Gothic Knitting Guide is About Crochet

 I had a shopping fail. 

I was on Temu, which is not a good friend to me, and I saw Gothic Knitting Guide which, to be fair to me, includes a pic of knitting needles on the cover, and invested in it. I was thrilled when it arrived - until I opened it and found that it was all about crochet.

I've had a grumble about it on Facebook, and it was pointed out that in some languages knitting and crochet are the same word. Not to mention that I've been told that there are books of patterns out there written by AI that have amazing pics but with instructions that don't work. I'm putting it up here because I had a quick rummage around when I was thinking of buying it and I couldn't find any information on it. I took a risk for a few pennies, and I was wrong. That's why I'm posting here, so that if anyone is considering buying it, then there is at least information here. Not to mention that the print is tiny. I would have to scan it and enlarge each page to have a chance of reading the thing!

I should also add that I got that great book of knitting stitches from Temu as well, which was written in British English, and which I've already dipped into for scarves. I'm not ruling out books from Temu, especially those that are flagged as coming from local warehouses, but this is a fail.

To add to the annoyance, I'd been wanting some sticky notes for the writing stuff (going horrendous) and I put some on the order. I wasn't feeling in a serious mood, so I ordered this.

There were a couple of different designs in the pack and they are all as much use as candyfloss in a thunderstorm. You can't even use them as just note squares because the dratted things curl up! 

The heat is affecting me. Last night I didn't bother with a cover, and it must have left me cool in the middle of the night. At least, I think that I was cool as I dreamt that I was in a snow covered chalet, high in the Swiss Alps, as half frozen waves of sea water lashed against the windows and disturbed the polar bear in the next room. I took it as a hint. I'm certain that I won't dream anything like that tonight!

Hugs and good health to all. 

Sad About Soap

It's finally happened. Some time last year I got a deal on a bar of shea soap from Morrisons, a 'when it's gone, it's gone' offer as they were getting rid of the last of the stock. I put it in a mesh bag that I got from Temu and I've used it ever since. It's been wonderful - lovely and rich, and the mesh bag really helped to not only grip the dratted thing but also to keep the bar going long after it was plausible to hold the last sliver outside the bag. It finally washed into nothing. 

I feel unreasonably sad about losing it. 

I've replaced it with a bar of Pears lemon scented soap. I got a deal on a pack of twelve for £16.99 from Price Panda, and they will probably last a good while. The mesh helps me get the lather and it's still nice, but not nearly as good as the extremely cheap bar of shea soap from Morrisons.

The soap is apparently lemon flower scented, but it's not a strong scent and it does great for washing hands, so I'm not complaining. 

The mesh bag is double walled and a lot finer than the string bags that I've tried before. Those thicker bags aren't nearly as nice, and if or when I run out of the mesh bags, I may try putting some together from the mesh of produce bags. I say if or when I run out because the five I thought I was ordering turned out to be 100 so bear is likely to inherit a stack of them. Me and Temu, well, it's always a little hit or miss. 

I realised early in the week that I hadn't driven since I took the car for an oil change. DH has taken it out once or twice since then, I think and that's not good for a car. One good thing about keeping a blog is that I could check when I'd last driven - and it was 9th May! I took it out on Wednesday night, confident that the roads would be emptier as England were playing, and the poor old car grumbled along. I was thinking of trying the motorway next time England played, but I'm not sure the old girl would make it up to 70mph. I need to check the tyre as well, as I scraped the kerb at one point. 

One thing, we are definitely hiring a car when it gets time to bring bear home. Red isn't a bad little car, and she's very economical to run, but she's not a big car, and bear has accumulated a few bits in his year away. Add to her age and her reluctance to hit 50mph, and it's better to get something for the weekend. I hope DH gets something that's fun for him to drive.

I've been meaning to share this. I know the creators, and I love the song. It takes me back to when I was young and hitting the dancefloor. 

Writing stuff - it's been a bit aaaaaaaargh for me for the last few weeks, but another instalment of The Guest was posted last Monday here. At least that bit isn't a problem. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Failure to Photo

I haven't done much to take pics of, so I didn't feel that I should blog. I made a decision and tonight I sat down with a scarf and settled to watch the opening game of the World Cup. At the start, it was this big.

It had been longer, but I kept changing my plans for the pattern, undoing it, starting again, then changing my mind, undoing it, etc. By the end, it was this big.

However I'm not sure that I won't have to start again. I've only got two of balls of yarn that I picked up from Aldi ages ago, and it would be impossible to match. The scarf so far is 10 inches, or around 25cm, and I think I must have used nearly a quarter of the yarn, that is, half of the first ball of yarn.

I may not have got fully half way through the ball, but there's not much more than half left. If it is a quarter of the way through the yarn, that would give a scarf that was 40 inches long, or around a metre. I would say that my minimum preferred length for a scarf is around sixty inches long, so I'm going to have to undo it and re-start the scarf again. 

I also accidentally left the door of our freezer open. It's a full, upright freezer with five shelves. It was open for, I guess, around 24 hours and when I tried some of the frozen fries that were in there, I made myself poorly. DH had to do a special run to the tip because the freezer was crammed. I was so despondent. I lost out on the rosemary that I put up with oil that I hadn't got round to, the last few portions of the extremely pleasant soup I made with the cheap veg at Christmas, not to mention the veggies that I'd prepared myself. 

I've started restocking it with basics, but none of my favourite stuff to stash is currently on sale! I got a couple bags of Quorn mince and chunks, which DH likes, that were around 25% off, but it wasn't the best sale I've ever seen. 

 Writing stuff - apart from grumbles, the only thing I have to share is a Research and the Author post about the hazards of getting geography wrong. You can find it here.  It was prompted because someone posted on Reddit complaining about an author putting mountains in the wrong place. I suspect that the internet is awash with complaints like that.

Hugs and good health to all.