YOP Week 40...............HAPPY EASTER!

Happy Easter to all of you.  I am sitting here in a very quiet house.  Hubby and dogs are still sawing logs.  There is a load of laundry going at the moment and other than that and the clicking of my laptop's keys, it is very quiet.  This is good as it gives me time to update my blog without interruptions.  Let's see what has happened this week.

I don't know how many of you follow me throughout the week.  So, I will give a quick rundown of what got accomplished in the first half of the week.

 Five dishcloths were completed.  The patterns were (starting in upper left); Boxy Dishcloth, DW cloth and Grandma's Favorite Pattern.  It had been quite a while since I had made any cloths.  I really enjoyed doing a quick project.

The two, on the top, are gifts for the owners of the AirBnB's we are staying at while on our road trip.  

They are wrapped and ready to go.  I saw this idea on Pinterest and fell in love with it.  I used to give dishcloths for Christmas gifts.  How I wish I had thought of wrapping them like this, way back then.  The labels are printed on regular paper, nothing fancy.  Then cut out and scotch taped in the back.  Easy Peasy.

Since then, I have been experimenting with my 9 inch circular needles.  It took me a few days to get the hang of them.  You really need to hold them loosely or you will end up with hand cramps.  Also, I would never think of doing a super complicated pattern on them.  The pattern I am using has K2TOG and SSK.  Those are a bit 'tight' to do so I could imagine what it would be like to do other stitches involving more complicated moves.  But for a plain vanilla sock........they are wonderful!

Over all...............I do like them.  There is no need to worry about a dropped needle.......especially when riding in a car.  Also, no need to stop and move the stitches from one side of your needles to the other as in magic loop.  I still have not gotten to the heel yet.  That will be the real testament as to whether or not an entire sock can be made on them or if you HAVE to use DPN's for the heel.

This is where I am at:

I do believe I am knitting faster with these.  I only started the second sock on Thursday.  There has not been a lot of knitting time in the past 3 days, due to many Church obligations.  Even then, I was able to catch up with sock one by Saturday afternoon.

The pattern is Tadpoles.  My friend in Las Vegas had suggested it to me.  She has done it several times and said it was fairly easy but has a look of more complicated knitting.

I know it is still kind of hard to see the pattern.   I am enjoying the experience with the little circulars.  Well, I must be if I ordered the second ones.  Many people have expressed their concern because of BIG hands.  Let me tell you.............my hands are not small.  I wear a size 8 on my ring finger and sometimes a 9 if my Arthritis is acting up.  My fingers are almost always swollen with inflammation and my knuckles are double the size of most women's due to the RA.  If I can maneuver these little guys......................anyone that really wants to can too.  I am using the ChaiGo 2.5mm needles.  This is the size I use in DPN and Magic Loop to obtain gauge with a 64 stitch cast on. 

In other news............................We are getting things ready to take off tomorrow morning.  I am finishing up the laundry today.  My clothes have all been laid out, suitcase is opened and ready, dog food has been packaged, snacks have been purchased, cooler is cleaned and ready to go,  

I will be taking the socks to work on.  I am trying to decide witch other project to take.  I thought I was going to be in a test knit starting in a few days, but it is not happening until the end of the month.  Therefore, I may take a crochet shawl project with me.  The 'To the Point' shawl does not take much time to complete.  It would be done by the time I needed to start on the test knit.

Oh.......................I got my nails all prettified for the trip.

My mom collected Rabbits and butterflies.  My nail dude, free handed these for me.  I let him pick the color for the butterfly and it matches the dress I am wearing EXACTLY!  I am not used to having 'pictures' on my nails.  I normally leave them bare so I keep thinking they are 'dirty' when they come into view.

OK, the washer is finished so will get those clothes into the dryer and get my list for the day going.

Until Next Time.............................Happy Crafting!!!!!!!!!!!!