I Would Rather Be Crocheting

I seem to be knitting all the time. Whilst I do knit my love is for crochet. Knitting is something that I want to do now and again and not one thing after another. I have finished the back of my younger niece's jacket and the pattern does show up on the charcoal grey better than I thought that it would. I have discovered that the sleeves are just stocking stitch so I am going to crack on with those next to give my brain a rest from the aran style patterning. Once they are done then it will spur me on to knit the two fronts.

I have finished the baby jacket that I was knitting at the Kings Arms Knit Club on Monday. The buttons aren't spaced wrong, they are just not stitched on as yet. I just popped them in place for the photo. I do love knitting from old patterns. As you can see this one was a vintage Emu pattern. The wool is modern though. It is James C Brett Rio DK. I was hoping the the dusty pink would not show as much when knitted so that it could be unisex but it still does have that girly look about it. I have enough wool left over from the 2 x 100 gram balls to make a matching beanie hat.

I haven't done any more machine knitting today. This morning a guy came allegedly to conduct a survey on disability. What he was trying to flog me was a vibrating heated mattress at bargain price of only £1,129. I had a little demonstration of a portable mattress and while it was interesting it didn't make me want to buy one. It was nice, in a way, to be vibrated up and down the body but when I got off the bed most of me felt OK but my neck was aching and still is. It made my lips vibrate which wasn't a nice feeling.

As luck would have it my credit card bill arrived whilst he was here and I said to him to look at the total amount that I still owe. There is no way I am adding anything to that amount until I get it paid off. He started the usual chatter about buy now and pay later but as I don't know how I will be fixed financially in a year's time I told him that I wasn't interested. I don't like debt of any kind. I justify the credit card bill as it was for the armchair and the scooter. I pay something off that amount each month and pay in full anything woolly or bookish that I have added to it that month. Everyone has their own way of dealing with their bills and this is mine. My bill is higher than usual this month due to Sale bargains, knitting machine parts, cones to practise with and pre ordered books from Amazon all turning up at once.

I did mostly like the massage effect of the mattress and am toying with the idea of one of those heat and massage Shiatsu cushions that fit onto a chair and massage the back and neck. They are a mere fraction of the cost of that mattress and probably just as good for what I need it for. I have been looking at them for a long time and they are coming down in price from when they were first advertised and the write up comments from customers on Amazon go into hundreds and nearly all the comments are complimentary. I might justify adding that to my credit card as it is health related.

It is a nice Spring like day today. The crocus are peeping their heads up in the garden which is a sign that Spring is on it's way. I know technically it is Spring but it hasn't felt like it until today. I would go out but I know that I will only end up buying something that I don't need if I go up to the village shops. I had better stay in and do some knitting instead.

I hope everyone is having a good day. I am going to make a coffee and settle down for the rest of the afternoon and start a sleeve.

Kath's cardigan finished - well almost

I thought I had finished Kath's cardigan but when I came to photograph it this morning I discovered that my measuring skills must have gone AWOL when I put the pockets on. They looked OK when I measure and pinned but now one is higher than the other. I will have to change it now that I have noticed it. My niece wouldn't notice but my eyes will gravitate to that pocket every time I see it. Wish me luck as I try to unpick it for if I make a cut on the cardigan front they will be carrying me out kicking and screaming to the nearest hospital for sedation ! The pattern is very loosely based on one from Fabulous Flirty crochet book by Katherine Lee but I have used my own stitch instead of the openwork version of the book.

I started Anna's pink crochet soakers last night to give my eyes a break from all the black. I had picked up the black jumper that I am making for my niece Vicky yesterday afternoon but when I got to the bit where the body joins together (it is worked top down) although she had asked me to make her a large jumper this was too large (in my opinion) so back it came and I have altered it. She is of a similar size to me so if it fits me a bit snug then it will fit her. Just what I need with black - a pocket to unpick and a jumper to unravel - argh. Add to that the fact that both patterns came from US books with gorgeous designs but ambiguous instructions. Maybe it is me converting to UK terminology but I really struggle with the new US crochet books. I find them so hard to follow to the letter.

The hospital rang me yesterday to say that one of the tests on Monday showed that I have a water infection and they recommended a course of antibiotics. The sister asked me how much water or fluids I drank during the day and when I told her I got a slapped hand. You are not drinking enough water. That is why these things keep happening to you. Consider myself told off. Pass the water jug! Force feed (drink?) me liquids if you see me. When I was at work my desk was near the water cooler and I always had a plastic cup on my desk but since I retired I don't seem to remember to drink enough. Before you ask no I don't drink enough of the hard stuff either!

Buster is trying to eat the postman through the window again so I had better go and rescue him and my cushions as he flirts them all over the room as he gallops around from window to door. I am going to have to hoover Kath's cardigan as rinsing it didn't dislodge all of Buster's intertwined hair from it. The joys of dog owning!

Kath's cardigan finished in time

Kath's cardigan is finished in time for Christmas. The photo isn't a good one as I haven't had time to block it to make it hang properly, I don't like to use an iron on a yarn that is all acrylic as if I make a mistake then it stays limp, over steamed and over pressed. I made it from the Fabulous Flirty Crochet book and used 400 grams of Sirdar Bonus double knit. Even though I knitted for a couple of hours I realised that there was no way the doubled hat intended as a second hat for Chris would be finished on time no matter how late I stayed up tonight. I had a few visitors and phone calls today so I didn't manage to put in the hours required to finish the hat. If that happened to my mother she used to parcel up the knitting plus needles and wool and then once the recipient had opened it she would confess it wasn't finished and carry on working on it! No one seemed to mind.

The dog is managing to trash the house tonight for some reason. He has taken every cushion from the sofa and chairs and thrown them on the floor so all my hard work of tidying up doesn't show at all. He has now followed me in this room and thrown the cushions and the throw off the recliner in here! He didn't get his second walk today as I had visitors at his usual walk time and it had gone dark when they went so he didn't get rid of his excess energy today. He doesn't like any disruptions to his routine so I will be in trouble tomorrow when I go to my brother's house for Christmas dinner and don't take him with me. My brother isn't a dog lover so I dare not suggest taking him with me. I just the dog can keep his legs crossed whilst I am out of the house for a few hours and doesn't bark the house down at everyone who passes by the window.

I hope everyone is having a Happy Christmas in the warmth of your family.

Still plodding on

No photos today as I am still plodding along with Kath's crochet cardigan and the doubled knitted hat. The cardigan now has a back and 2 fronts so it's getting better. I have not enjoyed this project as although the stitch is easy every row is counted as there is lots of shaping and I like to zip along mindlessly whilst watching the TV in the evening. The dog doesn't help as every time I get my pattern, bit of paper where I am keeping row count, my pen and my crochet sorted out he jumps up and either sits all over it or wants to sit on my knee!

The doubled hat is now back to where it was before my disastrous mistake the other night. The principle is easy but it's very slow going. I could have knitted 3 single thickness hats with the length of time it has taken me with this one, but I like the effect so will persevere. I am doubtful if I will make another one this method again. Unless of course it turns out so wonderful that I grit my teeth and knit another one. I usually find that whatever I have hated knitting or crocheting is the one thing everyone likes and asks me to make one. Sod's law I suppose.

My friend Caroline has already asked for a cardigan like Kath's. She might get one but done with my adaptations and not worked to the pattern. Now I have seen how the shaping works out I can do my own modifications far quicker by just crocheting the shape in my own way. That is how I learned to crochet garments as way back when I was 18 the crochet patterns were very old fashioned or the trendy ones were few and far between so I used to stand outside shops or go in and inspect garments several times and then make my own copy. Naughty I know but I cared not a whit about copyrights back then. I still think it's hard to copyright a garment anyway as unless you slavishly follow a pattern stitch by stitch who can say it IS an exact copy and not just that 2 people had a similar idea at the same time. It's wrong to make a business out of selling exact copies but for personal use I don't think there is anything wrong with making something similar for a friend. I am old enough to see patterns now labelled as "designer" when I have the almost similar pattern from way back when in my pattern stash. My mother used to say there is nothing new in fashion just the old ideas re-vamped. I am now old enough to see a lot of my teenage fashions being worn by trendy young things who would be horrified to find out that this old granny figure has photos of herself wearing almost an identical garment. Don't worry folks no photos exist of myself in my crochet hot pants or my mini dress and white high boots. Now that brought memories of my Amy Winehouse beehive hairdo way back in the 60's. Yeah for the trendy old grump.