My eyes are dim I cannot see

My eyes are dim I cannot see I wish I had brought my specs with me. Oh wait a minute I did! Like Kathy and Vicki (The Knittingdragonfly) I have blamed everything whilst knitting black. I blamed the new energy saving bulbs, grease on my glasses (no better when polished) and my own eyesight. I have come to the conclusion that knitting black in the wintertime is for the fool hardy or people who have strong craft lights and 20/20 vision. Remind me to save knitting and crocheting black for the summer next year!

I am progressing slowly with the fingerless mitts and have finished one. Sorry for the fuzzy photo but it's hard photographing your own hand. I will save the front view until both of the mitts are completely finished as it will spoil it to see them before the trim is added. The mitt felt quite warm in spite of being knitted in 4ply. I have started the other mitt but progress is slow especially when I get to the fair isle bit.

I managed to do a few rows on the Cinnabar but am really concentrating on finishing these mitts off at the moment. I just allow myself a few rows of luxury crochet every now and again to break up this knitting.

I have put my heating on today. I have made the excuse that I have done some washing and if I put the tumble dryer on then I would be using just as much energy and with the heating on I am killing two birds with one stone. Anyway without the heating my fingers are so cold that I keep dropping stitches. I was smiling today at a forum on Ravelry about finishing off Christmas projects and one lady said there should be 48hrs to every day in the months of November and December. I feel guilty at the moment if I go to bed earlier or do something other than my knit and crochet during the day.

Sometimes I feel like that hamster on the wheel, round and round and getting no-where. Ah well - guess it's time to get back on my wheel.

The joys of knitting black wool in electric light

I had forgotten what a joy it is to knit with black in either dim winter light or electric light. My eyes are definitely not what they once were and black 4ply on 2.75mm needles is not exactly my idea of a fun project. Thankfully they are fingerless gauntlet gloves so hopefully they will soon be finished. Unfortunately I have more small projects planned before Christmas and all in black! I am still choosing which colour to use for the fair isle pattern on the hand. The pattern is from the Boutique Knits book that I bought recently and the wool is Sirdar Country Style 4ply.

The red Cinnabar is progressing and has almost reached the size of the Mei Mei bolero. Thankfully it grows a whole lot faster than the 4ply. It is looking a bit on the small side but I find Doris Chan's patterns do grow a lot once blocked or even in wear.

So it's time to go back to my projects. I think I will stick to the Cinnabar until it's time to put the light on which will probably be in a few minutes despite it not being 3.30pm yet!

Last of the Doll's clothes

I waited to take photos of Baby Annabel's pram suit until I had daylight but the light was so dull again this morning I could have taken them last night with similar results. The pram suit is from Paton's Dolly Daydream book PBN K 306 if it's still available. The pram rug is crocheted although there is a knitted pram rug in the pattern book. The leggings were the bug bear being in rib they took so much of my time.

I decided to start on the Cinnabar cardigan from Doris Chan's Everyday Crochet book for my next Christmas gift project. I have done half of the yolk. The one thing I will say about this pattern is never attempt it without stitch markers as it is so difficult to see the difference between the increase V stitches and the shell stitches which can be disastrous for keeping the shaping in the right places. These stitch markers were made for my by Eadaoin (see her Etsy link on RHS of my blog) and they are so useful as they don't slip out of my work like the split ring markers do.

Today I went up to Ramsbottom to Clarks Crafts wool shop. Charlie was feeling slightly better today and wanted to pick up some wool so I jumped at the chance to go with her. It was one of her first trips out since her illness. She is getting better slowly but still gets tired quickly. I bought a ball of Diploma 4ply and double knit in black for my daughter in law's fingerless gloves and hat and some Wash n Wear DK for a jacket for my friend's baby.I would have used the wool that I had in stock but I am glad that I managed to get some better quality wool. So much still to do - so little time.

Laura - if you e mail me at fullbodiedwoman at Yahoo dot com (I am not writing the e mail address as a link so I hope that you can work it out) then I will give you info about your enquiry about learning to knit.

Almost finished

No photos today as although I have finished baby Annabel's pram suit I didn't finish it until the light was fading and I want to take photos in the daylight. The legging were all in K1 P1 rib and I could have made a pair for a real baby with the length of time it has taken me.

I hope to get started on a new project tonight. Possibly the Cinnabar, or a jacket for baby Charlie, some fingerless mitts maybe or a pair of crochet slippers. They are all wanted for Christmas so I can choose which one I start first.

I finally had my flu jab yesterday. I was due it at the end of November but I have had a cough and a cold for the last week or so. That is how I knew that I was overdue my flu jab as this is the first real cold I have had in the five years since I have been having the flu jab. My arm hurts a little as I got the Attila the Hun nurse who has a less than gentle touch when she wields a needle. I got her the last time I had a smear test and I banged my head on the wall when I jumped up the bed as she thrust the shoe horn thing inside me with all the grace of an over enthusiastic turkey stuffer! Next time I am going to enquire when the gentle Scottish nurse is on duty and make sure I choose her day.

Right time to stitch on the pram coat buttons and decide on what to knit or crochet next. Decisions, decisions.

More dolls clothes

Relax ladies. I have not been up all night knitting and crocheting. Nor have I been flogging the elves in the cellar. I made these doll's clothes last year and then decided that my great grand daughters were far too young to play with them. As they fit a 14-15" doll and Baby Annabel is 18" I had to start again to make clothes to fit her. I will include these clothes as I am sure that the girls have dolls or teddies that they will fit.

I have knitted the bits for Annabel's pram coat and have started the leggings. All in K1 P1 rib which is definitely not my favourite stitch as it slows me down so much. I am going to make a crochet pram blanket to match the pram suit and then I will have finished.

I have been trying, once again, to do some more deep clean housework. I have been doing dusting and a bit of hoovering here and there since my op but nothing heavy. I don't know how the people on How Clean is your House can leave their houses as long as they do without cleaning. Mine has been left for 4 months due to my operation. I can, however, understand how they become overwhelmed by the sheer amount to do. I still have loads to clean but am limiting myself to just so much each day. I promise I will get around to the insides of my kitchen cupboards once I can bend my knee to get down there! It will all get done eventually so I am not going to beat myself up because my house isn't up to my usual standards.

Today I cleaned some more windows and am a little sad to see that my great grand daughter's hand print and Buster's paw prints are no longer on the patio doors.

Layette for Baby Annabel Doll

Mummy Christmas has been busy crocheting. Well every little girl should have a baby doll and my great grand daughter got Baby Annabel for her 3rd birthday in October. The store bought clothes are ridiculously expensive so I thought that she ought to have a new outfit for Christmas. I downsized a very old baby pattern by using finer wool (Hayfield 3ply) and a finer hook (3mm). I have a lot of experience of altering patterns to fit as when I first started crocheting patterns only came in about 2 sizes so I had to learn fast how to adapt.

I started a knitted pram coat for Baby Annabel last night and have leggings and a pram blanket to make before her layette is complete. I am using a white flecked wool for these, I hope to finish them off by the middle of the week.

I have been a bit slower with my knit and crochet over the weekend as I am trying to get some housework done. I have been dusting since my operation but real heavy tidying and cleaning has been left. Now that I am feeling better I am allowed to hoover in moderation. The house is starting to look desperately untidy and needs a good clear out. I do try to be ruthless and throw things away but I guess at heart I am just a collector. It's my mother's fault, I inherited it from her. She always stocked up as if there would be another shortage like during the war. She should never have introduced me to the "Borrowers" books as I can see a potential use for everything in my home. I guess I was into recycling long before it was fashionable. I have always cut up and reused dresses and blouses when I used to sew and never quite got out of saving the too small old fashioned outfits just because I like the material! I regularly recycle hand knit sweaters and cardigan and give them another lease of life. I have my eye on two in my wardrobe to riippppp after the New Year.

My childhood was all about make do and mend. I spent hours cutting up old coats from the jumble sales into little pieces to hook rag rugs. Every sweater I possessed was re knitted on the sleeves to mend the elbow holes and were lengthened as I grew. My bigger cousins hand me down dresses were altered here and there to fit me as I was such a skinny little thing. Funnily enough I never felt deprived it any way and was so excited when the bag of clothes would arrive from my aunt. It's no wonder I grew up to knit and sew from a very early age. No TV back then so it was common for everyone to have something to make in the evenings so I just joined in. When I see how kids today are cossetted is makes me smile, I was sewing on a treadle machine at the age of 5. I learned the hard way not to put my fingers anywhere near the needle. I did sew my finger once and just got told to suck it and stop crying! Ah times were tough back then! I also used to iron hankies and small items with an cast iron heated on the fire. I have burned myself more with an electric iron as an adult. I can't ever remember doing it as a child.

Those were the days

I don't often want to turn back the clock and start again but some days something triggers off memories and I drift off back in time.

The photos today are of happier times when I had wool shops. The photos that you can see are of the last one to close I gradually closed the other 2 when my parents could no longer help me with the running of the shops.They both worked until well into their 70's so they must have enjoyed their work. The stock on view is a mere fraction of what I had to offer. I had a large unit in a new precinct until the greedy landlords and decline in knitting forced me to buy a smaller shop in a less prestigious position. I wish I could walk back in time into my shop and buy all the things that I search for these days that I stocked as a matter of course.

I was trying to read some of the prices on the photo to compare with today's prices. Sadly most of the yarns are no longer in existence so I can't really do that. My major brands were Emu, Hayfield, Sirdar, Wendy, Twilleys, Patons, Studley, Phildar with Aero as my chief knitting needle and crochet hook provider.

Sadly 2 members of staff are no longer with us. One was taken with breast cancer in her 30's. So sad. The other, a heavy smoker, died with lung cancer in her 70's as did her husband.

Craig from I Knit mentioned on a Ravelry forum about Emu Superwash wool and that triggered off all the old memories. It was one of our best sellers and it's nice to know that it is still available although I must admit that i haven't seen any for quite a while around here. Unfortunately I can't wear wool, except on my feet, but I would buy it for knitting for other people. The biggest seller of all time for me was Sirdar Wash n' wear crepe DK. Now I know that not everyone likes man made fibres but Wash n'wear was so durable, kept it's shape and I still have garments in it that look like new some 20 yrs later. Absolutely fabulous for children's wear. Kids go to school and get covered in paint and glue so a hardy yarn is ideal and that certainly stood up to the paint test! My favourite to crochet with was Patons Classic cotton in 4ply and double knit. Beautiful quality and sheen. Another durable yarn that is still in my wardrobe looking like new in summer tops.

I was very sad when I was forced to close my last shop but I was going through a divorce and had to buy my ex's share of the house. I needed a regular salary to get a mortgage. I was actually told my my bank manager that as a lone woman I wasn't a good risk I doubt if they would get away with saying that these days. When I lost both of my parents in 2 years that was the last straw and I threw the towel in and sold the property.

Do I wish I could start over? Yes I do - but not at my time of life. If I was still in my 40's or even my 50's I would give it another go. Not sure where I would get the money from these days but I would certainly try. I keep hoping that someone else will open a shop close to me and want me as an assistant. I miss the buzz of chatting wool and patterns, seeing new stock arrive, helping people choose their next project and even helping unravel and correct mistakes in their work. At least I have the satisfaction of knowing that J & L Buckley was once very well known and people came from far and wide to visit us and we were VIP priority customers spending more per month on stock than any of our rivals. I can remember writing cheques for thousands of pounds to wool providers per month without a qualm. Now I gulp if I have to write a cheque for £50!

Anyway enough ramblings I must get back to reality.

My baby Annabel knit and crochet clothes are tottering along but nothing to show as I haven't stitched anything up as yet. I didn't want to photograph a pile of pieces.

I wore my shrunken socks yesterday and today I am going to wash them (not in the machine this time ha ha) and tease them out to shape again. they will never be the same of course but as long as they are wearable for house socks that is OK. I really must get around to knitting myself some more socks in the New year. I have quite a stash of sock wool waiting for my attention.

Off to do some regulation housework. I would far rather be crocheting BUT I do need to hoover and dust sometimes!