Crosses

 I tatted two Jane's Bookmark Crosses, designed by Grace Tan, as gifts. I came to put the second one into an envelope and realised that I'd put an extra two rings on one arm. Fiddle de dee. It was too late to do anything about it, so I gave it to the recipient with a note that I will make her another one. I forgot to take pictures of either cross, so here's a picture of a Flamboyant tree in my garden that is looking splendid:

Another UFO Vanquished

 

At last I have finished the pullover that was given to me half done. The sleeves look rather short in the picture, but that's only because they're folded over.  I was tempted to just leave the abandoned sleeve, but I realised that would mean the project was still lurking, so I spent a couple of hours yesterday unravelling and untangling it. I ended up with a lot of small balls in the three colours:

One of the ladies at the retirement home I visit knits toys and I'm hoping that she will be able to make use of them. 

Plan B

 

Aha. My daughter told me another way of getting the photo on to the computer, so here we are, here's a picture of the food net I described yesterday. I do still need a new computer, but I have a bit of leeway. 

No Picture

 I have finished a food net with sunflowers and butterflies. I can't show a picture though, because my computer is misbehaving. Time to buy a new computer, I suppose. Sigh....

Evolution Of A Sunflower

 

I want to make a food cover with tatted sunflowers. I started with my own pattern, Sunflower In Maltese Tatting; there's a link to the pattern on the right of this blog page. I couldn't find Martha Ess's instructions for Maltese tatting, but my pattern is clear enough that I didn't need an update. It took me a few goes to get it right, but I did. I think my thread isn't ideal though. I don't like the way the picots tend to twist. Can anyone tell me how to avoid that? Letting the shuttle dangle didn't solve the problem.

I decided that I want a more substantial sunflower. I used the method for the centre of the Maltese flower, more or less, with the petals from the daisy I've been using for food covers.  I had to make a few changes, but it works, I think.

UFO No Longer

 

I cut this shirt out months ago but never got around to sewing it. Now, I'm trying to finish off projects that have been lurking. As an added incentive for finishing this one, Jack tore a shirt beyond repair last week, so does need another one. 

Sleeve Progress

 

Knitting goes much faster when you're working with one ball of yarn rather than 12. I've finished one sleeve, working mainly in the evenings. 

The yarn name is (mmm) interesting:

Take a quick look and you'd think it was angora. But look at the small print and it turns out to be 50% acrylic and 50% nylon. No rabbits have been anywhere near it. 

Buyer beware, I guess. 

That Sinking Feeling

 

I've almost finished knitting the first sleeve of the pullover I was asked to finish. I got the hang of colour changes and shaping, but I began to wonder if there's enough yarn for the second sleeve. Yesterday I got out my scale to help me decide. First I weighed the second needle - 16g. Then I weighed the sleeve and took off 16 - 138-16=122g. Then I measured the yarn that's left - 92g. While the method isn't terribly accurate, it's clear that there isn't enough yarn to knit the second sleeve. 

What to do, what to do? I could abandon the project; I could knit three-quarter length sleeves; or I could knit the sleeve all in white, as there's plenty of that. While option one is tempting, I'll probably go with three. Perhaps that's what the original knitter intended? I have no idea. 

Colourways

 

I thought I'd make some beaded crochet bracelets before Saturday's market. I've done two, using the same pattern in different colourways. It's interesting to see how the different colours give a really different look. I wonder which would be more popular?