Going Up In The World

I have gone up in the world. Literally. My new chair has arrived and so I have been playing with the controls like a big kid. I can rise up to almost standing instead of having to use my arms to heave myself out of the chair. The middle photo shows it in a normal chair position and the last photo shows it in recline.

It has passed the crochet/knitting test. The arms are low enough for both of these activities and I can crochet in the semi reclining position which is feet up and back slightly leaning backwards.

I think that I am going to enjoy this chair.

I don't care so much about not having a colour choice as not only did I get it cheaper because of the colour I got the VAT deducted because I took my letter from the DLA saying that I was on high mobility. I can forget about not having a colour choice with both of these savings.

Last night I didn't start any new crochet as I was hoping that my new crochet book would be delivered today. I did manage to do a few rows of the boys knitting. I don't know whether it is the colour or the pattern but I just cannot get into knitting again. I just don't enjoy this. I am more of a crocheter but I don't usually struggle so much with knitting as I have with the boys jackets. If my book doesn't arrive later today I will have to start crocheting something small.

I put the old recliner on Freecycle but no one has shown any interest in it so far. It is a shame as it is still in very good condition. I guess people are not lovers of brown velour! Perhaps I have put people off by including in the description that it isn't suitable for a frail elderly person. It works by pressure and so needs someone with strong leg or arm action to recline it. It's best to be truthful as I would hate for someones Mother or Father to get stranded in the chair when they can't get it back to normal position once it is reclined.

Thanks to everyone for your lovely words about the Blue Heaven Sweater. I wasn't sure about it when I was crocheting but now it is finished I really like it and feel sure that I will use the pattern again. I like to crochet but I don't always want my crochet to be lacy and holey. For everyday wear I prefer a close stitch.

Time for another cup of coffee and to play with the chair. It's like being at the fairground. I keep singing I go up diddly up, up I go down, diddly down, down.
Not quite a magnificent man in a flying machine but I wonder what the neighbours will think if they see me rising up in front of the bay window. The elevating crocheting woman - Yeah .

Blue Heaven Sweater Finished

I have finished the Blue Heaven Sweater From the Crochet Closet book by Lisa Gentry. In the UK this would be called a cardigan or a jacket. A sweater in the UK is something that does not open at the front but simply pulls over the head and has a neckband.

It has been an extremely economical cardigan to make as I had the wool in stash. It has taken 400 grams of Sportimo DK that I bought from Lidl a couple of years ago. I think that I paid £4 for a pack of 500 grams. It is, of course, all acrylic but as I can't wear wool then acrylic is my yarn of choice anyway.

I was very unsure about the sleeves all the time that I was crocheting the cardigan but now it is finished I quite like the bell shape at the end of the sleeves.

I feel sure that I will make it again although next time I will make the sleeves longer and unshaped at the bottom for a bit of extra warmth. The stitch is easy to do. Just one row to repeat and it has made quite a close fabric which is great for any everyday garment. Loose lacy fabrics look very pretty but I tend to get hooked up on doorhandles etc as I pass by. The only alteration that I made to the pattern was to work the body longer than stated on the pattern as waist length cardigans are not very flattering to a plus sized lady. I like to think that a longer cardigan skims over my body and makes me look a wee bit slimmer.

I got an e mail last night telling me that my new Kristin Omdahl book I pre ordered from Amazon is on it's way. This was a nice surprise as it's predicted issue date is a few weeks away. I shall look forward to that arriving. I have seen lots of the patterns previewed on Ravelry but it's not the same as getting the book to drool over.

I got a phone call this morning telling me that they are delivering my new recliner armchair tomorrow morning so I am hoping that someone on Freegle answers me and wants to take the old recliner away very soon as I really don't have room in the lounge for two recliners as well as the two sofas in there.

Maybe I will force myself to get back to the boys knitting now that I have finished off the blue crochet. I don't really want to start anything large in case the crochet book comes tomorrow morning and I have some wool in stash that is suitable for something in the book. I will keep you posted and of course give you a preview of the book should it arrive tomorrow.

Home Alone Again

Just as I wrote the title Home Alone Poppy walked back in through the patio doors. She thinks that she lives in both houses ;-)

The dogs were very good considering that they had never stayed overnight with me before. We were up bright and early as I am used to Buster and his weak bladder so I don't like to leave animals too long without a toilet break. I let the dogs out at 5.30am and then we all went back to sleep again.

Buddy is funny. He has a passion for shoes and slippers and so took pairs of my shoes and slippers out one by one and put them on the lawn. Julie told me today that they have to put all of their footwear out of his reach or they have to search the garden for where he has hidden their shoes. He doesn't chew or destroy anything he just likes people to chase him whilst he has a slipper in his mouth.

The only time that I had to raise my voice to them was at 5.30am when they went outside and decided to have a barking contest. I had to shout them back in so not sure which bit the neighbours will remember the most. Their barking or my shouting!

I spoke to my son last night and he knows someone who deals in motorised scooters so he is going to enquire what prices their scooters are and if they have any secondhand ones. He looked on E bay and said that there were loads for sale on there but I am very nervous of buying anything on the net unless it's wool or crochet books of course LOL

I picked up my crochet again today after the dogs had gone back home and am now past the armholes on the last front. I have the front band to crochet and then decide whether to alter the sleeves and make them longer. It's not so much the elbow length that is worrying me as much as the flared bell shaped edge. I will tack them in and try it on before I unravel the sleeves. I had 500 grams of the blue so I will have about 75 grams left once I crochet the bands. That should be enough to extend the sleeves if need be.

I got a nice surprise today. Julie my neighbour bought me a bottle of dark rum for looking after the dogs for her. I am not a big drinker but I do like a glass of rum and coke now and again. In fact I might just have to unscrew the bottle later tonight just to make sure that it tastes just right.

I had got the dates wrong for Buster. He is coming next weekend for a few days. He gets on well with the dogs from next door and doesn't mind if they pop in through the hedge to see me. Poppy has now gone home again. She just likes to pop in and out when it suits her.

No Crochet Today

No crochet today. I have two distractions for the day. My neighbours have gone to a wedding and won't be back until the morning so rather than keep popping in and out of next door to feed them and let them out for a wee etc I decided to bring them into my house and garden so that they won't feel lonely. Buster didn't arrive otherwise I would have had 3 of them to look after. They all get along very well so it wouldn't have been a problem. The bossy one is Poppy the little terrier. She rules the roost. If she thinks that I am patting Buddy that bit too long she lets him and me know about it. They have both just had their hair cut really short which is why Buddy looks such a pale colour. He is normally a deep golden colour.

I went out today spending the DLA money that I haven't yet got. I went to try out different arm chairs at the Motability shop. I could have gone mad and got an all singing and dancing one but I settled more for the bargain basement type of chair. It is electric and tilts back and forth, the leg rests come up and it rises until I am almost standing to get me out of the chair. Even the cheapest of the range was quite expensive but there was no way I was paying £1,400 for one of the ones that do more. This chair will be fine for me and I measured the arms and tried the reclining position to make sure that I can still knit and crochet when I am slightly reclined. If the worse comes to the worse I could also sleep in it when I first come out of hospital. It is supposed to be delivered on Wednesday.

Unfortunately the chair only comes upholstered in brown. My Father loved brown and so everything my parents ever bought came in brown. My niece was laughing and said you have to have this brown one as it is the Buckley colours (our maiden name). As the recliner I am replacing is brown I guess that I am used to the colour brown. I will Freecycle the old chair once my new one comes. It belonged to my late Father in law and although it is a bit shabby it has plenty of life left in it. I can't recline it as it isn't electric and I have to push down on the arms and on the floor with my feet to get it to recline. It would be OK for a more able bodied person. I can't put enough pressure on my knees to recline it as the chair is quite heavy..

Whilst in the Mobility shop I was enquiring about the price of the mobility scooters for rent. They cost £70 a week plus insurance so I have decided that it would be cheaper to buy a second hand scooter and then I can keep it until both of my knees have been fixed. The second hand ones start about £300 - £500 so even if it only lasted a few months it would still be cheaper than renting one. They are going to assess my hill and see which type I need and then tell me what they have in stock at their other shops. My niece says if they have any bargains then I should get one now and be able to shop every day if I wish. It would get me out of the house even if it is just to the local shops as the trams won't allow motorised scooters on them any more so I could not get to Bury or Manchester. I don't go there that often so I will just take a taxi even if it is only to the tram stop and back. It would be nice not to have to stop and think if I really want to hurt my knees and go to the shops plus I can buy my food fresh on an almost daily basis. I have a secure garage that I can keep the scooter in if I decide to buy one and it has a power supply so that I can charge up the battery.

The dogs have gone very quiet. I think that they are asleep in the front room but I had better check. They can't get out of my garden and get lost which is a good thing. They won't get a walk today but I am sure that they will manage just for once.

Still Here Crocheting

Thanks to everyone who worried about me. I am still here crocheting away. I was just not in the mood for sharing my thoughts with people over the last few days. I think that everything that happened caught up with me and I needed some alone time to think things through.

I still have a front and bands to make on the blue cardigan that I am crocheting but I couldn't settle to finishing it so decided to start something different. I made this Chevron Lace cardigan for my friend Sylvia from 10 x 50 grams of Patons Solo which was described as a chunky with mohair but it is a fine yarn and worked up more of an aran thickness. Sylvia has no idea that I am making this for her so - surprise !. It has short sleeves however as I did not have enough wool to put a long sleeve in it. I am not sure whether she will kill me or not but the wool says hand wash. It's probably because if has 20% Mohair, 24% wool and 56% Acrylic. The shade is 2242 which is a delicate turquoise blue colour. It looks more grey in the photos .

I will go back and finish off the blue cardigan now that I have had a break from it. I do that sometimes. Just reach a dead stop and need to do something else to give myself a kick start again.

Tomorrow I am going shopping for an armchair and looking after the two dogs from next door Buddy and my daily visitor Poppy whilst my neighbours go to a wedding. I am still not sure whether I am having Buster this weekend but as I haven't heard from my son I guess I have got my weekends mixed up again.

Hopefully I am feeling more like my normal self and will be blogging as usual.

A Funny Sort Of A Day

I am having a funny sort of day today. I woke up with a feeling of anti climax or that I wasn't where I was supposed to be. Subsequently I just can't settle to anything today. I am still wandering about in my dressing gown as I can't even summon up the enthusiasm for a shower or to get dressed. Hopefully this feeling will pass by tomorrow.

Thanks everyone for your kind words over what happened to me yesterday. I have calmed down and become resigned to my fate today hence the apathy about getting dressed etc. I am just going to do nothing and hope to improve my state of mind by tomorrow.

I have gone back to my crocheting. I am making the Blue Heaven Sweater by Lisa Gentry from the Crochet Closet book. I made the sleeves first as I wanted to know if I had enough yarn to make the body longer. Now I know that I have enough to do that I am considering putting a bit more length on the sleeves. I will tack the jacket together after I have crocheted the fronts and see how it looks and how much wool I have left over after the fronts and bands are completed. I am not a lover of 3/4 or elbow length sleeves and these look a rather funny shape at the bottom. They may, however, look better once the jacket is stitched up.I will sew up the body and then tack in the sleeves with a different colour to see how I feel about them before stitching them in permanently.

When I was shopping I bumped into my niece's best friend and her boys. I felt really guilty about not finishing off their knitted hooded jackets so I think that I will have to dig the bits I have knitted out of the bag and see if I can remember where I am up to. That is why I don't like having too many WIP at any one time as if I leave them for weeks I can't pick up again without a half hour of pattern reading. I bought some flecked wool for them ages ago but at least I can knit stocking stitch with that and so their second set of jackets should not take me as long.

As I am not going into hospital my niece has kindly offered to take me armchair shopping. I have lovely cream 2 and 3 seater leather sofas but they are too low for me and I really struggle to get up from them. I am using an old recliner that belonged to my late ex Father in Law with an extra cushion on the seat to raise the level at the moment but it is a very old chair and doesn't look very nice as it is brown velour with a few shabby patches on it. Now that my DLA has been increased I intent to buy a proper chair that is higher has more support for the disabled. I had talked about it before but didn't fancy ordering one from the Internet and then not liking it when it arrived. These chairs are not cheap but this is what my extra money is for. To make life more comfortable for myself. I have found a mobility shop quite close to where I live that stocks these chairs so I can go and have a sit down in various ones to see which is the best option for me. The shop also hires out mobility scooters so I am going to make enquiries about hiring one of these when I have had my operation. If I can use it to get to the shops for the first week or two until I get back on my feet then I will be OK for shopping plus I won't be stuck in the house for weeks. As there are various types of scooters at least I can sit on them and choose the one that I want to hire when the time comes. I will need one of the larger ones as not only am I a big girl I live on a hill so a small one with small battery power would not have the power to propel me up the hill to the shops.I am lucky in the fact that I have a garage with an electricity supply that I could drive it into for storage and recharging. I will ,of course, have to give it a good tidy up before I go into hospital to make room for it.

I am off for a cup of coffee now and to try to find out where the bin men have flung my bin today. When they empty it I have to search up and down the street to find it. They fling it yards away from where I live and as I am trying to creep out before any of the neighbours see me in my dressing gown I hope that it's not too far away today!

Cancelled Until Further Notice

Why does it always happen to me. Just when I thought that my luck was changing for the better and things were finally starting to come around my way.

The hospital rang me this morning to say that my proposed knee replacement surgery scheduled for tomorrow morning has been cancelled until further notice. I asked why is it always me that gets cancelled. Of course I got the usual spout about it's nothing to do with me it's managerial policies who make the decision. They tried to say it was because I needed a high dependency unit bed after the op and they have none available. Hard luck anyone wanting a bed for an emergency then isn't it? When I questioned further she said well we always have a shortage of surgeons at holiday times. When they schedule ops do they not ask the surgeons when they are going on holiday?

It's all so annoying. When I had my spinal op it was only because I played hell when they tried to cancel me for the third time. This will be my second cancellation for my knee operation. Hope Hospital - I think that it should be renamed Hopeless.

I now have to go and buy some fresh food as I had not bought anything in thinking that I would be missing for a week. So I shall continue to crochet and knit for the foreseeable future. Pass me my anti depressants!

ETA I just had a further phone call from another Hospital department reminding me of my operation. I said what is going on I have just been cancelled. She apologised and said that she would go and find out what was happening. Left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing or what?