Still Busy Crocheting Hats For The Homeless

I am still crocheting hats for the homeless.I have used up the bag of cream and brown unravelled donated wool and have managed to make 2 cream scarves, 3 cream hats and a brown one. The worst part was sewing all the tails in as some of the balls were really small or had lots of knots in. I need to wash them all before I give them away as they do smell a little musty as the wool has been stored for quite some time.

The multi coloured hat is one I found part made in my stash. I can't remember which pattern I used (or even if I ever had one) so I finished it off hence the difference in the size of the bobbles, It is made from 2 strands of machine cones and I think that I must have stopped making it as making bobbles with doubled wool is a bit of a pain so I made the bobbles smaller as I kept losing threads and having to start all over when I tried to make them as big as the original row.I now have a bag full of hats and scarves ready to take to the Islington Mill Knit Out at the end of February.No doubt I will have made a few more before then although I have got a pattern for some knitted fingerless gloves in chunky that I might try as a change from all of the hats.

I am feeling a little better. The weather is helping as although it is still dull the mornings are a bit lighter. I managed to get a bit of housework done yesterday. I must be taking more notice of my surroundings as for the first time in ages I saw the dust and actually cared about the mess. Today I plan on tackling this room which I always call my mess room as everything gets dumped on the computer desk. It is my filing system for hospital appointments and bills that need dealing with. If I move them anywhere else and try to tidy up then I lose them or forget appointments.

I might start a knitted cardigan for myself with some very old Kaftan. Listers made the Kaftan which was a sort of brushed acrylic aran. I used to stock in when I had the shops. I got given some and managed to unearth an old pattern for it from my pattern stash. I will have to scale it up a bit as what I never noticed with my old patterns is that the largest size a lot of them do is 38". Just shows that we must have been slimmer back in the 80's as I don't remember anyone complaining that the patterns didn't go large enough.

The amaryllis now has one fully opened flower, another part opened and a bud. So I will have had 6 flowers altogether from my Christmas gift. There is a small bud at the bottom that might just grow into a third stem once these flowers have finished blooming. I will try to take a photo of it today if the daylight gets brighter this afternoon.

Time to get showered and dressed. My neighbour has told me that my new computer monitor has arrived and he will come and install it for me sometime this week. My niece is calling tonight with my S.A.D light so maybe tomorrow I will be bouncing with energy.

Thanks everyone for your lovely comments whilst I have been a bit down. They are much appreciated and have kept me going. Ailsa I will try the Cranberry juice when I go to the shops tomorrow. Since I have been taking the antibiotics the swelling in my knees and my stomach has gone down It makes me wonder if I was right all along when I thought that I had infection in my knee after the last operation. My knee is back to a normal temperature. The hospital told me that I didn't have an infection and the heat was due to my arthritis. Some days I could have fried an egg on it.

Amaryllis Is Blooming Again

The Amaryllis that was one of my Christmas presents is set to bloom again. I have already had 3 lovely blooms from it and now it looks like I am going to get 3 more. The Christmas present that lasts until February. There is another very small shoot at the bottom near the bulb so I will hold my breath that the plant will flower again once these flowers have died.

Yesterday I felt a bit better. The weather was marginally brighter and my knees weren't hurting as much so I managed to get up to Tesco (with my 4 wheeled trolley of course) and do a bit of food shopping. I know that I can order online but although I detest food shopping I still prefer to chose everything for myself. Anyway it gets me out in the fresh air.

Today is a bit brighter again and that lifts my spirits. I am thinking about tidying up and cleaning so that shows there is some improvement in my mood.

I have started another crochet hat for the homeless and found another hat part made amongst my stash. I still have enough cream left from the hat and scarf set to possibly make another set but the scarf could be a little shorter.

It Could Only Happen To Me

I am making yet another hat and scarf set for the homeless. This wool had been unravelled and so I am not sure what it is. It appears to be chunky but the hat, that I had previously made for myself, has turned out larger than mine did so perhaps it is a thicker chunky. I will just have to hope that there is a homeless person either with a big head or a lot of hair. I will have to wash the set once it is finished as the wool has been stored and smells a little bit musty. If it has any wool content then maybe it will shrink a bit in the wash.

Yesterday afternoon I got a phone call from the pre op nurse at the hospital. It turns out that I have a urine infection and because of this I have been taken off the waiting list for my knee operation. Once I have a course of anti biotics and get tested to make sure that it has gone then I will be placed back on the list. I think that this is a little unfair as my operation wasn't scheduled for another 3 months so surely any infection will have been cleared up by then. I was told that it is hospital policy to stop the clock as far as waiting lists are concerned if they find anything wrong at the pre op stage. It seems a bit mad to me as they don't re- test. I could in theory have had a clear sample last week and contracted an infection between now and the operation date. Once I have got this cleared up I must make a concentrated effort to drink more water. I hold my hands up that I do not drink enough fluids during the course of the day which is a bit silly of me as I have been prone to urine infections for most of my life.

I rang my GP as the hospital had faxed over the medication that they wanted the GP to prescribe. I got told to ring today to see if there is a prescription ready. I rang at lunchtime and they have told me to ring back after 4pm. I get so impatient with the clerical staff that they have at my GP's surgery. They have no sense of urgency at all. It could be Friday before I get my prescription and that, to me,is two days delay on starting my medication. Last time this happened they "forgot" to inform the hospital by fax, as requested, the results of the all clear test. Luckily I rang the hospital a few days later to check they had received it and they hadn't so I had to remind them to send it! That, combined with the 2 day wait for a prescription, put me back 2 weeks on the waiting list. I just hope that this doesn't happen this time.

Not much knitting or any crochet done today. I will probably have to go out later this afternoon. The stronger pain killers seem to be giving me more relief but still not enough to get a night's sleep. I did sleep in longer spells last night but am still feeling tired today.

Red Scarf

Another scarf is finished. This time I crocheted a strand of Red Sirdar Snuggly DK along with some unlabelled scratchy brown 4ply. I gave now used the last of the wool donated by Marie for making things for the homeless and am now starting to use some oddments of unravelled cream chunky that was donated to the Noras by Arthur. It was from his late wife's stash. I have some other wool from this donation but a lot of it is fancy mohair and so that might get used for other charity projects as I don't think a lot of it is suitable for men's wear. Lacy scarves or shawls are always useful to keep in for charity raffle prizes so I will try to make a couple of those to keep in stock.

Yesterday I visited my GP to see if I could get some stronger painkillers. I got a lecture from him about not coming to see him earlier and for not telling him how I have been feeling. I think the clue came when he asked me how I was and I burst into tears.We had a long discussion about my not bothering to dress some days and my leaving the dishes and not doing housework etc and he diagnosed I was depressed. He said the last time he saw me he thought that I wasn't coping too well and said I should take some anti depressants until this mood passes over. I argued that I didn't call myself depressed just generally pissed off with my situation and he said that was still a form of depression. I have to ring him on Friday to see if these painkillers are working and if not then he will give me something stronger. He told me that I was a sadist for trying to cope with the lesser painkillers for so long and that there was no shame in asking for help. It's funny but I thought that this mood would lift once I got told I was getting knee replacements but it suddenly all came to a head after that.

I hope that my new pills kick in soon and I will be writing that I am cleaning the house from top to bottom and going out for a walk. The GP did say not to expect overnight miracles as these things take a few days to work. I have to ring him on Friday to let him know how I am getting on. He is such a caring GP I am very lucky to have him.

I am going to make a drink as one immediate side effect that I have from my new pills is a very dry mouth. I don't drink enough water on a daily basis so a dry mouth is probably a good thing where I am concerned. It will jog my memory to have drinks on a more regular basis. Then I think I will choose some needles as the cream unravelled wool is very thick and so I think would be better knitted in a scarf than crocheted. At least garter stitch, although mind numbing, is easy to do whilst watching TV.

Hole In My Sock

I mentioned yesterday that I had put my toe through my hand knitted socks. I managed to unpick the toe and re knit it with some spare wool. Sorry the photos are a bit fuzzy but the hole has now gone and the toe although a slightly darker colour is back to normal. It was a bit awkward to unpick and re knit the toe but I thought that it would look better than a darn. Thank goodness they were top down socks and I was able to unpick the grafting, take out the damaged rows and re knit it again.

I finished off the garter stitch scarf for the homeless. Not my best project as I was working with three strands knitted together and I kept finding out that I had only knitted two strands and had left a loop behind. That's the trouble with knitting a dark colour in the electric light and watching TV at the same time. The wool was donated by Marie and she was right - it is itchy. If you see a homeless person in Manchester itching his head and neck and he is wearing something navy then it will be the hat and one of the scarves that I have made with this wool.

I still have some red and brown so I will be crocheting another itchy scarf with the two colours worked together tonight.I will be glad when I can move on to just using one strand of wool again.

This afternoon I have to go to see the GP about my leg eczema and to update him with my operation news. I didn't sleep much last night because of the pain in my knees so I am going to ask for a change of pain killer medication. I have not slept properly since I had the arthoscopy last February and I am getting very tired and feel so down through the lack of sleep. The dark and dreary weather doesn't help to lift my mood nor does the fact that next door's cat sneaked in again and has left me with an untraceable aroma once again. I am going to have to stop going outside after dark as that must be when he sneaks in. Last night I remembered that I hadn't put the dustbin out. The refuse men came very early so it's a good job that I remembered to put it out.I staggered downstairs in the early hours in pain to be greeted by an awful smell and the cat asleep in the middle of the sofa.

Thanks to everyone for your kind wishes and helpful advice. Thank you Ana Luisa from Mexico for your comments. Crafty Diane - I am having knee replacements. I am afraid that I sort of stick my fingers in my ears and go la la la when they start talking about metal spikes and plastic bits. I will leave that to the surgeon. I have to go for a pre-operative meeting in March so I will probably get told in more detail then. I know that they have to run through all of the risks that can happen to me with the surgery but I just wish to remain in ignorance about the mechanics of it all. If I started to think of the risks of infection, blood clots and anaesthesia then it would put me off. Instead I will just put my faith in the surgeon and pray that he does the best job that he can.

Sunday Knit Out

Yesterday I went to the monthly Knit Out of the Knitting Noras. Although I do enjoy the Knit Outs by the time I got there I was not on speaking terms with my knees. No matter what the future holds for me in the way of operations and recuperation it surely can't be any worse than this. Watch this space however as I might live to regret these words!

We had quite a good turn out of knitters yesterday. The members have been having a competition as to who could make the best thing from one ball of "She" bright pink mohair. I picked up my ball yesterday and my contribution was almost magical. When I got home and looked for the ball as if by magic it had disappeared. I couldn't understand what had happened to it as I know that I had put it in my bag, This morning when I took another look and shook the bag that I had taken it was underneath the plastic liner that is at the bottom of the bag to give it stability, The ball is one of those flat donut shapes and I hadn't noticed it last night when I emptied the bag.Not sure what I will make with mine. I will have a think. One of the ladies has made a rather amusing mini bikini of 3 hearts with strings I presume in honour of Valentines day. She modelled them over her sweater and pants of course as it was the middle of a Sunday in a public coffee cafe.

I got a very welcome lift home from Bev another Nora member as I had volunteered to store the rest of the wool that was donated for the Noras to use. I have made an inventory of it and will post it up on the Noras site to see if anyone wants anything from it. A lot of members have already chosen some wool but some members haven't seen it as yet. Living alone I have the most space to store it and if no-one else wants it then I can always make good use of it to make some more hats, scarves and possibly shawls with it. They can be an ongoing project for me over the year and I am sure they will all find good homes once they are finished.Besides the homeless hats and scarves there is always a raffle that wants a prize.

I finished off another hat for the homeless and have started a knitted scarf with the navy donated wool. I am knitting the scarf with 3 strands which isn't always easy as I keep finding that I have left a strand behind. I am looking forward to knitting and crocheting something that only has one strand after this.

I managed to poke my toe through my hand knitted socks whilst I was out yesterday. I have only worn them 3 times. I am so heavy footed with hand made socks when I wear them inside my boots. I have found the left over ball and so am thinking of undoing the toe and re-knitting the end of it rather than having to darn it. It will be a bit tricky unravelling the grafting (Kitchener stitch) at the toe but I will only have to unravel about 6 rows after that.

My elder niece called on Saturday and left me some chick flick DVD's and she also brought me a photo of Charlie and Finlay wearing the blue hooded jackets that I made them for Christmas. Their Mum says that the cat is supposed to be looking over the top of the frame but it doesn't matter. The cat can be peeping around the side instead. The red crochet blanket in the photo was made by my elder niece and I got an e mail at the weekend to say that my younger niece (who lives in London) has mastered her first crocheted granny square!

That's what I like. The skills passed to me by my maternal grandmother, my paternal aunties and my Mum passed on to another generation. I only wish that my mother had also taught me to cook! My mum made the most wonderful pastry but as she never measured anything I have no idea how to copy it.When I asked she said Oh I don't know what I do I just was shown this way by my Mum. I have tried pastry from a recipe book but I just don't seem to have the knack of it. Not that I will be trying to make at the moment as I am putting a bit more Oomph into trying to diet and that does not include eating pastry!

Plain Crochet Scarf

The crocheted scarf I was making for the homeless grew somewhat whilst I was waiting around in the hospital yesterday. I keep splitting the wool though. That's the problems with crocheting two strands together. There is enough wool to make this scarf and a hat to match and possibly another set later on.

My niece called today. She wanted to catch up on the news about my knees. Now I have finally worked out how to use the DVD on the TV I can watch films. She has loads of them and has brought me a few Chick Flicks around so that I can watch them. I will have something to watch now when there is nothing inspiring or entertaining on the TV.

I have decided not to go to my ex's 65th birthday party as no-one is going who lives near me so I cannot share the cost of a taxi with them. The party is quite a distance away and the cost of a taxi both ways would be a bit too expensive. Originally there was going to be a mini bus going from near me but the people who were organising it now aren't going. I wouldn't have minded sharing the cost of that.

It is my baby's birthday today. He is 41. I think that he is going out with his wife and some friends tonight. I think that my ex is a bit upset that he isn't going to his 65th party but as he has arranged it on my son's birthday I think that it is a foregone conclusion that Ian would want to spend it with his wife and friends and not his Dad.

My friend Sylvia and her daughter have gone to the Stitch and Craft Exhibition in Manchester today. I didn't want to go this year as the knees just aren't up to the walking around on a hard concrete floor. Unless there is more wool there this year I won't be missing much. I find that these shows are more for card crafts and cross stitch than knitting and crochet. I will hear all about it when she rings me tonight. I am sure that they will have managed to find some bargains to buy. Lisa and a couple of the Noras will be there on a stall hopefully selling the remaining Naked Knitting calendars in aid of Christies.

Time for some lunch and then back to the scratchy navy scarf that I am crocheting. It's Knit Out day tomorrow at Bolton Knitting Noras. I am looking forward to that as I didn't manage to get there last month.