Not More Storage?

My niece came today to take me on a promised trip to Dunhelm. It is one of those places that sell bedding, towels but more importantly sewing accessories. It is so hard to buy a bobbin of sewing thread anywhere near me. My niece wanted to look at the prices of bedding for future reference. I bought my thread,some baby ribbon and some elastic and also small crochet hook as my smallest one had been dropped out of my case at some stage. I use a tiny hook to make small flowers for embellishment on my baby outfits.

The grey storage unit is still empty but knowing me it won't be long before it is filled. I also bought 3 more of those small button storage boxes. Today I had been sorting through the ribbon stock that I had left over from my shop and so these rolls if ribbon  are now residing in the red storage unit.

The top drawer of the red unit now houses this tangle of embroidery thread which I must sort out into an more orderly pile one day.

You have heard me mention my lodger cat Lily. Her owners are having an extension built on their house which isn't pleasing Lily much so I am seeing more of her than usual. For once she let me take her photo, Just look at those claws that she uses to scratch my carpet and rocking chair with.

She is a very loving little cat. She wants attention all the time when she is in the house. If I don't stroke her then she finds something to rub up against like my wicker waste paper baskets. Despite being so dainty she managed to knock loads of things down whilst she is visiting.

She is like a much smaller version of my late cat Nelson. He wasn't neutered for a long time so maybe she is one of his great grand daughters.

This is one of the outfits that I have finished for my store. I just noticed when I saw this photo that I have buttoned it through the wrong hole making one front look longer than the other. Good job this isn't the photo that I will be using for my store.

This is the reason why I wanted a very small hook. These flowers are a little big for the jacket. They really need to be a  bit daintier. I have finished the 3 piece cream boy's set but I will show you that another day. I still have a few finished sets that only need ribbon and buttons attaching. I am bad at finishing things off as I mentioned before. As soon as I have finished crocheting I put them on one side and start something new. As I am almost ready to set up my online store I need to finish them off now.

Today has been hot but the muggy kind of heat that makes you all sweaty straight after taking a shower. Now it is going darker it is looking like rain so I had better bring the washing in from the line. I do like it when the weather is hot enough to dry clothes outside.

Tonight I will be starting another baby outfit. I have tons of ideas in my head but I might make something that I have a pattern for. I will decide later but for now I am going to rescue my washing before the rain arrives.

Not Much Crochet Done Today

I am having a bit of a crochet hiccup, stutter or whatever it is called. I want to crochet but can't seem to settle to anything today. I don't know what it is. Whether I am not happy with what I am making and it is not inspiring me or whether I have just gone off my crochet today.

As you can see the red shawl isn't really progressing. Everytime I lay it down my eyes are drawn to another bit that doesn't look quite right. I can see one stitch that doesn't look quite right in the photo now. I am getting very sick of pulling rows back. I like the pattern but I will make it in 4ply next time. I know that it will make a thicker shawl but at least it will be easier to see which loop my hook is supposed to be going in. I am used to my loops being a tighter tension and it being obvious where to put the hook next and not a sprawling mass of slack loops. I am going to use laceweight on a much finer hook next time. Sometimes working on a larger hook doesn't make anything grow faster. Well not in my case. I like the work at a certain rhythm when I crochet and I cannot get this rhythm right if I feel that my hook is too large for the project. I am crocheting very slowly like a learner and pulling back so many rows. I think that this shawl is destined to be a long WIP.

I started the pink shawl for charity at Knit Club last night as I can almost make the All Shawl by Doris Chan in my sleep. I can crochet away without thinking what I am doing. I am using some donated Shalimar wool but I think that I will have to find a toning shade for the edging as I only have 6 x 25 gram balls and the wool is disappearing fast. That is the only problem with using donated stash that has come from someone elses elderly stash. Still it will go to a good home eventually and the shawl is meant to keep an elderly person warm and not be a fashion statement.

I am making another of the lacy baby cardigans and have started it and finished the bottom sidways pattern. I didn't take it with me to Knit Club as I wanted something mindless to crochet as I chatted.

It was a great night at the Kings Arms Knit Club last night. Quite a few people were there and we all had a good laugh. Perhaps because I can't go all of the time it makes the times that I do go all the more special.

I am going to do some food shopping now and so I won't be crocheting this afternoon. Hopefully this lethargic mood will pass after a bit of fresh air and I will be crocheting like a demon when I get back home again.

A Busy Couple Of Days

I have had a busy couple of days. On Friday my friend came with the Patons Crystal with cotton that she had bought at the Black Sheep Sale. I know that I am supposed to be on a no buy at the moment but when she phoned to tell me about it and that it was reduced from £19.90 to £4.99 a pack now what is a girl to do? I can't resist a bargain like that.I have not decided what I will make with it as yet so at the moment it has gone into my stash.

I have finished off the little pink jacket. The pattern that I used is Little Princess by Laura Gebhardt and is from the book Crochet for Little Babies that I bought from Amazon a few weeks ago. The jacket is part of a set but although I have made the jacket twice now I haven't got around to making the matching dress. The wool is 100 grams of unlabelled pink fleck acrylic double knit.

I have almost finished a lilac bolero but on Friday my hopes of crocheting for a baby girl hit a setback. With fostering you can never be sure which baby is arriving or if they are arriving until the very last minute, The 3 month old baby that was due to arrive at the foster Mum's is no longer coming so I am keeping my fingers crossed that when the call comes again for another baby that it will be a girl. Otherwise I will have to crochet like mad in blue!It's all part of the uncertainty of fostering and is another reason why I take my hat off to people who do foster. I know that it is something that I could not do.

On Saturday I did some food shopping and then I had a furry visitor for the night. My son and daughter in law were going out so I had Buster overnight. He is such a loving soul that I would dearly love to have him with me full time but as I cannot walk him then it isn't fair on him. He is coming back next weekend and possibly bringing Skye with him. I will have to wait and see if I have one dog or two. It hasn't been decided as yet. The couple across the road have offered to walk Skye for us if she arrives. She will go with them whereas when they tried with Buster he refused to go. He is more clingy than Skye due to the fact that he was a rescue dog who had 3 owners ( 2 of which ill treated him) before he came to our family at the age of 7 months. He can't get put in kennels when they go on holiday as he gets stressed and all of his hair falls out.

I have started another All Shawl with some of the oddments that I got given. There isn't enough of the Sirdar Sea Pearl to make the shawl in one colour. I choose the All Shawl pattern as it is so easy to make and it suits having the bottom pattern done in another colour. I will put this shawl away when it is finished. As I mentioned before I am aiming to have a few ready by Christmas time to pass on to old ladies. I will keep crocheting a shawl here and there before Christmas.

I have decided that the wool that I bought from Purplelinda isn't suitable for the crocheted Baby Surprise Jacket. As you can see on the pattern it needs a wool with longer lengths of colour to give it the striped effect and the James C Brett wool that I bought only has about a 4" colour sequence so will turn out flecked rather than striped. In knitting it would be a slight stripe but as treble take up quite a bit of wool for each stitch then one colour would only make a couple of trebles hence the spotted effect.

I am hoping to go into Bury on Wednesday so will have a look if there is something there will a longer colour length in a neutral colour as it may be for a boy.

The sun is shining today although it does keep going dull and is quite windy. It rained overnight. When I let Buster out in the middle of the night his coat was quite damp when he came back in. I have washing on the line so I hope that the rain stays away until it has all dried. Now I will have to dust and hoover and try to get rid of all the hair that Buster so kindly left behind when he left.

Crochet For Baby Girls

I love crocheting for baby girls. I love the fancy frilly items that today's mothers shun like the plague. Babies are tiny for such a short time so why not frill them up and dress them pretty for a while. I think that I am a frustrated mother of girls that I never had. All of my babies one present, and 3 lost early before birth, were all boys.

Maybe I should buy a baby reborn and dress it up. My son would really think that I had lost my marbles if I did that but I do love to crochet frilly pretty things.

I finished the little matinee. It is a Sirdar pattern 1901 and used less than 100 grams of 4ply. I think that although it is very pretty I would make it with solid trebles (UK) and not the filet crochet where newborns could so easily get their fingers tangled in.

The baby bonnet is from a pattern by Kay Jones 59.(www.creativecrochet.co.uk) I use a lot of her patterns as you have probably noticed. I think I have almost bought her complete range of baby patterns now. The pattern calls for DK to be used double so I used a 100 gram ball of white chunky that I had in stash and used it singly. The pink trimming was just oddments of pink that I had in stash. A very quick pattern to make. I made it today whilst watching daytime TV.

I have started knitting the second front of Charlie's cardigan but the trouble with me is that rather like a dieter having one bite of chocolate, and then wanting the whole bar, once I start to crochet I find it difficult to return to my knitting. I guess I have turned into a compulsive crocheter.

There was a forum on Ravelry about people who can't put down their crochet and keep on crocheting until the wee small hours ignoring everything else and I thought thank goodness I am not alone. Other people are out there who are exactly like me! For me crochet is like that good book that you can't put down until you have finished it. Sometimes I wish that I could slow down a bit and not be so frantic with everything that I make but once I start I want to see it finished as soon as possible.

Just Call Me Florence

I feel like a cross between Florence Nightingale and Dr Doolittle. Buster is still feeling very sorry for himself but I call him a wee bit better today.I have been tending and bathing his ear and neck all day. He had a good night's sleep last night and has slept on and off for most of the day. He keeps tilting his head to one side which worries me slightly but as my son says it's probably because his ear hurts so much. Last night he didn't want me to go anywhere near his wounds but today he has let me bathe them frequently which I take as a sign of improvement. He is going to stay with me now until after Easter as my son and daughter in law have plans and I usually have Buster anyway over the holidays. He is eating and drinking OK so I not too worried about him in fact he has just had a treat of some left over rice and chicken. I am just keeping him indoors or in the garden so that he doesn't get near dirt until his wounds have healed.If I walk him he will jump in the river which isn't a good idea as all kinds of animals, including rats, could use the river As I type he has just brought me his ball which is a massive improvement as yesterday and today he hasn't been the slightest bit interested in any kind of interaction with me.

As I had to put away the black crochet because of shedding dog hair I have started a pink crochet baby cardigan. Any dog hair that goes on this will easily get washed off. I am using a pattern by Kay Jones. I like her patterns as they use UK terminology so it's a welcome relief from having to translate from US to UK all of the time. Younger crocheters have learned with US patterns but old school as I am I still think in UK terms and so have to convert everything in my head.

The postman brought me two crochet books that I ordered from Amazon. Contemporary Crochet by Sys Fredens has quite a lot of designs in it as you can see from the 3 pages of small photos. I can see a few items from this book getting crocheted. If not for me than perhaps for my nieces. I haven't browsed it properly yet. I have just given both books a quick look. The Crochet Me book by Kim Werker I am a bit late in ordering,. It has been around for quite a while but for some reason never made it into my wish list until just recently. I quite like the cover Victorian shrug and wrap by Robyn Chachula which I have seen made up many times on Ravelry. The leaves sweater by Annette Petavy is unusual and I quite like the zig zag edging.

The pink bolero or comfy cardi is again by Robin Chachula and is another that has appeared on many peoples projects on Ravelry. The shades of plaid scarf by Julie Armstrong Holtez is quite quirky and I have used the wool weaving over mesh crochet technique on a cardigan and a pram blanket a long time ago.

The babydoll dress by Amy O'Neill Houck is another instantly recognisable pattern. I had always given it a miss as I don't exactly have the kind of figure for a crochet dress. I then saw a version on Ravelry that was made shorter with a slightly longer bodice. The model doesn't look as though she has much boob age room and she is slim. Worn over trousers I though that I could get away with wearing it that way. I wouldn't make the sleeves so puffed though as I think that look is exclusively for the very young. I may leave it sleeveless and wear it over a fine sweater or make it with long sleeves. I would use a cord or a chain to thread through as again I think that floaty ribbon is for the young.

For the moment it looks as if I will be crocheting baby clothes or other bits and bats. I will have to give my niece an I.O.U for her black cardigan but I think she would rather have her cardigan later than crocheted with chunks of Buster hair woven in it. I don't know why it is only black wool that his hair seems to stick to so much. Anything acrylic and his hair just seems to slide off. Yesterday I was wearing a brown hand knitted cardigan with a wool content and it looked like a yeti when I took it off. One Buster has healed a bit he will get a jolly good brushing. He adores being hoovered so I might risk giving him a quick once over at the weekend as long as I don't get the nozzle anywhere near his neck and ear.

I am off to see an Osteopath about my knee today

I went to my monthly Knit Club meeting with the Knitting Noras yesterday. Last night I was once again nursing my sore knee and when I got up this morning and it shunted on me as I stepped out of bed I thought that the time has come to get another opinion, I had heard good reports about our local osteopath and so decided to get a second opinion about my knee and treatment from him. I have got to the stage where I will try anything and everything as I am rapidly losing faith in the NHS.

I finished off the crochet baby cardigan. I have not heard of this cotton mix before but It is lovely and soft to work with. I did have to stripe the sleeves and just managed to finish off the cardigan with a very small ball left over as you can see. I have finished off another baby cardigan in turquoise green that I will post photos of tomorrow. I am trying to use up some of the part balls in my stash to make these baby cardigans. I have some new white and pink wool to start for the expected baby girl as she is due at the end of this month so I am expecting a call any day now telling me of her arrival and her name. That will be my next project to start at my other Knit Club meeting tonight. My niece has kindly offered me a lift to the Kings Arms in Salford. it will be nice to visit there as I haven't been for quite a while.

There was only a few at the knitting club yesterday. Just 5 ladies on one man. I think it was mostly to do with it being holiday time and a few ladies are away and the ones that aren't got put off by the rain. I feel like it has been raining for weeks although it hasn't. It just feels like every time I have somewhere to go - shopping, knit clubs, or hospital appointments it is pouring down. I want to sign a petition to bring back summer. Do you think that it will work?

I had a laugh yesterday - well a few as we always do at Knit Club. There is a market that I pass by on my way to the Costa Cafe and as I hobbled by the stalls in the pouring rain this butcher shouted at me - Would you like to sample my sausage? He was holding a plate out to me but he did have a very naughty look in his eye as if he knew exactly what he had said could have a double meaning! The second laugh I had was at the Cafe when I washed my hands after visiting the ladies room. The hand dryer has a very fierce draught and as I have the wrinkled hands of an old lady my skin had a G force effect under the down draught and was rippling about on my hand. A weird look and it made me laugh out loud. Ah well they do say simple things amuse simple minds!

Crochet Today

As promised yesterday here are some some photos from the new July/August 2009 Crochet Today. The front cover and the green skirt are unmistakeably Doris Chan designs and whilst I think they are very attractive they are a little openwork for me. I can see them appealing to my younger friends though. I think the purple stole is beautiful and can see that being made as a gift at Christmas. The granny square waistcoat is pretty but I have worn so many of them in the past that maybe it's time for someone younger to wear that also. There are also patterns in the magazine for a beach bag, a basic blanket, a motif tray cloth, a single colour fancy granny square afghan, some cushions with fishes on them and some sea shell shaped cushions. As usual there are only a couple of things in the magazine that I will actually make but that seems to be par for the course with me lately. The magazine costs £3.25p and some of the single patterns that I bought recently cost me over £2 each so I suppose on that basis it is still good value for money.

The wool is what I bought yesterday from Abakhan in Manchester. the pink double knitting has a slight silvery thread running through it which is really pretty.

I had almost finished the baby crochet jacket last night and was ready for stitching it together when I realised that I had made one front the wrong size. I guess I must have been sleepy when I made it. I have now almost re crocheted it and so it will hopefully be ready for the stitching together and collar today.

Today is another rainy day in Manchester. I do wish summer would arrive for more than one day as we are now on the countdown to Autumn and the winter woollies will be coming out again (did they get put away this year?)

Crochet is so much quicker

I find crochet so much quicker than knitting. It has rather spoiled me for knitting. Certain things look far nicer in knitting but they take me so much longer to make that I find I am avoiding them. I have finished off the blue crochet cardigan for my friend's foster baby and have started knitting another cardigan. I knitted all last night and only managed to make 2 sleeves. Pass me my hook!

I have put another 3 photos from the baby bootee book on the blog today but as there are 50 pairs in the book I can't put them all on one blog page. I will just post more photos on days when I have little crochet or knit to show to you.

My thumb is still paining me which is slowing down my knitting. I am keeping it warm and using Ibuprofen gel and hoping that it is just a touch of arthritis and not a dislocation.

The Simply Be catalogue arrived today so I am hoping to be able to chose an outfit for my niece's wedding and then decide if I need to crochet a shawl or a cardigan to go with this outfit. I am a bit limited as I will have to wear flat shoes or sandals and a lot of the dresses will not look right without heels. I am not going to risk heels so soon after my knee operation scheduled for 24th March. I decided on catalogue shopping as I lack the patience to trek limping from shop to shop trying to find the right outfit. Roll on summer as I should be a new woman by then.