Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day to everyone. A special Valentine wish to Bev and her husband who celebrate their Ruby wedding today. How romantic is that getting married on Valentines Day. I hope that you both have a happy and romantic day.

The reversible hat didn't shrink in the wash or in the dryer. I should maybe have tried putting it in the washing machine but I was scared of it felting as I wasn't sure if it was all mohair or not. I have made a smaller version. It is still doubled but as both sides are the same colour it is a little hard to see. I was given 5 x 25 gram balls of Listers Shalimar which is fluffy but mostly acrylic with just a bit of mohair. I also made a matching scarf. Although I am modelling the hat it isn't for me it is another hat and scarf destined for the Big Issue homeless.

I am back to my knitting again and have started the second front of the cream Kaftan cardigan. I think that I might try to finish this off before I start anything else off. It all depends on how my wrists and the back of my neck fare tonight. I might just have to work a couple of hours on it and then swap to some crocheting.

Still Busy Crocheting Hats For The Homeless

I am still crocheting hats for the homeless.I have used up the bag of cream and brown unravelled donated wool and have managed to make 2 cream scarves, 3 cream hats and a brown one. The worst part was sewing all the tails in as some of the balls were really small or had lots of knots in. I need to wash them all before I give them away as they do smell a little musty as the wool has been stored for quite some time.

The multi coloured hat is one I found part made in my stash. I can't remember which pattern I used (or even if I ever had one) so I finished it off hence the difference in the size of the bobbles, It is made from 2 strands of machine cones and I think that I must have stopped making it as making bobbles with doubled wool is a bit of a pain so I made the bobbles smaller as I kept losing threads and having to start all over when I tried to make them as big as the original row.I now have a bag full of hats and scarves ready to take to the Islington Mill Knit Out at the end of February.No doubt I will have made a few more before then although I have got a pattern for some knitted fingerless gloves in chunky that I might try as a change from all of the hats.

I am feeling a little better. The weather is helping as although it is still dull the mornings are a bit lighter. I managed to get a bit of housework done yesterday. I must be taking more notice of my surroundings as for the first time in ages I saw the dust and actually cared about the mess. Today I plan on tackling this room which I always call my mess room as everything gets dumped on the computer desk. It is my filing system for hospital appointments and bills that need dealing with. If I move them anywhere else and try to tidy up then I lose them or forget appointments.

I might start a knitted cardigan for myself with some very old Kaftan. Listers made the Kaftan which was a sort of brushed acrylic aran. I used to stock in when I had the shops. I got given some and managed to unearth an old pattern for it from my pattern stash. I will have to scale it up a bit as what I never noticed with my old patterns is that the largest size a lot of them do is 38". Just shows that we must have been slimmer back in the 80's as I don't remember anyone complaining that the patterns didn't go large enough.

The amaryllis now has one fully opened flower, another part opened and a bud. So I will have had 6 flowers altogether from my Christmas gift. There is a small bud at the bottom that might just grow into a third stem once these flowers have finished blooming. I will try to take a photo of it today if the daylight gets brighter this afternoon.

Time to get showered and dressed. My neighbour has told me that my new computer monitor has arrived and he will come and install it for me sometime this week. My niece is calling tonight with my S.A.D light so maybe tomorrow I will be bouncing with energy.

Thanks everyone for your lovely comments whilst I have been a bit down. They are much appreciated and have kept me going. Ailsa I will try the Cranberry juice when I go to the shops tomorrow. Since I have been taking the antibiotics the swelling in my knees and my stomach has gone down It makes me wonder if I was right all along when I thought that I had infection in my knee after the last operation. My knee is back to a normal temperature. The hospital told me that I didn't have an infection and the heat was due to my arthritis. Some days I could have fried an egg on it.

Amaryllis Is Blooming Again

The Amaryllis that was one of my Christmas presents is set to bloom again. I have already had 3 lovely blooms from it and now it looks like I am going to get 3 more. The Christmas present that lasts until February. There is another very small shoot at the bottom near the bulb so I will hold my breath that the plant will flower again once these flowers have died.

Yesterday I felt a bit better. The weather was marginally brighter and my knees weren't hurting as much so I managed to get up to Tesco (with my 4 wheeled trolley of course) and do a bit of food shopping. I know that I can order online but although I detest food shopping I still prefer to chose everything for myself. Anyway it gets me out in the fresh air.

Today is a bit brighter again and that lifts my spirits. I am thinking about tidying up and cleaning so that shows there is some improvement in my mood.

I have started another crochet hat for the homeless and found another hat part made amongst my stash. I still have enough cream left from the hat and scarf set to possibly make another set but the scarf could be a little shorter.

Caroline's aran cardigan - finished

I have finished off Caroline's aran cardigan. As I was working from a 400 gram of aran and could not get another ball it finished up as a long short sleeved cardigan. I am pleased with the result though as otherwise the ball would only have finished up as yet another hat and scarf set.

I did crochet and knit a lot yesterday and even though the tv was uninspiring. I am not a lover of the Royal Variety Performance so I finished up watching Ray Mears in the rain forest with Ewan McGregor instead. Now I know how to put up my hammock in the jungle! I don't know what I would do without my Discovery channels as terrestial TV is so bland these days. The only thing worth watching is Loose Women and 60 minute makeover although if someone gave me vinyl or laminate floors and a leather suite I would scream. I like my warmth and scruffiness with a carpet and dog hairy throws! I doubt if I could live in a showhouse type of environment for more than an hour without messing it all up. They don't cater for us crafty types who have projects spilling out all over in every room. Someone once said tidiness shows a lack of creativity and I use that as my mantra. It means I can justify being very messy as having a creative mind!

My craft/messy corner is home to a three quarters finished scarf to match the Kilim cap (ends stitched in as I go) and a quarter of a mohair openwork crochet scarf for my sister in law. I will probably start my London niece's crochet cardigan today and get the pattern set whilst it is still daylight. I like to do my cursing in the daylight. It is from the Fabulous Flirty Crochet book so no doubt the air will be blue as I try to work out the rows as they will inevitably be wrong somewhere. If the book gets one pattern right I will say a loud hurrah tomorrow!

I am off to walk the dog as he is sulking on the sofa because I had my breakfast first. He does sulk to a fine art, hasn't even eaten his breakfast. I have dared to vary his routine. I should know it's walk first and then breakfast. He will stop sulking once I rattle the lead though. I need to nip to the shops for a crust of bread and a few necessities later. Whew - another busy day.