Flying fingers for April

We finally got to the Clarks Craft Wool shop in Ramsbottom today but not without incident. When my niece went to the car this morning she had a flat tyre. That made us an hour late setting off for the shop. It must be the curse of the family as I have a slow puncture and have to keep pumping the tyre up until my son can get here to change the tyre for me. I must say that today I was disappointed with the shop. We had very little to choose from in the amounts that we wanted. My niece was going to buy some Sirdar Blur but they didn't have enough in any colour. I was looking for some more of the Elle 4ply that I had made the khaki crochet socks with and they didn't have any of it anywhere. The only wool they had that was sockish was some Regia but I didn't like any of the 3 colours that they had so decided to leave it. Last time we went up they had a few balls of Opal sock wool but this time none to be found. I wish there was another decent wool shop without having to travel miles to find it.

Both of my niece's have chosen black. I have posted photos of the wool with the intended projects. My Niece Kath who lives in London is having the jacket but this time with a closer crochet stitch . She liked the jacket from Fabulous Flirty Crochet by Katherine Lee that I made for her at Christmas (exact to the pattern) but as her office is rather cold she would like one a bit more substantial this time. The yarn is Patons Diploma DK the same yarn that I used for her ribbed sweater 100% acrylic but good quality. It is lovely to work with. My Niece Vic arrived with a knitted cardigan pattern but decided to change her mind once she saw the crochet sweater in the Doris Chan Everyday Crochet book. She has chosen Sirdar Click DK for hers 70% acrylic 30% wool. She doesn't want the contrast trim though. I have kept the magazine as it also has a pair of socks with individual toes that she would like but she will have to order some 4ply for those when she orders the Blur online. I will probably make her the knitted cardigan if she gets some wool later although it has a thick wide tie at the waist that I will ammend as we both agreed it looked a little clumsy for the lacy cardigan. I will be taking it easy for a few weeks after my operation so I imagine I will be doing a fair bit of knit and crochet then.

Linda found a wonderful site ( see a couple of posts ago) for some very reasonably priced wool from Lanarkshire but unfortunately they don't do 4ply. When I go to the next Bolton Knit Out I will get the balls of wool for Anna's new soakers.

My socks have progressed. I had hoped to have them finished today but I started on housework when I came back from Ramsbottom. I also walked the dog twice so it didn't leave much time for my knitting. Last night I hand wrote out the 3 pattern rows and after that I raced along with hopefully no more mistakes. There was something about the way they were written on the pattern that I kept reading wrong. I am still on the first ball of wool so will get another pair out of the wool if Imake the legs a wee bit shorter. I will find another lacy pattern for the second pair that will fit in with the stitches otherwise I will be muddling up which socks are a pair.

I have just had an e mail from Rose (My new Life in Romania) saying she is planning a visit to the UK in May. I hope I will be able to meet up with her for a coffee as she will be staying about 8 miles from me but it all depends on the date for my operation. If she arrives before it then I can meet her but if she arrives after then I won't be able to drive unless she can travel to nearer to me for a meet.

I will try to put in an hour or so with the socks as I want to finish them off before starting the girl's crochet. I am resisting starting another project before I at least finish one pair of socks. Sorry brown random socks (or Tiger socks as my friend christened them) but you are on the back burner of WIP once again! Maybe when I have my op and am looking for new projects the Tiger socks will get finished.