Crystals, lavender and chocolate

When Vicky came on Friday she brought me the lovely pink quartz thumb stone which is very soothing to keep in my hand and stroke. It is said to have healing properties. Ambermoggie had also suggested quartz for deeper dreamless sleep and I remembered having some crystals upstairs in my drawer.

The first photo is of the rose quartz, the second is some unknown quartz that was given to me by a former neighbour who had a stint at jewelry making. I have had it hanging in my bedroom window for many years as he told me that it had healing properties. Perhaps I should try wearing it after my operation. The third is not a crystal but a strange item of jewelry sent to me from a cousin in Canada roughly 40yrs ago. Inside is a real mustard seed and the box contained the words of the parable -

The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field; Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. (Matthew 13:31-32)

I am not sure what I was supposed to learn from wearing the pendant but it always caused comment whenever I wore it.

The last photo is my mother's much loved crystal droplet. I doubt very much if it is of any monetary value but she treasured it greatly as it was a gift from my father. The chain is sadly broken and I keep saying I will get another one and wear it again one day. The photo isn't a good one as for some reason every photo I tried to take came out blurred. Obviously a camera shy crystal.

I bought some lavender bath oil and some Original Source Lavender and Tea Tree shower gel from Tesco yesterday. I found that I already had some Lavender perfume from the Body Shop and Lavender Linen spray from Avon so I am armed up to the hilt with Lavender for a hopefully dreamless ( well bad dreamless) sleep tonight. I also bought some chocolate but I don't think I was supposed to eat a full bag of Belgian chocolate covered raisins last night - but I did. All I can say is although I remember dreaming it wasn't a scary one. It didn't do my diet a whole lot of good so I will try the Lavender tonight - it has less calories!

I have almost finished my niece Vicky's crochet top down jumper and have taken some photos that I will post tomorrow. I found that when I tried it on that it needed a couple more inches adding to the bottom as because it is a stretchy shell pattern it went upwards as it stretched outwards across my bust if you know what I mean. That's the beauty of top down - so easy to carry on and add a few more inches. I am also going to add a couple of rows of shirring elastic to the sleeve edge as I feel it needs something to make it stay stretchy instead of stretched. The sleeves end just below where the elbow bends and it tends to bag out the fabric so I think the elastic will keep it in shape.

I will finish off the sweater and then start the pantomime of de Buster hairing it. I think I will have to invent a huge plastic bag with a zipper on it so I can sit inside (head hanging out of course) and crochet away without getting Buster hair all over everything. I have never known a short haired dog shed so much. He gets brushed every day and often hoovered and yet he leaves a halo of hair all around him as he shakes (which he does often)

I have just bumped into my next door neighbour whilst I was dog walking. She has to go in Christies on Tuesday for 3 days chemo treatment as she had a bad reaction to her last treatment and they are trying out a different type. Please keep her in your thoughts. She has 3 more treatments still to go.

Sleepless in Manchester!

I had another of my disturbing dreams last night which left me awake, upset and contemplating my past life in the wee small hours.

This post will therefore have nothing to do with knit or crochet but a lot about my life so far.

My poor choice in men has been legendary amongst my friends for many years. Although in a single state at the present I can honestly state that in the past I have lived my life in a lot of strange and bizarre ways. I started off normally getting engaged and marrying a man I scarcely knew as although we courted for 3 yrs we barely saw each other so that should have been a warning sign. I fell for a handsome face not looking underneath and whilst we are now friends we made terrible partners although I did try hard to keep it all glued together for the sake of my son. I was frustrated and stuck in a marriage I didn't want and although my husband never admitted it he was too. He relieved the boredom with other women and making nasty sarcastic remarks to me every day which broke my spirit and almost killed me . I turned to drink and was almost alcoholic by the time he left. (Thankfully as soon as he left I stopped drinking and have sparingly touched alcohol in the last 20yrs)

After I decided to end this ludicrous situation I then ended up as a teenager on the loose but in my forties. All the things I had never done in my teens I made up for. I will skirt over this era as I did a lot of things (nothing illegal on my part) during this time that I am not particularly proud of. Let's just say I mistook a lot of men's attentions as love when all it was on their part was a desire to get into my knickers and vanish thereafter. A whole lot of women who were in my social circle at the time have no idea what their husbands were up to whilst they were out with the girls! I used to find it funny when they sanctimoniously told me that their husbands would never do anything like mine had and what wonderful husbands they all had. Hah! If they only knew. When the penny dropped and I realised I was just being used I then went through a man hating period - oh I dated them but treated them all with the contempt that previous men had treated me with. I was the one who showed them the door the morning after saying thanks but no thanks. See you - bye. Don't bother to call me.

I then went through the ridiculous toy boy period. I actually dated for 9 yrs a guy 15yrs my junior until I discovered that he also was the town stud. I don't know where he got the energy from but at one time he apparently had 3 of us on the go. We actually had a wedding planned for August 2000 and I heard later that he married one of the other women on the same day and same location. I wonder if she ever knew she had a second hand wedding? Luckily I hadn't bought a dress!

I have dated a drug dealer ( I was totally naive - had no idea until someone told me so that was the end of him pronto) A gangster ( I never guessed as he used to play hymns to me on my keyboard , went to church with his mother , worked as a theatre nurse and brought me flowers, chocs and treated me like a princess) who went on to serve many years for GBH and attempted murder. Plus a few others who turned out to be equally as dodgy. All I can say in my defence is that they never showed their bad sides to me and I must have been incredibly naive as I never guessed about their seamy sides. Men can be extremely devious liars.

Over the last 10 years I haven't really had much luck with men, Yeah as if you ever did before Jan! A couple of would be's but nothing that sparked my interest for long. Then I met M a couple of years ago and fell hopelessly in love. He was, in my eyes, the handsome prince I had been waiting for after kissing a whole lot of frogs. He ticked all of my boxes although looking back I doubt if I ticked many of his. Handsome, courteous, mature, well educated and professional. After a promising start we then hit a huge snag when his separated wife came back to live with him. As I am not a marriage breaker (despite my earlier dalliances with married men) our relationship changed into a strong loving friendship but I always secretly hoped that we could revert back one day if his marriage ended again. He then lost his job and had a series of major personal tragedies and then got made redundant thus ending our daily phone chats and e mails. He still e mails me but I have realised for some time that it is time to move on. I can't keep hoping for something that is always going to be out of reach.

I thought I was OK with this until last night. I dreamt I was working in some kind of information bureau and in M came hand in hand with a brunette with a huge suitcase on wheels. She was everything I am not. A career type woman, rich and successful, well dressed etc. He looked shocked to see me but kept trying to kiss me behind her back and tell me everything was OK whilst she was enquiring about the whereabouts of this restaurant where they apparently had reservations. I woke up sobbing my eyes out, feeling totally inadequate and with the dog on top of me licking away my tears. Of course sleep after that was impossible. So I was once again up with the birds. My mother always used to say that Friday's dream on Saturday told will come true before it is old. So who knows I may bump into him with a brunette one day soon!

I am off to walk the dog and do my washing. Let's hope I don't dream tonight. I am going shopping today so am going to buy some chocolate to see if eating that at bedtime as suggested will scare away any more bad dreams. Every night this week I have had them. I am getting so tired.

Sorry about my ramblings today but they always say it is better to write down all the things that are on your mind rather than bottle them up inside. Let's hope that my writing about it will put this dream out of my head for good.

Loads of sock wool goodies

Vicky came to visit today with the sock wool goodies that she had ordered online for me. There is quite a variety - some Opal and Lana Crosse. A mix of wool ones and cotton ones and some stretch as well. I think they are from Get knitted although the rather yummy one in the second photo is a gift to me from Vicky and I think it's hand dyed Merino by Debbie Tomkies but I am sure Vicky will add a comment as to it's exact make up for anyone who also likes the texture and colour. I am getting very forgetful these days. She did tell me and I have forgotten already! I couldn't resist winding it up from the skein even though these supplies are for my after op recuperation knitting. I just wanted to know what it would look like in the ball.

I am a real dummy at looking for bargains on the net. My experiences of ordering yarn from Angel have been less than wonderful and it has put me off from trying again in case my bad experience gets repeated. Vicky seems to find all the bargains online so I am grateful to her for searching these out for me. Loads a wool for my sock stash. I will let my niece choose one colour for the separate toes socks she has requested. She can have any colour except the last one!

I am so happy with all of the colours and can't wait to start although I am considering getting a full set of Knit Pics needles if Vicky is ordering from Get Knitted in the future as I keep puncturing my finger end with the bamboo set I am using for the tiger coloured socks. I have read good reports about them and the Addi Turbos so would like to try them out.

Vicky bought her sweetheart sock in progress with her and it looks much nicer in real life than the photo on her blog. Lovely pattern and colour. She also bought me a crystal thumb stone in rose quartz to aid my recovery which I keep playing with as it is very soothing as well as having healing properties

I have quite a lot of things to finish off before I start any of these new sock wools. I have worked another couple of balls today into my niece Vicky's crochet jumper so it now has 2 sleeves and it's neckband done. I am working my way down the body now (it is started from the top down) so it should be finished in a couple of days. I then have to finish Anna's soakers, start Nikki's hat and a shawl for my sister in law. I also must start the second Tiger sock and break the second sock syndrome and finish off the second pair of thicker purple Classic Kid socks. Boy I am going to have a busy month. Maybe I can find time to sleep in between the knit and crochet I have planned. I shall definitely try the chocolate before bedtime theory to chase away bad dreams as suggested by Mattenlou. I shall buy some tomorrow when I do my grocery shopping.

Zuleika (Life in the Zu) has kindly offered to lend me a crochet hook with a light built in to see if I can use it. It sure would come in handy with all the black wool I have been crocheting lately. These old eyes are not what they used to be. I am borrowing it as I have bought bamboo and Brittany birch crochet hooks and can't use any of them so don't want to buy any more hooks until I have tried them out. I also like the look of the Clover hooks with the wider handle but Zuleika has said they make her hands ache so I would like to try before I buy on those as well.

I shall make a Horlicks and go to bed now as it is a little late to do any more crochet although CSI is on the TV and I can't resist if it's Gil Grisham (William Peterson) on the TV. Such a dishy man. Swoon.

I am so happy with my Treasure Trove

Quite a while ago I had my photo taken (along with the rest of my water aerobics group) and they used the photo for posters and leaflets and I found out today that I am on a web page advertising BEATS as well (fame at last!) Sorry about the silly expression on my face but she did tell us to laugh and look happy. Unfortunately the photographer caught me with my eyes shut. In case you are wondering we are circling our heads from one side to the other in the photo.

I went into Dunelm to see if they had any cream double knitting to make a crochet shawl for my sister in law's birthday. I made her a black one as an afterthought at Christmas and apparently it was the bees knees in her eyes which is praise indeed from my sister in law. She hinted that she would like another in a different colour and since I had no time to visit Ramsbottom I decided to nip into Dunelm and choose something from their meagre collection. Their choice was quite uninspiring so I settled for cream. Ah well I am sure it will go with lots of things.

The photos show my treasure trove that I discovered whilst in there. They had plastic bags of remnants of curtain fabric for £1.99p a bag. I have been looking for ages for thickish material to make rolls for my knitting needles, sets and crochet hooks and so I am excited at all of these lovely materials. These are the contents of just 2 bags. The second photo shows a beautiful material that is completely reversible. Tucked in the middle of one bundle was the gorgeous piece of purple silk embroidered fabric. Eat your heart out Vicky! I am not sure what I will ever make with it but I am enjoying just looking at it for now. It would possibly make 2 small cushions but then again they don't really match my colour scheme. I will have to get my sewing machine out soon but not until I have finished off my birthday presents and Anna's soakers. I daren't get sidetracked until then.

I hadn't thought that I was worrying unduly about my coming operation but last night I had the most horrific dream and have been up since 5am. I dreamt that they had changed the op to a different hospital and when I got there it was filthy. I could see into the operating theatre and there was blood streaked everywhere and on the doors. The doctors and nurses all had stained uniforms on. I woke up screaming I am not having my operation here, get me out of here, I don't want to get Strep! Now why Strep I don't know. That is a sore throat isn't it? I think I muddled it with MRSA in my dream. I was so upset by this dream that I couldn't stay in bed any more and got up to make a drink. The dog was so sympathetic he came down with me and then went back and curled up on the bed in my warm bit as if to say leave me alone Mum - it's too early.

I was going to take Buster for a walk but the hail is coming down like golf balls so sorry mate - you will have to wait a while.

Wow mum my favourite toy !

I got the hoover out to get all the dog hair off Kath's cardigan. I had crept upstairs to use the attachment on the upstairs hoover. No I am not posh I can't carry hoovers up and down stairs to I have one up and one down.

As soon as the hoover came out I had a very excited Buster running up and down brushing up against the cardigan wagging his tail shaking his hair all over the cardigan. Argghh. I have a strange dog who absolutely LOVES to be hoovered. It's his favourite toy. I gave in and hoovered him. I figured the less on him the less on the cardigan. Hah! he waited until I had hoovered it, sticky rolled it, sellotaped it and was almost satisfied with it. He then jumped up on the bed and had a really good shake - yep - all over the cardigan. I wouldn't mind but he had that look on his face that said - Aren't I a clever dog mum?

I banished him and started all over again and then discovered that one cuff was stitched on backwards. Boy I didn't have a good stitching up day yesterday. I have rectified it and now the cardigan is safely de haired and stashed in a plastic bag never to be taken out until it reaches it's destination.

Whew!

By the way sellotaping it means wrapping sticjy tape around my hand sticky side outwards and it works great on lint and Buster hair grabbing.

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!

The Crochet Dude

Just a quick post to say I have spend an hour or so looking at designer cat walk models strutting their stuff at the TNNA in the US.

I found the link on Drew's web site http://blog.thecrochetdude.com/ and that led me onto You Tube and after watching Drew's crochet dress I then went on to view several of the other links showing different designers work. I wish there was commentary on the videos so I knew who designed what. I will browse later and see if there is another website with descriptions.

Do we have anything like this show in the UK? I know we did in the 80's when knitting and crochet was in it's hey day. Maybe they will revive it all again now the interest in hand made has revived once again.