Blogging whilst I can

I have managed to stay online this morning but for how long I just don't know. I have been disconnected twice already. Orange says it's not their fault it's the phone line. BT says nothing to do with them. So who do I believe?

I will have to try to catch up with reading blogs today as I haven't read any for about 2 days now.

I have been knitting constantly since I last blogged. It takes so much longer than crochet but I must admit that it does look nice. I am having to use my stitch markers as I don't seem to have the eye for keeping a lace pattern correct without them especially when shaping at both ends of a row.

Last night I managed to get to the Knit Club at the Kings Arms as I was lucky enough to be offered a lift there and back. I really am going to miss not having a car for trips out like this. I can use public transport but these days I just don't feel safe out in the streets of Manchester after dark. It's a sad thing to have to say about my own home town. Up to a couple of years ago I would have ventured anywhere at anytime but the yob culture seems to have taken over the cities and as I am getting older and less nimble I fear being out alone after dark. It's a sad situation.

I took my crochet down to the Knit Club but didn't get any done as I didn't have the right wool for the project I was working on (more on that in a later blog) and the substitute I thought that I could use didn't work out so I just helped Rachael with starting her crochet shawl. It is the first one that she has made and so needed to see how the point and the increases started. She did really well and I feel that there will be a finished shawl soon.

I may venture out in the rain later as I need some bits and pieces from the shops. It is so hard to drum up any enthusiasm for a walk, even though I know I need the exercise, when the rain is pouring down. The weather forecast said some sun tomorrow so let's hope that they are right for a change.

I saw on a US blog that Friday 12th Sept is International Crochet Day. Apparently on this day we crocheters are supposed to crochet in public, teach someone to crochet or just swap ideas and patterns. I have no plans for sitting in the rain in my local shopping precinct with my crochet so I shall participate in the comfort of my lounge and swap my knitting for crochet on Friday.

Cristy you asked about the yarn I used in Rah Boom De Ay. I was unsure I would like the sweater so I just used some bargain acrylic Double Knit in Scarlet that I bought from Lidl. Cheap and cheerful - that's me. I would love to work in better quality wools but my crocheting speed exceeds my purse on matters such as these so I tend to stay with the budget yarns unless I can snag a real bargain in a Sale. Usually when I work with decent yarns these days it is when I am making something for someone and they supply the yarn.

Rainbow hat for a rainy day

This is a rainbow hat I made for Lisa. We had been discussing how she likes hats - the sillier the better and so I decided to make her this hat as a surprise. When I got to the Knit Out on Sunday it was me who got the surprise because Lisa turned up wearing a striped jacket that was almost a match to the hat and neither of us did it knowingly. She very sportingly wore it all through the Knit Out so if anyone was passing the cafe and saw a lady in the window wearing this hat then it was all my fault! I don't think she sallied forth wearing it on her way home but who knows! The bottom photo has the truest colours to the hat by the way. My web cam muted the photo with the hat on my head.

Vicky gave me a lovely heart made from amethyst quartz to keep with my other crystals and to accompany me to hospital for my health and well being. My heart came in a lovely little purple bag so that don't lose it. Yeah for purple. I rang the hospital today and spoke to the Surgical Care Practitioner but she could not tell me if I am on the list for May. She said that she would let me know so fingers crossed that she remembers to do that and the letter arrives very soon.

I went out today to Biobank in Bury to take part in some medical tests for research. In the words of Tony Hancock I donated another armful of blood. They asked me so many questions that I was unable to answer. The dates of all my operations etc. I sort of knew how old I was roughly when they happened but who keeps exact dates in their diary? Do people celebrate the 10th anniversary of their tonsillectomy? Go out to dinner to celebrate the date that their broken nose got fixed? I had tests on the PC to test my reflexes and a grilling on my life style. I had my cholesterol done and it was a bit high and my weight was of course too high for my size. Sigh! The column next to weight had severely overweight ticked. At least it's better than the morbidly obese tag I got from the hospital a couple of years ago. I know I am chubby ( a polite way of saying I carry too much weight) but when I looked around the waiting room I would say that the majority of the ladies in there were far larger than I. One lady was out of breath just walking down the corridor and almost touched the sides of it as she swayed by. When I looked at the size of her belly slapping on her knees as she staggered by I thought now hang on a minute THAT is what I would call morbidly obese. By the time she got to the bottom of the stairs she was almost ready for intensive care!

Their advice to me on how to lower my cholesterol was to take more exercise. I wish I could, I would if I could, I would love to exercise to help me lose weight but after a day of screaming agony just walking from house to tram and tram to Biobank I am afraid that exercise was the last thing on my mind. Getting from A to B without resorting to crawling on all fours snapping at everyone's ankles was the priority of the day.

Charlie has just rung and said that she is able to give me a lift to the Salford Arms so I will have another Knit Out to go to tonight . I do love my little outings and hope that I will be fit enough to go to them very soon after my op What op? Is it a figment of my imagination? Is it tomorrow - the tomorrow that never comes? One day my op will come. I think my painkillers have kicked in and gone straight to my head. I shall away and splash my face with cold water to recover my equilibrium.

My ex husband came today to see how I am and had a look inside the newly re-furbished garage and discovered that the roof is leaking in the corner. Why did it have to be him that spotted that bit? I rang the builder and he was really upset and said he would be round asap to sort it out. He is a lovely man and I hated telling him as he really prides himself in doing a good job. He sounded really upset about the leak. It's probably just something and nothing and the driving rain has found the small chink in the roof's armour.