Now that looks amazing! And with the fleece backing, I can imagine that was really cosy too :D

thanks :d I couldn't resist a rifty look with that jumper :d Mum's planning on going to the garden centre pet shop later in the week to see if she can get Sparky some different seed, just on the off chance that it's the seed that was making his digestive system have problems.

Thankies, the blanket wouldnt really be warm without it. :)

I hope the new seeds will help Sparky. ❤

Well... bad news for my glasses. I think I'm allergic to them. It started last night when my face was itchy and I've got the same sores as I had 3 years ago with my old metal frames. I put them on this morning and it started burning and itching almost right away. -sighs- and I was getting on so well with them.

Lene-- yeah it sounds interesting Indeed :P

Paddy-- it's great :D I hope that helps <3

that's a good point - I always wonder how warm crocheted blankets actually end up!

Hopefully tomorrow we can get the seed swapped over (the idea is that one hopper will have his regular seed, and the new seed can go in the other hopper, so he can have a choice just in case he doesn't like the new one!), and see if that helps him :)

oooo that's a dashing HA today :d Awww that stinks :( Have you tried cleaning them just with water and a soft microfibre cloth (the frames as well) since you got them? Just wondering if there's a spray that they used on the lens when you picked them up, that left a residue on the frames that might be causing the problem, rather than the frame itself?

why thank you :D I suppose I can give that a go. So far the moment I put them on my temples went on fire and still haven't calmed down :/

Ive iced them and have a bit of fabric behind the metal to give my body a break and see if the itching is friction vs allergies

:( I know that I found the nose pads were an irritant on mine, but that did seem to be from their cleaning spray - once I washed them off (I used a little bit of hand soap on the nose pads, but I wouldn't recommend using that on the frames) they seemed to be back to being ok again o.O

You almost want some with a metal front section and plastic coated arms, so there's no metal that should be touching your face (assuming the front section doesn't touch your skin of course)

@ Raven Hope you can get some new frames that you are not allergic to soon, that sucks. >_< Especially since you liked them. hugs

Knitting here now. xD

They tend to not be very thick! It helps if you use pure wool tho. :)

Hope it will and that he will like his new food. :)

it sucks it happened for you. Glad the washing helped. I washed my frames but sadly didn't help for me :/ I tried with some fabric and it stopped burning but without the fabric it went back to burning so I'm pretty sure we're allergic.

I think I'm going to be stuck with acrylic frames honestly. I hope I find something light and stylish. I'm kinda upset about it as I'd just managed to wear it most of the day too.

thanks. I'm pretty bummed myself :/ have fun :D

yeah, my Gran crocheted us a couple of blankets years ago and used acrylic yarn - it's fine on the warmth (we use a 4.5 tog duvet over the top) but on a slightly warmer night it gets a bit too warm.... I think if she'd used wool that would've been more comfortable as the temperature wouldn't get quite so hot!

now that definitely stinks :( Is there any other part of the frame that touches your face, or is it just the arms against the side of your head?

Ones like this (link) are metal on the front around the lens, but acrylic on the arms (so in theory the metal parts wouldn't touch your face) - that's the style I've gone with as I like the deeper arms (less chance of getting light dazzling you from the side!) ;)

Or if the bottom of the frame below the lens touches your cheek, you could go with semi rimless like these (link) where the arms are acrylic again - I've had one pair of glasses like this and they were pretty lightweight (they weren't titanium, just standard metal) ;)

I love using different types of wool. :D But often acrylic or cotton can be a lot cheaper, even tho not with the great advantages you have with wool. :) You need quite a lot of yarn for a blanket, so it makes sense to not buy the most expensive yarn out there. ;)

Allergies are not fun. I know you have a few to deal with. hugs

definitely - one of the blankets is a double bed size, so I can definitely see why she went with acrylic! I think as well she wanted it to be hard wearing and washable, so it made sense to pick that ;)

It was expensive enough buying the yarn (I went with a chunky wool mix I think) for the jacket I started knitting for Mum, let alone knitting / crocheting a blanket!

Double bed size. o-o Yikes! Not sure I would have the patience for that. I have seen some really pretty ones tho. :) Washable is always nice.

Same here! I laugh when I read people saying they want to knit to save money on sweaters. :P

Well we went to the opticians today where we bought my glasses and ordered new ones to replace the allergic pair. these are periwinkle/dark bluey colour with white inside and a thin filigree of gold no where near my face. WE even brought my kitchen scale and weighed my old pair with the demo lenses so we had an idea of how heavy the glasses would be before the higher index lenses were swapped. these new ones should be about the same weight which was 14.5 grams with the high index lenses. They are plastic/acrylic frames.

Paddy--well I did consider ones like those with the metal front, but the optician was hesitant about that given how bad my allergy is. There was a pair of plastic ones that I almost picked. THey looked metal but the one down side was they were very ordinary--there was nothing remarkable about them...

No, they are not fun at all. LOL to say the least :/

Your new glasses sounds really nice! And plastic should at least not add too much weight I would think. Hopefully you will like wearing them. ^_^ Got home from my "fun" appointment today. Good times. lol

I didn't have the patience to make a baby blanket, let alone a double bed sized one! 😊 :P

ROFL that's always crazy when they say that - at least sewing your own clothes can still save money (depending on where you'd normally buy the clothes from), especially if you'd normally have to pay for alterations ;)

that sounds like the optician was sensible about it - I mean they know whaere the frames / arms are likely to touch your face, so they should be the best to point you in the direction of something suitable ;) Those new frames sound really neat on the pattern :D And weighing them was a really good idea - I'd been caught out before with thinking that the glasses would be really lightweight from trying the demo frames on, only to find that once they add in my lenses, they're heavier than I'd anticipated!

You know I said that Mum reckoned I didn't need to make masks for Gran & Grandad? Well last week Mum had convinced herself that residents in those flats wouldn't need to wear masks in the communal areas. Yesterday, the staff issued Grandad with two disposable masks, as everyone have to wear them in the corridors & other communal areas (as I'd expected). So of course now I feel I really should be making him some, especially as with his ear problem (he had skin cancer a while ago, and as a result he has a misshapen ear) it can't be all that practical or comfortable to have elastic hooked behind it! If only I'd ignored Mum and made them a few weeks ago when I had the original idea, he could've actually been sorted, rather than looking like he has nobody to make him any :K

Talking about it makes me kinda want one for my bed now tho Yikes! :P Expensive and time consuming project. o-o

That is the main advantage from knitting and sewing, you get to choose the colour and fit. :) I would think its the same with fabric, you can get bargains or you can spend a small fortune. :P

thanks. Hopefully they'll work out. my newest pair that I just returned was 3/4 of an oz when I weighed them with the demo lenses and the re-purchased pair is about the same so they should wind up weighing the same as the ones with the high index lenses-- 1/2 of an ounce.

Ah yeah those are always "fun." Playing a game or something to treat yourself?

yeah. It's probably for the better. Hopefully they'll work out. Yeah I feel reasonably confident they'll wind up weighing near the same as the high index ones at .5 ounces.

I have no idea what the heck she thought they didn't need masks. I couldn't figure that one out. If anything they need them more. I thought you did make them but I guess it gives you a project to do. How will you augment for his ear being misshapen?

well one advantage of making it for yourself is that you can take as long as you like to complete it! ;)

hehe exactly! When I started trying to figure out sewing clothing, I bought some ridiculously cheap duvet covers and used them as fabric laughs then it didn't matter so much if I made a mistake or it didn't suit me like I'd hoped ;) But some fabric is so expensive I'd honestly be scared to cut into it, let alone sew it! 😊

That sounds pretty positive then :d And that's making me want to weigh my glasses to see what they come out as!

Yeah, me neither. I didn't make them, mainly because I was uncertain with my eczema not being settled, and with the other things Mum kept getting me to do, I couldn't find an hour where I wasn't getting interrupted so I could get them made! My eczema still isn't sorted, but I was able to get three masks cut out for Grandad - hoping I can get them sewn later (depending on my skin obviously) or tomorrow ;) I figured I'd just add longer elastic so it can go around the back of his head rather than just looping behind the ear - it's no good needing it to be tied as he'd never achieve for himself, so the longer elastic is the only option I could think of ;) I might see if I have any 3mm elastic rather than the thin cord, as the thicker flat elastic might be more comfortable on the back of his head....

There's not so much urgency for Gran to have a mask as she hasn't wanted to be outside of the flat yet, but once Mum starts taking her for a stroll down the communal corridor (that's Mum's aim, to try and give Gran more confidence at walking around there), she'll obviously need something even if it's a scarf she can put over her face.

hehe do it! Mum thought I was bonkers for bring the scale and we did get a laugh from the tech, but it helped us in the end because mum was complaining on the weight of her glasses. He took the lenses out and it was super light so it was the polycarbonate lenses that were so heavy. We switched her to high index so she should feel a 30% difference.

ah i see. -crosses fingers for you- cutting, i swear, can take the longest of a project! Hmm that sounds an idea. Hope it works. :D

-nods- she will. ARe they getting settled in well now.

Niamh looks great today. -pets kitty-

It's surprising how much heavier the lenses can make it! But that's great that going to a higher index made so much difference on hers!

These masks are the pleated ones so the cutting is pretty quick as it's literally just two rectangles - ironing the pleats in place takes a bit longer though ;)

I'd guess that Gran would get on better with a scarf, as she has a weird thing at the moment when she's sitting in her chair where she kind of grunts as she's breathing - I'm not sure that she'd get on with her mouth being covered with a mask (although she may well get on fine!) Yeah, they seem to be feeling its more "home" now, especially now all the packing boxes have been emptied and taken away for the removal team to collect ;) Grandad is pleased they can get more tv channels (they can get the signal from the main transmitter, so they get probably about 90 channels compared to our 14) so that's keeping them busy of an evening watching different programmes ;)

Thanks :d I got the background earlier, so I thought it was only fair that Niamh got a new look to go with it ;)