YOP Sunday

 It has been a cold and rainy and icy week here but there's a warming trend now, 54 today and 60's tomorrow and sunshine!  I need it too.  I have been like a slug; no energy, no motivation but tomorrow I'll go for a nice walk with the girls and hopefully that will jump start my engine again. 
I started this hat for my grandson Grayson.  He was named after the Irish side of the family so I chose this worsted yarn by Knitpicks called Dublin and I named the hat Dubliner.  It is the ear flap pattern from Purl Soho in the child's size. 

This was supposed to be a scarf for my son Benjamin who's birthday is the 18th.  Why do I always try something new for a gift?  It was the Herringbone stitch which I mastered but I struggled with the cable as I think it was too short.  I was literally having to pick up some stitches with my fingernails to get the needle underneath the yarn!  I love wooden needles but they are not very "pointy".

 I finally had to frog it until I get some better needles to work with it and not have a deadline.  I think I'd rather have straight needles to do a scarf anyway.   As soon as I finish Grayson's hat I will cast on a hat for Ben instead.  I do like the Herringbone pattern but if you mess up it REALLY throws off the pattern and it is very obvious and I'm not sure I would know how to "back out" of a mistake on this one.  I'd hate to make a mistake on row 60 of the 61 rows required.

 The cuff is done on the sock and now it's just knit for 6 inches but I haven't had much time with 2 gifts to get done. 

All my other time has been spent setting up Outlook for my organizational tool and projects.  I did organize and get up to date with my Ravelry projects and my list here on my blog....finally.  I also decided not to list my books and reviews here on my blog but instead put a widget to Goodreads where I will list my books, reviews and books I want to read.  No sense duplicating my efforts and Goodreads is so great for keeping track especially for my "series" books. 
I hope you are all doing well, staying healthy and warming up after the "deep freeze" across the country.  Happy Trails until we meet again..........

YOP Sunday

Goodness gracious I struggled with loading my photos!  But I finally figured it out and used the SD card instead of the camera.  Beware of Windows 8!  So, here's what I've been up to since 2014 started.  First...look at this gorgeous yarn.

  It is by Cakewalk Yarns, an Etsy shop which has since closed and I have no idea why as she had been highly recommended by Susan B. Anderson  on her blog.  I actually got to see the socks made up in this yarn so I was sold.  I can't remember the name now but since she's no longer open I guess it doesn't make much difference.   I'm also using Susan's "go to" sock pattern which she has for free on her blog and/or Ravelry..  Oh those needles are tiny...from using a 7 to using a 1.  I hope my eyes are up to it, lol!

I spent one evening just rewinding the yarn and it doesn't look nearly as pretty as it did in the skein but I still love it.   I'm actually almost done with the cuff but after all the trouble with uploading pics I wasn't going to try again.

I also finished another hat....this one for one of my sons.  I'm glad to be working with some color after all that solid stuff.

I used Knitpicks Brava worsted weight and I really like their yarns plus they're reasonably priced.  This was another Purl Soho Basic Hat pattern.  I did use circular needles for this.
 Yesterday was my 65th birthday and I made an orange cake with a recipe I got from Ruth and it was delicious!  Thank you Ruth, and thank you Benjamin for choosing such a great cake for your birthday.  Mine didn't turn out nearly as pretty as Ruths' so I didn't include a picture but if you go to her website there is a picture of the Orange Cake and the recipe.  YUM!!!!

 I hope you made it into 2014 with lots of inspiration and project ideas to start off the new year.  Have a great week and "Happy Trails to you 'til we meet again."