Bearly Pyjamas

I finally finished the bear’s jim jams this evening.  When I started adding the vertical stripes in chain stitch with a crochet hook I remembered why when I’d done one of these before I said I’d never do another one.  I wouldn’t mind but I cheated this time too and used one variegated yarn instead of two separate colours.  Oh, and then there was my bright idea of sewing the jacket together before adding the stripes so I could get rid of the loose ends.  Yes, that worked really well until I got to the sleeves and then didn’t have room to maneuver the crochet hook so ended up doing them in chain stitch with a sewing needle.

Speaking of ends, there was also a couple of those to get rid of…

and here’s the finished article…

yes, I know there seems to be some slight difference between the top and bottom but the bottoms do need shirring elastic added – quite a bit by the look of it!

And as it’s the 20th we have the photos of the view from the front of our house…

Right

Middle

Left

 

 

Yesterday it was a completely different story and although it was cold it was quite sunny most of the day – but I resisted the urge to cheat.

I’m feeling generally better – I made it to armchair yoga on Tuesday and then basically slept when I got home, waking up only for the phone, tea, a shower and then to go to bed.  Yesterday I had a big nap late morning and then took Bud for a little mooch in the wood and today I’ve been napless.  I’ve also gotten more of my appetite back today – requesting chicken in black bean sauce for tea which I cooked myself, much to B’s relief!  And my temp has been staying in the low 37s celsius or just over 98.6 fahrenheit.

Oh and while I’m on a roll with the photos here’s some things I got last weekend…

flowers from my Auntie Ann

flowers from a neighbour and…

a hole courtesy of…

Bud and his accomplice Kong.  We both stood at the top of the stairs on Saturday after he’d cast it down the stairs and watched it bounce off the laminate and POW a hole in the lining paper – the lining paper which I thought was such a good idea to use on the radiator cabinets instead of the wooden grille supplied. It’s just as well I still haven’t dismissed the idea of redecorating!

Other creative spaces can be found here.

The kindness of strangers

Here are the 84 squares that brings my total Share a Square squares (facebook group) for this year to 150.  Shelly was struggling to get squares from enough different people so just bear in mind that even one square makes a difference – any worsted/aran 100% artificial yarn (due to allergies) in any pattern as long as they are EXACTLY 6 inches.

All the squares I’ve done previously have been sent with the tags separate, as wonder woman Shelly will laminate the tags and attach them, but I thought I’d see if the local print shop (I thought it had closed but it had changed hands) did this kind of thing.  Now I know that the cost of getting them laminated in Texas is very, very reasonable so I was a little taken back at the cost for 88 tags (four extra just in case of boo-boos).  However I decided that the extra cost on my part was well worth the saving of Shelly’s time.

While the guy in the print shop was seeing how many he could get on each A4 sheet I felt the need to tell him what they were for.  Basically because I knew if I was in his place I would be close to bursting wondering what they were – particularly as these ones had this picture of Bud on them.

When I returned to collect them later I only needed to hand over one of the notes clutched in my grubby little hand as the lovely man in the shop had reduced the bill by about a third because of what they were for.   Therefore I can heartily recommend the services of Triprint in St Helens.

I had envisaged labelling my squares last night and getting them in the post today however between too much gassing with a friend last night and not enough tagging (I missed an opportunity there to get her tagging as she is one of my few – able to poke in person with a short stick – crafty friends) and me needing to get out of the house this afternoon after I’d had to leave Bud with the Doggy Dermatologist this morning (when I wasn’t expecting to and the house being so empty when I got home) this is how they still looked this evening…

More of Bud’s appointment to follow – it included two shaved bits, two stitches, blood tests, sedation and an Oscar winning performance in the waiting room – and that was just me! Just kidding, it was Bud that provided the show.

And in a photo worthy of Lorna’s ‘What’s That Friday’ I have managed this knitting over the past two weeks…

Can you tell what it is yet?  No!  I’m not surprised as neither can I!

With regard to THAT blood condition I didn’t in fact get my appointment brought forward so we go to the Royal in the morning.  I have felt generally better this week than last – not right (nobody say a word) but definitely improved.
Other Creative Spaces can be seen here.

Little cardys on the table, little cardys made of yarn and stuff

Firstly thank you for all the comments this week, actually just thank you for all the comments – my sister in law has told me I should reply more and although I am a bit rude in this respect I do read and cherish each and every one.   ‘Put that bucket down it wasn’t that soppy.’  I am feeling somewhat better today.  I had a kip (nap) after a tiny bit of shopping (whilst B hoovered – so I was well away) and I’ve generally only felt tired/fatigued really as opposed to unwell plus my temp seems to have maintained a respectable level.  

I may not have a new creative space (it’s currently still got the scrap quilts from last week all over it and knitting hasn’t hit a production high) so I thought I’d share these little jackets I made for the South Africa consignment via our GP’s receptionist (I really need to find a way to shorten that).

I wanted a quick cardigan pattern but something that could be un-problematically sized up – the five hour cardi pattern I used last year was more matinee style so, for me, didn’t size up well for older children.  I found Garter Yoke Baby Cardi, which I think is more jackety and would look just as good on a toddler as a baby.

I completed four.  One in Snuggly 4ply with novelty yarn trim…

One in double knitting…

This one has I-cord trim on the buttonhole border and I think is probably my favourite.  Here’s the back…

Another is in the remnants of the recent aran crocheting binge…

B liked this one best and picked it to be entered in the Rainford Show, which was fortunate as the one in Snuggly DK, with shell buttons, which he nearly went for…

 

 

 

 

 

had a little boo boo on the sleeve…

it may not be easy to tell from that pic (or it may be glaringly obvious) but I apparently gained an extra stitch leaving a hole!  It has since had a little TLC and it didn’t leave a scar.)  Oh, the shame!!!!!!!  (

But then again, look at this from the Early Autumn 2011 issue of Designer Knitting (previously Vogue Knitting)…

A missed cable on the sleeve and a wrong way cable at the bottom front. Now fair do’s if I’d done it for myself I probably (definitely) wouldn’t have undone (frogged?) the whole front to redo that cable but the one in the sleeve!  Plus if it was to appear in a magazine I would have… cut the sleeve out of the pic and put something over the one at the bottom!

Oh and I forgot to mention yesterday what B said to me on Monday (other than asking me if I wanted a jam butty sandwich – we were short on groceries – jam butty being the same thing as jam sandwich, in case you wondered, and I declined).  I was talking to B and I do have to repeat myself a LOT but Monday instead of ‘What Paula?’ he says ‘What Mum?’

‘WHAT MUM?’ WTF!?!?!?!?!?!?!

‘What darling?’ I said – or words to that effect.

‘Nuffin!’

‘Yeah, right!!!!!  Is that because I’ve been a whinging pain in the a*se the last few days?’

He just laughed.

Other Creative Spaces can be found here.

 

Scrappy Squarey Doh!

In answer to Fiona‘s question from yesterday as to ‘WHAT HAPPENED’ with the m-i-l and B at the doctors.  I didn’t know at the time I popped it on my blog as their appointment was only 16:00 so I was on tenterhooks as to the outcome. Well the GP ‘lol’ed at the note, and then B asked for it – so I was confronted with B extracting the note from his pocket and reading out ‘Bernard has the retention quality of a distracted three year old unless it involves pretty women.’  To which I said ‘Hey it could have been worse I was going to say Page 3.’  Needless to say it was the running theme of numerous comments between then and him going to work.

With regard to the m-i-l, my behind is safe from being exposed to shoppers, as the ‘fungal infection’ was a just a big fat nail that needed filing.  {smug expression}

So to my creative space this week – it’s a bit of a tip, but better a creative mess than neat un-productivity (or something like that).

On the ironing board is a backing for a quilt whilst on the window ledge is 83 Share a Square squares…

Which brings me up to 149 with the total requested from any participant being 150.  I had a bit of trouble with my 150th.

Its one and one quarter rounds short of a full square – I must have been over generous with the tails on the last batch.

Fortunately I found this novelty yarn and with some creative usage (and a tail of about two inches left of it – phew) I managed to finish square 150.

The quilt backing is for some scrap quilts I must have started at least three years ago.  I did finish the top for one…

but since I had all these left from dresses I’d made years before (my Great Auntie Bet always told me to save excess material just in case the garment needed a repair in the future – what I don’t know – but she was alive during WWII rationing and so on numerous occasions was able to show me that a pattern positioning was wasteful and if I did, this, that and that I’d have plenty left over) and since they are in the main lovely crepes I’d hung onto them, even past the expiry of some of the dresses.

All I managed to do yesterday was fill the 3′ x 4′ backing with pieces…

Yes I know they need a serious pressing but they have been screwed up in a box for a long time.  I thought if I could get them finished this weekend they could go to South Africa with the other stuff I’ve given to our GP’s receptionist.  We’ll see.

I have an appointment at the Royal this afternoon regarding the numbness in my forearm, that’s still there, and I also have a numb bit on the right side of my chin and an intermittent numbness to the pad of my left thumb!  I’m going with a friend and I forgot to ask if there’d be eating out involved.  Doh – I must get my priorities right!

Other Creative Spaces can be found here.

Rainford Show – already!

Can you believe that it’s already 12 months since our last village show and despite me having kept the trophy I jointly won last year here for the last 12 months…

 

 

 

as seen entering the hall/dining room from the side door and kitchen

as seen entering the dining hall from the front porch and it, obviously, being fully visible when walking down the stairs or indeed in and out of the lounge I still hadn’t got round to returning it.

We had a lovely visit from Lorna and Mike last week with cupcakes and not so lovely courgettes (blahhhhhh) – actually if they’d brought three I could have entered them in the show.  Despite one being almost the size of a marrow I couldn’t pass it off as one as they apparently need to be 16 inches! Anyhoo, Lorna asked if I would be entering this year’s show and I said yes if I hadn’t been blacklisted for not returning the trophy so the co-winner could have it for the second half of the year – she had said I could keep it for the full year as she’d kept it on top of a cupboard and put stuff in it but I wasn’t convinced she meant it.  So when I called at the doctors’ today I stopped by the library too and picked up this…

 

Just the book not the knitting, that came later, and I’ve phoned the lady responsible for the Domestic Section (ah yes, domestic – that’s me all over – it also includes Confectionery and Preserves) and I can return the trophy on Saturday when I drop off my entries for this year.

So on my sewing table at the moment I have this pile to sort through…

The sections I’ve decided to enter are cross stitch picture, handmade toy, knitted garment, crochet item.  There’s no limit to the number of items you can enter in the categories I’ve picked! Ohhhh I’m so excited!  I excluded scrapbook page 12″ x 12″ and handcrafted greetings card. I think I should just about find enough to enter but I have started a new handmade toy as well.  I mean there’s £2.50 at stake for first prize and the radiator cabinet looks bear without the trophy! (It’s currently undergoing a pre-award ceremony pampering session.)

Other ‘Domestic Section’ type creative spaces can be viewed here.

With regard to my trip to the GP this morning (where I babbled like a cranked up three year old rather than kept it to the point) it turns out that the area of altered sensation in my forearm relates to C7 – no worries there then as the loosening is C6 – right? Wrong I got my number wrong – I double checked my blog entry from February and indeed I had initially been told C7 but had somehow transformed that to C6 between then and now.  My GP was able to confirm it was C7 by looking at the x-ray report from February on her computer (remember the one that ‘wasn’t on file’ at the hospital on Tuesday).  So long story short (I really babbled and repeated myself) my lovely GP is faxing a letter to the Prof at the Royal today about doing an MRI on the relevant vertebra and should I get any pain or weakness in the meantime I have to contact them immediately.  She did say that the vertebra could just be irritating the nerve or it could even be a local, non-myeloma related problem round the elbow.

When I went in I said that I’d come for some peace of mind and after it all she said ‘Have I made it worse?’

The thing is she hadn’t.  If at the hospital on Tuesday they’d x-rayed my cervical spine and said ‘There’s nothing new showing, sod off and only come back next week if it’s still numb’ I would have quite merrily tottered off and enjoyed a good night’s sleep.  But I left with doubts and I know a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and this is why I ask questions to satisfy my naturally extremely curious nature because at the end of the day I’m a typist not a hema, haemer – a blood doctor and when I do ask questions I want to receive an answer that sufficiently satisfies my enquiring mind!

Sporty Ephipany

 

I went to Armchair Yoga on Tuesday and during the relaxation at the end I had an ephipany.  Now I have to admit that at some point shortly after relaxing hands/feet/calves, generally whatever the second body part is, I drift off, not necessarily to sleep, although that has happened, but off somewhere.  On Tuesday I drifted off to thoughts of what kind of baby blanket I could do for the new MALE family member and a huge light bulb of inspiration when off.

The new member’s mummy is an avid Saints fan (the local Rugby League team) – so much so she once went to a book signing by a popular (I think that also means attractive) member of the team and narrowly avoided having someone call the authorities in case she’d escaped from her carer – having been rendered completely incoherent just by being in the same room.

So this is the team home strip…

as modelled by er, urm, owwwww, I should know who that is and I don’t!  No-one tell my Auntie Ann!  Promise?  Okay then, back to the blanket.

Traditionally the red ‘V’ was much more pronounced – just so you know for when you see my interpretation…

I also have these little embellishments to add…

And this is my third and final strip of squares…

I’ve had to be very careful with the stripey squares as the local rival team play in cherry and white in the form of hoops so I couldn’t do the stripes too wide in case someone set fire to the blanket!

Other creative spaces can be found here.

Crocheting with Hugh Grant

Thanks to Hugh Grant I finished my Mystery Blanket on Tuesday morning.  Okay let me expand on that.  No, he didn’t call round for a cuppa and say ‘Here pass that over I’ve have the edging done in no time’.   Basically I think he is a horse’s ar…er, rear end and avoid films with him.  I know he appeals to some people, obviously, and I pass no judgement on your mental state if you are one of these poor, sad individuals.  I however find him extremely irritating.  That said last Wednesday I found myself watching a film with him in completely by accident.

I needed to stay up until quarter to twelve to take some tablets and some visiting friends left at eleven because one had to work the following day and one had to golf so I found a film (Extreme Measures) to watch which wasn’t my usual cup of tea.  It was medical (something I tend to avoid on the telly and always have) and Hugh Grant – he was a surprise as he wasn’t mentioned him on the information.  Having taken my tablets we retired to watch the rest in bed, well to be honest Bud wasn’t too interested in it since there was no barking, growling, etc.

As it turned out it was actually quite good and I ended up watching it all before I nodded off.  So Gene Hackman (who I like) tells Hugh that he’s paralysed due to a fracture at his sixth vertebra severing his spinal cord.  I’m lying there thinking ‘There’s more than one number six in the spine, it’s not necessarily C6’ and then Hugh tells Sarah Jessica Parker (who I can take or leave) that the fracture is at C6 – DOH!

So what the heck has this got to do with my crocheting.  Well on Saturday afternoon I started getting a pain in my left shoulder/back area made worse when I attempted to iron.  On a scale of one to ten let’s just say it was noticeable.  I popped some paracetamol and 60mg of codeine and in light of watching said film and having some loosening at C6 I sat down on the settee and took it easy for the rest of the day by crocheting.  It was tons better on Sunday though I stuck to the crocheting and when I went for a free massage on Monday (four free massages at the local oncology centre with every relapse – there has to be some perks) the aromatherapist did say that there was a knot in the muscle.  From my experience with L3 which started 10 months before it actually collapsed I still currently have full range of movement and no ‘Help, I can’t get off the toilet.  I hope B is home from work soon’ muscle spasms.  It’s not bothering me enough that I would make a specific trip to the Royal but I will mention it when I go on Tuesday.

 And that’s how Hugh Grant helped me get my blanket finished and here it is… 

Would I do a mystery blanket again?  No.  It was a bit pricey to do more than once and while I do like it’s more decorative than snuggly and a bit smaller at 89cm/35″ wide x 142cm/56″ long  than other blankets/throws I’ve previously made and a tad heavy, in my opinion, to display on a wall.

If I had seen the completed design as a pattern would I have attempted it?  No.

Am I glad I did it? Yes, my crocheting has improved a lot and there are a number of different techniques in there that I probably wouldn’t have tried like beading – which I really, really liked and would do again.

The designer, once again, is Jane Crowfoot and next year’s blanket, although I haven’t seen the hint shots yet, will be more feminine and lacy and involve less sewing up and presumably less ends to weave in.  I lost count after 100 but I don’t think there can have been much less than 1,000!

Other Creative Spaces can be found here – don’t know if Hugh helped anybody else out.

Creative Space with Crochet

I have a cold.  It started with a sore throat yesterday morning and worked its way up to include a snotty nose by the afternoon.  So today I am imitating an Alaskan sled dog, except not a large sexy one that could make extra money from an over 18 phone line, no, I got the runt of the litter – B has to turn the TV down to hear me (at least I know for once he’s listening) and I think Bud’s finding it really creepy as he keeps looking at me in a startled manner when I talk.

I also have this week a Creative Space on a Thursday – ohhhhhhhh!

Whilst my cross stitch was drying last night I got my Mystery Crochet Club blanket out, this proved a good choice for this morning too as I had a coldy headache and didn’t fancy attempting to concentrate on attaching the tiny beads to the Spring Queen.

So here’s what’s new since last time…

and yes you may have noticed, and it’s not escaped me either, that those four corner squares have an alarming number of ends to weave in!

I thought the patterns were over 10 or 12 months however it turns out they are only over six.  Now I’ve just started March, by adding the last bit of the corner squares and starting the piece with the triangles on it on the top left, so I’m not too sure if there only being six means I’m more or less behind! Ermmmm, so if it was 12 and I’d done 2.27945 months that would be well, er, um, but it’s six so that would be, oh, if I just pick up the crochet hook instead I’ll have March finished by the time I work it out!

Other Creative Spaces are here.

Cross Panel Ironing

This week my creative space comprises…

 

a crumpled looking cross stitch (that would be because, Lorna, I don’t use a hoop as  it slows me down)

a fence panel I painted today and for which I got chastised by B as he had expressly forbid me to paint any of them, and

the corner of my sewing room is ironing free!  It had to be done, I think the hankies had started breeding.  That Levis Strauss bag has been there since March and I haven’t, as yet, mithered B about moving it – as yet.  Once the baskets are back in the garage I might have to start.  The ironing board is back in the cupboard for the first time since early February.  I won’t lie I didn’t do it all, B said I didn’t need to do his works T-shirts so I didn’t, however I did tell him not to take his sweat shirt off at work.

AND Bud has had two walks today since I was up early-ish we were both breakfasted and walked by 9:40 – that’s AM.

However it is now 17:38 and I’m already showered and in my jim jams, but that’s okay because we’re only having soup for tea as B has been for a tooth filled, so when I sit down later if I keel over for a sleep I won’t be creasing anything that will need ironing.

Other creative spaces are here.

What’s the fuss about felt tips?

Tuesday I needed a short sleeved top to wear to the hospital for access to my PICC line.  For some reason…yeah some reason, like I don’t know, I have a limited number of tops, short or long sleeved.  The reason being I put weight on so buy the minimum required until I get back to being a size 8-10 bottom and size 12 top (due to my manly back and not my womanly front).  I of course anticipate this happening by putting in about 0.5% of the effort Lorna has put into her Thinning Thursdays.  I also anticipate getting a six pack of abs without even looking at a crunch from the corner of my eye – now Crunchies are another story completely.

Anyhoo back to Tuesday.  I did have one top stored in my very, very casual pile eg, for pottering round in the garden and painting.  It had been moved to this pile a couple of weeks ago after a spillage of tomato pasta sauce hadn’t washed out.

Okay you can’t really see the five tomato marks on that pic because they are quite small but they are there – trust me.

So I decided to adorn the top with five additional flowers with their centres covering the stains.  Ta-da! (I couldn’t spell voila.)

It now looks like this again…

Okay for the eagle eyed pics one and three are more than supciously alike, they are indeed the same.  I didn’t anticipate sharing my endeavour into textile design however my creative space is still filled mainly with orange otherwise.

I would also like to say I don’t know what all the fuss is about children and felt tip pens as we can clearly see from the above, if you draw on clothes with them it just washes off!

Other creative spaces are here.