Why Don't I Write Patterns Down?

I really annoy myself when I don't write anything down. Those of you who know me well know that I rarely follow patterns to the letter. Sometimes I just wing it from the start without a pattern. I get ideas from different projects and incorporate them into a design.

I have just finished this little bolero for a friend's daughter and if it fits her then she would like some more similar boleros in different colours. Well I can honestly say that each one I make her will be an original as I never seem to make anything that looks the same twice over. I can't make an exact copy of this one as the pattern is all in my head.

I crocheted this using some Ice viscose yarn. The only snag with buying yarn from Turkey is that it is priced per pack. In this case the pack was 8 balls and I only used 5 balls for this. I now have 3 balls left over which I will have to try to incorporate with another colour to make anything else. The yarn pack cost me £4.99p per pack but when I add on the postage it adds another 88p to each ball! Still cheap for the quality of the yarn but a bit of a nuisance if I don't use up all of the pack as I only pass on the cost of the balls that I have used to my friend.

I added a little quirk of my own into the side seams. I just wish that I had put them somewhere more obvious as unfortunately these squares don't get seen under the arms. Still it makes for a unique garment.

This is a close up of the stitch used and a close up of the edging. I think that my friend is going to thread some very narrow ribbon through the edging and put a little heart shaped button as a fastener.

Most of the things that I make for babies and children are either acrylic or a cotton mix.I am always sad when yarn purists get so uppity about acrylic and call it yucky. Some cheap ones may be but there are so many good brands of acrylic out there that look and feel as soft as different yarns but yet have the machine washability that most young Mums desire. The pale pink that I have just used is man made but if someone who didn't knit or crochet felt it then they would have cotton as their first thought.

I don't often hear of anyone calling wool, merino or alpaca names. To me everyone has their own tastes and every yarn has it's purpose. I would never dream of criticising anyone for their choice of yarn and making such rude comments about it. If you like pure wools, and have the money to buy them, then that is fine by me. I would never tell you that it's wrong to use that yarn and yet yarn snobs, as I call them, think that it is perfectly acceptable to make nasty comments about people using yucky acrylic. Shame on you. I was actually told by one person that my crochet was lovely but was spoiled by my choice of acrylic yarn. She said wouldn't it be better for me to crochet just one or two high class items than a load of cheap things. I was speechless. I am too much of a lady to have an argument so I just ignored her. Crochet is my passion, my hobby and a big part of my life. In some respects no doubt a lot of people would agree with her but it is a free country and I have the freedom to choose the yarns that I use. My pocket has a big influence on my choice of yarns but having said that if I had all the money in the world I would still choose acrylic for certain items.

Sorry about the rant but it does make my blood boil when people cannot admire the quality of workmanship without being being so snotty about the yarns used.

On a different note the UK is supposed to be experiencing a drought and in some areas we have a hosepipe ban. This is the kind of drought wear for Manchester. Today it is pouring down with rain as it has been all week. How can we be short of water? Some countries get a tenth of the rain we do and yet I never hear of them having a water shortage. What happens to all of our rain? I am sure that the UK could come up with a better water storage system than there is already.

I am going to stay home today and knit, yes I did say knit, a bolero in pink eyelash yarn for a little girl. I find that I cannot crochet with eyelash yarn. I have already had to pull the back out as I dropped a stitch and could not find it, nor pick up the stitches ,when I tried to unpick it row by row. It was easier just to start all over again and be more careful with each stitch.

I was supposed to be taking part in a Jubilee craft fair in June but due to some red tape issues with the council the permit to hold it on the street and in the courtyard would have turned out far too expensive to get the right licenses etc.The fair has now had to be cancelled. It's a pity when the councils can't wave their rules for the Queen's Jubilee day. People have to get permission and licences to hold a street party which have to be paid for. I can understand it if the street was a main thoroughfare but not some little side street that is only used by residents. There is nothing happening on our street that day but then as I live on a hill the sandwiches and drinks would slide off the tables and half way down the street!

I am going to play ball with Buster before he goes home later today No walk (scoot) for us today.It's far too wet and windy. We did mange to get out yesterday but the village was filled with extremely drunk Newcastle football fans who had stopped off at the local pub on their way to Wigan. I wonder who has paid for all the extra police that had to be called in to control them. They weren't fighting or anything but just so drunk that they couldn't stand up. The less drunk were singing and shouting football chants and generally being very unruly. Running into the road and falling over on the pavements. As a friend of mine pointed out maybe the team were also on these 3 coaches as they lost the game 4-1.  I had to go well out of my way to cross the road and do a bit of shopping. Buster got a bit distressed with all of this. I wouldn't have taken him with me if I had known that they would be there.