SAL Wednesday 24/15: It Never Rains ...

Old English Tarot

... but it pours. Let me share with you the list of things that have broken in the last week:

1. Mini Diva's laptop charger. For some who-knows-what reason, they required us to also drop off her laptop for the technicians to look at.

2. Mini Diva's behavior. She hits new pubertal lows. As a result Destructo Boy wants to move out. I do too, but I don't say so out loud.

3. The fridge section of the fridge-freezer that came with the house. I phone the landlady who tells me it's nothing to do with her. I book a repair man for it.

4. The shower. Water comes out fine, but at Arctic temperatures. Landlady agrees to send a repair man. Repair man replaces it.

5. Washing machine packs up. We fix this ourselves - a blocked filter and drain hose. Next time we get a short-haired dog that doesn't moult.

6. Freezer section of fridge-freezer packs up. Oh well, at least we've already got a call in for the repair man. Repair man comes and writes off fridge-freezer, a manufacturing fault, reckons it is about 4 to 7 years old. I use Titch's credit card to buy a new fridge-freezer for next day delivery. Thank you, Titch and thank you AO.com.

We have not yet decided what to do about the old fridge-freezer that the landlady wanted nothing to do with although it's hers. It's on the inventory. As a Zanussi when it is a Hotpoint. If you have advice about this, please share in the comments section.

After all this plus normal chores, I decide to reward myself for my ace survival skillz by finally getting out the sewing machine Titch bought me last year as an early Xmas present when it was on sale in May. I plug it in, I RTFM, I switch it on, I do some straight stitching. I turn the stitch selector dial - and it comes off in my hand, there's a crack in the part that grips the spindle.

I could have wept. And maybe I hid my face in the airing cupboard and did.

So this is what I did after lunch yesterday:

That is the pattern page for Sweet Dreams from The Best of Terry Kimbrough Baby Afghans, a 5.5mm hook, a new ball of King Cole Comfort Baby DK in pale yellow, a COLD gin and tonic, and a handsome gorgeous Sebastian. Note the weather - there's a reason I live here, the driest sunniest part of the British Isles.

If you have made it this far, you too have ace survival skillz, and I salute you. Pop off to Life & Yarn for people with unbroken things ...

FO Friday 23/15: Ruffles

Spiral Tarot

                          









      
So I'm sitting here with the light on as the thunderstorm and intense downpour has rendered it as dark as a bat's cave, wondering about the unseasonal weather - until this week, low temperatures, last week there were gales ... general weirdness.

Luckily for you and me, I took photos of the Ruffles & Stripes baby blanket ages ago:

It's pretty large,  about 43'' by 35'' (110cm x 90cm) and I used most of 6 balls of King Cole Baby Comfort DK, 2 each of White, Pebble and Mink  with a 5.0mm hook. The pattern was another delight from 'The Best of Terry Kimbrough Baby Afghans' . I am pretty chuffed with it, and will shortly be starting another pattern from the same book.

While I rest comfortably on my laurels, by popping FO Friday into Google you will find much more loveliness ....


                           

SAL Wednesday 17/15: Personal Growth

Housewives Tarot

 Ha ! Gotcha !

You should know better than to think I'd be writing some kind of New Agey type of self-development navel-awareness guff.

But I must definitely be turning into a grown-up, as I have managed to control myself and resist temptation for nearly a whole week ! Last Thursday, a package arrived - it had been delayed from the retailer, which didn't matter as that meant I had less time to actually discipline myself:

It sat there like this until yesterday afternoon, because I had promised myself I would finish the ruby baby cardigan before starting anything else. Yesterday morning I bought the final touch for the cardigan, 5 buttons - only to get home and find that the light had deceived me and they totally don't match the yarn. It would have been really unfair and unrealistic, let alone a waste of time, to expect me to sit twiddling my thumbs until after I've bought more buttons, wouldn't it ?

I'm glad we agree. I knew we were friends for a reason.

Ripping open the packaging revealed 6 balls of King Cole Baby Comfort DK, lovely soft quality acrylic with good stitch definition and machine-washable to boot - enough to start the 2 baby blankets I want to make; of course, I started with the one that isn't in my queue, the 'Ruffles & Stripes' baby blanket from the 'Best of Terry Kimbrough Baby Afghans' book; it uses US crochet terms, but that's easy once one has made the mental adjustment, and here is what it looks like so far:

Yeah, I know - classic neutral colors, perhaps not especially baby-like, but totally what the Mama will like.

Titch ? 

What about him ? 

Oh, right. In Aberdeen right now, which is almost suitable justice for his actions.

See what other beginnings have been made when you pop over to Life & Yarn ...

FO Friday 150: The Home Stretch

Inner Child Tarot

 

 This week's FO Friday post shows what can be achieved when one sits down and totally ignores one's children and chores really tries to get something done. Being able to tune out loud squabbles and desperate pleas for food and clean clothes (I find earplugs helpful in this regard) allowed me to practice my concentrational skills, and thus I have a trio of finished projects to show off to you today.

First, I turned this vintage Lee Target Baby Cardigan

 

Into this:

 

I used skinny needles (2.75mm and 3.00mm) and 1 ball of skinny King Cole ZigZag sock yarn in Burgundy; in spite of its generous meterage (448m/493yds) you may recall that I ran out with about 1 inch of neck border to go; an appeal for leftovers on Ravelry was unsuccessful within the required time frame, so I caved and bought a whole new ball. If I recover from my sulk, I may turn the remaining 99% into a shawl. Or something.

While the baby cardigan was in its Time Out, I sprinted on with Mini Diva's School Cardigan for Grade 6; I have since gathered that this is a Retro rather than a Vintage pattern (it isn't old enough to be vintage yet):

 

Four balls of nameless black acrylic later (don't judge me, I know how hard she is on her clothes, and Winter is Coming, Jon Snow, when it is difficult to get heavy woolly clothes dry; even if you are kind and give me the benefit of the non-existent doubt, of course, that I would also be hand-washing such an item) and we have this practical and toasty tunic/cardigan:

 
 Because I'm good at full disclousre, here is the bottom half showing the crookedyish pockets:

I promise, they do not look quite as wonky in real life and normal light. Really.

 And then I figured I'd better get round to making a baby hat for the Nephew (August 2013 Edition) with the leftover yarn from the Striped and Cabled Baby Sweater:

 It was lovely to work with the King Cole Baby Comfort DK again, it is so smooth and soft. It took me an afternoon and evening to make this, so it genuinely deserves its name: Emergency 1 Day Hat. A great, simple, free pattern that looks way better in all the other project photos.

Yes, yes, yes, all right, I get it - don't skimp quite as much on the yarn for Mini Diva's next sweater. A mistake is only a mistake if you don't learn from it, right ?

There is one more thing that has been completed just this morning, but it is not mine to share yet. Yes, I am rather good at tantalizing, aren't I ?

 

Hanson-Roberts Tarot

Pop over to Tami's Amis to see the round-up of good stuff ....

WIP Wednesday 153: Stripes But No Stars

Whimsical Tarot

Summer is here with a vengeance - so this is just a quick post in between bouts of slathering myself with vanilla body butter to try and offset the slight ... tan ... I got yesterday at Destructo Boy's Sports Day. I'll be fine though, I will soon go brown. Had it been my DH in the broiling sun for that length of time, he'd be setting off the smoke alarm just like his carbonized toast does.


While the Lee Target Vintage Cabled Baby Cardigan sulks in a corner ... Well actually no, you're totally right, it is me sulking, as the stallholder where I bought the yarn from is on holiday until next week meaning I cannot buy the yarn to complete the project.

But you'll be glad to hear that I have been sulking productively at least. Using King Cole Comfort Baby DK - which is super dooper soft and squooshy - I have got quite to the end of the stripey baby sweater:

Mini Diva thinks I should have used a paler/lighter/more pastel blue, but I quite like this. And I shall leave it to you to spot the mistake design feature:

Yes, I guess I could have frogged it and re-done it. But it is colorwork and I used like 4 separate balls of yarn in each row or something and so there are lots of joins of color and twists and things and OK I admit it, I am simply too lazy to cope with the hassle: bite me.

Pop on over to see rather more perfection at Tami's Amis .....