Crafty stuff
I promised crafty stuff, so here is some crafty stuff…
Exhibit A:
(because all the best photos of knitted footwear show the feet in the air… )
Jessica is a second-hand doll, bought by Grandma for Ruth to play with when she visits. She appeared with collapsing plastic shoes (this is not some fancy fashion footwear for dolls – they were simply falling apart) so I was commissioned to make new ones. I skipped church on the Sunday morning (shhh) and made these from scratch using some Trekking XXL (I was “between socks” with the neverending pair). It’s the kind of knitting I love – just sit down and make something up without a pattern. And I’m very proud of these – they are a useful little sampler for a number of techniques, including the Figure-Eight Toe I’m even more chuffed that although obviously fraternal, the striping is more-or-less the same.
Exhibit B:
Sunrise Circle Jacket
I was steaming along with this until I realised that disaster had struck – the big bag of extra yarn that I had put aside to take with us was still at home… Anyway, I finished the ball I had, and am nearly through the left front.
Exhibit C:
For this I hold my MIL entirely responsible. We stayed with my ILs for a couple of nights on the way up to Blackpool. On the Monday morning as John was packing the car up she suggested that she should take the rest of us to Brimstage Hall so that Adam and Ruth could look round the Family Farm and perhaps the Maize Maze… Now, the problem with Brimstage Hall, is that there is a set of craft shops. “Problem? Problem? I see no problem,” I hear you say. But I’m ON A STRICT YARN DIET. Still, I can do it, I can look at animals mere feet away from Voirrey with a sale on, without succumbing. I can do it, I really can. What I can’t do is NOT look at animals without succumbing. It turned out to cost as much for the adults to look round as for the children, so my MIL refused to pay for me (very nicely – that makes her sound rude, she wasn’t in the slightest, but she did test my resolve beyond it’s natural extent). So what is a woman to do? I hadn’t brought my knitting, so I had no needles, no yarn, nothing to keep me occupied, and a gorgeous yarn shop with a sale on. So I fell – to the tune of one ball of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and a set of 4mm Addi turbo circs. And I promptly cast on for a hat – it’s a little on the small side, but I figure that it will fit some baby somewhere. Again, it was my favourite kind of “make it up as you go along” knitting – and it kept me well-occupied during the traffic hold-ups on the way to Blackpool that afternoon.
Exhibit D:
Once I’d finished the hat there was no further excuse – Trekking socks it had to be. Still, I’m down to the heel on the second sock, and K2P2 rib has the advantage of being mindless and growing quickly. But look at what happened to my DPN. 
Exhibit E:
My parents are weavers – both of them have created many beautiful things. While we were staying with them for a few nights on our way back from Blackpool, John decided to have a go at Tablet Weaving with tuition from my father.
And finally – nothing to show this time, but another charity project:
Teddies for Traumas (I’m hoping that teddies knit by people who aren’t seniors work just as well…
) Doctors who treat children in the Third World or war torn countries have found that children who have their own Teddies to cuddle in their cots get better quicker than those who don’t have one. Each child keeps their own Teddy and takes it home, so the doctors need a continual supply. The pattern is available to download from the link. (It is asked that people stick fairly closely to the pattern as given so that some children don’t get “better” teddies than others.) Googling “Trauma Teddies” will also find other people who collect them.
seven comments:
wish I had some shoes like Jessica’s: what a lucky dool (and what a lot of knitting for a short break, am most impressed!)rosie () (link) - 14 August '06 - 18:46
for “dool” read “doll”...honestly, will I never learn to type?!!rosie () - 14 August '06 - 18:47
Beautiful crafty work. I wonder whether I’d be able to knit a teddy. To nick a phrase oft and irritatingly used by senior staff when I was in the Civil Service: ‘please advise’.Big Ruth () (link) - 14 August '06 - 20:44
Hmm, that’s still more self-control than me. I’d never have managed just to buy one ball of yarn!Daisy () (link) - 15 August '06 - 21:11
You didn’t buy anything? You’re a rock! Go, Anne!That DB Cashmerino Aran is the softest yarn. That hat is amazing.
I love those slippers. The stripes came out really similarly – and after skipping church? Tsk, tsk. But it must’ve been okay!
Carrie K () (link) - 15 August '06 - 21:42
Fab looking holiday and such craftiness!Beach and bucket and spade did it for our crew too, we were pitched within 100 yards of the beach and we’re lucky, ours are just old enough to pop down by themselves and we peer over the dunes from time to time to make sure they’re abiding by the rules. Good beaches make for fun!
Louise - 15 August '06 - 22:18
You’ve been busy! The Trekking “shoes” are really cute. And I love the colors on your Trekking socks.Chris () (link) - 17 August '06 - 14:32
