Knit, Crochet and Natter 6: Where there's a wool there's a way

[lazylinguist]

A thread for all woolly crafters, from total beginners to old hands! Previous thread here

Yours still looks smoother than mine, Flavia. I've read a more detailed set of instructions now, and think I was allowing the twist to go up into the unspun fleece. I was having trouble pulling bits away from the fleece iyswim. I will have another go at the weekend when I'm not so busy!

InTheNight

That was merino and it was absolutely hateful to learn with lazy it's very smooth but so slippery! The pinch pull and slide action from your course is what you want.

Another hip hip hooray for @CrochetBug s kidneys 💃🏼😂

@InTheNightWeWillWish that blanket is lovely! Such happy colours! I never went to any classes with mine, my first DS is nearly 4 and my second is 1 in November 😰 so I was pregnant all of lockdown with him and then he was born the day of the second lockdown I think? Maybe third, so there wasn't any classes even if I wanted to!

@lazylinguist how exciting! Another little add on to a hobby! And the course looks great! We don't seem to have anything like that where I live! I'd love to go along to something like that! Get out the house for a day more like!

The blanket looks lovely @InTheNightWeWillWish

I’m not sure I could manage spinning it looks like it needs a bit of coordination

@crochetbug oh my goodness. That must be a lot to take in all in one go. Im glad you have good medical support at least. Hope you're ok ♥

@CrochetBug yay your kidneys! How did you manage that, I wonder? I'm sorry other problems have come to light and hope you get a good idea of the right treatment quickly. It must feel overwhelming. If it's any encouragement, I have several family members with diabetes and some of them manage it just through diet and the others are fine managed by meds.

Thanks for all the support. I love how this is so much more than a knitting/crochet group.

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed today now it's sinking in. All the things I've always been told to eat to lose weight (lots of fruit, lentil etc) seem to be in the "not too often: list for diabetes. It seems low carb and low sugar is needed. So rice, pasta, potatoes, fruit. Added to that I need a high folic acid (as well as having one fussy pescetarian DC, and one meat loving one and a small budget) diet and I'm feeling a bit confused.

I think red meat and spinach are good for folic acid so I could just live on steak and veg
I've got an appointment with the diabetes nurse tomorrow so I'm hoping she can give me some ideas. Other than that I think I'll steal the laptop from DS1 and do some research/spreadsheets which is easier on the laptop than on my phone. I've also got a massive prescription coming. I think I'm on more tablets now than my 87 year old Grandad . But I'm determined to do this. My auntie just won't stick to the guidance and her diabetes is out of control. I don't want to lose my legs (ex dancer) or my eyesight. My SC are too beautiful for that!

Just realised that reads a bit like my auntie has lost those things. She hasn't. But I know it can happen.

Oh and I have no idea how/ why I have Young kidneys. But I'm clinging to that positive and pretending its all down to something I did

I hope it goes well with the diabetes nurse tomorrow @CrochetBug and you get some good support and guidance.

Oh good luck with it all @CrochetBug. The diet stuff is a pain, but I must say that when I went on a low carb diet a few years ago, my appetite (especially for carby and sugary things) genuinely did decrease a lot. And although it's no fun, there's nothing like a health scare for giving you the willpower to stick to healthy habits! I've radically changed my diet twice for urgent health reasons (once for dangerously high bp and once for gallstones). Sending strength and positive vibes your way!

Crochet Bug I low carb and I agreed appetite does go down a lot. There's loads of helpful information in the spreadsheets on BIWI's low carb bootcamp. Maybe you could follow one or join if it seems appropriate after your meeting.

Thanks again. I've done slimming World before and the cravings for sugary and processed foods did go away. So I guess it it will be the same with carbs! I was looking at a low carb thread earlier so I'll check it out.

Anyway. I'm major league merailing this thread. Sorry!

Nonsense- like you say, it's more than just a knitting/crochet thread! Besides, most of us have had a little derail episode on here at some point. I've definitely had several .

Anyway. I'm major league merailing this thread. Sorry!

I can post my dogs again and bring it back to me? I’ve not posted about them for about two pages…

I feel like I've had more than my fair share @lazylinguist but if people don't mind then back to me....
Only joking.

@InTheNightWeWillWish please do. I'm not a dog lover. As in i wouldn't want one. But they are cute. Here's my friends beautiful boy that we went out with this week. We've planned to make it a regular weekly thing to help us both with our MH and exercise regimes!

Here’s the little bugger at the weekend. He’s a little bugger as I was doing tea the other day and he grabbed the broccoli as I took it out the fridge and took a huge bite out of it! With the need for low carb at the minute and hormones, there was a fair bit of crying over him eating my broccoli! I suppose it’s a good thing that he likes his veg 🤷‍♀️ Plus, with that face it’s quite hard to stay mad at him. We were at a show and despite horses running past him in the background he mostly lay down and went to sleep. So I suppose pinching the broccoli is preferable to him being naughty near horses who are running at full speed (it’s horse boarding in the background, so that’s a horse with a rider and someone attached to a skateboard at the back).

My OH was diagnosed with diabetes back in February, it's one of the reasons we've ended up with a puppy ( neatly tying two thread diversions together ). He did the Michael Moseley thing for 8 weeks, and went for a walk daily and dropped 15 kg. In three months he'd sorted his blood sugars out, his levels are now back in normal range. But walking everyday he thought it would be nice to have a four legged friend to come along.

Of course puppy has seriously curtailed my crocheting but I tend to do less in the summer anyway. Her duck is amazingly still in one piece,

I’m a bit like you with dogs @CrochetBug I love the cute pictures but wouldn’t want to own one.

You couldn’t stay mad for long @InTheNightWeWillWish!

I don’t usually buy knitting magazines but I was tempted by this months “Knit now” for the peanuts knit kit. I’m going to make the Rowan jumper pattern in it too but will need to get some different yarn as it would be about £90 if I used the Felted Tweed.

Did he pay for the membership for the Michael Mosely thing @tizwozliz? I looked at it earlier and will be utilising the free bits . I'm not allowed a dog even if I wanted one but will stick to taking Merlin out with my friend. I guess I could crochet some tiny leads for the turtles but they'd prefer to go for a swim I think

Such cute puppers. I want to boop that(those) schnoop(s) as my DC say.

That jumpers lovely @NiceCardigan. I bought a magazine a few years ago to make a cardigan. Then priced up the recommended yarn and it would cost about £100 . So I bought much cheaper stuff, which wasn't all the same thickness despite all being aran (or maybe DK I can't remember). But it worked and i get loads of compliments when I wear it.

@CrochetBug - no, he bought a couple of books off Amazon, one was the science background and one was recipes. The recipe one is pretty good, it felt like we were eating really well just quite differently. It took a bit more effort but it didn't feel like deprivation ( although I had my own chocolate stash )

Ok, joining in the canine derail... I'm relieved today because my massive wuss of a dog actually managed to have his booster vaccinations! The local vet failed to do it last week, because chumpdog is so scared that he shakes, froths, growls and lunges at her (muzzled). Cue 30 min drive to bigger branch today, where Gary the chilled supervet did it in about 20 seconds no probs!

No remorse on this face.

I found this site @CrochetBug yarnsub.com/yarns/rowan/felted_tweed_dk which gives alternatives and how well they match the original.

The duck is hanging on in there @tizwozliz

Definitely no remorse @lazylinguist!

I just switched for the same weight in a different fibre. I think the original was merino or something. I used an acrylic/cotton blend instead.

I'm glad your pup got his booster @lazylinguist. My friend got a call when we were out to say there was a shortage and Merlins was cancelled until January
Although it could be a totally different jab. I don't know what dogs have!

Yeah probably different ones. Our neighbour's cat is called Merlin. Our cat is younger and is friends with him (I didn't previously know cats had cat friends!), so the neighbours refer to ours as 'the sorcerer's apprentice ' .