Wish That I had an Extra Pair of Hands

I got my copy of the Interweave Crochet Magazine Spring 2010 today in the mail. Hence the blog title. Don't you just love it when magazines turn up as you are never quite sure when they will arrive so it is always a surprise when they do. I will show you more photos from the magazine tomorrow but the front cover is enough to set me off drooling. It is, of course, by Doris Chan and I can't wait to start it.

This is why I need an extra pair of hands as there is still a lot to crochet on my niece's black cardigan although I did crochet 100 grams last night. I still have half of the body to crochet, long sleeves and the closely crocheted band which take ages as it is crocheted through the back loops only.


The shawl has turned out well but if I made it again I would choose slightly finer wool as it doesn't drape as well as the red one did. Nice pattern though and very easy to make. Once you get past the first couple of rows there is only one pattern row to repeat. I added a shell edging as I thought that it looked a bit unfinished on the pattern.


Today is still a lovely day although not quite as nice as the weekend. I did manage to totter up to the village to get a few bits and pieces. I was going to call into the shop that delivers my newspapers to pay my overdue bill when I met my paper girl and she offered to take the money there for me so saving me a lot of extra walking. I saw her on the way back home and she told me that she had taken it in for me and explained that I was overdue because my knees weren't so good. There are still some lovely teenagers around. They get a bad name in the press as I think the press like to print all of the bad things. I am lucky with my neighbourhood children and teenagers. They are all very polite towards me and say Hi and wave to me when I sit near the window crocheting.

I must get the whip out and make myself crochet faster tonight instead of nodding off over the hook as I am prone to do of late. Sign of old age - taking half hour cat naps during the day and early evening! I blame my new painkillers as I used to stay awake more before I started taking them. Still they are a necessary evil. It's either them and nodding off or being in more pain.

I saw a funny sight on the way home from the village. A neighbour's Boxer dog fast asleep on a mini trampoline. He looked very comfy sleeping there in the sunshine and didn't even flicker an eyelid when I walked past. It's a dogs life!

Shawl Drying in the Sun

It's a beautiful sunny day today.Still a bit on the cold side for sitting outdoors but nevertheless a nice day.I have finished the second shawl from the Contemporary Crochet book by Sys Fredens. This one is called the Shell Pattern Shawl and I made it from 4 x 100 grams of Sirdar Gemini Brushed Chunky.As the wool came from an old lady's stash is smelt a little musty so I have washed it and it is drying on the line. A good blow will get rid of any lingering odours.This shawl is for my niece Vic.

Today I have been out in the garden trying to mow the lawn. I have managed to cut the middle but the edges got the better of me and I couldn't get down to the bottom layer of the garden at all as the steps are so steep.. A lot of people on my street have a gardener who comes every couple of weeks or so and mows the lawn and gives the place a bit of a tidy. I think that he would have to give me an estimate for clearing it up first before it gets to the manageable state. Realistically speaking I am not going to be able to mow the lawn or take care of anything until I get my knees sorted out and it is nice to look out onto something tidy rather than a wilderness which is what it will become if it doesn't get mowed regularly. I would like a bit of colour out there with some flowers as well.

I managed to restart the black crochet last night and did a couple of rows. The trouble with crocheting shawls with thick wool and huge hooks is that when I return to 'normal' crochet it felt like sewing thread and a tiny hook when in fact it was a 4mm hook and double knit. I expect that I will get back into the rhythm of it soon.

I have just closed my patio doors even though it is sunny as I had a huge bee come in and it took forever to find it's way out again. I am allergic to bee stings so try to give them a wide berth wherever possible.

My Wounded Soldier

I have got Buster for a few days. I did mention before that there had been trouble in the ranks between Buster and Dillon. Buster has always managed to be the top dog whenever there was a skirmish but last night Dillon must have decided that he didn't want to submit. It developed into a major dog fight and Buster has come off the worse. He has been badly bitten about the ears and has several tooth wounds around his neck so is generally feeling very sorry for himself. He is doing a bit of clinging today but hopefully that will settle down as the days go on. Dillon has hopefully got a new family lined up. One of my son's friends who has recently lost a dog similar to Dillon might have him so they are going to take him along for a meeting this weekend to see how it works out. My son's other dog will miss Dillon as they curl up in the basket together but Buster was their first dog so if anyone has to leave then it has to be Dillon. Since this fight happened they don't feel that they can trust the two male dogs together alone and so Dillon would have to be in a dog cage whenever they are out which isn't fair to the dog. I do hope that he gets rehomed this weekend. He is a lovely dog but at 9 months old he is so playful and really needs some one to one attention.

Buster is moulting like mad but I can't brush him because of his open wounds. I will just have to keep bathing them until they show signs of healing. His moulting means that the black crochet will have to be put away in a bag for a while as it is for a present and I don't want it to be covered in dog hair.

The jacket has progressed a little and I have almost crocheted 200 grams into the body of it. I will start something else tonight. Something small that I can wash when it is finished and get rid of the dog hair. Dog hair seems to cling onto black wool and even if I wash it then I will still see loads of dog hair. Maybe later in the week, when I can give Buster a good brushing, I can get it back out of the bag.

Buster is street watching at the moment. The boys are playing football in the street so he is sat on the pouffe watching them play and the world go by. He is finding it hard to sleep even though he appears to be very tired. As both ears have been bitten as well as underneath his neck and collar line he can't put his head on one side to lie down and sleep. Hopefully we will find a way around this by tonight. I will bathe him again before bedtime.

I hope that Dillon goes to a new home at the weekend and then Buster can go back home again. I love him to bits but I know that I just cannot look after him properly. I can't walk him which won't be a problem this week as my son wants me to keep him clean and away from any dirt that might infect his bites. Also he can't wear his collar at the moment.

Are They Meant To Be Flat?

I have just been for my routine Mammogram at the aptly named Popham Centre at Fairfield Hospital.I felt as though they were trying to pop them. Although I have always had a fair sized bosom I would never say that I was big. The thought crossed my mind as they tried their damnedest to iron my boob as flat as a pancake, and in doing so it spread my boob across the X-ray plate in a manner mimicking pastry being rolled out. What if I had bigger boobs? Would they have to use an X ray plate the size of a tea tray?

I met up with a former neighbour in the centre who I haven't seen for some time. I didn't like to say that she looked dreadful but I was shocked by her appearance. it turns out that the poor lady has been very poorly with cancer and has had not only chemo but a bone marrow stem cell transplant from her brother. He travelled from Sweden and luckily he was an exact match for her bone marrow,He is younger than her and very fit and healthy so I hope that all goes well for her. She is a really lovely lady. She and her husband offered me a lift back to my home town as they don't live too far away. I was really grateful for the lift as my knees ached from the trip up there via metro and bus.

I called in the charity shops as I usually do for a browse. I am always on the look out for wool and today I was lucky. I got this pink double knit for £3. I am not sure how much there is as some of the balls are not full balls but I will be able to make a pram blanket with it once I hear of a little girl baby. I don't know if you can see from the close up photo but it has little flecks of different colours in it.

I have started another jacket for my elder niece for her birthday at the beginning of April. I made her this jacket at Christmas in pale blue with short sleeves and although she loved it she said could I make her one with long sleeves. As I said in a previous blog the market stall didn't have much choice of colours in the wool that I bought last time. I chose black as it is a general colour that will go with a lot of her outfits. I would have liked to have chosen a brighter colour but there wasn't much choice. She doesn't know about this jacket and I had already promised to make her a couple more so next time she is on school holidays she can nip over to the Yarn Barn in Shaw and get some brighter coloured wool for another jacket.

I altered the pattern considerably so I am winging it once again as I cannot remember how I made it last time. Fortunately I took many photos for Flickr and Ravelry so I keep referring back to them for guidance. This time I am going to write better notes!

Time for a welcome cup of coffee and put my knees up for an hour or so. I am going to do some crocheting. I have loads of housework to do but my knees say no at the moment. Maybe later when I have had a rest....or maybe not ;)

I am so envious of the ladies who manage to find crochet books at their libraries. My local library doesn't cater for anyone who knits or crochets. They have a few tired old books and even when I look on the central library list there is nothing any different in there. I am always having to order books just so that I can read what is in them, Needless to say I have lots of books with only one item in that I like that I probably would not have bought if I had browsed it first. I have ordered a couple more crochet books and they should be delivered this week. I do hope that I like something in these as much as I like the last baby crochet book.

Crochet Today

As promised yesterday here are some of the projects that are featured in the May/June Crochet Today magazine. My personal opinion is that this magazine is far better value as it is £3.25 and has 24 patterns in it and quite a few of them are patterns that I know I will use. Perhaps I am prejudiced against Inside Crochet as it had so many circles projects which are my pet hate.

There is also a magnificent diamond patterned snake which for some reason I didn't photograph. I am not sure if it is a toy or an oversized draught stopper but it is 75" long and the head is 27" around. it is quite weighing over the small child it is photographed with. There would be an awful lot of crochet involved in that project and a ton of stuffing required to assemble,

I can see myself making the short sleeved jacket for my niece, perhaps the stole as a gift although it is in fine wool. The lacy jacket I liked at first glance but is is asymmetrical with each front and sleeve different. I love the circular cushion as it reminds me of a set of cushions made for me by my aunt when I got married. Sadly thrown away by my ex as he hated the hippy type bright colours. He was into the minimalistic black and white op art decor of the 60/70's. I even like the granny square cushion but I would need a stiff drink before I contemplated the afghans. I get bored far too easily to embark on anything that size.

I have started the Calendar crochet prop but I prefer not to show that until after it has been used in the shoot. I have run out of wool so will have to wait for the next wool delivery to do more on that. I am still ploughing on with my 4ply black cardigan. I think it is a big mistake to do 2 black projects one after the other.

I didn't get to the Kings Arms knitting club last night as I didn't have a lift and I just could not face going on the tram and bus with my knee. I hope one day to post that my knee is better but until then I will say no more except Please can I have a night's painfree sleep?

Good Weekend after the pain

I knew it would happen. The pain after the pleasure. 10 minutes of belly dancing ( see previous blog) on Wednesday lead to 4 days of severe back pain. I don't know why I think I can get away with it. I never learn.

The weekend was good. My son, daughter in law and their grand daughters came to see me on Saturday. I like to see the babies even though the baby was whinging all the time. It took my mind off my back pain having a bit of company. The dog of course was very glad to see his mum and dad again and sulked a bit once they went. He soon revived with a walk.

On Sunday my niece came to take me to Ramsbottom to the craft shop and to do a bit of shopping. We finished up in the garden centre. I bought some broad beans, lettuce and some herbs and several packets of seeds to I guess I will be busy in the next few weeks. My plastic mini greenhouse arrived from Amazon this morning (the grow house arrived on Friday) so it is now made up and housing the baby plants and is ready for the seeds. I think I should have ordered another one or two of them.

My niece brought me her crochet jumper that she had started from the Happy Hooker book. She has done very well with the body part but needs the sleeves to be a bit wider than the pattern (our family is blessed with quite chunky upper arms) so needs Auntie to improvise on them and make them wider and yet still fit the armhole! Hmm I will have to work on that one! As she is a beginner she cannot vary from the pattern as written, so any variations she can't cope with. It will all come to her with time and practise.

The picture on the blog is of a shawl I have started for my niece for her holiday abroad. It is in some black Lystwist I found in my stash in the loft. The yarn is somewhat finer than the pattern so I will have to do some improvisation to make it long enough. If I just keep increasing and do a lot more rows it should eventually get to the right length. It will be a labour of love as I think it will take me some time to finish it. I am always doing 2 or 3 garments at once. Black I can only work in daylight and I have 2 black crochet garments on the go. The cardigan seen in the last blog and now the shawl. I am also crocheting a white bolero and knitting a red mohair cardigan for myself in between.