The Postman Called Today

I just love it when the postman calls with a parcel for me. Even though I ordered it and know exactly what is in the parcel there is still something exciting about ripping open the envelope and seeing the contents. My parcel today came from Purplelinda. I love the acrylic hooks that they sell even though I am the kiss of death to the finer ones. They are labelled that they are only suitable for fine work but hey ho breaking a couple is the price I pay for loving the feel of them. They are so lightweight and as I can't use bamboo hooks they are the best thing for my arthritis. The wool is to try the crocheted version of the Baby Surprise Jacket. I bought the pattern on Ravelry a few days ago and I am hoping that this wool has a long enough colour sequence to give the jacket a striped effect. It is so easy to find sock wool with long colour changes but more difficult to find long length double knit unless I pay loads of money for hand dyed wool which quite frankly I think is a waste of money for a young baby.New Mums have enough to do without having to hand wash baby cardigans.

I couldn't resist the bolero pattern. It is P904 by Peter Pan and although I have a couple of bolero patterns already this pattern is in DK. I think that I need to hide my card so that I can't order any more on line for a week or two. It's like an addiction. Other people love clothes and shoes, some collect jewelry. I just love anything related to crochet.

I have finished the pattern 220 by Kay Jones. I decided to edge it with pale green so that it could be used for a baby boy. It was a very easy pattern to make and I am sure that I will be using the pattern again. The pattern goes up to a 26" chest so I am not limited to using it for baby sizes.

I have started another Kay Jones pattern with the green that I have used for the trimming. I have chosen a hooded jacket in a rib effect crochet. I will post photos of that tomorrow.

Yesterday I sorted through my stash and put the baby colours in one box as I seem to be in the baby cardigan making mood. I have quite a few balls of white but have left them in their packages. I just wanted to see what colours I had in stash.

I really need to tidy up the rest of the stash as it has got very higgeldy piggeldy since I inherited lots of odd balls to use in my homeless hat and scarf making. I will use these up later in the year ready for the cold weather. I need to sort out 'my' stash that is destined for my personal use away from the donated stash that is destined for my charity crochet and knit.

My knitting has hit a stop this weekend. I can only knit if I am feeling tip top but if I am not then I find crocheting is something that I don't have to concentrate on quite as much.The weather has turned cold again which affects my joints anyway. Bring on the sunshine!

Treasure Trove

It might look like a nightmare to those who are purist and only want to knit and crochet with the finest yarns but to me this is treasure trove. I answered an advert on Freecycle for a lady offering leftover wool and was lucky enough to be the one that she chose. Lucky for me also she lived within walking distance so I went there today with my trusty 4 wheeler trolley and came home with it full!

I can see lots of possibilities with the colour ranges there. Baby blankets with the pastel colours, more multi coloured All Shawls with the other colours. There is also a large bag (plus some knitting to unravel) of a pale blue boucle chunky and 20+ balls of Patons Lulu (some kind of furry fancy yarn) in brown. To my delight there was also a Jean Greenhow book of toys that I once had, lent it out and never got it back. I am not much into knitting small animals but this book has some cuties in it.

Buster went home on Sunday so I spent most of today hoovering and dusting. I love him to bits but he does shed everywhere. He will be back this weekend as my son and his wife are away for the weekend again. Buster can never quite decide where he wants to be. He misses them when he is with me but he seems to want to stay with me when it's time to go home with them. In an ideal world he would like me for the petting and cuddles and them for the fun and company of the other dog.

I am still crocheting around the doily (sorry shawl) as the pattern instructions for the edging were very hard to understand so I did it my way as per usual and so am finishing up with far more of a ruffle than the original shawl. Perhaps it will help to weigh the shawl down when I am trying to stretch it out to make a useable sized shawl instead of something that looks like a mantilla or doily with a frill!

I suppose I had better go and bag up my stash, I can't really leave it all over the floor. If my knee was better I would dive in the middle of the pile. I am itching to start something with the stash and my mind is working overtime as to what to make next. I have the squares to finish for Kath's sweater and a knitted baby cardigan for Sylvia before I allow myself the luxury of starting a new project. They will never get finished if I start another new project.

A hundred reasons why I don't need to knit or crochet for myself - but I still do !

Today I decided to catalogue my hand made clothes that are still in weareable condition.(1st photo) I soon got fed up as I realized it would take me all day to do that as I get bored very easily. I tipped out one shelf on the bed and then re-stacked it back again (2nd photo). I looked in the other wardrobe where I keep my thick cardigans stacked under my clothes and it was overflowing from the very deep shelf. You can only see a fraction of them as they are all crammed in (3rd photo). I went into the other wardrobe where you can see other crochet items slotted in between the tops (4th photo) and decided that if I never make another item for myself I will be clothed until I am about 90yrs old. What am I wearing today? A bought fleece top. I rest my case. I have more clothes in different wardrobes and I know I should have a clear out but most of them are in comparatively new condition so I am reluctant to part with any of them to the charity shop. And don't get me started on my shoe collection. I have at least 80 pairs of shoes and boots plus some high heels which I haven't worn in ages due to my back but I am hopeful of wearing again one day.

I think all this stems from my childhood and only having a few clothes. My husband would not let me buy many clothes and as soon as he was gone I just went wild and spent loads on clothes. Most of my clothes are chain store but I used to have a real clothes and shoe fetish which all stopped once I left work and no longer had much cause to wear them. My life these days revolves around dog walking and exercise classes so there is no need for posher clothes. I am hopeful of returning to some kind of work if my back operation is succesful so maybe they will get worn once again.

The stash is of yarn that I have collected purely because it was a bargain buy etc and most of it is acrylic and not terribly inspiring. There are a few items of value in there of mohair and cotton. Now you can see why I am on a no buy period in my life although amazingly enough I never have the right thickness or colour for whatever I want to make. The only sock yarn I have for example is a couple of balls I bought from the not so Angelic site and 3 balls that I had given to me by Vicky. So if I am still knitting socks when this is used up then I may have to purchase some more as I don't think double knit acrylic will make very nice socks!

If you click on any of the photos you will get them in detail. My friend laughs at the way I have to sort my hanging wardrobe colour co-ordinated. I tell her it's the only way I can find things. I have to put trousers and skirts in colour order as well as the tops. I even do the same with shoes ! I am not sure what that says about me these days as when I was young my mother was horrified at the state of my bedroom and wardrobe as I stored most of my clothes on the floor in a jumble. I would have never thought I would get tidy(ish) in my old age.

Black Sheep Yarn Sale

Today my niece and I went over to Warrington to the Black Sheep Yarn Sale. When we arrived lots of cars in the car park so it looked promising. Once inside it was just pile of packets of wool on the floor. A daunting task to sort through with my bad back. I did turn over as many as I could and no doubt there were quite a few bargains if you like strange shades of beige! I managed to pick up a pack of red aran and a pack of double knit cotton in a sort of denim navy (if there is such a colour!).

On the way back my niece and I got chatting about how it was when I had the wool shop and how spoiled we were for choice with yarns etc. It is strange how I had to give it all up as it was not a viable concern 12 yrs ago as everyone had stopped knitting and crocheting and I had got to the stage where the overheads made it impossible to continue. How I wish I had it now with the revival of the crafts. I could have entered the world of e- bay selling etc and gone out to a wider audience than the small town of Royton. I search shops and web sites for things I took for granted that I had in stock a few years ago. It's all very sad.

I decided to catalogue the stash of yarn that I have left from when I had the shop and was amazed at just how much I actually still have and how much I have added to it recently. It is definitely a time to be frugal for a few months and just work on getting the stash down. I made a list and e mailed it to my niece so she knows exactly what I have now if she is starting anything that requires a few balls of this or that. My next project will be deciding which colour and yarn to make which garment etc. I actually found 2 projects on the hook that I had completely forgotten about so that will be the next things to complete after my niece's shawl and jumper are finished.

I have been busy re-potting my little seedlings and my broad beans ( 9" tall) and my lettuce (8" tall. Everything else is still at the 2 leaf above the soil stage but some I have put into individual pots now. All of this and dog walking doesn't leave much time for my crocheting but I have decided that tomorrow I will do some housework and then settle down for a good old crochet in the afternoon - after the dog walk of course