Bad to the Bone

Here is Wilberforce modelling the coat I crocheted for him.  I made it a little while ago but waited until he was clipped before photographing it on him as he was so woolly.  He went to the groooming parlour last Friday but he is a real rough and tumble dog so I don't think he will stay clean for long so I snapped this pic while I could.

Every Christmas we make up a hamper for our local dog rescue centre from where we have adopted two dogs in the past.  Throughout the year I have been crochet squares and finally put them all together this week.  It is made from all my oddments of D.K. yarn left over from other projects.  The colours are a bit garish but I don't suppose the dogs will mind.

I bought a ball of green sequinned yarn in Poundstretcher last week and run up this quick crochet beret.  It was only 3.99 pound for a 150 gram ball and I have used less than half of the ball.  The sequins are quite subtle and only notice when they catch the light, you can see them better in the ball below.  This is the amount I had left, probably enough for another two of the same design.

Crochet Finishes and A Knitting Disaster

 I seem to have been crocheting a lot more recently -  I suppose it is because I am a very slow knitter so I can whip up a crochet accessory in one or two evenings whereas with knitting it would probably take me at least a week.

I bought the coat (below) in the M & S sale in January but have not worn it yet so I crocheted these accessories to wear with it this winter.

Talking of knitting, I have had an Aran sweater for John on my needles for months.  I have finished the back but after working half the front I realised I had made a mistake near the bottom.  I could have left it, it was only one stitch wrong but I know it would bug me if I left it so thought I would unravel it row by row down to the offending stitch.

 

Well, the pattern is so complicated and the stitches twisted and crossed so much that I just cannot get them back on the needles in the right direction so I really have no alternative but to undo it right the way down to the ribbing and start again, eek!  Do you ever have a project that you end up hating?  For me it is this.

I have had more luck with "Hard Frost" and only have a little bit of the sky left so should finish during the next week.  This is the third of Heritage's John Clayton Circles I have worked.  Heritage now have an outlet shop on ebay where I purchased this chart for half price.  They have lots of their discontinued kits, fabric, threads and current products at a much lower price than normal so I have added them to my favourites.

 

Although I stitched this Airedale Terriers design a while ago I only just got around to having it framed.  I used a new framer as my old one had put their prices up a lot.  However, it stil cost me 52 pound which I thought was a bit excessive considering I just chose a plain mount and frame.  I don't know why they charge so much, it puts me off getting some of my other work framed.  The design is from a company called Faces.  I think they have closed the business now which is a shame as they produced some really lovely designs.
 

Walk in the Woods

On 8th July 2012 we attended a charity walk to raise funds for the VRCC which treats dogs and cats who have cancer.  They are trying to raise 100,000 pounds to replace an urgently needed 6 million volt linear scanner.  The day raised over 1,200 pounds and we all had a fun day in spite of the gloomy weather.