribbing tonight. After that I still have one ball left to crochet into my sweater before I have to abandon it until the extra wool arrives. I am expecting 3 deliveries of wool this week so it will all be exciting stuff.

I was chatting on Facebook to my friend Charlie, who is opening her new wool shop soon. and she has just had her first wool delivery for the shop. I feel so excited for her. I never lost that excited feeling every time the huge bags of wool arrived even though I was the one who had ordered it. Funnily enough Charlie was having problems with her knitting machine yesterday. She is making something far more complicated than I am though. I haven't used my machine for so long that I am starting off slowly with just plain knit for now.

Time for lunch and then back to the machine before I forget what I did to make the back (sound familiar ladies?) I will find a pad and paper and takes some notes as I regularly suffer from brain fade these days. Then I will probably lose the pad. Sigh. Getting old does have it's drawbacks. My brain used to be as sharp as a shiny new tack and now it is more like a blunt rusty nail!

I Would Rather Be Crocheting

When I was younger I never really minded doing my cleaning. I used to rip around the house from top to bottom and then sit back in the evening and really enjoy a super clean, freshly smelling house. Nowadays I would rather be crocheting. I seem to have undergone a metamorphosis from Aggie the Queen of Clean into Woman in a Dressing Gown. Although I do like my house to be nice and clean it is such an effort these days to summon up the enthusiasm to wield the duster, mop and hoover. I tend to do part of it and then leave it for a couple of day before I finish off the rest. Consequently by the time I have done the second part it is time to do the first part again Sigh. Where are those house cleaning, dust busting fairies? They don't seem to know where I live.

Apart from a brief sit down for Loose Women and 60 minute makeover I haven't had time to pick up a hook today. I have started another of Kay Jones patterns but still have a sleeve and all of the edgings and stitching up to do. I hope to finish it off tonight if I can.

The knitting machine is waiting for be picked up tomorrow. There is a box of manuals and the blue plastic bag has some part machine cones waiting to be practised on. A friend is calling for the machine tomorrow evening. I think they will be really happy with the machine and it's ribber as it looked in quite good condition when I had a peek in the box last night. I haven't taken it out to check it over. I will let them do that. I hope that it has all of it's parts and is usable. If not then it must be something small that is missing as the obvious things seem to be in the box.

I have included another photo of the baby cardigan as it has now dried and is off the blocking board.

The rain is streaming down the patio doors in torrents. So much for the nice day that we had yesterday. I knew that it could not last after all I do live in Rainy Manchester!

Guess what I will be doing today

You guessed it. I have to turn the pile of crochet pieces into Kath's cardigan this afternoon. Then I have to return to her sister's jumper. Their birthday presents will be a little late this year but the decorating got in the way. Crochet I can do, knitting I can do but blocking and finishing off is what lets me down. I am not the best stitcher upper in the world so wish me luck.

Last week I gave Vicky a scrumpled up lump of crocheted mohair shawl and a couple of balls of wool as a sort of half finished pressie, She blocked it, fringed it and turned it into a work of art. Please take a look at her blog -http://web.mac.com/vhjeffery/Site/Welcome.html Vicky's blog you will see the end result. I really must learn how to link things on here! Another thing I am total rubbish at. I looked at the shawl in total amazement when I saw the photos. I could not believe how she had blocked and fringed it and made my crocheting look so good. If I had done it, it would still have resembled a lump of crochet with a scraggy fringe. If you don't believe me look back a few posts at my photos. I was sorry that I had not made Perran one then they could have skipped off down the lane together. There is still time but I only have bright fuchsia pink mohair left and I know Perran is not a lover of pink.

I found the lovely stitch markers that Vicky made for me. Guess what my favourite colour is? Yes purple how did you guess - they even came in a box to match. I had carefully stashed them away when I moved the things from the lounge and forgot where I carefully stashed them. Yesterday I found them again - whew. There are just a few other things that I carefully stashed and haven't found as yet but I am sure they will turn up soon.

I found an added bonus whilst tidying. My mother's stash of wool sewing up needles and with a quick rub with a bit of emery paper they came up as good as new. One day I will get around to using the emery paper on the needles from the knitting machine and then it will be all systems a go on that as well. I brought the machine down from the loft, put it together and have never touched it since. It is an ornamental feature of the dining room at the moment.

The sun is shining. Time for a wield of the sewing up needle whilst it is still daylight and before Buster needs his second walk of the day.

My machine is a Diva

My knitting machine is having a strop. It is being a total diva and a Prima Donna. I had forgotten over the years that my machine has a personality of it's own. I can almost hear it's words.

"How dare she ignore me, shut me up in the loft wrapped in cloths and plastic for over 15yrs and then expect me to work with just a clean and a spray of WD 40. Ha! I will teach her. To add insult to injury she expects me to knit scrappy bits of donated yarn when she KNOWS I only like the very best yarn running through my needles. I will let her cast on and then bunch up all the yarn on the stitches and spit them off. If I really don't like the yarn I will stop in the middle of a row and refuse to budge. She thinks that waxing the yarn will work. Wrong. Excuse me but I want quality and until she gives in and feeds me with what I want I will continue to strop! Cat blankets indeed !. I am meant for fine delicate lace work and Rolls Royce yarn"

I have spent the morning battling with this Diva and have come to the conclusion that it just doesn't want to knit the bits up for cat and dog blankets. Now it is up and running (when it feels like it) I will probably give in and try knitting something better quality. I have some acrylic 4ply and whilst it is not of premier quality by any stretch of the imagination it feels soft and silky enough to fool the Diva! I am going to try to make a plain sweater with it to start me off on the right road again. I have put the photos up on here showing the bunched up portions. I did unravel most of the bunches but these got left.

I spent all of yesterday morning looking for my spare passport photos as apparently they are changing the bus pass system in April 2008. (Yes folks I really AM that old). It sounds a much better scheme as I will now be able to get free off peak travel on ALL local buses anywhere in England. I don't go to many places but it's nice to know that if I do then I can still use my bus pass to get about. This morning I awoke and knew exactly where I had put the photos! My short term memory is very patchy at times which is probably why I couldn't remember where they were yesterday. Now if I could just remember where that spare million pound is !!!!!!

Not much crochet or knitting done today

This is the reason for my lack of knitting or crocheting today. I have been setting up my Knitting machine. A Knitmaster 360 bought in the 80's. It has brought back a lot of memories whilst cleaning the dirt of many years off it. I just wish it would bring back the memories of what all the attachments are for and how to cast on! I have all the manuals tucked away somewhere so I am hoping with a little mental prodding it will all come back to me rather like riding a bike. It's a tribute to Japanese workmanship that even though it has been wrapped in cloths and bin bags and stored in the loft for the last 15 - 20yrs and was very dirty there is not one spot of rust on it. I am sure with a little WD40 or machine oil it will be up and running like clockwork soon. If only I could remember what to do!

I have decided to postpone any actual knitting on it until next week when hopefully I will fully understand what I am doing. This weekend's light reading will be the Knitmaster manuals.

I am out on Sunday afternoon to the Knit Out of the Knitting Noras in Bolton's Cafe Nero. I haven't managed to attend one for quite a long time so it will be nice to meet up with some of the ladies again. I believe this weekend we will also have one gentleman (husband of one of the members) who wants some assistance with his crochet. When I had my shop I used to have one or two men who knitted and online there are several guys in the US who crochet and knit but as yet it doesn't seem to have caught on in the UK. I don't see why it should be considered to be mainly a female craft.

I remember my father telling me that during the war there was a guy in his unit who used to sit on his bed knitting very fine intricate baby shawls. He always had a ready market for the finished articles as new fathers bought them for gifts to send home to the wife. My dad said that apart from a bit of light hearted joking no-one considered it at all strange. I had a cousin who was a biker and he used to turn out the most fabulous embroidered denim jackets. All heavy metal music influenced designs. He was in great demand at the bike club for his art work. In these days of equality women do woodwork and mechanics so why can't more men do craft?

My poor dog has still got his water infection so it was a case of flex the credit card once again today for another course of antibiotics. I will in the poor house if he doesn't recover soon. He is booked for his castration operation for Friday of next week but that is dependant on his recovery first. The vet is of the opinion that this will help as she suspects he has prostate trouble which is causing these recurrent infections.

I think I will relax tonight with a few rows of aran although I have got back the stitched up crochet bunny slippers I had made for my niece. She wants me to finish them off with a row or two of crochet so a finished photo may be on view tomorrow. She has embroidered the features so at least this pair don't look squinty eyed as my pair did.

Firm textured aran - 2nd attempt

These are a couple of photos of the still very rigid aran I am making for my friend's brother. The second attempt is working out well size wise but it is still very heavy going on my hands so I am going to limit myself to a pattern (16 rows) at a time. I think it will soften and loosen up with it's first wash. It's funny how dye can affect yarn in different ways. The cream aran (same brand) I used last was a lot softer in texture and easier to work with. This colour has a tendency to split so I often have to retrace my stitches to sort out a dropped strand. Since my right hand carpal tunnel operation last December I can't work too long on large or heavily patterned garments as it makes my hand and wrist ache. I try to alternate between knit and crochet in the course of the evening so have many projects on the go as a result.

My niece is coming around tonight to help me lift my knitting machine down from the loft. I have not used it for many years so it will be interesting to see if I can still remember how to use it and more importantly how to set it all up with it's ribber and lace carriage. Luckily I still have all the instruction books stored in my under bed storage drawers. I guess not a lot of knitting or crochet will be done this evening as I will be cleaning the machine and setting it up ready for use.

I don't have any projects in mind for my machine but I am sure it will come in useful if only for using up the smaller amounts of yarn. I was donated a lot of dark colours when I asked on Freecycle for any yarn suitable for premature baby blankets. I can always knit striped dog and cat blankets for the local rescue centre on the machine. I will just put a crochet edging on them to finish them off and so reduce the stash of odd balls I have accumulated. I was looking at the stash of oddments the other day and thinking it was getting a bit overwhelming. I would have to crochet for months to get rid of it so the machine will help with the plain projects and the animals will benefit.