A start, a finish and a big donation...

I received another bag of lovely donations from Hubby's colleague. Pastels predominate because she used to knit for her grandchildren, who are now older and wiser and more into grunge. I can't remember the last time I actually BOUGHT a ball of wool.

The wool is mainly dk which suits me perfectly except for the fact that I am currently trying to blitz my 4ply yarn. Here is a photo of a corner-to-corner baby blanket that I have been knitting for quite a while. I am using blue and white 4ply and loving the stripes. Sorry, they don't show up well in the photo. The only problem is the lack of daylight at this time of year. I have learned the hard way that knitting this blanket in artificial light leads to mistakes. I managed to knit a blue stripe instead of a white one, not once, but twice. I tried to live with it, but couldn't, and had to rip back a couple of inches each time. That is no fun when you are crawling along in the 4ply lane

So, my modus operandi now is to knit the blanket whilst watching the midday news. It distracts me from all the doom and gloom which, in turn, distracts me from the endless 4ply knitting. Then, in the evening, I knit with dk yarn. The photo shows a hat that I was able to knit in a couple of days. It's satisfying to be able to finish something quickly. The blanket looks like taking me the rest of the year. I only manage to knit a few rows per day because I have to concentrate. I don't want any more mistakes! 

Here is another photo of the same hat together with one I finished months ago but never got around to photographing. These will eventually go off to Operation Orphan. I will knit more hats until I have enough to fill a reasonable size box. There is no rush as they tend to dispatch the warm clothing donations during the summer. That way,  they are in situ and ready when winter arrives.

The desk mat with a secret ;-)

When my employer set me free (woo hoo!) last year, I celebrated with a little trip to Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. It was in Lincolnshire that I spotted and bought a little antique desk. It had obviously been much used and was showing its age. But we liked it because it is the same age as our house.

I had a quote to redo the top. The restorer didn't think it needed doing because he liked the "patina". When he quoted £300 I fell in love with the patina as well.

I have cleaned and waxed it and it now looks perfectly acceptable. But it was missing something. We bought a new desk lamp and that helped a lot. Then I had the idea of buying a leather desk mat to go on top. These sell for about £50 on Ebay; so I moved quickly on to Plan B.

I bought a large piece of brown faux leather for about £4. I have already used some to make a door draught excluder that costs £40 on Ebay. So I am now up to £90 of items from a £4 piece of material.

It needed an insert and I puzzled over what to use. Then I remembered something that has been in the bottom of my wardrobe since 2012. That was the year when the Olympic Games were held in London and other UK venues. The atmosphere was so great that year and, quite honestly, hasn't been matched ever since. I was so involved that I even went to the victory parade in London. 

I don't usually go to these victory parades. But I have watched them on tv and have seen the crowd holding up placards. Mystery solved. Clever companies give out these boards and ask people to write messages and then hold them up. Free advertising!  My placard came from British Airways. I like the Union flags all around the edge. I don't like my soppy message, so that is covered up in the photo by the strategically placed faux leather!

I measured very, very carefully and cut out the leather. I have been watching a recycling tv programme called "Money For Nothing" and copied the idea to hold the leather together with clips rather than pins to avoid holes.

I was worried that my old sewing machine wouldn't be able to cope with 2 layers of faux leather. But it purred along and here is the finished result.

Hubby and I are both really pleased with it. My eventual aim is to move my laptop to the desk and to do my computing work there. Now I will be happy that the top is protected.  

I'm glad I kept this placard. It has come in really useful and I still get that warm feeling and happy memories when I look at my new desk mat.  Hopefully, it will last for decades. I suppose it will be thrown away one day. But I doubt that it will ever be opened up. My secret insert is preserved for posterity!

The "Here comes the sun" blanket....

This lap blanket has just gone off to SIBOL where the industrious Sue will add it to her collection of blankets from other volunteers. When the pile threatens to take over her house, she delivers the blankets to people living in care homes in and around Birmingham in the UK.  Apparently, they are always very well received.

I started this blanket in the depths of a very cold winter and finished it just as the weather started to improve.  From the first stitch, I intended it to look like a sun bursting through a blue sky and I think I achieved that.  I didn't want it to look like a baby's blanket.  I'm not sure I achieved that!

A lot of the wool was given to me by a colleague of my husband. When I sent her this photo, she was very pleased that it went to a good cause and she has more for me!! I'd better start my next project.....

A draught excluder costing almost nothing....

I mainly knit and crochet. But occasionally I sew. This is my latest project; a draught excluder made to fit my door perfectly. The front of my house faces north and, when the wind is coming from that direction, my front door lets in a generous helping of freezing Arctic air. 

I only discovered this recently when I was crawling along the floor painting the skirting boards. There is a tiny gap under the door, without which the door probably would not open. It has to remain; but it was contributing to the large winter heating bills we have here. So I simply had to do something about it.

I thought about buying a draught excluder. But I read the reviews of various tapes and strips and decided that nothing available off-the-peg would cure the problem. I saw a beautiful brown leather snake-like draught excluder on Ebay, but the price was eye-watering. That was when I had my eureka moment.

I realised that I already had all the materials necessary to make a draught excluder almost identical to the one on Ebay. 

All I needed was a remnant of leatherette left over from another project (more about that in another blog post) and some of those foam chippings that are often used to pack fragile items. Luckily, I always keep these chippings in case they come in useful.

I made a long tube, stuffed it with the chippings and sewed the end. It was simple to do, took a leisurely hour and saved me about £40 which is what they sell for on Ebay! Maybe I should go into business. The hardest part was stuffing the foam into the tube. It took a lot more than you can see in the photo! I eventually used a broom handle to pack it all in tightly.

Here is the finished product actually in situ. It looks like a rather odd long sausage. But it blocks the gap between the mat and the door perfectly. The foam chippings inside make it flexible and easy to push right into the gap.

Anyone with basic sewing skills could make one of these. You could use any scrap of material, though I would recommend something that can be wiped clean as draughts are hardly dust-free! 

The advice "measure twice, cut once" also applies here. You might think it looks odd. But the luxury of a correctly fitting draught excluder is priceless. ...and mine truly was. It cost nothing except my time and will hopefully last for many years. 

Today was the warmest day of the year so far. So it seems a strange time to make a draught excluder. But our nights are still cold and this morning was surprisingly foggy. It wasn't quite "The north wind doth blow and we shall have snow". But it will be one day, and I am PREPARED.

The "little and littler" blankets...

I finally finished knitting the preemie blankets using the wool kindly sent to me by Jo of the Three Stories High blog. The yarn is Water Wheel Comfy 4ply and Jo confirmed after my last blog post that it is indeed vintage yarn and used to belong to an 83 year old lady. It must have been stored very well because it was in pristine condition. I'm glad I was able to turn it into something useful.

Jo suggested that I should knit some preemie items with this yarn. I was originally going to call these the "Little and Large" blankets. I knitted the smaller one first and then cast on about an extra 18 stitches to knit the larger one.  This wool is so fine that it is really difficult to tell them apart. The larger blanket is actually the one underneath. It is wider and longer; but not in an obvious way.

These blankets used up 160g of yarn. I still have 40g left and could knit some preemie hats or a cardigan. The charity I am planning to send these to (PreemiesUK) likes matching items. I am trying to finish something else at the moment and then I will be able to think more clearly.

More free wool...

Look what Hubby brought home from work yesterday. A colleague knows that I knit and brought in all this lovely wool for me. Most of it is acrylic double knit which is exactly what I use.  Believe it or not, the charities that I knit for usually request acrylic because it is easier to wash.

Most of this is destined to be turned into blankets and clothes for children and babies. My friend, who knits like a demon for Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, will also receive her share. If you see two "ladies who lunch" drooling over a bag of wool next month, that will be us!

Today is a brilliant sunny day. So, while we still have daylight, I'm off to sort the colours. Bliss!

The déja vu blanket...

The blogging world is a marvellous, friendly place. Jo who writes the inspiring Three Stories High blog contacted me a few weeks ago to offer some baby yarn. Of course, I said yes...what else? So I soon received 200g of  Water Wheel Comfy 4ply in a soft shade of green. I haven't heard of this brand before and there is no barcode on the labels. I might be wrong, but I usually take that to mean the yarn is vintage.

Jo suggested it would be suitable for preemie knitting. I looked through my patterns and eventually settled on an old favourite called Daphne's Blanket. Sadly, there no longer seems to be a working link to the pattern. Luckily, I printed it off a few years ago. 

I love this pattern because it is easy and gives a puffy lozenge texture to the blanket. I'm calling this one "Déja vu" partly because I have knitted it several times. The other reason is that it would now be twice as long if I hadn't had to rip back about 2 inches!  It was turning out very flat and it took me a while to realise why. I thought I could remember the pattern and ploughed on through it. But I was garter stitching instead of purling on some of the rows.  Eeek!

I tried to convince myself that it looked just as good flat. But my heart wasn't in it. So, after 3 honey sandwiches and some chocolate, I pulled out the needle and ripped back to where I had started to go wrong.  Taking inspiration from my new blog button, I managed to keep calm while doing it. I'm glad I did because Mark II is looking lovely. 

I think I will be able to knit 2 preemie blankets with this yarn and they will eventually go off to a Preemie charity. Thanks again to Jo. Her blog is well worth a visit.  She is a clever crafter who makes something every day and writes regularly about it.

Wow! Look what I just received....

This beautiful yarn arrived today.  It was sent to me by Kate at Loving Hands. This is the biggest online community of knitters, crocheters and sewers that I know about.  I was delighted when I came across it years ago.  There is a very active forum where many members log in every day for a chat. The group is heavily into making items for several charities, though there is no obligation to do this.  Many members are busy just making things for friends and family.

Occasionally, people send donations of yarn to Loving Hands.  When that happens, Kate puts a note on the forum inviting members to ask for it.  She then does her best to divide the yarn fairly among everyone who replies.  Loving Hands is a non-profit making organisation but still pays the postage costs which are very high in the UK.  It is entirely optional whether or not members send in a small donation to cover the charges.  Many members use the Easyfundraising website to raise funds when they shop with participating stores.

Some very generous yarn donations were made recently.  I made a request as I am running short on baby yarn for my preemie items.  What arrived certainly exceeded my expectations.  There is some lovely quality yarn here including the very soft Peter Pan Cupcake.  I have never knitted with this before.  There is just enough white to make a small preemie square.  So I am off to cast on now...

Birthday bounty....

Today, I am another year older (unbelievable but true) and another year wiser (really?).  I noticed that it is a whole month since I updated this blog.  Summer is always my busiest time.  I have been knitting, but only have a preemie blanket to show for my efforts.  Here it is.  It is so plain and boring that I didn't open it up for the photo.  Just picture this multiplied by four and you get the idea.

This morning, I decided that the weeds and grass can party as much as they want to.  I went to the shops under instructions to buy a new blouse.  I don't need a new blouse.  But, if someone else is paying, I'll attempt to buy one.  The weather here is very warm and summery.  The shops, however, have brought in their autumn jumpers.  No wonder they struggle to get customers through their doors.  I eventually found a lightweight jacket, which I do need, and bought it.

My mind then turned to wool.  I don't need any of that either and have been very good about not buying any recently.  But a charity shop was selling balls of aran wool for £1 each.  I bought two grey balls which will make a lovely scarf as they are an acrylic and wool blend.  I was very restrained because I picked up and then put back two more balls.  They were a sickly mustard shade and even I would have trouble finding a use for them.

Then, I saw a wool stall which is normally only open on a Thursday.  I think it must be under new management because the prices are now very reasonable as opposed to jaw-droppingly expensive.  The range of wool has also improved.  It now resembles what most people would actually knit with.  Before, the wool was so specialist and expensive that I was almost afraid to touch it.

The stall holder was very chatty and told me he was selling 100g balls of King Cole Country Tweed for £2 each because they are now a discontinued line.  He had a huge range of colours and choosing what to buy was difficult.  Eventually, I bought 2 variegated pinky balls and two maroon balls.  Again, these are an acrylic and wool blend.  I am going to look through my patterns and start something today with this lovely yarn.  Decisions, decisions!

And now, one for the boys...

Having recently knitted some bright pink hats, I decided to play fair and knitted a balaclava with some grey wool left over from a recent project.  I added three stripes in a variegated grey yarn to add some interest and because I really like this yarn. I bought it a couple of years ago from an enterprising lady who was selling items from her front room.  The plain grey yarn came to me in a bargain joblot and is very soft. This will be a warm and comfortable hat.

This balaclava should fit a child aged 3-4 years.  It is from this very easy balaclava pattern.  I have knitted several of these in the past and never cease to be amazed at how little yarn is needed.  100g of dk yarn is more than enough to knit two of the age 3-4 years size.  This one will be going off very soon to Operation Orphan.

A sneak preview of that shocking pink....

I finally made a start on using the shocking pink yarn that I mentioned a few weeks ago.  I have a huge ball of it.  I found it in a big bag of tangled yarn that someone was trying to sell at my local market.  I said "Oh, it's all tangled", offered a cheeky price, and the stallholder snapped my hand off!  I quite enjoy sorting out tangled yarn.  So I did that first and then mulled over what to do with the shocking pink.....and mulled, and mulled.

Then I remembered a pattern that I had saved on one of my Pinterest boards.  It must be good because lots of other crafters have taken the pin.  Here it is:

Observant readers might notice that I copied the colours.  That was by sheer coincidence.  They are exactly the colours I needed to use for the start of my project. The pattern and video tutorial are very well done.  I was able to follow them easily and I did so until I reached the grey rounds.  Then I winged it a little as I wanted to continue making a much bigger granny square.  

The fact that I was able to crochet something that looks like a flower and then adjust the pattern to make a larger square has me stupidly chuffed.  I might be starting to understand this crochet business!  

I usually stay well within my comfort zone when crocheting.  But this pattern has made me think that I might tackle one of those beautiful mandalas that I see on other blogs.  At least it's on my future "to do" list and that is progress for someone who always has to look at instruction books whenever she starts a new crochet project!

PS: If I regularly comment on your blog and appear to have stopped recently, it could be due to a new Blogger problem.  Some comments are coming back as "undeliverable".  I'm hoping this is just a temporary glitch.

Decisions, decisions...

Do not adjust your brightness control.  This pink really is this shocking.  In fact, it is probably even brighter than it looks here.  I bought it very cheaply at a local boot fair. It weighs just under 300g and seems to be a 4 ply acrylic.  

I like rescuing unloved yarn.  It's only later that I think about what to do with it.  I rarely knit with 4 ply yarn and, when I do, it is usually something delicate for a baby. This is too bright for that.  So, I could combine it with another yarn for a speckled effect.  Or I could knit with two strands to make it roughly equal to a double knit yarn.

I have no works in progress at the moment.  I think I will use this pink shocker next. This afternoon, I watched a version of "Jane Eyre" that I hadn't seen before.  Probably because there are already so many versions of this story, the director spiced it up a little by using flashbacks which don't appear in the original novel.  My eyes were, therefore, fully occupied.  But my hands whiled away a couple of hours by rolling this yarn into smaller balls.  

Now I am ready, just as soon as I decide what to do with it.  Any suggestions would be very welcome!

The Snowy Sky blanket...

This was finished in June but the colours, if you can call black, white and grey  "colours", looked all wrong for the summer.  So I waited until November before sending it to SIBOL.  Our weather this week is very foggy and I expect we will see snow before spring!   The amazing Sue from SIBOL will deliver it and many more to care homes for the elderly in the UK.

I enjoyed making this giant granny square.  The idea for the centre square came from the Sunshine Granny Square pattern by Theemuts Tinka on Ravelry.  One of my 2015 resolutions was to crochet a snowflake.  I decided that this square looked close enough despite its sunny name.  

The rest of the blanket was just a typical granny square and the edging was the Double V edging that I found on the Knot Your Nana's Crochet blog.  Once again, it was a new skill for me.  But it was easy and really finished off the blanket nicely.  This photo isn't very good.  I promise you that the edging looks better in real life.

Sue likes to attach a name to each blanket that she delivers and I think "Snowy Sky" suits this one.

The vital statistics are 37" x 37" and 380g of dk yarn.  Most of the yarn came from donations and bargain buys.  I have quite a bit of black yarn and like to sneak it into projects with a bit of white and variegated grey to lift the mood.

On a slightly different subject, my second cataract operation went ahead as planned and things are looking good.  Eyesight takes weeks or months to recover after surgery.  But I am already happy and looking forward to what future improvements might bring.  My crafting pace is increasing again, though I am supposed to be resting for a few weeks.  "More haste, less speed" definitely applies to recovering from surgery.  The rest of 2015 will be quite gentle for me.  In 2016, I can start firing on all cylinders again.

Quick scarf and hat....

This is just a quick post to thank everyone who has sent me best wishes for my second eye op.  It took place a week ago and it is a big relief to have both eyes finally working together.  I'm also happy that I can now read, type, sew and knit to my heart's content.  

I will definitely need reading glasses for finer work. But it's a bit too soon to order them as my prescription will continue to change for a while.  So I am making do with off-the-shelf reading glasses. However, I find that I don't really need to use them until the evening. Our energy-saving light bulbs at home might need some rethinking as even my husband finds them useless for reading.  It's all a bit of a learning curve at the moment.

I started this scarf a few weeks ago.  The hat took just 2-3 days.  The yarn is a 100% wool by Jaegar and it was donated to me by a generous person on Freecycle.  The scarf is a simple crochet v-stitch and the hat is one of my regular favourite patterns by Pyrrha Designs.  These will go off soon to Operation Orphan for their Keep A Child Warm project.  I chose to make these two items in a size suitable for a teenager.

Yesterday, I treated myself to a rummage in my bags of yarn and picked out some really pretty yarn for a simple baby blanket.  But that's another story.....

Matching blanket and hat set...and a giveaway reminder

I was in the mood for knitting a baby blanket and my mind went back to a gift that was given to me by a friend when my daughter was a baby.  It was a small blanket and came with the promise that it would be very useful.  Well, it was.  The smaller size made it perfect for tucking over my daughter when she was in her pram or car seat. There was no excess fabric to drown her, to collect dust from the ground or floor of the car, or to trip me up when carrying her.  My friend was a new mum and, like me, fairly short.  So she knew exactly what would be useful.

I had the following pattern in my Ravelry queue: Lilac Blossom Baby Blanket by Marianna and it seemed perfect.  I followed the pattern as written and ended up with a width of 22".  I stopped knitting when the blanket was 27" long to keep it in proportion.  It is easy to increase the number of cast on stitches to knit a bigger blanket if that is what you are aiming for.

I used a gender-neutral cream Robin Double Knit yarn.  I found a big bag of this yarn in a charity shop last year.  It receives mixed reviews on Ravelry.  But I really liked it. It is soft and bouncy and, being acrylic, will wash well.  I will even look for this yarn again when I have used up the remaining balls.

The combination of the bouncy yarn and the slightly puffy knitted stitch makes this blanket cosy.  The stitch is basically 2 x 2 ribbing with something clever happening every fourth row to make it interesting.  Though this is not strictly a reversible pattern, it looks good on both sides of the blanket.  You might just about be able to see the detail in the next photo.

The blanket used less than 200g of yarn, so I had enough left to knit a matching hat.

This time I followed the hat pattern from the Lilac Blossom Baby Set by Marianna.  It was so easy and took only a couple of hours.  

Here they are together  I think a matching set has more "wow effect" than individual items.

The hat will fit a baby aged 0-3 months and the set will go to a future family baby.

REMINDER:  there is still time to enter my Big Birthday Giveaway.  For more details see my post here.

Two more balaclavas....

I love this balaclava pattern.  It is very easy and I have made many of these.  The garter ridges are optional.  I omitted them from the variegated hat as the yarn is already stripy enough. 

I've had this yarn for several months and found it when on a drive around Kent.  A lady had turned her front room into a small antiques and collectables shop and was selling a big bag of this for a very reasonable price.  I was her only customer at the time as it was a cold day.  I hope she did well as initiative like that deserves to be rewarded.

I can't remember where the navy blue yarn came from, but it would have been another bargain purchase.  Both yarns were lovely to knit with, though there were no labels so I am not quite sure what they are.

These two balaclavas will fit boys aged 3-4 years old and are destined for Operation Orphan.  Each one used only 36g of dk yarn.  The pattern also has instructions for an eighteen months to 3 years size.  I think that would look lovely in slightly prettier colours, so it is now on my fairly long to-do list.

Six squares...

About a year ago I was lucky enough to be given 2 big bags full of yarn by a Freecycler.  Yes, I was that bag lady sitting on a train and then on a bus, occasionally peeking into the bags and smiling happily.  

I think I have used most of it by now.  But there were several small balls of white dk acrylic yarn....all slightly different shades and textures and all too small to make even a baby hat.  The closest they would have come to a hat would be in a starring role as stripes.  But I was in no rush.

Then, a few days ago, I heard about Cwtch of Comfort which is a project that gives blankets and quilts to parents who have lost a child.  They use blankets of all sizes and recently made an appeal for six inch squares that could be sewn into bigger blankets.  See here for more information about the squares appeal.  The squares needed to be white or pale pastel.  They also needed to be easily washable.  Perfect.  I have now managed to use up all my odd balls of white.

As someone is going to crochet these squares together, I decided to make it as easy as possible for them.  I chose to knit simple corner-to-corner squares.  The advantage of this type of square is that there is no cast on or cast off edge.  All four sides are the same, which makes sewing them together fairly easy.  I followed the SANDS blanket pattern which is very easy and produces a square with a good strong edge.

So, having recently used up all my odd balls of white 4 ply yarn, I have now done the same with my dk yarn.  Turning oddments into worthwhile items always makes me happy.  Sometimes it really is possible to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. 

The 39p scarf....

What can you buy for 39p these days?  Not very much, so I was amazed when I found a ball of yarn for that price in a charity shop.  It was in the bottom of a dusty bin and I suspect it was very close to going into a real dustbin.  But I could see it had potential. There was no label on it.  But when I rescued it and took it home, it weighed 100g and measured as 4 ply.  I think it was on sale at a giveaway price because it was knobbly yarn which is generally considered difficult to knit with.

I decided to knit one of my favourite scarf patterns.  This pattern is for dk yarn.  But it is easy to adapt.  I used size 3.75mm needles and cast on 35 stitches for a width of 6.5 inches.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the knobbles were quite small and didn't cause me any problems.  The 100g of yarn kept on giving until the scarf was 51 inches long.  That will be ideal for me as I plan to just wear this one tucked into a coat or jacket.  I put my scarves and gloves away in March, even if the weather is still cold. So this scarf will have its first outing next winter.

There are lots of "yarn over" stitches in the pattern.  The resulting holes just call out for a scarf or shawl pin.  So I trawled the Internet until I found this unique pin made from a recycled knitting needle.  Top marks go to someone with imagination.  I wish I had thought of it first!

A new jumper...and a disaster averted

I had some lovely cream Aran yarn, quite a lot of green and cream 4 ply yarn and lots and lots of wooden buttons all needing a good project.  I settled on the Child's Top-Down Henley pattern which I found on Ravelry.  The pattern calls for the Aran yarn and the 4 ply yarn to be knitted together, so it makes a very thick and warm jumper. Bulky seams are avoided because this is basically knitted in one clever, seamless piece.

I had to juggle with my colours a little to make sure that I didn't run out of the 4 ply yarn.  The sleeves are the same length even though the photo makes one of them look shorter!  So I enjoyed carefully counting rows and switching colours until I eventually produced a wearable striped jumper.

The real disaster was averted much earlier in the knitting process.  As this is a top-down pattern, I started at the neckline and increased stitches regularly until there were 168 stitches on my long circular knitting needle.  I then knitted 2 more rows and was finally ready to divide the stitches for the sleeves and body. At the end of the second row I pulled my needle with a celebratory flourish and.....horror of horrors.....the needle tip separated from its cable.  The tip flew out of one end of the row and the cable whizzed back through at least 70 stitches.  Argggh!!  

Luckily, I am not a swearer.  Otherwise the air might have turned blue.  Instead I surprised myself by staying calm as I worked my way back through the dropped stitches until I had picked them all up.  This was made difficult by the fact that each stitch consisted of the 2 yarns held together and by the fact that my cat seemed to sense a problem and was trying to make it better by nose-butting me!

I considered myself lucky that the disaster had happened on ordinary stocking stitch. If it had happened on lace, I would have had to rip back the whole thing.  Eventually I managed to save the situation in 30 minutes and I learned a vital lesson.  Don't expect a cable to hold 168 stitches when it can really hold only 100.  The irony is that I have a longer cable and could have used that.  In future, I will.

The Aran yarn and the wooden buttons were donated to me by Joanne of the Cup On The Bus blog.  The 4 ply yarn came also as donations or in cheap bargain lots.  The jumper will go off soon to Operation Orphan.  It should fit a four year old child and will hopefully be strong enough to be passed down through a whole family.  It was that thought that kept me going when it was really tempting to have a knitter's meltdown!