Sweet Pea just Needs to be Fringed

The Sweet Pea Shawl is finished and just needs fringing. I have made this pattern so many times in the past and still love it. I have no doubt that I will make it many more times in the future as I have never actually made one for myself.

The 4 ply baby knitting is carrying on slowly and I have now finished the back of the white cardigan. After some discussion with my niece we both decided that we like the wrong nubbly side (last photo) better than we like the ribbed right side so I think this cardigan will be made up inside out. Not the first time that I have done that with a pattern I might add.

Yesterday I received a lovely present of some very old baby crochet patterns. I won't say who from as although the patterns are so old that they have long ago gone out of copyright there will always be someone who will jump on the case saying photocopying is banned etc. I do object to being asked on Ravelry for free copies of my patterns that are still available for sale. I simply point out to them where I bought the book from and leave it at that. We all have in our possessions treasured patterns that could have been our mothers or grandmothers and I see no harm in photocopying those. I will no doubt get shot down in flames for even suggesting such a thing but how else are people supposed to get copies? I know that very occasionally there are some in charity shops and on E Bay but that chances of picking up a popular old pattern are virtually zero. Anyway thanks a million to my friend for the patterns. I really appreciate them as the oldies are the goodies (and I am not describing either of us with that remark :) ) There is something about the vintage crochet baby patterns that doesn't exist in the modern day ones.

Last night I had a great night out at the Kings Arms Knit Club in Salford. My niece has been giving me a lift but next week will be the last time that I can get a lift. Ah well I can only hope that someone else is passing my way in the future as I really do not like waiting for a bus outside Salford Station alone in the dark on my way home. It is such a shame that one can't feel safe in ones own city after dark. I will have to concentrate on winning the lottery so I can afford to get another car. Is it too late to learn to ride a motorbike? I could maybe afford the insurance and road tax on one of those. I think I will be more of a fat lady with a sidecar, or Wallace and Gromit than a leather clad Honor Blackman or Joanna Lumley as in the Avengers. The Kings Arms is not only the host to our Knit Club but also holds drama events upstairs in it's function room. I have been told that their plays are very good. They also sell m any varieties of real ale and obscure beers for the connoisseur.

I am off to another osteo session today. My knee seems to have reached a level now and I don't think there will be much more improvement except to use it more and strengthen the muscles. The family have said I should seriously consider having the new knee and should concentrate on getting my weight down again so that they will operate as the success rate improves greatly the less strain (weight) that is put on it after the operation.

Another Sweet Pea Shawl

When I need a shawl for a present in a hurry I always turn to the Sweet Pea Shawl from Stitch n Bitch The Happy Hooker book. It starts at it's largest width and then decreases with every row. It is a fairly easy pattern to follow despite the repetitive wrist aching triple trebles. I am using some Woolcraft DK.

The flowers are from a plant that The Knitting Noras bought for me last year after my spinal operation. When it died I put it outside in it's pot as it appeared beyond revival. Imagine my surprise this year when I realised that not only was it growing leaves again but also it was flowering once again.

I was going to try to mow the law today but although it hasn't rained it was so dull and miserable that I just didn't feel like it so I stayed indoors and started the shawl instead.

Sweet Pea Shawl finished and fringed

The sweet pea shawl for Bev is finished and fringed. It has taken 8 x 50 grams Jaeger Cotton DK. I had to try to photograph it in between the rain showers as today is yet another miserable Manchester day so sorry about the quality of the photos today.

Last night's filming at the Kings Arms was a laugh. The BBC film crew were certainly not as good as the ones who filmed the Knitting Noras last week. It was two ladies. A camerawoman and a fluffer (I kid you not that is what she described her job as). The fluffer got to ask the questions and let's just say her job title was very apt. She could not get her head around whether we were knitting or crocheting despite being told knitting has two needles and crochet has a single short stick with a hook. She would start off - "So what are you knitting?" to be told well actually I am crocheting! She got everyones names wrong despite asking first. At the end of the interviews and filming we got told that we will be on North West Tonight for one minute fifty seconds but she didn't know when it was going to air! I wasn't one of the few who were interviewed so if you do happen to see the clip then look out for a flash of blue as that was the colour of my sweater. I would love to know how she got her job as a fluffer as I can think of quite a few people,Charlie for one, who would have made a far more professional job of the interviews than she did.

There is a bit of doubt as to when the "Calendar Girls 10 yrs on " is airing. We had been told a date but Bev has now found out that Ashes to Ashes is showing in the TV slot supposed to be allocated to us. Bev is going to find out when we will be on so I will update you when I find out.

Today I will return to Deb's shawl that I put away when Buster was here. His hair didn't stick to Bev's cotton but would have turned Deb's wool into mohair!

Filmed once again

Tonight I am off to the Kings Arms Salford where a film crew from the BBC are set to film the knitting group for North West Tonight. I am a member of this knitting group as well as the Knitting Noras but I just haven't been down for a few weeks. This time I will be one of the crowd making up the numbers and not being interviewed. It is about Artyarn and the knitting club in general. They will also be filming ArtYarn's new project 'The Knitting Orchestra' on the 27th May. If you would like to know any more about the knitting orchestra then follow the link to Artyarn by clicking on my blog title. I regularly read the blog as it always contains very interesting articles about art and knitting world wide and is not solely about Rachael and Sarah.

I have got to the edging and fringing stage of Bev's shawl but I won't be taking it with me as it is a bit difficult to fringe anything at a knit club. The light in the Kings Arms isn't very bright so I won't be taking Deb's shawl either or I will be faced with a lot of unravelling when I get home. I will have to find another project to start before I go.

Today I have been washing bedding and generally de hairing the house from Buster's visit. He is moulting badly so has left a liberal sprinkling of hair everywhere. Thank goodness my vintage hoover still has a good suction.

Off now to sign some autographs (joking!) and choose something to take with me to work on at the Knit Out.

Sweet Pea Shawl

When I first started Bev's shawl I was a little unsure on how the cotton would look crocheted on a 5.50mm hook. At first it was looking a little stringy but as I am progressing the weight of the cotton is pulling the pattern out so I think when finished and blocked then it will look OK. I am using Jaeger DK Pure Cotton and the pattern is Sweet Pea from The Happy Hooker Stitch & Bitch book.

I didn't do much crochet last night as my totter (can't call it a walk) with Buster left me more tired than I though it would and so I dozed in front of the TV due to being a little doped up on painkillers and finished up in bed before midnight which is unheard of for me. Needless to say we were up with the birds this morning as I had my quota of sleep long before the alarm was due to go off.

There are some events in the park today but I am not going even though it is very close. Buster doesn't cope too well with crowds and lots of children and I would not leave him at home to go on my own. I am looking forward to next week when we are having a one off Farmers Market on the precinct. I hope that it is well visited as it would be so handy to have these markets now and again. Sometimes my niece takes me up to Ramsbottom to the Farmers Market there. The veg and the meat are so fresh.I am going to eat stuff from the freezer this week to make some room for my goodies.

My knee is having a better day so far today so I may attempt another totter with Buster before he goes home this evening. Hopefully he will settle after that and I can get a bit of crochet done (wrists permitting) What I need is some warmth and sunshine to ease my old bones. Roll on summer. Let's hope this year we get a warm one.

Yet another Sweet Pea shawl

I think I can now make the Sweet Pea shawl from the Happy Hooker Stitch and Bitch book without the pattern. I have made quite a few of them now. I made this one with some of the bargain spearmint pink yarn that I bought from Bury market last week. I am making another hat and scarf with the rest of the yarn.

I had to go to the hospital today. Not my back this time but to see about my blocked salivary glands. I had to wait so long in the waiting room that I completed a quarter of the scarf - OK it's not a wide scarf but I kept the patients amused as they watched me crochet. several people asked me what I was making as though they could not quite believe that I was turning this candy floss pink into anything wearable!

I had a bit of a shock whilst in the waiting area. A guy who has asked me out when I worked at the Jobcentre was there with his wife! he was supposed to be single when he asked me out. I doubt if he has got married in the couple of years since I left the Jobcentre as she was wearing a well worn wedding ring and they had the air of a long term married couple. You can always tell. He reads the paper and nods when she chats to him now and again.

He, of course apart from a double take when he saw me, completely blanked me. I didn't say anything to him as I am not one to upset any apple carts.

I was lucky enough to get a lift from Charlie to the Kings Arms Knit Out last night so was able to take the things that I had made for the raffle. I photographed them all together before I packed them into the bag. The willy warmer caused great amusement in the pub. This is what I had hoped for. I made it as something to catch the eye and hopefully attract more people to buy raffle tickets. We had quite a few members there last night. I was given a set of long double pointed needles from Kath and Sylvia. I now have 5 sets in different sizes and so I can use them to make something from the Fitted Knitted's book.

I have had an e mail from Vicky with the pattern for the premature baby blankets. Vicky is organising a Knit Out at her house in aid of National Knitting Week 12th - 19th October and their chosen charity is Bliss for premature babies. I will search in my stash for some colours. Anything but pink. I am getting a little tired of pink :)

Shawl finished and fringed

One granny square shawl finished but Vicky's still to finish off but sorry Vicky that will have to wait a little while longer as I have started a Sweet Pea shawl from the Happy Hooker book in the spearmint pink wool that I got from Bury market.I am trying to make as much as I can for the raffle in the time left.

The Sunday newspaper had a supplement dedicated to Breast Cancer and the newspaper carried the news that Wendy Richards has got breast cancer again and has to undergo chemo once again. Let's hope that research will continue to find new ways to combat this disease and as Ambermoggie says please check your breasts ladies and if in doubt then seek help. It's better to be told that there is nothing wrong than to think that there is nothing wrong and so leave it until it's too late. Let's not forget the men either. Tell the guys to check their breasts when they check their man parts - it's not just women who get Breast Cancer!

I Freecycled the logs from the legendary holly tree from next door's garden and I had a surprise when the couple who turned up to collect it for their wood burning stove. I had met them before. They had Freecycled a mini hi fi system some months ago and I was lucky to be chosen to get it. My mother would have said what goes around comes around. I am glad the logs went to them it's nice to give back in some way to someone who has given you something that you wanted. That's the beauty of Freecycle or Realcycle depending which area you live in. One person's unwanted things become another person's treasure.

The holly tree is still haunting me. I spent a lot of today trying to gather up all the loose leaves from the lawn and I filled the bin with some of the small twig branches and have another bin full still on the lawn. When the bin gets emptied on Tuesday I will have to start gathering leaves and branches again. My back started to hurt and so I decided not to push my luck and to stop before I did any damage to it. I had intended to bag it all up just in case the rain starts again next week.

Time for a shower I think before I cook myself some dinner. Then it's relax and get the crochet out tonight. It's Charley Boorman on BBC2 tonight and I can't miss him. Unfortunately the Poirot series has finished on ITV - there were only 3 episodes of that. Things I hate have about 20 episodes and yet things I really like seem to have 3!

Car journey Sweet Pea

When I was in the car (as a passenger) on the way to and from Morecambe I got quite a lot of crocheting done on this purple Sweet Pea shawl. It is from the Stitch n Bitch the Happy Hooker book but I do a sort of frilled edging instead of the fringing as illustrated in the book. This one took 250 grams Patons Fab double knit and crocheted up quite quickly. I have made quite a few of this pattern and apart from a quick check at the pattern when I first start I can almost crochet it from memory now. I finished it of last night and sewed the tails in this morning.

I have also done a small amount of work on the new crochet square shawl but the 2nd pair of knitted socks for my niece have not had a row knitted on them for days so they should be my next alternate project. I like to have one knit and one crochet on the go and alternate to give my wrists and fingers a change of movement.

I am planning my next crochet project and have to decide which one of Doris's Amazing Lace designs to start next. Her designs are quite thick in what she describes as "exploded lace" and whilst I can understand what she means and why she has done it anything too thick is not to my taste so I will be doing some jiggery pokery to adapt her designs to be more "me".

I am really tempted to go back to the market stall in Bury market to get some more of the lovely yarn I got last week before he sells it all out. He tends to have job lots so if you miss it and go a couple of weeks later then there is none left. There were a couple of colours in the £5.99 Silky Look packs that I really liked. He is only there on Fridays and Saturdays so if I get up early tomorrow I might risk an outing.

When I came back from the Leisure centre I double checked everywhere to see if I had accidentally left my other sock at home and not packed it in the rucksack. Last night I noticed that somethings under the sewing machine table had slipped down and bent to tidy them up. What was there? My other sock!!! How on earth did it get there? I had not gone anywhere near this table whilst I was packing my bag.

I once went with a friend to see a woman who was Spiritualist and whilst I am not totally convinced I will go along to with people to different religious gatherings, tarot card readers, fortune tellers etc as I have a curiosity about all things in life. I never pay or go personally but will accompany other people. This lady told me that I had a mischievous boy who was my unborn son living in my house who liked to re-arrange things to tease me. There was no way she could have known about my 4 miscarriages so I just thought she had made a lucky guess. I thought no more about it but over the years I have misplaced things and have them re-appear in plain view a couple of days later. So I will put this down to a mischievous imp or wonder if a sock can play hide and seek. I am pleased to have a pair of socks once again.