Biscornu progress

Yes it's the weekend which means another square has been posted for the 15 sided biscornu so have worked on it today.  I look forward to being able to sit down each weekend and do a little bit of cross-stitch and see something completed quickly.  Now to get back to getting other things finished.

Pattern #4

Sock progress #2

No I haven't given up on my sock I have actually been really busy this week with other parts of my life so the sock was sitting unloved for a few days.  I picked it up a couple of times and did a few rows but yesterday I really wanted to just sit and knit on my sock.  Yes it's my first sock that I am actually working on after so many years and I am loving it.

Here is the progress on it as of 12:30am Sunday morning.

Saturday progress

For those of you that can tell where I am I have turned the heel and now working on the foot part of my sock.  I am now just hoping that I have enough yarn in this ball to finish the sock without any problems.  I do want to sit and knit more on it but do need to do a few other things before this sock gets finished.

Speaking of socks, I think I understand why so many people like making socks.  Working on a sock is relatively relaxing in a lot of ways.  Also at least knitting a basic sock isn't too hard and it's something that you can manage.

I know I am starting to be like a lot of people and want to work on socks because yesterday I went out and bought more yarn for socks.  Yes I now have enough yarn for 5 more pairs of socks once I finish this pair.  I have also picked up another pair of double pointed and have ordered a 9" circular needle to see how that works.

So let's hope that the next picture I take of my sock is it completed and not me upset that I ran out of yarn.

Sock progress

I have finally started the sock and after a couple of challenges I think I am making some progress.  The first challenge was how to hold the needles as I normally use long straight needles and tuck the right needle under my arm while I knit.  I am still not comfortable holding the needles but at least I am knitting the sock.

I am determined to make this pair of socks as after completing my very first sock I heard "When are you taking it out and starting over".  I know it is going to take me some time to get through all the different parts of the sock but at least I am going to try and see how it goes.  Some people have laughed when I say I have knit for over 35 years but never knit a pair of socks so once these socks are finished I am going to be able to say I have knit a pair of socks.

Day 1

This is a picture of the start of the sock and I have two inches knit on the cuff on the sock so feeling pretty good about it.  Now to see how long it takes me to get the cuff and then the left done as I have to knit a total of 8 inches.

I have some work to do today and then I am going to try and knit a little bit this evening on the sock.

Finally finished

Today I decided that before I started anything else like my socks I was going to try and finish a couple of projects.  The main project was a little boy's sweater that I have been working on for a while.  I had finished knitting it but it was just sitting there needing to be sewn together.

Infant's pullover - Debbie Macomber

I am really happy with how this sweater turned out as I had never knit sleeves from the top down until this sweater.  This sweater was quick to knit up so now I am going to work on a little girl's version of this sweater with the yarn that I bought a couple of weeks ago.

Besides finished this sweater I finished a couple of the curly scarves that I like making as they just needed ends sewn in.  Now I think I am going to work on a new project but not sure if it's going to be cross-stitch or knitting yet.

Over coming an obstacle

Today with the support of a good friend and my husband I have decided to over come an emotional obstacle that I have been dealing with.  I am going to be blogging about this as I go along because I know a lot of people deal with emotional obstacles either put up by ourselves or by someone else.  This obstacle was put up by someone else and now I am going to be dealing with it my way.

A number of years ago I knit a sock only to be discouraged from making the mate to it or any more.  I have been fighting with this since and thanks to a comment from a good friend I have decided that I am going to attempt to knit a pair of socks.  Yes, me who knits, crochets and does needlework has not achieved a pair of hand-knit socks so here I go.

it's a start

Now I am going to get this pair of basic socks started within the next few days and am going to document what it's like to finally knit a pair of socks.

Wish me luck.

Some progress

This week I haven't picked up any needles or hooks very often so don't have a lot to show for this week.

I do have one item that I can show and that is the 3rd side of the 15 sided biscornu that I have been one.  With it being published one pattern a week it means that I have a chance to keep up with it.

This one was posted tonight so I immediately sat down and finished it.  Also my husband was teasing me that if I didn't finish it I couldn't go shopping tomorrow.  The best part of this project is that the entire square is only 20 stitches wide so it's quick to do.

I hope that this weekend I will have at least one project to show as it is just about finished and I hope that I can sit and finish it.  I need to sew it together and then it's finished and I will then take a picture of it.

Lots and lots of projects on the go so need to concentrate on a couple of them so that they are completed.  Maybe it's time to get off the computer and work on something for a little while.

Back to stitching

I haven't had a lot of chances to pick up my cross-stitching in the last little while so this afternoon decided that it was time to do a bit.  Earlier this week I had done some of the outlines for the 15-sided biscornu so today I was able to stitch the first two squares.  Now I have to wait until the next square is posted next weekend.

Here is what it looked like prior to today.

outline of 3.5 squares completed

Now I sat this afternoon and worked on the two squares and here are the two completed squares.

Squares 1 & 2

This 15 sided biscornu is being posted at www.gittas-kathrin.blogspot.com so I am looking forward to seeing what my biscornu will look like once it's all completed.  I have never done a 15 sided biscornu so figure it is something to try and it's also for me.

Now to see what I work on for the rest of today.

Importance of some crafting

I am writing this entry in a lot of ways for myself because of how I have been feeling lately about crafting.  This all stems back to some comments made a couple of weeks ago and now I am finally dealing with it.

Why do I craft?

I craft because I enjoy seeing something accomplished.  I am not the type of person that  can just sit and do nothing while watching tv.  Maybe this is in part because how I was brought up but I am not upset about that.  What I always say is at least I have something to show for the time I spend sitting and relaxing.  Yes my crafting is my way of relaxing and also at the end of the day a way of stitching my mind back in order.

I understand that I have to watch the amount of crafting that I do because of issues I have had in the past with both of my wrists but I know what I can and cannot do.  I understand that I have to change what I am doing so I don't end up with carpal tunnel.  If I craft for long stretches I change what I am doing from knitting to crocheting to cross-stitch or needlepoint and always take breaks.

I don't spend my entire day crafting even thou I wish I could.  I do try and take one day a week to just lose myself in my crafts without letting other things distract me.  This may sound selfish but everyone needs some time to themselves to do what they love, like reading, playing computer games or watching tv. 

Crafting makes me happy and I know I have the love and support of my husband and that's important.

I do what I love to do and if someone else finds joy in relaxing another way that is fine as well, but please let me craft.

More stash

I did go out yesterday and I did get more yarn but at least I came home with only brigter girl colours.

The colours that I picked up yesterday were:  Lavender, Rouge, Lt Old Rose, Grape and Aqua.  Now I have colours that are a little different than I normally get and bought enough of each of them that I can make a small girls sweater out of it. 

Today I am hoping to be able to sit and knit for a while as I have a little boy's sweater on the go that I would like to see finished very soon.  I started this sweater in November and put it down and finally on Friday I picked it up and decided I wanted to get it done.

Another project that I want to start is a 15 sided biscornu which is being posted on www.gittas-kathrin.blogspot.com so need to get my 15 squares outlined.  I also need to get started designing my name tag for the retreat at the beginning of April.

Off to do a little bit of paper work and then I am taking the rest of the day to myself.  Wish me luck.

Stash colours

Last night I decided that I wanted to knit a couple of sweaters for little girls so checked my inventory of yarn colours that I have.  Yes, I have a list of all the yarn that I own and it is rather large and my goal is to decrease it some this calendar year.

What I noticed was I really don't buy yarns that are good colours for little girls.  Most of my stash are various shades of, gray, blue, and some greens.  I seem to buy a lot of the quieter colours than bright ones.  If I do have some bright colours its normally just a 50 or 100 gram ball so not enough for a sweater.

The good thing is I noticed that Michaels have yarn on sale this week so maybe I should venture out and get some brighter colours of yarn.  The worst part of buying more yarn is my husband is going to tease me about it. (Just a minute isn't he the one that is driving me to the store so I can get it.)

Now I need to get my coupons ready and an idea of the colours that I want to look for and hopefully I won't come back with the normal colours.  What colours are in your stash, maybe time to look and see what colours you buy.

Better run before he leaves without me.

New Year and new goals

Another year has just started and I have decided that I am going to write down some of the things that I would like to accomplish this year.  These goals are only my craft goals as I also have other goals to accomplish as well.

My goals:
1. Complete 180 items
2. Make three things for myself
3. Design a needle case to go with my name tag from last year
4. Compete at Markham Fair in 10 categories with one outside my comfort zone
5. Get my yarn stash under control (under 300 pounds)
6. Design my name tag for retreat

I want to complete 180 items this year as in 2010 I set a goal of 120 items and actually finished 237 items but a lot of those where small projects.

Hope everyone had a wonderful New Years Eve and all the best in 2011.