All present and correct...not

I go out with a group of friends most Tuesdays and a couple of weeks ago one of them turned up wearing a lovely knitted shawl with a fluted edge. After a lot of 'oohing' and 'aahing' and questions about how it was made - she did not know as it had been a gift - I had a quick look and said it was simple triangular knitted piece with a ruched crochet trim. One of the others asked if I could make one for her as she would love it, particularly if it was in black. At this point I was politely assertive and said something like ...'in your dreams'. The following day the others phoned me and suggested I made one for our friend as a Christmas gift from us all to cheer her up. She has had a tough year of it with illness and relationship issues and the suggestion was that we all club together to buy the wool if I would make it..... at this point my assertion skills deserted me and I agreed. If only I had realised what a nightmare it would be.I remember now how much I hate knitting. I have had to pick it up and put it down frequently because the black was just too wearing on the eyes and the large scale of it has meant hours of work. Worst of all I ran out of wool whilst crocheting the border and had to go out and buy one more ball yesterday but the shade number is different and you can see a clear difference in the last few inches of the border. I am not happy with this but the option of starting again just doesn't come into the equation, especially as it has to be finished by this Tuesday evening when we will give it to her! I need to sleep on the problem and think about something else which is exactly what I've been doing all the time I've been stuck with this project. Every time it got the better of me I went off and did something completely different.....

First thing I did was make these felt wristwarmers for another friend. I am trying to use up my supply of wool rovings so if I make anything it has to be in colours I still have. Luckily enough she is a lover of earthy colours so these will be fine. Despite doing it for years I've not made much felt in the past year so when these came out so well I decided to make something else rather than go back to the shawl. I then decided to make some boots and a hat for the daughter of a friend. She's expecting a baby in March and I love making small things but the first pair of baby boots were a disaster. They went into the compost bin. I made another pair. They went into the same bin. Undeterred I decided to crack on with the hat - doing anything except that **** shawl. These pictures are not it. Somehow the template I made was a bit off so that is currently on the side folded,pleated and now made into a bag waiting for a button to close it with........don't ask.....

In times gone by I could turn out a baby's handfelted hat in an hour so I had another go. I used to make lots of them based on the 'flower fairies' figures so the mohair and little pieces inside are meant to be stamens and anthers (use your imagination please)

Once they're felted I used to cut the brim to resemble petal shapes but my nerve had deserted me by the time this one was done. The way my luck was going gave me no confidence I could do it properly! I'm just grateful it has held together so I quickly finished it with some buttonhole stitch. I thought about embroidering little french knots on it to make it look like a strawberry but suddenly realised that I was just making more work for myself.

I can do no more to the shawl until the wool shop opens tomorrow. I'm hoping I can get a skein that is closer in colour to the original. If not, I will have to decide what to do for the best. In the meantime I am distracting myself making a bag for another friend for Christmas. You have to pity the poor souls who will be on the receiving end of my efforts this Christmas. Next year, I will plan things better....... what was that phrase I said?.... oh yeah, 'in my dreams'.