Aches and breaks and a bit of knitting beside

Well, the etsy shop, considering how hastily it was put together went well, I posted out in plenty of time and it's a generally nicer experience from the melee at ebay so I will be restocking soon...

...but not yet.

On Wednesday, when I was planning Friday's dyeing, I heard from my dad that my mum had tripped and broken both bones in her arm. Considering she has thinner bones than she should, it has been a fraught time since, particularly as it threw into sharp focus how ill-equipped my dad was to cope with it all. Still, she's home now, I've ensured that they have enough simple food to reheat to keep the pressure off a bit and they're only half an hour away if I'm needed. It's all fingers crossed that my mum hasn't picked up any infections along the way (as she has been prone to do) but aside from that it's time and rest that's needed now.

The general running around and waiting for phonecalls and the like meant that this week's not really been suitable for dyeing but it has been incredibly useful for knitting....

Before I found out, I managed an incredible THREE knitting groups in one day on Tuesday, the usual two plus Lyndsey took myself and Jo to the Borders group in between. I hadn't actually expected to come back for the last hour at the LYS but it was great fun and with a few new faces there it makes things fresh and different. I also managed the Thursday group because at the time I thought mum'd be in theatre and it was a break from it all.

Rushing around in between meant I needed my rest time so during then and travelling, I picked up the needles, then the sewing needle and mid-Saturday, produced this...


...It's the Wendy pure bamboo tape cardigan that'd been on the needles for a little while. I was having problems reading patterns and this was the perfect antidote, easy to pick up in gaps. Some shaping to remember but in logical increments and mercifully quick stocking stitch sleeves. I spent a chunk of Friday and some of Saturday sewing up and whilst it's a little snug, it will be fine if not buttoned up. Anyway, it's a motivator to lose a little weight before we get the next warm spell whenever that is.

So now, all that is left is to sew on the buttons. Of course, I have copious supplies which I have yet to plunder but I happened across these....

They're 1920's vintage glass buttons that I picked up at Woolfest and they look truly stunning against the yarn BUT there's seven of them and I only need five so I may hunt a little further.

I also cast on my first proper Xmas project yesterday and it's been a very quick knit so far though there's a bit of modification to be worked out on the front...

This is the back, nearly finished of my modified version. For comparison, look at the original.

It's the "Lily of the Valley Shrug" from "Inspired to Knit" by Michelle Rose Orme.

The original was a weeny 13" long and considering this is for my mum and she feels the cold, I've lengthened the back (so far) to a more reasonable 18" so with the border it will be closer to 20", still cropped but a little more wearable. It knits up quickly on 5mm needles which is nice but as the front is knitted sideways, the extra length will need to be added on in extra stitches one end. Hopefully, not rocket science ;-)

Well, as there's no fibre update this Sunday, I can focus my attention to the ebay items finishing later today. There are a number of charity lots as well as my usual de-clutter and so far they'll have raised £24 for the NSPCC in Linda's name so it'll be interesting to see how they actually finish.

My I.D. over there is chris_cheats and I DID say I'd explain why. It comes from a time, years back when I'd had what equated to a breakdown and my memory had more holes than a dutch cheese. I was in a crafting group and we were doing the "naming game" thing where a group try to remember everyones names. You add a single word to your name like " Linda's lippy" or "Freya's feisty" and I wanted to be Chris is crafty but someone else had that. I'm not quite sure who came up with "chris cheats" beacuse I was avoiding the question but it sort of stuck. My name was the most easily remembered (understandably) so it became something that I could remember easily and an in-joke. It hasn't stopped me from building 800+ ratings or acquiring a sizeable stash of goodies so I've never found any reason to change.

Keep your eyes peeled for next weeks fibres, I've got some beauties lined up ready to go when I get the energy to get them dyed. I'll keep the blog updated as and when.