Practising Tunisian Crochet

Last night I had a little practise with my new Tunisian hooks. Although I do find the short hook attached to a cable a lot easier to manage than a long rigid Tunisian hook I still have a long way to go. At the moment although I can do the basic stitch I am struggling with the purl stitch and my tension is far to slack at the moment. I think it's a bit like when I learned to crochet. It's all about holding the hook and the yarn at the right angle and getting the tension right. I think that I will need a lot more practise before I embark upon one of Kay Jones patterns.Once I have finished off the things on my 'to do' list then I will have more time to have another try.

I managed to finish off the Triangular Shawl for my sister in law's 70th birthday party. It is from the Contemporary Crochet book by Sys Fredens and is so quick and easy to make. I used approx 300 grams of James C Bretts Marble Chunky that I bought from Abakhan on Thursday. I have added an edging to the shawl as I think it looks a bit bare without one. The shawl is on a 12mm hook but I had to use a 10mm hook. Not only do I crochet a bit loose I find overlarge hooks hard to grip as I have arthritis in my hands.I think that is another reason why I am struggling to get my tension right on the Tunisian crochet.

I have started a sweater from a Kay Jones pattern 77 that I bought this week. I am using the Robin DK that I also bought from Abakhan this week. I have changed the stitch as the pattern uses a half treble stitch for the main body of the sweater and it was turning out too loose with the way that I am crocheting at the moment. I am using the pattern for size and shaping but am using an alternating treble and double crochet stitch which is closer crochet. I never used to crochet loosely so I am blaming my arthritis and the fact that I cannot grip the hook as I used to. I compensate by using smaller hooks but some stitches still come out too loose for me.

Another sunny day today but as I haven't yet been outside I don't know if it is warm. Our weather is deceiving. I can dress for a sunny day and then go outside and it's quite cold. I will stand outside for a while before I decide how to dress for the party tonight. I am, at the moment, quite sedentary I do tend to feel the cold more than most so I will be taking a cardigan with me no matter what.

I hope that you have a good weekend. I am hoping to be able to get to my monthly Knit Out tomorrow but it all depends on how the old knees hold out tonight.

Tunisian Hooks, Patterns and Wool

I had a good day yesterday. I went out to lunch and had three deliveries in the post.

I am determined to master the art of Tunisian Crochet in preparation for the new Doris Chan book in June . I was not going to let the fact that I cannot wield a long hook put me off so I ordered a set of Denise Tunisian hooks. The have a normal sized hook as you can see attached to one or more cables depending on the width of what is crocheted. I haven't yet had a practise but as soon as I finish off my current WIP I will. Watch out Beverooni you will not be the only one to do Tunisian soon.

In preparation for this I ordered a couple of babies/children's patterns in Tunisian from Kay Jones from www.creativecrochet.co.uk. I don't know what happened but I lost control over my fingers and they kept adding patterns to my basket and finished up with 17 new patterns! As you can see from the array of patterns that arrived. I cannot show you everyone of them but they will be appearing one by one on my projects in the future. If you look at her site you can see the patterns that I ordered and I bet that your fingers will be clicking to add just like mine did. You can receive them as a paper pattern or a PDF which is useful.

Next in the post was my copy of Crochet today. I have not had a good browse through that as yet. This was the Christmas present that kept on arriving from my sister in law. She paid for 4 copies to arrive for me. This is the last of them so I will have to decide whether to pay for another subscription or just to try to buy one over the counter which could be a little difficult with my knee situation.

Sylvia, Kath and I met in Manchester and before lunch we went for a browse in Abakhan. We all bought something. I finished up with 2 balls of James C Brett's chunky and as you can see I have started another shawl like the red one I made recently for my niece. it is my sister in law's birthday on Saturday and I have been invited round to dinner. I had already bought her a little something but decided to add a shawl to the present so the overnight elves will have to get busy. I also bought some cream with a slight fleck DK to try out a Tunisian pattern for my niece's friend's boys. Sylvia bought some baby wool and Kath bought some lovely deep blue DK.Sylvia also bought me a lovely 4ply baby matinee jacket pattern which will be used very shortly to make another jacket for the foster babies. No folks, I have not broken my no stash buying as I said at the beginning that things bought to use for other people don't count in my no buy resolution.

Sylvia says that she could join Beverooni, June and I in pooling stash to open a wool shop. What is it with us knitters and crocheters that we have to have a stash far bigger than we could use in a couple of years to feel secure. Are we afraid that there will suddenly be a yarn shortage one day and we want to be prepared?

We went for lunch at Simple in Manchester and had a very nice meal. Thanks Sylvia for lunch it does feel good to have a treat now and again. I am paying the price for my trip out today as I am sure that Sylvia is also. We both suffer with mobility issues but we still manage to get out and about sometimes. I think it's what they call the pleasure and the pain.

I finished off an experimental scaled down version of the Mei Mei. I did this one with DK and a 4mm hook. It has come out the size of a toddler and not the baby size I envisaged. However I have passed it on and I will try again later with finer wool and hook to adapt it to a baby size.

I am progressing slowly but surely with the Lacy Duster coat and have almost got to the waist. I shape the jackets slightly buy using a smaller hook at the waistline area. The pattern as written is just straight until the pattern changes for the hip area. The first one that I made was a little straight up and down so the I gave my second one a bit of shape and will do so with this one.

The sun is shining but it is a little cold today so I am having a rest up and crochet day. I think it will be a pyjama day as I am still in my night attire. I am not going out and as far as I know not even the postman will call today so I can put my feet up and relax and get ready for going out again tomorrow.

Crochet Hats by Candi Jensen

I started the Lacy Duster Coat by Doris Chan last night but it was looking a bit loose on the hook recommended. I have gone down a couple of hook sizes and am now making a larger size and the tension looks better. I know that the pattern is supposed to be open but there is a difference between open and too loose. The jacket does tend to drop down with wear so I didn't want it to be too droopy to start with. The yarn I am working with feels like a cotton crepe but as it has no label I am not quite sure what it is as the friend that I am making the Duster coat for bought the wool.

As promised I have put some photos of hats from the Candi Jensen book Crochet Hats. I have used Candi Jensen baby patterns from her two baby books many times but this is the first time that I have bought a hat book. The patterns are mostly for adults but the green sunhat with the flower and the tri coloured hat with the pom pom are for babies and children.

The sunhat is made with raffia. I have never crocheted with raffia before although I have seen crocheted handbags made with it for sale. There are also a couple more hats with similar brims in the book that are made in wool.

The green beanie is made from ribbon. Again this is a yarn I am not over keen on crocheting with as I tend to flick my yarn whilst crocheting and anything ribbon twists into a twisted thread instead of remaining a flat ribbon. I will probably try the design in a different type of yarn.

The ski hat pattern will come in handy when I start making hats for the homeless again. It looks like a nice warm hat and a way of using oddments up with it's four colours.

The Fair Isle cap is also a useful pattern for using up my oddments which I still have a lots left. I have so many half and quarter balls in my stash.

The beanie is cute with is cluster of flowers. I am not sure whether I would wear it with so many flowers but it is an attractive beanie.

The Aran design will be useful for both men and women. I do like a crochet pattern that is a close stitch for a hat as the wind doesn't blow through it quite so much and it keeps the ears warm.

Lalltop - I looked through the current Sirdar patterns available online and there is a pattern very similar to the one that I used for the baby white bolero. It is Sirdar 1699 and is for Snuggly 4ply. There is also a lovely bolero pattern by Kay Jones. It is for a larger child and in double knit but I am sure that you could adjust it by using finer wool and a smaller hook. If you click on my blog title it will take you to the pattern. I have ordered quite a few Kay Jones patterns today. I like her patterns as they are in UK terms. They are available as PDF's or paper patterns. Pdf's are useful if you don't live in the UK as you don't have to pay postage. I prefer a hard copy particularly as at the moment I am without a working printer.

I have ordered a couple of Tunisian stitch patterns from Kay Jones as I am determined to master the skill before my Doris Chan book arrives in June as she uses Tunisian on some of the patterns. I have ordered a set of Tunisian hooks that are short hooks attached to cables similar to circular needles. I think that was why I couldn't get the hang of Tunisian before as I could not wield the long hook. I had a carpal tunnel operation 3 yrs ago and although it is a success it still limits the wrist movement on my right hand and angle of the grip that I have on the long Tunisian hook just makes my wrist very painful and stops me crocheting until it recovers which is a tragedy in my eyes. When I see the garments that Beverooni has made in Tunisian stitch it makes me even more determined to master the art.

I am looking forward to going to Manchester tomorrow to meet my friends for lunch and a quick browse around.I can't walk far but we are hoping to visit Abakhan and although I am on a yarn buying diet I am sure that I will get tempted with something whilst I am there. Some people are addicted to cigs, some to drink. some people gamble - myself I am addicted to crochet books, hooks and wool !! Does that sound familiar? I can think of a few web friends who have the same addiction. I bet if we pooled our stashes we could open a shop.

Two More Baby Cardigans

I have finished off the pink baby cardigan and have also this afternoon finished off a white baby cardigan. The pattern for the white cardigan is also another of my vintage patterns. Both of these cardigans took just 1 x50 gram ball each of Hayfield Baby 3ply. Although they are a bit more fiddly to crochet I do like very small babies in finer cardigans. I am not as keen on knitting fine wool though and I still have a partly knitted baby cardigan in 4ply from last year that I lost interest in. The baby that I started it for has now grown well out of that size so maybe I will finish it off one day for another baby. I had chosen a boring pattern as it was for a boy so that didn't help my concentration either.

I know that I said I would photograph projects from my new books but I think there are enough photos on the blog today so I will try to put them on tomorrow.

Today started off nice and sunny although cold. This afternoon the wind has arrived and is blowing the trees everywhere. Perhaps it will blow away that cloud of volcano ash and the planes will once again be able to fly. My neighbours got back safely from their holiday in Paris. Fortunately they had decided to go by Euro star instead of flying and had booked their tickets in advance so got a seat home. They are having a new bathroom fitted as I mentioned before but have hit a bit of a stop as their electrician is stuck waiting for a flight home from his holidays. The re plastering has come to a stop as he has to fit a new light fitting and the electrics for the shower before they can finish plastering the walls and then tile them. A bit of a shock. They came back expecting their bathroom to be finished and instead they haven't got one. It's a good job that they are members of the local gym so that they can, at least, have a daily shower there.

I still haven't started the Lacy Duster Coat. I was trying to finish off the baby cardigans so that I can give them to my friend when I see her on Thursday. Once I start and put my mind to it I should have the Duster Coat finished in a week or so.

More Books In The Post

The back of the pink baby cardigan is not from a pattern in one of my new books. In fact the pattern is so old that I first made it for my expected baby 41 yrs ago. When he turned out to be 9lbs 3 ozs at birth I gave it to my Auntie who gave birth to my cousin Susan a few weeks later as she was much smaller.In fact she finished up with a lot of first size cardigans that I had made as my son grew very rapidly and needed the next size up within a couple of weeks. At his first health clinic visit he weighed 11lbs 7ozs at 3 weeks old.No wonder he cried a lot - he was always hungry.

I am making it with some 3ply Hayfield baby wool that I had in stock and it is intended for the same newborn foster baby as the other two pink cardigans. I hope to have it finished by tomorrow.

My new books arrived from Amazon today. I ordered the Crochet In No Time by Melody Griffiths which was recommended to me by my friend June (Jolive on Ravelry) and although I have not really had time to give it a good browse, as it only arrived a half hour ago, at first glance there seems to be quite a few patterns in there that I will use. Thanks for the tip June. I am sure that I will be crocheting something from it very soon.

The Crochet Hat book by Candi Jensen has been on my wish list for quite a while. There seems to be quite a few that I will make. My only grumble is that there are only 15 hat patterns in the book but as I will make more than half of them then I suppose that I shouldn't grumble. It would be a good book for a beginner though as there are pages of explanations showing 'how to' with each hat. It is full of crochet tips, close up photos of the stitches and stitching up tips.

I will pick a few patterns from each book to photograph tomorrow when I have given each book a thorough browse.It doesn't matter that I now have a large library of crochet books I still get a flicker of excitement every time they arrive at my door. Most of the books that I choose give me pleasure. I just have a few books in my collection that I just know that I will never make anything from it. I still can't bear to part with them though.

I have recovered from my weekend with the two dogs. I went to bed last night at 10.30pm and didn't wake up until 7am which is unheard of for me. I had also had a nap in the afternoon yesterday so I think that I have caught up with my missed sleep. The only downside of that was that my crochet suffered and I barely did anything yesterday as I was so tired. I am going to try to catch up today.

ZZZZ - I'm So Tired

My niece came yesterday to pick up her belated birthday present. She was thrilled with the black jacket and the shawls. The jacket has turned out a good fit for her as she does not like anything too big at the front as she never fastens anything. The sleeves are to me a wee bit too long but she says that she likes her sleeves long and droopy.

The reason that I am so tired is Skye the rottweiler. She has never stayed overnight before and was so curious about everything that she would not settle. I tried leaving them both downstairs but she kept barking so I came down and tried to sleep on the sofa. Big mistake as she has discovered the stash of balls that I keep in a waste paper basket for Buster. All through the night she kept giving me a ball and either pushing at me with her nose or clawing at me with her sharp claws. Buster got upset as I kept shouting Lie Down to Skye and he was lay there as if to say "But I am laying down" Eventually Buster sloped off upstairs to bed. I didn't bother shouting him back down as I figured that one of us needed some rest. I feel like I barely closed my eyes last night. My son and daughter in law came for them quite early this morning. She hasn't been any trouble really, apart from ripping every tennis ball to shreds,she just doesn't know her own strength and is very clumsy. She barges into things and knocks everything over. I was afraid of her crashing into my knees but fortunately she only gave them one glancing blow.She is a bit of a bully with Buster though. Whichever ball he has she takes it away from him. She outweighs him by a couple of stone so although he puts up a fight she usually takes it from him.

I think that after I have washed everything in sight that I will try to get a little nap this afternoon before resuming my crochet. My nightdress looked like I had been coal mining this morning from all the paw prints, slobber and wet, dirty ball prints on it. Needless to say no crochet was done last night! My son said next time he has to bring her for an overnight stay he will bring her cage as she will sleep in that.

Capricious Cardigan with Long Sleeves

My version of the Capricious Cardigan by Marlaina Bird from the Inside Crochet magazine Issue 5 is finished and blocking. My niece is calling around today to pick up her cardigan and shawls so I hope to get a photo of her wearing the cardigan. She is smaller than me and I don't want to stretch it by trying it on. I try to take photos of myself or whoever a project is made for as it is often pointed on on Ravelry that plus sized ladies like myself like to see how things look on a model that isn't the size of a slim teenager. I always have a look if anyone my size has made something wherever possible to see how it fits and hangs.

I have also finished a baby cardigan from a Kay Jones pattern number 165. Her patterns are available as www.creativecrochet.co.uk and are very reasonably priced I made it for a friend's new foster baby who is just a week old. I think however that she may have to change the buttons as they look a little peachy coloured on the Woolcraft Baby DK pink which has a blue tint to the pink.

The bottom matinee coat pattern is one of my favourites but as it is a vintage pattern from my collection I can't tell you where to buy the pattern. There are very similar patterns out there on the net. I made this one for the same baby with a 50 gram ball of Hayfield Pastels baby 3ply that I have had in stash for a while. I still have another 50 gram balls of Pink and White so will try to make another couple of cardigans. You can never have too many cardigans for a newborn.

I am getting Buster for the evening and possibly their other dog if she will stay. My son is going to a function and will be staying overnight as he will not drink and drive so I have volunteered to have them both. It is only for the night so they should be OK but the other dog has never stayed with me before so she may not want to stop with me. I will see when she arrives.

The day is lovely and sunny and I have my washing drying on the line. I am waiting for a gardener to come and give me an estimate for tidying up the front and back gardens. I can't bend down to prune anymore and things are getting out of hand. I think that I will take my crochet and coffee into the garden and enjoy this bit of sunshine.