Mojo...

Sometimes it all falls into place and sometimes it just falls into one big mess. You can see which applies at the moment. I've lost my crochet mojo!

The granny square cowl that caught Ella's eye is an absolute nightmare. I'm hating the slippery splitty merino yarn. I'm not enjoying the many ends that need to be woven in per square. It took many attempts to get the gauge anywhere near the 8cm square required and even now I need to be adding a round of dc to make it just right, which may or may not be the reason that the squares once joined are standing out slightly puffy. I could just steam press it and hope it settles down or I could make a few more squares without that round and see if that solves the problem. I haven't really got enough yardage to be experimenting which is quite annoying!

I'm behind on my CAL squares because week 8 was a tricky one. It's not so much the crochet that's tricky, just this slightly textured charcoal grey is a b****r to see in anything but fantastically bright light! Even then it's quite tiring. I'm waiting for some new reading glasses. Thankfully week 9 looks pretty straightforward and it's in a light colour.

In my restlessness I dug out the single, almost finished wristlet I'm making for Ella. The enthusiasm for this project waned due to the small hook size and the fact that I've had to go wildly off course to get anything resembling a usable mitt. It doesn't matter that I departed from the pattern, it does matter that I have no idea what I did, and no notes, so making number two will be like crocheting in the dark. Not to mention that I'm not even sure I used the hook size in the pattern, I need to start attaching info tags to wips!

Also amongst my big fat mess is some newly acquired tweedy mustard yarn. M had a cancelled job recently and with the weather looking decidedly stormy, instead of tackling workshop roof repairs we headed over to a favourite little market town. There were two new places since our last visit. A fantastic new coffee bar decorated in a cool urban rustic style, right up our street and great coffee. Also a new yarn store! The latter was on two floors with fabric downstairs and yarn upstairs, oh I how I wish it had been the other way round! I stubbornly tackled the steep stairs and of course my knee complained for the rest of the day. There were a few yarns I don't often see, so well worth the aggravation. I was restrained and only came home with these three balls with a new beanie in mind. This is exactly the yarn I wanted six months ago when I was in my hat making phase. I'll make the hat and E and I can fight over who has it. She likes this shade too.

Great coffee at: Auction House Cafe/Bar/Tapas, Corn Market, Louth

A selection of Artesano, Noro, Knoll, KnitPicks, Debbie Bliss and many more at: Owls Fabric & Wool Shop, Corn Market, Louth.