Crocheting to a Paper Pattern

As most of you know I am not one to stick slavishly to a crochet pattern. I add my own tweaks and variations to suit myself or whoever I am making it for. For Christmas I had made my elder niece a blue Capricious Cardigan but I altered the pattern somewhat. I didn't make the flared side vents ( I shaped by narrowing the pattern as I have on this version)nor did I make it with gathered sleeve heads.

This time my niece asked me if I could add a long sleeve to the pattern so I thought I would explain to you how I worked out a long sleeve and without the sleeve head gatherings.

I found a sweater of mine that was roughly the right size sleeve length and placed it underneath the finished cardigan back and fronts. I placed a folded piece of newspaper along the top edge of the sleeve and then drew around the armhole and then drew a line leading towards the cuff. You can see the finished result on the second photo when I cut around the shape that I had drawn and opened up the fold in the newspaper.As my paper was too short for a sleeve I added a further piece of paper(not shown) to the end of the cuff to make it to the correct length of my niece's arms. I then crocheted the sleeve using the paper pattern as a template.

The third photo shows the pattern and my first finished sleeve. I worked the increases evenly spaced up the sleeve but I kept the pattern as the V stitch for the added stitches. I will show you the finished cardigan with it's long sleeves hopefully tomorrow when I have crocheted the second sleeve.

I learned to crochet this way when I was a teenager and crochet patterns were old fashioned and very rare. I used to place a sweater or cardigan that was roughly the style that I wanted on a table to use for size and then crochet to that shape. You have to make allowances of course for whether the crochet stitch stretches or is firm for an exact fit. I still use this method which is why I never have patterns for some of the garments that I make for myself.I just think of the garment I want to finish up with and work with this method. I like a bit of individuality with my crochet. It's nice to know sometimes that I own the only one of a kind!

Yesterday was rather funny. The neighbours facing me are having a new bathroom suite fitted whilst they are away. The plumbers arranged for a mini skip and proceeded to remove the old bathroom fittings. They broke up the old cast iron bath into 3 pieces and put it in the skip. A white small lorry passed by with tinkers in it. Stopped their lorry and proceeded to take out the bits of cast iron bath from the skip. The plumbers came out with some more bathroom rubble and were looking all around the skip and then up and down the street. it was like Candid Camera. Hey someone has stolen our bath!

Wish That I Could Ride A Motorbike

My friend Sue came to visit me on her fabulous bike. Just check out the paint job.It's at times like these that I wish I could actually ride a motorbike. My ex husband did try to teach me to ride his bike and actually bought me a very small bike but I just could not get the hang of the gears and the clutch. I should explain that my ex was very lacking in patience to teaching me to do anything. He tried to teach me sailing when we had a Topper but he got me so confused by yelling at me all of the time that I almost got off and swam back to shore! Needless to say it was my Father who taught my son the skills of life - like riding a bike. I blame my Father for introducing my son to motorbikes. He used to pay for him to ride the mini motor bikes at the fun fair when he was only small and actually bought him his first off road bike when he was 15. My Dad had been a biker before he got married but had to sell his bike when money got tight and war started. My Mother never let him buy another bike so I think he relived it through my son.

The black crochet has progressed and today I plan to make a paper copy for the sleeves shape as I am changing the pattern from short to long sleeved. I will take a photo later to show you what I mean. I am pressing on to try to get it finished for the weekend as my niece's birthday was the 3rd so it's rather overdue thanks to hairy Buster's visit.

As promised some photos from the Interweave Crochet Magazine Spring 2010. The first is Forest Petals Shawl by Karla McCalmont. I would describe it more as a stole as there is no shaping. Whilst it is very pretty and will appeal to lots of people it is too open for my personal use. I prefer a shawl with warmth as I no longer dress up decoratively for a night out these days.

Flower Power Cushion by Linda Pepmann is very pretty and would liven up a dull sofa

The New Town Swing Sweater by Mandy Moore is appealing to me but mostly because of the colours. It is made in sock yarn so would be a fine crochet project.

The Winkle Vest by Tracy St John is very pretty and looks great from the back. I think that I would have to put some kind of front edging on it as it looks a bit unfinished at the front. It seems to be a trend these days not to put borders on things but I find that the fronts stretch downwards in wear without some kind of support even if it is just a row of double crochet.

The Abalone Shell by Kira Dulaney is a sweet little top but more suited for a flatter chested lady than myself. I would have to put some bust short rows in to accommodate my larger chest.

The red wrap over top also has a pseudo wrap over at the back. Lucine Tunic by Robin Chachula.I think this is one that my niece could possibly like but not sure about it for myself.

The cardigan in blocks is Devon Cardigan by Margaret Hubert. The style is pretty classic but at my age I am not sure about making one front half and half. It kind of reminds me of something that I would make when I ran out of the main wool. But then I am not fashion conscious and younger ladies have different tastes.

The beige sleeveless top is Kristy Cardigan by Dora Ohrenstein and is a lovely little top for the slim. I think this is a possibility for my younger uber slim niece. She suits cap sleeves and a slim body shape.

The Wisteria Shawl by Kristen Omdahl is very decorative but brings out my phobias about linking circular motifs together. Over the years I have tried many times and never seem to link them up right when I am crocheting them together. One day I will conquer this phobia and manage something with circles.

There are lots more items in the magazine including a child's shorter version of the Doris Chan cover cardigan that is already on my list of things to make.There is a bag, a shawl with five peaks but as that is Tunisian crochet I will leave it until I master that skill, a flowered headband and clutch bag for a child, a child's dress in blocks of colour, a very openwork dress for a child and a pair of crochet short cafe style curtains. There is a bright motif mat and an afghan in squares but they are set on an angle like crazy paving.

Today is another sunny day although again not the warmest. I need to settle down and get some crochet in today as my friend has asked me to make her a Doris Chan duster coat for her to wear at her daughter's wedding so I need to start that very soon.

Wish That I had an Extra Pair of Hands

I got my copy of the Interweave Crochet Magazine Spring 2010 today in the mail. Hence the blog title. Don't you just love it when magazines turn up as you are never quite sure when they will arrive so it is always a surprise when they do. I will show you more photos from the magazine tomorrow but the front cover is enough to set me off drooling. It is, of course, by Doris Chan and I can't wait to start it.

This is why I need an extra pair of hands as there is still a lot to crochet on my niece's black cardigan although I did crochet 100 grams last night. I still have half of the body to crochet, long sleeves and the closely crocheted band which take ages as it is crocheted through the back loops only.


The shawl has turned out well but if I made it again I would choose slightly finer wool as it doesn't drape as well as the red one did. Nice pattern though and very easy to make. Once you get past the first couple of rows there is only one pattern row to repeat. I added a shell edging as I thought that it looked a bit unfinished on the pattern.


Today is still a lovely day although not quite as nice as the weekend. I did manage to totter up to the village to get a few bits and pieces. I was going to call into the shop that delivers my newspapers to pay my overdue bill when I met my paper girl and she offered to take the money there for me so saving me a lot of extra walking. I saw her on the way back home and she told me that she had taken it in for me and explained that I was overdue because my knees weren't so good. There are still some lovely teenagers around. They get a bad name in the press as I think the press like to print all of the bad things. I am lucky with my neighbourhood children and teenagers. They are all very polite towards me and say Hi and wave to me when I sit near the window crocheting.

I must get the whip out and make myself crochet faster tonight instead of nodding off over the hook as I am prone to do of late. Sign of old age - taking half hour cat naps during the day and early evening! I blame my new painkillers as I used to stay awake more before I started taking them. Still they are a necessary evil. It's either them and nodding off or being in more pain.

I saw a funny sight on the way home from the village. A neighbour's Boxer dog fast asleep on a mini trampoline. He looked very comfy sleeping there in the sunshine and didn't even flicker an eyelid when I walked past. It's a dogs life!

Shawl Drying in the Sun

It's a beautiful sunny day today.Still a bit on the cold side for sitting outdoors but nevertheless a nice day.I have finished the second shawl from the Contemporary Crochet book by Sys Fredens. This one is called the Shell Pattern Shawl and I made it from 4 x 100 grams of Sirdar Gemini Brushed Chunky.As the wool came from an old lady's stash is smelt a little musty so I have washed it and it is drying on the line. A good blow will get rid of any lingering odours.This shawl is for my niece Vic.

Today I have been out in the garden trying to mow the lawn. I have managed to cut the middle but the edges got the better of me and I couldn't get down to the bottom layer of the garden at all as the steps are so steep.. A lot of people on my street have a gardener who comes every couple of weeks or so and mows the lawn and gives the place a bit of a tidy. I think that he would have to give me an estimate for clearing it up first before it gets to the manageable state. Realistically speaking I am not going to be able to mow the lawn or take care of anything until I get my knees sorted out and it is nice to look out onto something tidy rather than a wilderness which is what it will become if it doesn't get mowed regularly. I would like a bit of colour out there with some flowers as well.

I managed to restart the black crochet last night and did a couple of rows. The trouble with crocheting shawls with thick wool and huge hooks is that when I return to 'normal' crochet it felt like sewing thread and a tiny hook when in fact it was a 4mm hook and double knit. I expect that I will get back into the rhythm of it soon.

I have just closed my patio doors even though it is sunny as I had a huge bee come in and it took forever to find it's way out again. I am allergic to bee stings so try to give them a wide berth wherever possible.

Start Of Another Shawl

As you can see I still haven't returned to the black crochet. I will give myself a stern talking to and get back to it before long. I am in the mood for shawls at the moment. My elder niece saw this shawl in the Contemporary Crochet book and said that she liked it. I didn't have any pale grey as on the pattern in stash so I am hoping that this brushed cream chunky will be a substitute.

I keep thinking that I should make something for my younger niece but she is a lover of all things subtle and quite dark and most of the stash that I am working with doesn't seem to be 'her' kind of colours. I will get my elder niece to run her eyes over what I have and see if there is anything that she thinks is suitable as she is more in tune with her sister's taste than I am. I don't see much of my younger niece as she lives in London.

My mind is buzzing with so many projects that I have seen in my latest books that I can't seem to crochet fast enough for me. I am always thinking about the next project. Planning things is half the fun isn't it. Wondering which pattern to chose and which colour and then just when I get it sorted I look on Ravelry and there is something else that I like. No wonder my mind whirrs sometimes. I can almost hear the crochet brain cells working overtime. Plus it doesn't help when I keep falling asleep over my crochet in the evenings. Just recently I lose an hour or so of crocheting time through nodding off in the chair.

Today has been a lovely warm summery day. I have been sitting out in the garden in between pegging out washing when the washer stops and reloading it with another load. Nothing spells summer more than a line of washing drying in the sunshine. Of course the minute I sit out I can see that the lawn needs mowing and the shrubs need pruning but I have learned that I can only do one thing at once so the gardening will have to be on another day.

Easy Triangular Crochet Shawl

Although this shawl is crocheted in chunky it is very light to wear. The pattern is from Contemporary Crochet by Sys Fredens. I used approx 300 grams of James c Brett Marble chunky and I used a 10mm hook as I found the 12mm hook advised on the pattern to be too bulky for me to hold comfortably.

The shawl in the book is quite plain as you can see in the bottom photo so I decided to add a bit of a border as in my opinion it looked a bit plain. This is for my niece as a compensation for having to give her birthday present so late. I haven't actually done any more crochet on her jacket as I wanted to finish off the shawl first. I have, at least, got it out of it's bag there is every chance of my restarting it tonight.

Yesterday I went to Tesco after the hospital so today my knees need a good rest so maybe I will have a crochet afternoon instead.

Thanks to everyone for your lovely comments. I am so pleased that I had good news to share with you. It was a tough week even though I tried my best not to think about it. I had some funny thoughts running through my mind during that week. Maybe it's my strange sense of humour. I was tidying my basket of hats the other day and was thinking to myself well if I have chemo and loose my hair then at least I have plenty of hats to wear! And another day I said to my niece if anything happens to me make sure that you distribute my wool stash and books. I know it's morbid but I will have to think about these things some day so I have delegated my niece to the task of getting rid of my clothes. wool stash, hooks, needles and books. My son would place no value on them and just throw everything in the bin and as a avid crafter I would have to come back and haunt him if he did that instead of passing them on to someone who would value them. I don't think that it's morbid to talk about these things. I know that when I eventually go to meet my maker I want to know that my wishes are upheld. Far too many people never discuss these things and the family left behind has to make all kinds of decisions as well as dealing with their grief.

Time for Loose Women, a spot of lunch and then I think it's feet up with a bit of daytime TV and my crochet. Yeah this is the life. The housework can wait until the weekend as I have already done my food shopping.

Good News Day

Today I went for more tests after my recall from my routine mammogram. My sister in law came in with me. First I went for a magnified mammogram to bring up the details inside my breast. It was a bit worrying when she started drawing little arrows on my breast with her pen. I got sent back to the waiting room and then got recalled for a further mammogram as they weren't happy with the first one. When I asked what they were looking at the technician said that I had a suspicious mass in my right breast. My heart sank as I went back into the waiting room.

I then got called to see a radiologist who said that I could bring my sister in law in the room with me.He did a breast palpation and then an ultrasound. He went over my breast but kept coming back to one spot and taking a still photo and then he would go over it again. By the time he had taken half a dozen photos of this one area I was starting to get really nervous. He disappeared with these scan photos and then came back a little while later and said the good news is that there is no trace of cancer. The reason that it took so long to do the ultra sound is that my breasts are very lumpy and the tissue is so dense that it is difficult to see through it. I asked what was this suspicious mass that they had seen in the first mammogram and he said it was probably overlaying tissue. I suppose that is like a tuck or crease in the breast tissue when the machine presses down.

Either way I am overjoyed, I have had 3 previous scares with pre cancerous cells in other parts of my body. The last one being my throat when I had my tonsils and uvula removed and the cells in my throat lasered to prevent the cells developing into cancer. I was told then that it was lucky that I hadn't been a smoker or the results would have been far worse. Thank goodness that has never been one of my vices.

Having been so lucky int he past I was praying that this time my luck would not run out. Thankfully I must be blessed because once again I can breathe a huge sigh of relief.

I have progressed somewhat with the red shawl and have taken the black crochet out of hiding now that the dog hair has mostly been banished from the house. I am making another of the Capricious Jacket but this time I am attempting to make it with long sleeves.Hopefully my niece will get it soon. Better late than covered in dog hair!