Finished hats for B

These are the hats that I finished and sent to B. He got them yesterday so I can post them on here now he has seen them. See what I can make with 100 grams of Sirdar Country Style 4ply (plus a few oddments) I finished up with a ball of just a few yards as you can see.
I think that I misunderstood what he wanted though. My instructions were to make a hat that didn't cover his ears which I interpreted to mean a short beanie. He says these are too big so I think he meant more of a skull cap that just sits over the top of his head and not a small hat. He is going to send me a photo of what he means with measurements so I can make one the right size. I did think that the one he chose was a bit girly with the picot edge but made it anyway. I made the others more manly. His mum has finished up with the girly one (bottom photo) so all is not lost.

Last night I decided to make my friend Caroline a chunky mini cardigan as she was coming around today to touch up my roots. I finished it and managed to take photos before she took it home with her so will post those tomorrow. She liked the black crochet cardigan that I made for myself but would like one with shorter sleeves (as on the pattern). I might make her one later but at the moment I don't have any suitable wool to make it, as I think she probably wants it in black, and I have a few projects already in the pipeline that take priority.

Vicky also called around and brought some wool for a shawl. She took Perran's Sweet Pea shawl home and borrowed the way out Boho baby book as I won't be using it for quite a while (if ever). She brought with her the shawl that she has started crocheting ( see Vicky's blog) and the colours are lovely. I can see she is going to be a good crocheter very soon. She has already chosen a pattern from one of her knitting mags that she would like to start one day soon. I will teach the world to crochet one person at a time. I am infiltrating the knitters one at a time and converting them into crocheters! I don't know why crochet is considered to be second class craft by a lot of knitters as it is such a useful craft to learn even if it is only used as edgings and not whole garments. Today's crochet garments are nothing like the hippy granny square waistcoats of the 60's and 70's that gave crochet such a bad name.

I look at the "crochet" jewelry on Flickr. Some of the beaded bracelets and necklaces on there are just so lovely. Just take a look at this lady's work.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/roshana29/2500638266/

I unfortunately don't have the manual dexterity ( I have arthritic fat banana carpal tunnel fingers) or the eyesight these days to try to learn anything like that. Big Sigh. I look at the quilts on Ailsa's blog (not Enough time to craft) and would love to make something like those also. If someone hoists the sewing machine on the table for me I can just about manage to sew a straight line these days.

I am still at the starting chain stage of my purple Doris Chan sweater so that may be my crochet for tonight but then again I might just start another shawl. It all depends on how riveting the TV is tonight as I have to really concentrate on the "raglan" start to Doris's patterns. One wrong move and it throws the whole balance of the "raglans" out. The stitch markers have a habit of springing out of thick crochet which doesn't help until the pattern is well established.

I love having company as it is such a nice change to spending the day alone as I usually do. My son and daughter in law may call around this afternoon and possibly walk Buster which will be great for him as he really doesn't get walked as often or as long as he should and he is tending to put a wee bit of weight on ( like me !)

I work better without a pattern

I know this cardigan is crocheted in very thick wool (courtesy of Lidl) but considering how I struggled with the cardigan I made from the Fabulous Flirty Crochet Book in the same thickness for my niece Kath due to ambiguous instructions. I decided to "freestyle " the one for my other niece using the other cardigan as a template. I changed the pattern stitch and didn't put a collar on this one and crocheted in just a few hours. I think I am better doing it that way. My mind just doesn't work with US patterns that tell me what to do every row (sometimes wrongly) plus I have to convert the US stitch names to UK ones at the same time. I can visualize a whole lot better with just the wool and a hook. The garment is a little snug fitting on me as you can see from the photo. I am hoping my niece is still smaller than I am. Like a lot of the western world she has put a bit of weight on but I just didn't want to insult her by making it my size. It is shaped in for the waist (hence the 2 button fastening) and out again for the bustline in case you think my hips are even bigger than they are!

Tonight I am going to start to crochet the sleeves on Kath's other jacket. I only have those and the belt left to make to finish that off , and the knitted doubled hat to finish. Anything else I make before Christmas will just be a bonus to add to my presents for people. I have a few small items in mind if I have the time.

On the subject of wrong instructions on patterns I actually read on a blog ( a US one of course) where the designer was defending the fact that mistakes on patterns often happen and says knitters and crocheters should use their brains and work around these things and not complain so much. Excuse me but am I paying £15 - £20 a book for the pleasure of correcting mistakes? I was in the hand knitting trade for over 30yrs and I can hold my hand on my heart and say pattern mistakes from our UK designers were very few and far between and if any were found then the pattern was withdrawn immediately until a corrected re-print could be issued. They took that kind of thing very seriously and never once was it suggested that the knitter should work her way around the mistake! The US designer in the blog actually stated that she was thinking of bringing out a book of designs without any instructions and tell people that they had to work out how to make it. That is extremely arrogant of her. Lots of people are not gifted in that way and can only work to definite instructions, without adaptations, so she is belittling a whole lot of people. What is the point of buying her book anyway. It will be just a load of photos which we can see in any fashion magazine anyway.