Woken from a lovely dream

I was having a lovely dream last night. It involved my last ex M who I love dearly (no it wasn't one of "those" kind of dreams) and so I was a bit aggrieved to be woken abruptly by a banging on my door. Could it be that the old wives tale Friday's dream on Saturday told will come true before it is old? Alas no it wasn't M at the door but the postman with my books from Amazon. In case you are wondering if I am lucky enough to have a postman who calls early I should explain that I had snoozed in and it was after 10am!

Even though I would rather have stayed in my dream I did forgive the postman when I saw my new books. Wrapped in Crochet by Kristin Omdahl (designer of the Belize wrap that I made for Vicky's birthday) and Boutique Knits by Laura Irwin. I have not perused them in depth yet as I don't want to be tempted into starting something before I have finished my Christmas knitting. I have posted a few photos from each book. Ambermoggie will love the crochet circular wrap jacket that is featured on the back cover of the book. There are some wonderful shawls in there but some I will admire but never make. I don't know why but I have an absolute hatred of making circular motifs that have to be joined together as I go along. I also make a hash of very spidery crochet flower motifs involving copious amounts of chains as I always get them twisted and get really annoyed. The scarf I have featured is made up from 3 long curly strips fastened together at intervals with chain.

The knitting book has some weird and wonderful things in it. Mostly I would not make any of them for myself but I can see my daughter in law in the gauntlet fingerless mittens if I make them in black or dark purple. There are some unusual hats in the book and I wish I looked OK in a knitted hat but I just know that if I make any of these for myself they will end up on the donation or gift pile. There are a couple of felted bags that my knitting club members might like. I am old school and it breaks my heart to buy expensive wool and felt it. Felted brings back to me too many memories of lovely sweaters accidentally put in the washer and rendered unwearable. Why does it always have to be one of your best designs that gets ruined?

Yesterday I met up with Sylvia and Bill in Bury market. We browsed the wool stall, got a few balls of wool and then had a bit of lunch in Othello's cafe. On the way home I picked up my prescription from the doctors and then the chemist said it would be 20 mins to wait. I decided to pop into Iceland then met up with a friend who has recently lost her husband so after a half hour of sympathy I walked home. I had, of course, completely forgotten to go back to the chemist so I had to get dressed and quickly dash up there this morning before they closed at 12 to rescue my presription. I didn't fancy a banging headache and fat(ter) ankles this weekend through not having my blood pressure tablets.

I have just started the second sleeve of my niece's jacket so the end is in sight.

Not much to blog about

Still knitting the aran jacket. I am convinced though that it will not be big and baggy enough for my niece so am going to search in my pattern stash (I have 4 large boxes of patterns so I could be gone for quite a while) and try to find something more suitable. I will finish this jacket off and get some more wool for another one. I have almost finished the second front.The two sleeves and collar are just in knit 2 purl 2 rib so that should progress pretty quickly if there is anything good on the TV today. Thank goodness for the old re-runs of Father Dowling, Murder She Wrote, Bergerac and now I have Shoestring as well. I haven't quite got around to Starskey and Hutch yet but I will!

The sock knitting hasn't progressed one jot this week. I seem to be lacking motivation in that area. I think I am just concentrating on the aran.

I am still subduing my cravings for crochet. The urge is getting stronger everyday. I am indeed a crochetoholic. I will be giving in to temptation any day soon and grabbing a hook and wool for the sake of my sanity. The crochet wrap book that I have pre-ordered should be here on the 19th so I definitely will be raring to go then.

Gorgeous Hats by Crafty Andy

I have been browsing the blogs as per usual and was reading Carol Ventura's blog. She has a blog and has written books on Tapestry crochet (which are on my wish list). She was showing hats by Crafty Andy. I had favourited several of his hats on Flickr in the past as I think he is a very talented crocheter and knitter. I hope that he won't mind my posting a photo of one of his hats on here. If you click on my blog title it will take you to his blog which shows the wonderful hats he has made using Tapestry crochet. He also has videos on You Tube showing off his work. Thanks Andy for a happy hour watching your videos. Very inspirational. I will be adding your blog to my list of favourites.

The other photos are of my squirrel. He/she came to the window yesterday so I had to feed it. I know they are supposed to be vermin but it is so cute with it's antics.

Not much progress to report on the Aran knitting. I have started the front but it is very slow progress and there has been not a stitch knitted on the sock.

The postman has brought me the essential oils that I ordered from Green Therapeutics so my oil burner will soon be fired up. Which shall I choose for today? Patchouli, Lavender or Jasmine? Perhaps not the Lavender until later this evening. I want to do some knitting and not relax so much that I fall asleep!

I am still trying to subdue my crocheting withdrawal symptoms. I have managed to overcome the strong urges so far but I am weakening rapidly.

Aran jacket back is finished

As you know I have been worried that my niece's Aran was turning out a bit on the small side. I am adapting the pattern from Chunky thickness to Aran, using smaller needles of course, so the size was always a bit on the experimental side. I have now finished the back and so decided to block it out and check the size before progressing to the fronts. I think I can now relax as it is looking large enough now for my slim niece. Whew! I still think that my knitting is looking very uneven for some reason. Perhaps it is lack of practise as I have been crocheting rather a lot lately.

The socks are still the same as Saturday. Not a row knitted on those. I am getting crochet withdrawal symptoms. Itching to get something on the hook. I think it is time to stand up and be counted. I am a crocheter at heart. I like the instant gratification of seeing my work grow in front of my eyes. I do admit though than some things are better knitted rather than crocheted. Socks and gloves for example.

I got up really late this morning. I am worse when I get too much sleep. I feel really groggy even now despite having an invigorating shower (no not cold). I perform better (steady - no not in that way!) on about 5 - 6 hrs sleep. Any less is not good but any more is an absolute disaster. I go into slug mode. Droopy, dreary and a bit depressed. Today isn't helping as it is typical November Manchester weather - dull and depressing.

I am watching Loose Women at the moment and enjoying a coffee. I think I will just do a bit of knitting this afternoon as I am not in the mood for anything strenuous.

I didn't go to Ladyfest

The title is not strictly true as we did go to Ladyfest. Jen and I got on the wrong bus so had a bit of a walk to find the Zion Centre. When we got there the lady on the door said £14 and we thought that was for both of us. It turns out that it was £14 each despite the flyer saying tickets from £5. Apparently that price was for the whole day from 12 pm until whenever and including the price of watching the bands. Jen and I had only gone down for the craft workshops and only wanted to spend a couple of hours there so we decided that it was far too much to pay just to go in for a couple of hours.

I felt rather embarrassed as I had told all the ladies from the Knitty Noras about the event. I am glad now that only Jen decided to come with me otherwise there would have been even more disappointed people. £14 would have meant that I couldn't have bought anything from the stalls. I only have so much money to spend on myself and I have been out rather a lot lately. Sylvia and Kath were thinking of going tomorrow but when Sylvia rang the Zion centre to enquire how much it is she was told it's £14 for tomorrow as well even though the venue closes at 5pm. They have decided not to go either. I will read flyers more carefully in future and be wary of passing any information on to other people without knowing the true situation. I felt bad enough getting Jen all excited about a craft fair and dragging her all the way from Bolton as it is.

We spent a happy hour having a chin wag in Piccadilly Gardens listening to a rather good street musician for free and eating our bargain sandwiches, crisps and a drink on offer for £3.50p from Sainsbury's. We went up to Abakhan on Oldham Street but I was very restrained and didn't buy anything. Jen bought some fleece to make some fabric mittens for Christmas presents.

We walked back to Victoria station and fought our way through droves of Mosher kids all around Urbis. I am so glad my son has grown up and doesn't walk about with his pants under his bum and all of next week's washing on display. The kids look like film extras from some very bad B horror movie. I am all for kids expressing themselves but red eyeshadow all around the eyesockets, green lipstick and black dyed spiky hair with a star tattoo on the shaven bit was all rather too much for me. How does his mother explain his looks to the neighbours? How do their trousers stay suspended in mid air without falling off their boney little backsides I do not know. Blu-Tack?

Not much progress on the aran and the socks. I told you that I slow down to a crawl with knitting. The aran curls up at the sides as I am knitting it so it looks rather long and skinny at the moment but I have measured it and it will block out to the right size. I am debating about the fronts though as they have the ribbing knitted along and I always think that makes the front hang down loose. I will either knit the ribbing along but on a smaller sized sock needle or leave the stitches at the bottom edge on a pin and knit the ribbing separately.

I didn't sleep at all last night so no doubt I will nod off in front of the TV tonight and so not much knitting will be done once again.

Ladyfest in Manchester

Not much to report on the knitting front. I have done a few more rows on the aran and started my first pair of mens socks. I don't know why the wool looks so fluffy on the photo as it doesn't appear that way to me when I am knitting with it.

I am hoping to go to this craft festival this weekend. I am putting the details on here in case anyone is interested in it.

Overview:
A craft event including workshops, an exhibition and sale will be taking place on Saturday the 8th and Sunday 9th Novemberas part of Ladyfest Manchester. Workshops include hand spinning yarn, basketry, embroidery, felting, dressmaking, knitting and crochet. The exhibition has some exciting contemporary craft including handmade toys, knitted pumps and includes beautiful collages and paintings by artist Lisa Marsh. There will be a range of crafty items for sale, including hand spun yarns, knitted bags and colourful sewing machine covers.

This is an informal event and everyone is welcome. There will be a knit circle all day Saturday and Sunday, 12pm-5pm.Details:Kate Heppell from greeneyedmonsters.co.uk and

Craft Mafia will be doing a workshop on hand spinning yarn (8th 2pm-3pm). Kate will be selling and displaying her hand spun yarns. (8th and 9th).

Sculptor Louise Woodcock will be demonstrating simple basketry techniques with unconventional materials to make weird and wonderful shapes (8th 3pm-4pm). Louise will be displaying her work. (8th and 9th).

There will also be embroidery with Liz Kenny (8th 12pm-1pm), felting by Alison Cooper (9th 1pm-2pm) plus crochet, knitting (8th and 9th 12pm-5pm) and a dressmaking workshop (9th 2pm-3pm). There will be some equipment and materials to borrow but would be helpful to bring some along if possible.

Selina from Candypop (Afflecks) will be selling colourful hand made items such as bags and sewing machine covers, as well as displaying her hand embroidered Ladyfest fliers from around the globe. (9th)

Candy (Knit and Destroy) will be displaying her wonderful knitted pumps and selling knitted bags and scarves. (8th and 9th)There will also be handmade toys on display from Harriot (8th and 9th) and Claire Walls (Craft Mafia) will be selling and displaying her crafty wares. (8th and 9th)As part of LADYFEST MANCHESTER Festival

Weekend Tickets from £5 - www.wegottickets.com Zion Arts Centre, 335 Stretford Road, Hulme, Manchester, M15 5ZA. 0161 2261912http://www.zionarts.com/about/contact-us/how-to-get-here/www.ladyfestmanchester.com

Slow progress on the Aran

My niece's aran is progressing slowly as you can see from the photo. I am making the jacket with Wendy Serenity aran and I swear that this yarn must be made out of elastic as I am still on the first 100 gram ball and quite a way up the back. It has 10% wool and 20% Alpaca but is going further than the last aran that I bought which was 100% acrylic. I had calculated roughly how much I thought that the jacket would take and it is not going to take half that amount. I hope that the LYS that my niece bought it from will do an exchange with the balls that are going to be left over otherwise I can see hats and scarves being made in grey leftover wool.

I still feel that my progress is very slow with this pattern and I may go back and do a bit more on the purple crochet jacket that I put to one side before I started this aran to have a change from the knitting tonight. I am not happy with my knitting tension as I think that it looks very uneven. I hope that it will improve when it gets rinsed and blocked. The wool is soft to work with and I feel that I am knitting too loosely even though the size of the jacket is working out perfectly. I just hope that my niece is not too disappointed when the jacket doesn't look as chunky as it does on the pattern. The smaller the needle size the better my knitting tension is. I might cast on a pair of socks to alternate thin and thicker needles sizes with the knitting to give my hands a break. If I swop about a bit instead of just ploughing doggedly on with the aran I will get more done. I have to feel inspired to knit fast.