Good Week

Guided Journaling Giveaway prize I won

This week I got some really nice news from another blogger that I follow.  Silverlotus had a giveaway and on Tuesday morning I received an email from you letting me know that I had won the big prize.  Thank you Silverlotus for picking my name.

I have entered quite a few blog giveaways over the last little while but hadn't won any of them until this week. 

I do quite a bit of journaling not only on my blog but also on my computer and in some notebooks.  I find that my journaling helps me deal with some of the issues that happen around me.  I know that everyone doesn't journal but I find that I am able to deal with a lot of the little issues that bother me if I can write them down.  No one sees most of my journal but at least I am able to express what is bothering me.

Besides my journaling I have been knitting a bit this week.  I am still working on my socks and it is amazing that I am still working on the socks.  Normally I will work on an item for about a month and then I get bored with it but the socks seem to have lasted so far.

Will try and take some pictures of the socks that are currently on the go over the weekend.  Time to get to work for a while.

Dream Castle - continues

Dream Castle as of March 29th

I decided on Friday that instead of working on socks, I would pick up and work on the hardanger that hasn't seen a lot of time lately.  Part of the reason for not working on my hardanger was I was waiting for me new glasses to be ready so that I could see the holes in the fabric a lot easier.  Yes, the threads that I have used for checking that things matched are still in place.  Some will be coming out really soon but want to wait until I have a bit more done.

Dream Castle as of March 30th

It really didn't take me too long to see a difference in the work on Dream Castle.  I am enjoying this work now that I am just filling in the different areas.  I am hoping that by the end of April I will be able to start working on the actual cutting of the threads but that will depend on work and my other things I have on the go.

My sock knitting does continue and I actually finished the rocky road jacquard sock yesterday and now just have one sock on the needles.  I know that isn't going to be for very long but yesterday just didn't have time to cast on the next sock.

Today is set as a work day for me so will see what I can get accomplished once all the work is finished for the day.

Sock knitting continues

Two pair of socks completed

 I have been very busy lately with work but have found some time to sit and knit and I am seeing some really good results.

I am happy to say that over the last month I have finished 3 pair of socks and now have another two different socks on the go.  It has been a lot of fun working on the socks and seeing how quickly I can actually get one completed. 

The blue socks in the picture were completed after I found the second ball of yarn of that kind and sat down and worked on the second pair.

Sock on the go - Kroy Stretch Sock - Rocky Road Jacquard

The sock collection is now growing for me and I keep working on socks which is so different for me.  I am one of those that normally doesn't do anything for myself and lately I have only worked on socks instead of all the charity items I normally do.

Sock - Aloe Sock Yarn - Desert Sky

The Aloe Sock Yarn sock picture was taken just after dinner last night and I still had about 4 inches to knit on it.  The sock was completed this morning and I have now started the mate for that sock.  If things go well I should have at last another couple of pairs of socks before the end of this coming week.

No matter what anyone says to me now about knitting socks I can say it is something that I enjoy doing.  Ok, they are just tube socks but they are comfortable and I made them.

So time to get off the computer and see how much more I can knit on the Rocky Road Jacquard sock today.  If I am lucky I should be able to get that sock finished by tomorrow but I will see what else I work on.  I am taking today to work on things for myself so maybe some cross-stitch or knitting is on tap for today.

Hardanger update

Dream Castle - X's and Oh's

Well I finally decided it was time to post an update on the hardanger that I started last week.  I was hoping to have this post earlier but there was a problem.  I didn't want to post a picture until I had got all the border stitched. 

On Wednesday I was really happy as I didn't have a lot more to do on the border only to discover that I was one row out on the final section.  It took me a day to find where the error was and then take it out.  I ended up putting in guide lines so that I could see where it went out.  I then spent a bit of time Saturday and yesterday working on getting it all re-stitched.  Well, last night when I got to the very end I discovered that again I was 1 column out this time so it took a bit of time to discover this error and correct it.  So here is the picture of the Dream Castle outline now completed.  I am going to work slowly on getting some of the other stitching done on this as I have a lot of work that needs my attention this week.

The actual border didn't seem to take too long to do but I know that the buttonhole border that I have to do is going to take quite a bit of time so I think I may work on that part bit by bit.  I also have lots of other stitches that need to be done on this project so I will see how long it really takes me to complete it.

I am also working on some socks as I really want to get a couple more pair of socks finished this month.  I have two socks on needles so am bouncing between the two of them so that I can get them both done.  One sock is currently beside my computer so that I can work on it a few stitches at a time and the other sock is in my purse so that when I am out and about I have something to work on.

I made a comment this weekend to my DH and that was "I never thought I would say that knitting socks was so relaxing".  I am happy to say that I am really enjoying knitting the tube socks on the 8 inch circular needles.  I do want to try a sock with a heel soon and will be asking a friend for a simple heel that I can try in the not too distant future.

Off to work now.

Hardanger project

Dream Castle by X's and Oh's Jo Gatenby

Well last night I was looking for a project that I could work on that wasn't too hard as I want to take it to Stitch Night at Gitta's tonight.  I looked and looked and none of my projects really caught my attention so I decided to start another project.

The project I decided to start was Dream Castle by X's and Oh's.  The project is a hardanger piece and I haven't one a hardanger project for quite a few years. I am doing this on a light grey overdyed  28ct piece of fabric that I picked up when I got the pattern.  There is lots and lots of work to do on this project so will see what it looks like after Stitch Night.  I am currently working on the outline of the entire design as I want to make sure it meets up before I do any of the work that goes on the inside.

Besides working on this hardanger I was able to complete the Cyan stripes pair of socks and wore them yesterday.  Forgot to take a picture of them completed.  I am going to continue to work on socks as I have enjoyed the results so far.

Time to get a bit of work done so that I can relax tonight while sitting among friends and stitching.

Sock update

Sock 1 as of February 26th

Sock 2 as of February 26th

Socks as of March 4th

I am very happy to say that I have made some progress on my socks over the last week.  Sock 1 is finally at the toe decrease so that sock is almost done which is great as I can't wait to start the other sock like this one.  This yarn (Kroy sock yarn) is really nice to work with and it was fun watching the colours and pattern develop as I knit over the last couple of days.

Sock 2 is finished and I have already started the second sock of that pair.  This sock was a little more boring to knit but considering there was some colour changes it did help some.  I hope that over the next week or so I will be able to finish the second sock for this pair.  This yarn was also Kroy sock yarn just not as many colour changes.

I hope that I will be able to get both of these pairs finished quickly so that I will have new socks to wear before the weather gets warmer.

I am going to try and continue working on socks between other projects but so far have really been enjoying working on socks for a change.  Maybe part of that is I am making something for myself instead of always making things for others.  The other part of knitting socks on short circular needles is all the interesting looks you get when you are knitting in public.  So many people can't believe that I can knit on the short circular needles but I am really enjoying it.  I only use the double point needles when I work on the toe decrease so considering it's less than 20 rows I don't really mind.

Now time to get the work done that is sitting in front of me and then I am going to finish sock 1 and start of sock 1 second sock.  Yes I will continue to have two socks on the go but then I can decide what I feel like working on.

Sock issue

Completed sock

 I have decided that I am going to work on some socks for a little while and see how many of them I can get completed. 

The good news is I was able to get the first start finished that I only have 5 inches done before the weekend.  The bad news this this sock is I currently cannot find the other ball of this yarn so the partner is going to be on hold until I find the yarn.

New sock started

So instead of dealing with the hunt for the ball of yarn I decided to do something about it and I started another pair of socks.  This sock is using Kroy Sock Yarn - Clay Colours and it is

Another new sock started

working up pretty quickly.  I figure it will at least mean I hopefully have some socks soon.  I am knitting tube socks and they are very comfortable as I already have one pair that I previously made.

Now I decided that just having one sock on my needles wasn't me so I started a second sock again with a different yarn.  This sock is using Kroy Socks - Cyan Stripes and again seeing the colour changes is great.

Now the two socks that I have started I do know where the yarn is to make the pair so that is the good thing about this.  Actually the Clay Colours I have 12 balls of that yarn so can get 6 pairs of socks from this yarn.  The Cyan Stripes yarn I have 6 balls so will get 3 pair of socks from this yarn.

No, I am not going to make all those socks at once but at least getting a couple of pair completed will make me very happy.  So now I need to finish up some work today and then I can sit and knit for a while.

Oh, I am using my 8" circular knitting needles and loving them.  As you can see I have at least 2 of these needles.  People are amazed that I can use circular needles that short but I have no problems with them and it means I can get socks that I made.