It's Crochet, Knit & Natter 9: So Many Projects, So Little Time. (Oh well - I almost made it rhyme!)

[Fairislefandango]

A thread for woolly crafters of all types and levels.
Previous thread here

Hello all and welcome @CrimsonAlligator and @Sirzy . Beautiful work both of you.

@Fairislefandango sorry you've been ill.

I finally caught covid, having avoided it completely. I didnt feel overly ill, just very tired and unable to concentrate on anything. As in 4 crochet stitches and that was out it for a few hours. So of course the nativity set is even further behind now.

And I had to miss the Christmas trip mum and I had planned. So her and the DC went without me. Then i couldn't see my Grandad who is visiting for (pre) Christmas. (He lives in Cornwall, we're in Reading). But then he fell down the stairs and broke his hip so is now in my local hospital for at least a week. No idea what's going to happen after that as none of us have houses that are set up for old people recovering from surgery.

crochetbug oh no, do any local care homes offer respite care? Hope you find something suitable for him soon.

@Sirzy I think that's what we're going to go for. There's a lovely one round the corner from the hospital, Mums going to look into how funding would work, if he can even get any!
I'm so glad that's her job not mine!

Of course it also depends what Grandad actually wants to do. I've offered to go home with him, but I can't drive so he might not take me up on that. (My mum would rather have my teens move in than her Dad. They are less demanding )

That’s amazing @Sirzy . I’m no doubt going to sound completely ignorant here, but I didn’t even know that you could use crochet like that.

Sorry to hear about your grandad @CrochetBug That sounds very stressful and worrying.

I finished my first fingerless mitt, minus the thumb this weekend. I could have made much more progress if I hadn’t spent hours planning my next projects and “researching” wool options. Buying wool should really be a separate hobby 😂

Oh dear - that sounds tricky @CrochetBug . Your poor grandad!

Buying wool should really be a separate hobby 😂

Ummm... you mean it isn't?! I definitely thought it was .

Mum sent me this and it seems appropriate at this point in the conversation.

Grandad is "fine" apparently they want to send him to a hospital nearer where he lives. I believe the NHS in Cornwall is better funded than here so he'll be better off.

That would be fabulous CrochetBug but would only feed our addiction.

Fab idea crochetbug. Imagine if they’d just let you pet hold the yarn for a bit...that would be enough for me 😁

Yarn truck
I want a yarn café. Part yarn shop, part café, part knit/crochet and natter group.

Morning all. Today is a difficult day - one of our two cats had to be put to sleep last night, after an ultrasound showed he was basically riddled with cancerous tumours. Any treatment would have been invasive and unpleasant with no hope of any significant improvement, so the only thing I could do for him was let him go peacefully. He was only 18 months old.

Lots of crochet for me today - need to keep my hands and mind busy.

So sorry to hear your sad news @QuantumWeatherButterfly sending love

Sorry for your loss @QuantumWeatherButterfly . Sending yarny hugs.

Oh that’s so sad Quantum I’m sorry for your loss

quantum so sorry for your loss

Thanks, everyone - it means a lot. Luckily I have my WIP cactus toy that needs an embroidered face, then sewing up and stuffing, none of which are things I am experienced with, so that should keep me occupied - plus it will cheer up DD too.

Sorry about your cat @QuantumWeatherButterfly it’s horrible loosing a pet but hopefully your crochet keeps you occupied.

Sorry for your loss @QuantumWeatherButterfly

So sorry to read your update @QuantumWeatherButterfly . That’s heartbreaking 😢

I'm sorry to hear about your cat @QuantumWeatherButterfly . I lost my boy cat 6 months ago and I loved him very much. He was young too (3 years) which seemed even sadder.

Oh I'm so sorry @QuantumWeatherButterfly Our old cat died with a big, inopersble tumour, but she was about 14 and died peacefully in her sleep one night, having had no symptoms. It's sad whenever they go, but awful you lost yours so young.

Continuing my quest to actually use up my stash i have made these as Christmas gifts

Sorry to hear about your cat @QuantumWeatherButterfly

They look great @VittysCardigan

Very nice, @VittysCardigan !

I've just plied my alpaca yarn (at last!). It's been soaked and is hanging up to dry. I'm pretty pleased with it!

They're very smart @VittysCardigan

Finally had an evening to get my secret Santa done. I'm rather pleased!

Ah, they are cute, @MerylSqueak, and I love your gifts, @VittysCardigan.

I've set my cardigan to one side while I ponder how many rows of ribbing to do. There are 8 on the cuffs, and so far 4 on the edging. I've found the ribbing to be quite stiff, and at the moment while it is quite thin it sits nicely across the back of the my neck, and I'm worried that it won't if I add any more. But I think down the sides it would look better with another couple of rows. At the moment, I'm thinking I'll add the rows and then I can always take them back if if doesn't sit well.

I'll I've been thinking, I finished a little cactus toy for DD, which I started in February. I made one of the two sides then, and put of doing the second one as I couldn't imagine doing it as neatly twice! However, I powered through and was actually very please. Sadly, the same cannot be said of my stitching up skills - it's very lumpy and uneven. But, DD loves it so that is the main thing.

And finally, I've made good progress with my first ear warmer. I'm using the first bits of yarn from my mum's stash, and treated myself to some of the good stuff, some Sirdar merino. It feels beautiful, but my god it is a nightmare - it is so splitty! I only have one row to go, so hopefully it will be finished tonight. Then I can get back to the ribbing on the cardigan, and that will be done too.

I have done a LOT of crochet this week!