Hi, here we are again having a peek at each other’s workspaces on a Wednesday, as hosted by our Julia on The Stamping ground. Check it out and join in if you wish!
My workspace is a set of shelves next to my chair. 
As a couple of you have expressed an interest in the Persian Tiles crochet project, I thought it might be interesting to see the tools I use for this.
I'm going for subtle changes, tile to tile, so it may not look much different from last weeks!
I've also been making more mask adapters. Very easy and they save the irritation that the elastic behind your ears can cause. I make them in cotton, with plastic buttons so they can be washed at 60 deg.
There is a box which I love on the top right of my workshelves, for the occasions when I need to write a letter, it's my Arabian themed paper. I just love the patterns, though I have to put an address sticker on the envelopes.
Dino is still sniffling, but wriggled past me to go out today, so I guess he's feeling a bit better. Thea likes nothing better than nuzzling my ear - very ticklish!
Thea is always the first one to find a new sleeping space, and Dino has to try it out (typical manspreading 😄). Thea's not giving up so easily though, so I snapped them both together.
One walk this week was up the hill above the village. It gets rural surprisingly quickly. This is the line of the old Elham valley railway, which closed in 1947. Before the war, it had been both a passenger railway and one for transporting sheep, which were brought to our village station. It would be nice to think of them sitting in carriages with the passengers, but of course they weren't.
The area is still known for sheep farming, particularly on the Romney Marshes.
We buy soap from Romney Marsh wool. It's very pure and gentle, which is great for my skin - it get's very sensitive these days. I now wear a nurse's watch pinned on, when I need one, as I can't wear a wrist watch any more - it's funny as I get professional courtesy in hospitals.😄 I must try Romney Marsh's wool as well.
A question for you all: What do you use to edit your blogs, please? I use the blogger editor, but it's really annoying and moves my photos around when I don't want it to.
This week is a round of more hospital visits - my better half has to go for a consultation to get his first cataract operation. I have others; my checkup date from the eye clinic is next Monday - fingers crossed that's it!
Have a good week, all. Many thanks for visiting and I really appreciate it if you get chance to leave a comment.
Hugs, Lynne xxx
31 comments:
I am still reverting to the old blogger for creating posts and will continue to do so for as long as possible Lynne. Love the latest crochet projects. Those mask protectors are useful. Meow to Dino and Thea and happy WOYWW. Sarah #?
Thanks for the tip, Sarah.
Stay safe
Hugs Lynne
What a lot of interesting tips! I amy have to think about making some of those ear savers! Also need some of the end finishers...
Love today's tile!
Happy woyww! Susan #8
My fingers are crossed Lynn, won’t it be great to be discharged, hope you feel ready! Still loving the tiles, however subtle, they really are lovely. Love the info pic too, I saw those big eye needles and immediately sighed...just what a hooker needs, brilliant! Can’t enlighten you with the rug hook tool though. Totally see why you love the Arabian papers, these patterns and repeats always take my breath away. I had trouble moving from space to space when we visited the Alhambra because I couldn’t drink in the patterns fast enough!
Morning Lynne. To answer your question first... I use Word press for my site - it seems to work well enough, and I can (like a trained monkey) make each blog post , check it, then publish it - doing exactly as the friend who helped set up the site told me to do!!!
I love the crochet tiles - they are beautiful - such a lovely variety of stitches and colours we see each week. You use a good list of tools to make them!!
Take care. God bless.
Margaret #2
Morning Lynne, blogger seems to change every time I access it I close my eyes and keep my fingers crossed everytime I press publish. Your crochet tile is fantastic, such a pretty thing. I really wish I had mastered the art but wool is really not my brains thing. Wishing you well with the hospital, stay safe & Happy WoywW Tracey #6
Your comment about the aircraft desk plate made me hoot!! Ah, happy days..... Ironically Rhys applied for a job recently which would have been on the old RN site in Llangennech (didn't get an interview sadly) Love the Persian tile so much, youv'e really cracked them now - the labelled photo was good fun too and I learned something new - I've never heard of finishing needles! I've always used tapestry needles to sew up before.
Hope Brian's appt goes well and yours next Monday too *fingers crossed*, let me know how you get on.
And we will meet up again just not sure when! O is coming on Monday for a week, haven't seen him since February so I'm really looking forward to it.
HUgs LLJ 7 xxxx
Well, last week Pixie told me how to put labels on my blog and this week, by accident, I found how to do full justification. I think this new blogger is just a suck it and see type of thing and we will learn new things as we go along - getting frustrated with things we cannot control though. I would just do a false post and play about with the buttons to see what they all do but not actually post it. In fact I probably will do that myself.
Love your tiles, but then the colours are the colours I go for so you couldn't go wrong for me. I like the idea of subtle changes though, that is good and when it is all finished it will make for an interesting colour change to look at.
Love your Arabian paper, how lovely to have an envelope decorated like that drop through your letterbox - bet it cheers people up - and maybe the postie on his rounds.
Thanks for the kitty photos, hope Dino is well on the way to being better.
Good luck with the hospital visits too - will be thinking of you.
Hugs, Neet 12 xx
Hi Lynne, love the tile and the special paper! I'm gradually finding the best ways with this new Blogger, I think it would have been easier for users if They'd brought in the changes gradually, rather than us having a whole new way of doing things in one go.I have discovered that the little Justify icons- the ones with little lines and an arrow, do actually help a bit to get images where want them, and you can get them as a pop up box if you click on the image, that also helps.Stay safe, have a lovely week, Hugs, Shaz #5 X
The mask adapters are a brilliant idea, well done. The tiles are gorgeous too. I've played with the new blogger but still using the Classic though they aren't liking it and keep turning me over to the new interface. I'm sure we'll get used to it but why they had to change it I don't know as the old one was much easier to use. Sending you a happy woyww hug, Angela x16x
Those adapters sound like a great idea ~ especially for people who have to wear them to work for 8-9 hours. Glad your kitty is improving and that you enjoyed your walk ~ blessings to you
Hi Lynne, thats a beautiful piece you have crocheted. I'm just waiting to become a beginner. I have the hooks now, just waiting for the wool to arrive. I have the same play mats - what are blocking mats if you don't mind me asking? As I said, I am a complete beginner - I'll be watching YouTube videos no doubt! I hadn't realised how many tools are needed, you seem to have quite a lot of different things! Have a lovely week, Heather xx #11
Hi Lynne, that’s a beautiful tile, I bet that was done with a fine hook! I have not crocheted with any less than double. The mask adapters are a great idea. I just use the editor in Blogger, can be a pain sometimes, I put up with its limitations! have a great week Angela #27
Lovely post, Lynne. Your Persian Tiles motifs are gorgeous. As you know, I have bought the Persian Tiles pattern and plan on using it to make a throw for our new settee when it arrives. I've saved loads of Pinterest images of different colour schemes and am still trying to decide whether to go for random riotous bright colours, or a more sophisticated uniform design with all the tiles the same, in dark red and black - found a fabulous image of that. I am most intrigued by all your crochet tools and would love further information about them! I've got blocking mats which I bought a few months ago for my knitting. I've never seen those chunky handled crochet hooks before - are they a lot more comfortable to use? I've got a wallet with a complete set of normal ones and am very used to using those. I have a set of knitting stitch markers that look like dinky little plastic safety pins and will no doubt be using those for the Persian Tiles project. I've never heard of Susan Bates finishing needles and wouldn't know where to start with those (or to finish for that matter lol!). The cheap hair slides look like a good idea. If you can share any further information on how to use these various things, I'd be really interested - always wanting to learn new things and better ways of doing things!
Like you, I love Islamic design and pattern, which is probably why I was attracted to the Persian Tile design in the first place. I've got Keith Critchlow's book somewhere on my shelves and have been thinking of getting it out again recently. I've been watching some interesting YouTube videos on drawing Islamic geometric designs over the past few days.
Sorry to hear Dino is still sniffly but glad he's on the mend, albeit slowly. Are he and Thea siblings? They are very handsome kitties!
Before I got completely fed up with Blogger and abandoned it for Wordpress, I was using an offline editor called Open Live Writer (OLW) which was originally a free Microsoft add-on called Windows Live Writer. When Microsoft dropped this, someone took it on and made it open-source, and it worked an absolute treat, until Blogger, in their usual fashion, arbitrarily changed things and it no longer worked. It was this, along with Blogger deleting ALL the photos off my blog (8 years' worth) that made me throw in the towel once and for all with Blogger. I haven't followed the progress of OLW since that time but I went on a forum at the time where people were trying to get it to work with the changed Blogger. It may be up and running again. It might be worth your while to look into this and find out. It was a brilliant programme and I was able to save all my blog posts as a backup on my hard drive. I hate Blogger and how they keep messing things around, and their own blog editor has to be one of the worst things ever - you'd think after all these years that they'd design a better editor that isn't so clunky and completely impossible to control - you can never guarantee how the final result will look and the formatting is all over the place. It's perfectly horrible!!! I'm really glad I made the move to Wordpress but I do have to pay for it, but then you get what you pay for in this life, and Blogger being free simply wasn't enough to hold me there.
I hope you and your hubby's eye appointments go OK. I've got an eye test due fairly soon and no doubt he will report on the progress of my cataracts which I think have got worse, but they probably aren't bad enough to remove just yet.
Thank you for your visit and I'm glad you like my latest "Magic Carpet" - lol! Love that! - and also my red skirt. I was very taken with your account of your grape picking adventures and the pumpkin soup! My squash soup doesn't have any wine in it but it's delicious all the same! Yes, do try and make some again! It's excellent nosh.
Happy WOYWW,
Shoshi x #15
I have finally gotten accustomed to the new Blogger and can manage to keep my photos centered. Anyway, I love your crochet tile and the tools you use. My mom and I crocheted at one time but we did more vests and blankets. Your paper is gorgeous!! And so are you little furbabies! I have never thought of saving my blog posts. Never heard of a program that would do that! Have a great week!
Carol N #22
Thanks Susan, stay safe
Hugs
Lynne
Hi Julia, I adored the Alhambra too.
Stay safe
Hugs
Lynne
Thanks Margaret, one or two people have recommended Wordpress. I must have a look. I’m a sucker for tools, whatever I’m doing.
Stay safe
Hugs
Lynne
Hi Tracey, Many thanks. I always think it wouldn’t do fo4 us all to like the same thing, the queue would be too long 😏
Stay safe
Hugs
Lynne
Thanks Jan, the beauty of the finishing needles is you cs. Go back and forth by just changing ends.
Looking forward to when we can meet up again
Love Lynne xxx
Thanks Neet, I might go back to the classic format.
Stay safe
Love
Lynne
Thanks Shaz, I’ve used the justify icons, but will have more of a play. I think the blog stays better placed if I build it with the photos as I go but I’m always adding bits. 😏
Stay safe, hugs, Lynne
Thanks Angela, it was a Facebook group I joined that got me started on the mask adapters. During the lockdown we were sending lots out as donations to hospitals, hospices, care homes and my local chemists.
Stay safe
Hugs
Lynne
Thanks Karen, yes they were initially made for nurses and other key workers. Stay safe
Hugs
Lynne
Thanks, Heather. I always recommend this little book to beginners:
https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0954829611/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
If you prefer video then Bella Coco is very good. I I only need so many tools for a complicated blanket. Expensive blocking tiles have measurements on them so you can shape things to a particular size, by damping, stretching and pinning out. Stay safe, hugs Lynne
Hi Angela, it’s mainly 4mm with a couple of rows of 3.5mm in double knitting.stsy safe, hugs,
Lynne
Hi Shoshi,
Thanks for your lovely reply and all the info on bloggers.
I am really comfortable with Addi Swing maxi crochet hooks; I love their length. I think what matters is what’s right for you. I once bought the shorter Addi swing and had wrist pain and shoulder pain straight away so I went back to maxis pdq. It was only 1cm shorter but 5he shorter hook made all the difference.
The finishing needles are just like a big flexible eye. Stick s short end of thread in it, pull in one way, them just push the other end back almost the way you came, once more and for me it’s secure.
If you’re doing Persian tiles there is a Facebook group with tables of different colour combinations people have used, videos for the 1 or 2 tricky stitches, hints and tips. If you’re not on Facebook, I could send the tables to you.
Stay safe
Hugs
Lynne
Thanks thanks a Carol,
Stsy safe, have a good week
Hugs
Lynne
https://youtu.be/IImb8_JciOY
This is a link that shows the use of finishing needles. They have a point at each end. Put them into a tighter section of yarn than is shown here and they give a secure tie off.
Thank you for a great reply, Lynne! I know what you mean about getting exactly the right tool for the job. I used to get horrendous shoulder pain from a regular computer mouse and it went away when I got a trackball, which I still use with the laptop. I can't get on with straight knitting needles, either, and always use circular ones now. You don't have to hold up the weight of the knitting, which just sits in your lap, and the whole thing is much more comfortable. I think I can visualise how the finishing needles work, but no doubt there will be a YouTube video on it!! They sound brilliant. It sounds an ideal solution if the end is too short for a regular needle. I'm not on Facebook, and would be very grateful if you could send me the tables - that's very kind of you! You can contact me via my blog for my email address. Are the videos available to view for non-members of Facebook, or are they perhaps on YouTube as well? Sometimes I've been able to watch Facebook videos without being a member.
Thanks again!
Shoshi x
Hi Shoshi, I had a look and the videos are only on Facebook. You could join just for that group maybe?
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