Crochet 'Aran' Finished At Last

The crochet 'aran' is finished at last. I feel that it has taken me ages to make this. I have crocheted 14 x 100 gram balls of Patons Wool Blend Aran Shade 00136 into the jacket using a 4mm hook so it is very firm. The colour is quite a lot darker than the photos show. I do hope that the wool softens up once it has been washed as it is 63% wool and feels a bit scratchy to me. I can't wear wool so find everything a bit scratchy I must add. The wool came from Purplelinda and will be very warm in wear. The pattern is from a vintage book Glorious Crochet Sweaters edited by Nola Theiss. It is still available on many second hand book sites as I have seen it whilst I have been book browsing.

This is the look with the buttons fastened. The jacket is slightly large on me but it is for a lady who has a 56" bust. Hopefully it will fit better on her. She also has longer, chubbier arms than me.

I must try not to stoop when I am showing my back view. Not the best angle as I am showing rather a lot of over large derriere!

The bottom edge is still curling upwards as I haven't blocked the jacket as yet. The lady that I am making the jacket for didn't want the bottom ribbing on the jacket so that it would hang straight and not go in at the bottom edge. I just did 3 rows of UK double crochet but it is still curling at the moment.

I have been on and off the Internet this last couple of days as I have been having a few connection problems. I know that Orange are updating their site to try and improve their connection speed but I didn't think that I would keep losing connection every evening. If it doesn't improve then I will have to get in touch with them. I will give them until the end of the week to hopefully get it right. Everytime I wanted something from the net or to write my blog I had no connection. It's always the way. When you want something it's not there. The more it's not there then the more you want to use it.

It must be Spring as the gardener came today for the first time this year. The flower beds wanted tidying and a few shrubs seem to have died over the winter. She is going to get me a couple of new shrubs as I can't get to the garden centre any more now that I don't have a car. I am not very green fingered but I used to love walking down the rows and seeing the different plants. I would love to have the money to get my garden properly landscaped and restocked with new plants. All pipe dreams. Things on my list of things to do if I ever win the lottery.I like where I live but it's getting very shabby. If I had the money I wouldn't want to move, just improve. Do you ever lie in bed and think about what you would spend the money on if ever you were lucky enough to win the lottery? I would improve my home and then spend the rest on travel before I get too old to go anywhere. I would help my immediate family of course.

I thought that I had got away with all the walking that I did on Monday. On Tuesday my knee was fine but yesterday and today it has stiffened up so much that it is very painful to walk and even painful in bed. My copy of the specialist's letter to my GP came yesterday with the recommendations of what tests he wants to do. I went to the GP for a prescription for some new sexy vascular socks but the pharmacy didn't have any large enough for me. I have to go back in the morning before my knee swells right up and get measured and may have to get a pair made to measure as the extra extra large won't fit. That just shows how much my leg has swollen. I have another appointment for May so I hope that my scan appointments and test appointments come before then.

I got sent a link to Flickr from a Ravelry friend for a lady called babukatorium. I have put the link in my blog title so I hope that it works. She does the most fabulous colourful crochet. Whist I am too long in the tooth and far too large to wear anything like she has designed I do admire her skills with colour and design. She also braids her hair with wool as you will see with the first few photos on her Flickr page. I wish that I had made something like her work when I was young enough to get away with wearing it. I am sure that I will use her for inspiration in my future projects.

I am going to start a small test piece of crochet tonight for a Ravelry friend. She wants me to test her shawl pattern stitch in a sample to see if I can understand her wording. I would like to make the whole shawl one day for my daughter in law. I have printed out the instructions as my PC may go off again tonight as it has for the last 3 evenings leaving me high and dry without a pattern link.

Coffee time now and start the test crochet. I am going to start my niece's knitting after that as it will be full steam ahead ready for her Birthday at the beginning of April.