Granny Square Jumper

It looks like a regular granny square blanket...

But, in fact, it's a jumper! Or 'sweater' for our colonial cousins!

You may remember me posting about this here, when I bought the wool at the Country Living Fair. The pattern is from the book 'Crochet in no time' by Melody Griffiths.
 
Well I worked on it over Christmas and finally finished it a couple of weeks ago.

I have to admit to being a bit diasppointed at first. It seemed a bit more shapeless than in the picture, but then I had used a courser wool. And I thought the sleeves were too short.

I'm putting a brave face on it here! But I do like the colours and it is very warm and snuggly. I wore it once then decided the sleeves were DEFINITELY the problem. So I extended them.

This is what they look like now. I am wearing the jumper today and have no one to take a photo of me in it, so you will have to use you imagination. It is much better now and I am happy. I think it is a problem with making garments, I was always disappointed whenever I did any dressmaking. But I never feel that way with quilts or blankets, maybe that is because I rarely work from a set pattern!
Or is it because they use such young, pretty models in the pattern photos!!

I have had a very busy week with a trip to Birmingham to the main Trade Fair of the year at the NEC. Before going I was very busy preparing for it (budgets, reports, stocktakes), and now I am back the deliveries have started coming in already, so I am still busy unpacking and merchandising all the new stock. Coupled with this I have lost my main help in the shop. Sophie has left to go travelling in South America for 4 - 5 months. She has a lovely blog called 'Travels with myself' that she started when she went to Costa Rica last year. This year she is taking a little friend with her... It is one of my wee Oggle Owls that I gave her as a Christmas Present! Sophie plans to involve Oggle with her blog by photographing him in unusal places (a bit like the gnome in Amelie!). I can't wait to see where he turns up! Read about Sophie's owl plans here, and you can keep up with his adventures too!

Meanwhile I have just been too busy to do much crafting! Especially as now, with Sophie gone, I will now lose most of my Friday's off :(

So here are some new patchwork cushions I made a couple of weeks ago for the shop...

Just to keep you interested till the end of the page!!

I sold my tickertape cot quilt in the shop, by the way! In the few hours I had free last week I started work on 2 cushions to go with it. So now I will have to make another quilt to go with them! Oh well...