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.

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.

The calm after all the excitement

I think that I am starting to calm down after the excitement of the last couple of days. Firstly I would like to thank everyone who stops by and leaves comments. I really appreciate them even though I rarely mention it on the blog. You really lift my day ladies. In answer to a couple of comments I have copied the link to the TKN blog to take pre-orders for the calendar and if you click on my blog title it will take you there. If you know that you are definitely going to buy one (or more)once they are available it would help us greatly to get a general idea of how many we are needing to order from the printer when the time arrives. The more we order the cheaper the printing costs will be but we don't want to over order and be left selling the calendars to any people passing by. Mind you I am up for a bit of pouncing, if needs be, provided they let me "mug" the handsome eligible men of my neighbourhood and frisk them down to find their wallets. I think the threat of that alone will make them give me the money for the calendar and run!

Ailsa I will definitely sign a calendar for you and will even throw in a personal appearance for free, as I can't guarantee it will be signed before posting, if I can find the right bus to your area. I will do anything legal to sell a few calendars as all the money is for such a good cause (Christie hospital for anyone who might be reading this blog for the first time)

The soon to be famous "As seen on TV crochet sweater" is progressing and is starting to get sleeves. I still have no idea of the finished result as I now only have 2 balls left and really need longer sleeves and a bit more on the body length. The tie is actually at empire level on me (downside of having boobs) so although it looks long enough on the photo it is still stopping at waist level on me.

I have started another Blue Curacao shawl in Rowan Cashsoft Aran for Deb one of my fellow Knitting Noras. The colour is closer to the photo of the ball rather than the start of the crochet one. The weather is so dull today that the camera flash brightens up colours and makes them appear lighter.

I am making this shawl and a couple of others for fellow Noras as my personal fund raiser for the calendar. Before any copyright police start screaming at me I am not infringing the copyright rules of patterns (or at least I don't think that I am) as I am not selling them or asking for any money from the shawl recipients for my labours. I am using their own wool and saying that if they are pleased with the end results then please give a donation to the calendar fund. One day I will have a site and be able to sell some of my crochet but until I can use some patterns that are all my own designs that idea is still a pipe dream for me.

I am hoping that I might settle down to some crochet today as the old knee could do with a rest after my walk up to Tesco yesterday but looking around me I think I do need to make an effort to tidy up. I love chaos when I am crocheting and it usually looks like an explosion in a wool shop all around the house. Having said that eventually I take a hard look and think enough is enough - it's time for a tidy, dust and hoover, I think today is one of those days.Perhaps if I can find a cupboard with some empty space so that I can scoop it all up and hide it in there?

The Knitting Noras are filmed by BBC1

Yesterday was a very exciting day. Bev picked me up in the afternoon to attend my first photo shoot for the Naked Knitting Calendar. Thanks for the lift Bev as I would have hated to have missed the day's fun. We were being filmed by BBC 1 so that we could be included in the same programme as the famous W.I Calendar Girls. Wow what an honour to be included in a programme with them.

The programme is about the W.I Calendar ladies 10 yrs on and I presume how they started the ball rolling for other ladies to "bare all". From what I could gather from the lady who interviewed us the programme is touching upon the subject of body issues. She asked us how we felt about having photos taken for the calendar without clothes and how we regarded our bodies. Deb and I told her, off camera, that having had major surgeries and sporting quite a few scars between us we wanted to do it for the confidence it would give us as women. For me as an older, overweight lady I would like to look good in a photo so that I could feel womanly, and dare I say it sexy, once more (if only for the moment) as during the last year those feelings have gone out of the window somewhat. Hobbling about stooped like an old lady with a stick, dressed in practical clothes, doesn't exactly conjure up a picture of the woman that I really feel that I am inside. I am getting old and everything is migrating southward so I need to do it now whilst I still have a chance of looking OK. I can always tape the photo to the mirror and pretend that I look like that everyday!

I didn't feel at all nervous about having my photo taken and having the camera crew there was easy to ignore, unless someone asked me a question and then I got tongue tied and a bit nervous.They left lots of sound gaps in the conversation and I didn't know whether I was supposed to chatter on and fill them or stay silent. I felt quite comfortable in the studio and were it not being filmed for the BBC I would have done my naked photo shoot there and then! The studio is in quite a woody aspect at Rivington Bolton and it felt private and intimate enough to shed inhibitions so I think I will be OK when it's my turn to get my kit off for the camera. A bit of Reggae or Salsa music to get me in the mood and I will be very happy.

Laurie Jeffery, Vicky's husband, who is our photographer took the photo of me that you see on here. I think he has managed to make me look good which is a tribute to his expertise as a pro photographer. I would like to assure you that the knitting needles in the hair are for the photo and not something I normally walk the streets wearing (although it could start a trend). Vicky has updated the Naked Knitting blog with more photos that Laurie has taken of us and of the BBC crew and if you click on the blog title then you can share the experience with us.

The BBC crew followed us to the Blundell Arms in the evening for a Knit Out. After they had finished the poor cameraman almost knocked himself out on one of the beams in there. He is a very tall guy and although he ducked under the beam he must not have ducked far enough and gave his head such a whack that he dropped to the floor. He will remember us for a while as I bet he is sporting a huge bump and bruise on his head today that will remind him of the Knitting Noras!

The crochet photo today will be remembered by me as my "famous featured on the TV" sweater. I managed to crochet 2 x 50 grams during the course of the day. At the moment it looks like a tunic as I have not yet made any sleeves.

If you want to see the programme we were told that it should air on Bank Holiday Monday 25th May on BBC 1 at 9pm. The title is The Calendar Girls - 10 years on. The interviewer promised to tell us if the schedule is changed.

It's back to the real world for me now. I shall, of course, be available for signing autographs and personal appearances after it has aired. Well a girl can dream can't she? We are all entitled to our five minutes of fame in our lives.

Sera Lace Top

This is the Sera Lace Top by Doris Chan from the Interweave Crochet magazine Fall 2007. I have made this for Lisa so I can't show it in wear just yet. I will have to follow Lisa about with my camera and hope that she tries it on tomorrow. As you can see from the magazine photo the pattern stitch will spread in wear making it very lacy but if I tried it on then it would be lace stretched to it's limits!

I can't tell you what the yarn is that I used as it was a cone (possibly 4ply acrylic) that was in the bag of oddments that Lisa gave me to make the Granny Takes a trip jacket. I decided that it was too fine to incorporate in the jacket so found a different use for it.

The sweater for me has grown a little. My wrists were hurting yesterday so I didn't make as much progress as I would have liked. I don't know if you can see from the close up photo that the shell pattern goes upwards for the yolk and I am now crocheting downwards in the round to make an empire line shape. I am still using the Jewel sweater as a template for size. Hopefully more photos tomorrow - wrists permitting.

The sun is shining but it is still a bit windy. I am missing sitting out into the fresh air in the back garden for a crochet. I could still go but it's not quite the same feeling if I am wearing my fleece. Roll on summer. My arthritis and I are looking forward to some warmth. If I ever win the lottery then I will definitely move to a warmer, less damp, climate.