A New Rug for my Lounge

Hi Blog

It's been a while since I've written and that's because we've had such a hectic Christmas. DH's kids came to stay for 9 days which left us in total chaos! Not to mention leaving us broke, I can't believe how much those kids can eat.

One of the main outcomes of their visit though, was me deciding that I needed to make a rug to cover our new lounge suite. A couple of months ago we splurged out on a new suede suite and it's a lovely taupe colour. Within a couple of hours of the kids being here, they'd gone swimming in the pool, then plopped themselves on the lounge completely soaking wet with chlorine water! I hit the roof! As a result, for the rest of the visit, I had blankets over the lounge to protect it. The ones I had were crocheted (by me years ago), but they didn't go with the colours of the room at all.

So I took myself off to spotlight during their stocktake sale and purchased 40 skeins, in two colours, of new yarn. The yarn is Moda Vera 'mandorla united'. It's a 55% merino 45% acrylic blend. It has a tension of 12 stitches x 12 rows to make a 10cm square. Recommended needle 7-8mm. I bought colour 53 and 51, both dyelot 1. It's a lovely soft yarn, but very chunky.

I asked DH for his opinion on how I should make the rug, and he had been really impressed with the blanket I had made for Dad, with that patchwork affect. So, rather than crochet the rug (which I had really wanted to do), I began knitting it. I'm using 20 stitches per row, and squares of 30 rows each (giving about a 19cm square). I'm using a standard moss/seed stich. Knit 1, purl 1 to end of row, turn, purl 1, knit 1 to end.

It's knitting up quickly, but I'm still dividing my time between that and my ripple CAL from crochetville.

Last night I also made another Crochet Australia purchase. I couldn't help myself. I bought:

- 5.5mm Brittany Crochet Hook

- 4.5mm Clover Aluminium (Arthritic PEN style) Crochet Hook

- Ultimate Book of Scrap Afghans booklet

- New Wave Ripples booklet

I'm so hopeless. DH is going to wonder what on earth I need all this stuff for. I've been dying to try the Arthritic hook, my hands hurt when I crochet so I'm hoping this will help. And the Brittany hooks are just beautiful! I love wooden hooks.

I'm trying to be good with my eating too. DH and I are so desperatley trying for a baby, and my insulin resistance isn't helping our cause. So if I can promise to eat better, than hopefully I'll get somewhere quicker. Also, I would love to loose another 20 kilo's or so. I wouldn't recognise myself. I've done it before, I'm sure I can do it again. I just must be strict with myself!

Take Care

Mandy