orangutan

Here is the graph of the Orangutan. It will also be 8x11" (56 stitches x 104 rows), same as the parrot. I may make some more adjustments to the graph. I have been staring at the finished graph for the last day or 2. Not constantly but from time to time. I put the graph across from where I sit knitting and keep looking at it. This is the 3rd time I made finished adjustments. That's how I like to work. I don't start knitting until I'm totally happy with it. And even then I might make changes as I go along. I'm still not sure about the background yet. Stst or revStst.

I have all the yarn for this block. Which is a good thing. I'm still thinking of how I want to do the fur on the orangutan body. I want it to look furry so I might do a furry edgy. I will to a test swatch first as always.

Here is the finished knitted Parrot. I'm happy the way it came out. I'm still not sure if I will be adding some overlays to this block, such as, leaves & feathers. There is alot of texture in the background with the chervon stitch. The pink on the bottom is from the provisional cast-on that will be removed when the whole blanket will be put together. This part will be grafted together with the border.

I am still working on the next block which is a gorilla. I am just about finished with the graph, which is also being done in my Stitch Painter program. Once I'm finished and I like it I will post the graph. I thought I was done but after looked at it for a while there were spot I want to fix.

Parrot graph

This is the graph of the parrot. I'm doing a chevron stitch for the background that gets wider apart as it gets toward the bottom. I'm also going to do some kind of stitches for the feathers for the wings. When I get there I will decide. I have a test swatch that I will work on to see if I like it first. I think it will be some kind of slip stitche to make it look like feathers. The tail's feathers will be an overlay. The leaves will also be overlays, giving that 3D look. The branch I may do an I-cord. But you know me. It's design as I go. I will be keeping good notes and the graph is in the computer, so this time I may able to sell the pattern if I want. It will be for sale 2 ways. One way with no overlays, just intarsia and ST ST. And the 2nd way for the more experienced creative knitter with all the overlays and fancy stitches. The gauge will be 7st=1" & 9 rows=1". I mostly use DK weight yarn on size US3 needles. This has been working for me on all my blankets. I like the hand I get with this. You can also use Lt Worsted, Sport, or Baby. The gauge is the most important. Otherwise the animals will be distorted. Just a side note- I'm a very tight knitter and I tend to knit a little looser doing intarsia. And as they say "SWATCH" before knitting.
And now it's time for me to start knitting and get off the computer!
Terry

Here we go again

It's been a long time but now I'm ready to start a new blanket. I know I have 2 more to do for the Blue's Clue theme, but I want to do Hope's baby blanket first. After all she is my daughter and this one is going to be for my new grandson that is due in early Dec. I know I won't have it done in time but at least I will have it started. The theme is zoo animals. I'm doing it differently. It will be done in block pieces and then knitted together. It took a long time to get started because I was determined to design it and graph it on my new computer program "Stitch Painter". I can't begin to tell you how many times I had to start it over to get it right. The first block I am working on is a Parrot. There will be 9 blocks. I will try to attach a picture but I am have trouble. I will try again later.

It's been awhile

Boy I can't believe it's over 1 month since I posted. As they say "time flies when you are having fun". I want to know where's the fun?
As for knitting I feel I'm scatted all over the place. I have many projects going or going in my head. Here's whats happening-

1- 2nd blanket in the Blue's Clues series- drawing is done and I'm still no where to get it on the computer to graph it out. I started to graph by hand just the outlines and see if I can do part by hand and part by computer. The program is much harder then I thought. I should at least finish the outlining by hand and get it into the computer graph to fill in the parts.

2- Richards half socks- 1 sock is done and I'm up to doing the toe, which I'll do at knitting today and I'll show how the grafting is done. The girls all like to learn this.

3- I just casted on for a sweater for me with the yarn Ruth brought me back from Germany. It's "GGH- Scarlett" made in Bugaria. It's beautiful 100% cotton. In 3 colors - purple, turq & lt yellow. I'm making a sweater from The Knitter magazine issue 5 Moonstone, but of course my version. Basically using the stitch "Old Shale Stitch". Making the sweater boxy and alternating the Old Shale St with st st and alternating the color striping. And I will decide how wide the striping as I go along.

4- From Zoe Mellor "nursery knits"- an outdoor snuggle for Hope's baby. Need to get the yarn. Did a test swatch and found out from the start there were errs. I went on-line to get all the errs in this pattern and there were many. Good thing I always check for errs before I start.

5- Hope also wants my standard infant sweater that I make in 2 colors. It's with a slip stitch and it goes fast. Also need to get the yarn and buttons.

6- The Blanket! This one is for Hope's baby. I am waiting to find out if it's a boy or a girl. Then I will design it.

7- I still want to make that crochet top for Ruth that was in Vogue Sum 09 issue. I do need to get yarn for that. I would love to finish that so she could take that away with us. But I have a lot on my plate.

Well I guess I better get started. And the next time I post I better be knitting.

Terry aka Fire Island Lady

What's next

So here I am with the blanket finished and trying to decide what to do next. I've been working on Richards ankle socks as my go to knitting that takes no thinking. My easier project. I can do it watching tv, while at my knitting group, take it with me on Wed. waiting at the Dr office & etc. Now I have to decide should I start the next blanket or my next sweater for me. I really was hoping to conquer that computer program for the graphing. But I'm nowhere ready. What to do, what to do! Maybe I should work a little more on the program. That would be a help. It's raining outside, so it's a indoor day anyways.
For the sweater for me I have a few picked out that could work with the yarn that I have. The soft cotton yarn the Ruth got for me in Germany in the pretty colors turq, lt yellow & purple. So maybe I'll do some swatching and see how that goes.
I also could work on a rough layout for the next blanket. I have 2 more to go for the triplets and now that my baby Hope is have a baby I will have to make a blanket for her. But I will wait on her's until we find out what sex the baby is.
Well time to get off the computer and go to work! But I have to check up on what's going on over at Ravelry first. Do I say procrastinating?!. What else is new.?!
Signing off for now.
Me

Blue's Clue Finally Done!

I can't believe it. I finally finished the blanket. It took me long enough. I like the way it came out and I love the border with the pique edge. That took me over a month. Now I have 2 more to go in the series. I think I'll take a little break. I was hoping to do the drawing & graph on the computer with my new program, but that's not happening. The "Stitch & Paint" program is taking me a very long time to learn. So I'm no where ready to do that via computer. Oh, well. Maybe by the time I get to the 3rd blanket. Also, there will be a 4th blanket but don't know if it will be for a boy or girl. If it's for a girl it will be Hummingbirds in flowers or a boy a zoo scene. I have time for that and I won't know for a while.

I do have other projects I would like to work on. Richards ankles socks & a sweater for me in the lovely yarn Ruth got for me from Germany. That sweater I have to design. Unfortunately the summer is upon us and I tend to do less knitting and more gardening. And then there is the time I spend at the computer trying to learn the S&P program & on Ravelry. Time! Time! Time! There never is enough of it.

All for now, Terry

Working on the border

Close up of the border. I love the way there are different textures on the blanket & on the border. I feel it compliment eachother.

Close up of the corner. I also like the way this came out. Unfortunately you can't see the eyelets in the corners that I am planning on putting ribbon in it when I'm done.

This is a picture of the blanket with only half of the border done. I did the border on a very long circular needle. You can see where it's bunched up that it's still on the needle. As I finish the pique border it comes off the needle.

I can't believe that I've been working on the border for a month. It looks great and I'm very happy how it's coming out. I will take a picture later and add it to this post. I can't help myself when I do a border. I was going to do a simple quick one, but I couldn't. The edging is what is taking the longest. I'm doing a pique bind off. Which means cast-on 2, bind off 4. So this final row has 1896 stitches to be bound off. To get the ruffle after I did the seed stitch, I started to add a stitch at both ends of the knit stitch and the seed stitch went into the rev st st. So it went like this- k1, m1, p3, m1, k1, m1, p3, m1, k1, m1, p3- and so on
next row- k1, m1, p5, m1, k1, m1, p5, m1, k1, m1, p5- and so on

next row- k1, m1, p7, m1, k1, m1, p7, m1, k1, m1, p7- and so on

I continued these increases until I had 11 stitches in between the knit stitches. At that point I started my pique bind off.

After I finish this blanket it will be on to the next. I am hoping to be able to do it on the computer. I now have the program "Stitch Painter". I am trying to learn it and have been studing the manual. There is a lot to digest. I also got the computer "Drawing Pen". Again more to learn. These 2 programs are supposed to shorten my designing/graphing time. Hopefully I will get to that point. My projects are piling up-

1- Blue's Clue- Magenta in living room w/ Mr Salt & Mrs Pepper- rough sketch

2- Blue's Clue- Periwinkle in living room w/ table & lamp & Tickety Tock & Slippery Soap- rough sketch

3- Baby Blanket for Hope- just in idea stage- thinking about humming birds in a field of flowers. But will wait until she's out of her first trimester and everything is ok. Plus I will want to know the sex of the baby.

4- Find something to make with the cotton yarn that was giving to me from Germany. And start that project.

5- Love to do the Lace Crochet Coat from Vogue ( Spr Sum 09) for Ruth.

6- Need to finish Richards half socks.

I guess I have my work cut out for me. So much to do, so little time. Now I'm going to down load my pictures and try to attach them to this post. As you can see it worked!

All for now. Talk to soon Terry

Update

Well I finally started picking up stitches for the border. I am making up my own border. A little from this and a little from that. What i'm doing is this- the seed stitch on the top all the way around with a knit stitch that would be carried all the way down going in to the ruffle. So it would be like this- row 1- k, p, k, p, k- row 2- k, k, p, k, k, (remember I'm knitting in the round) row 3- k, p, k, p, k. The seed stitch will only be 3 stitches. I don't know how many rows or inches I will make it. I will decide as I go along. The knit stitch (highlighted in red) will be carried down into the ruffle. Once I am happy with the length of the seed st area I will start adding stitches. I am doing the ruffle in rev St St. I've tried different ways of adding stitches. Yarn overs, making one, and in different spots. The way I liked it the best was to add 1 st at the beginning and end of the knit stitch that is carried down (highlighted in red) every other row. And again I don't know how long I will make it until I see it and feel it's long enough. I also for the increases, as I get bigger, might change to every 4th row. We will see. As for the corners I am going to add a stitch at both sides of a twisted knit st by doing a yarn over. This will create a lace effect hole and I will do this every other row working it into the pattern. There was alot a calculations in working out how many stitches to pick up because the golden yarn was a little bit heavier and I'm using a bigger needle. Along the sides a picked up every other row & across the top & bottom every 5th row I skipped. So it worked out to be 144 stitches on each side, 124 stitches on the top & bottom, with 1 stitch in each corner. Total pick up 540 st to start. With a 4st repeat.

Dyeing day- March 19
My knitting group was invited to a fellow Raveler's house who happened to live on Fire Island to learn how to dye yarn. She is a very talented knitter who also spins her own yarn and then dyes her yarn. It was a very special day for all. We learned how to dye with Kool Aid & food coloring. It was much easier then I thought. I don't think I would be spinning my own yarn but I'm sure I would be dyeing more yarn again. It was a lot of fun. She was a great teacher and I'm sorry that she is leaving us at the end of April. However, since Ravelry has brought us together, I'm sure we will be able to keep in touch.

Dying day- March 25 (no pun intended)
On Wed 3/25 we had to put our beloved cat Mr Missy to sleep. She had cancer. A big fat tumor on her kidney. We are broken hearted. She was the best cat we ever had. She found us about 3-4 years ago. Everyone in our community loved her. She was Robbins Rests' mascot. She came to all our communities parties. She played hide and seek with me, which was so funny. She would hide behind a door, I would look for her, once I found her she would run to another door. Then it was my turn to hide. And so on. She only went outside. She was so smart. When she had to go she went to the door and waited for us to open the door. To come back in she would go to the window and look for us. I miss her little face in the window. By the way, she turned out to be a he. I never knew until the end. RIP Missy

All for now-

Updated Blanket & Tiny circular needles

These are the tiniest circular knitting needles I've ever worked with or ever saw. They work great for Richards ankle high socks. It took a little getting used to. The wood part is only 1 1/4", then metal 1/2" with smooth joins to a 5 1/2" nylon cord. All equalling to 9". I'm using these in place of Double Pointed needles. This should get rid of the ladder effect you get when you go from one needle to the next. Though I hardly ever had that problem. They are fun to use. You do have to put markers so you know where needle 1 & 4 is, so you can put the heel gusset in the correct place. As I have been using them, they got darker and shiny. Also smoother. They are US#2 1/2 3mm. They were made by Shanghai Hiya Co.,Ltd. HiyaHiya www.hiyahiya You should check them out.

This is the latest picture of Blue with some more of the embroidery work done. I still have to do Pail & Shovel and some work on the tree. I'm not sure what. And of course do the border. Doing the ankle sock gives me a break from doing the embroidery. Little stitches.

All from now. Oh yes- Crocus' are blooming. Just starting. the yellow ones first.

Taking a big step- Selling Patterns

I have decided to take a step closer to selling my patterns of my baby blankets. I am going to start with the "Fairy Blanket". I"ve have gotten much more requests for the pattern of the "Fairy Blanket" then any of the others. I also feel that this one is easier to knit and will be easier to graph out on the computer. Right now I'm in the info gathering stage. I don't know a thing about where to start. I want to do this right. You hear all the time about errors in patterns and I don't want my very first published pattern wrong.
On Wed 3/4 I stopped off at my favorite yarn store "Knit" to pick up the yarn I ordered for the border of the Blue's Clues Blanket. I talked to Audrey, Ellen & Esther about selling my patterns. They said it was about time. They gave me alot of info. They told me about a computer program for writting patterns and one for the graphing, which I'm more interested in. Also about going to the Knitting Show in Conn. this fall. The show has classes that I could take. Classes in writting patterns, learning the computer programs, learning how to teach, & etc. Plus alot of well known designers will be given classes that I may also want to take. Big problem though, I really don't want to wait until Oct. to first start working on graphing the pattern & written the instructions. So I will have to find a way to learn the program by myself. And give it a shot, then I'll go from there. They also told me where to sell my patterns. They said not only to put them up in Ravelry but also in Etsy.
In the mean time, I still have to finish the Blues Blanket. That will take some time. I like the way the embroidery is looking. Going slow but you can't rush the needle work if you want it to look good. I also cast-on and started Richards ankle length socks that I am using that tiny circular knitting needle. That's in place of using double pointed needles (where I can). They are so cute. Sheila would just love them. She loves tinny tiny little things.
So as I said- act 1- the gathering of information- I will take some photos later and attach it to this blog but the sun just came out and I want to go out side for a bit. It's warm 59, Get it while you can.

ooo's & aah's

Last night I went to the fashion hosted by my favorite knitting store Knit in Roslyn NY. The fashion show was put on by Trisha Malcolm of Vogue Knitting Magazine. It was for the Spring 2009 issue. She showed us all the designs that will be in that issue. I went will my 2 friends and we had a great time. It started at 6:30pm but we were able to come earlier since I am a good customer and they (the owners) love my work and I told her I needed to pick out yarn for the border of the Blues Clue blanket. Once again, they flipped out after they saw the blanket. I also had the Farm Blanket with me. I pretty much had made my decision on the color and will be using the golden yellow that is on the side of the house. Ellen the owner worked with me and also did agree. She wanted me to leave the 2 blankets on the table so Trisha Malcolm could see them when she came in. The response from everyone and including Trisha was over whelming. It was not only the knitting but the fact that I designed them. Needless to say I was quite proud. I also was wearing the grey cable sweater on my project page in Ravelry. Also many compliments. I spoke to Trisha after the show and though she absolutely loves the blankets, she didn't feel they were right for Vogue Knitting Mag. But she loved the sweater and she would like me to submit my sweaters designs. She did give me her card. Well we will have to see. She did suggest that if I wanted to sell my blanket patterns I must put a high price tag on them. It's good to know if I ever get to that point. Right now I hardly have time to knit what I want to, let alone design things to sell. All in all it was a wonderful evening. I don't get out that offen to spend time and not be rushed in a good knitting store. They have so much wonderful yarn I wish I had more time to knit. But then I would have a very hard time to pick out which yarn and then my stash would grow and just sit there. It was nice to be with other knitters & friends. I felt less crippled. I felt whole.
Well it's back to doing the embroidery work on the blanket. I will take a picture when that part is done. All for now. And I still have to finish Richard's hat, which is almost done.
Terry

Blanket Body done

Well last night I just finished knitting the blanket. I still have to do all the embroidery work. Which will be the detailing of the house and of Blue & Pail & Shovel. I will also be adding on some flowers that will be 3D. Today I had my knitting group here and I layed out the blanket on the floor. Everyone loved how it came out. Now I spend the time to stare at it to decide what type of border I what to do and the color that it will be in. I've been thru all my books (Knitting on the Edge & etc) a number of times and I have it narrowed down to a wide rib ruffle or a petite bell ruffle. I want to make it girlie because it's for Golda. I also want it in a color that would compliment the blanket and be feminine. I was thinking about a dark rose or lilac or even a pretty golden yellow. But I won't make my final decision until I go to the yarn store Knit and lay the blanket out there. The ladies there are always very helpful in helping me make my color choices. At the same time now I have to start to thinking about the next blanket and what colors will be in that one.

Well for tonight I'll take a rest from the blanket and work on Richards hat. At the rate I'm going I won't have it done until the end of the winter. All for now. Until the next time.

It gets easier

At this point there are 31 color changes in each row. And as you see in the above picture there are lots of ends to be woven in. It makes it harder to knit if you don't weave in the end when you have many color changes. The ends get tangled into the bobbin and that slows me down. So I this point I stopped and wove in the end.

This above picture was taken after I wove in the ends. This is a picture of the back.

This is also another picture of the back after the ends were woven in.

This is a picture of the front and I am now down to 9 color changes. The knitting should go alot faster. I am out of the more detailed area. My mind is in full swing thinking about the border. It will mean a trip to the knitting store.

I finally rewound the yarn for Richards hat & socks. I did start the hat but I need wooden double pointed needles. The socks will still have to wait. I also have to make a Chemo hat for my entrance fee to go the "Vogue Preview" event at "Knit". That will be a simple hat in a large gauge so that it will go fast. I'm looking forward to that. It's on Feb 23 at 6:30pm. Lise & Minkie will be taking me because I don't drive. Thanks to friends and friends who also knit, I am very lucky.

All for now. Back to knitting

the growing blanket

It's been a long, bitter cold, snowy week. The above picture is taken from my back deck. And last Wed on one of the coldest nights, one of the electrical wire that went from pole to pole went down and we were woken at 5am to no electricity. Which means, no lights, no toilets, no heat. However, we quickly put wood into the wood burning stove which warmed the house nicely. The Electric Co had the down wire back up and running by noon. Couldn't complain about that service.

Time marches on and the blanket is growing. I feel like I am making headway. Final finished Blue's body. Now I'm starting to think about the border. The color and the pattern. I'm 2/3 of the way thru. But I won't make any final decisions until the blanket is done.

This is a close up view to show the stitch definition. The white background is the double moss stitch and the green is the my version of the chevron stitch. I like the way it is coming out.

The next two pictures are just about the same. They show how much I got done. It's hard to see but I finally started the brick wall and the house. The house had many color changes and it took me over 1 hours to weave it some of the ends on just the bottom part. I should have taken a before picture, but I was too lazy & I didn't.

I glad the you can see the white handle on Pail against the white background. I used ribbon yarn. But I think I'll still add some outlining to it or do an "I" cord over it. To be decided.

Other knitting news-

I just joined this big project called the "Milkweed Project". It's hard to explain but the person who is running it wants as many knitters, crocheters or anyone who is artistic and works with fibers to join in and make something to be added to this art piece. She is looking for people all over the USA and other countries. You need to make something by next Dec 2009. If anyone is interested you can get in touch with them at www.squarespace.com or www.sticksandstitches.squarespace.com . I have a few ideas of what I want to do. What I will be making will not take that much of my time. Still leaving me time to work on my own projects.

That's it for now- Terry aka Fire Island Lady

bye-bye mittens

It's been awhile since I've posted, 11 days. Not much has happened. I got alot more done on the blanket. Good thing. Maybe I'll take a picture later. However, tragedy has struck my favorite hand knitted mitten. I made them about 5 years ago. They were the perfect mittens for me. 100% cashmere for warmth, the fit was perfect and they were pretty with ruffles on the wrist and I loved the color purple blend. I wore them all the time. I didn't know it but I wore out the thumb on my right hand. I have no more yarn so I don't think I can reknit that area. A seam will bother me because it's right in the middle of my thumb. So it's bye-bye mittens. Now to replace them is a problem. The yarn was about $50.00. Time is the next problem with me working on the blanket and all. The good thing is I still have the pattern somewhere. I would also have to get to the knitting store "Knit", which is always a problem. You know I still want to work on the socks for Richard & his hat. Time is a flying by and so is winter. I guess I can use the money that my knitting group gave me for the holidays. But it will be another project that will just sit there. So my poor hands will have to suffer in my polar fleece gloves. Even if I had the yarn it would take me about 5 days to knit.
I just tried to take a picture of the gloves but since it's my right hand I couldn't do it with my left hand. I will wait until later and have Richard take the pictures of the worn out glove on my hand. Later, Terry

The New Year

Everything now has calmed down, holidays are over and I'm at the computer looking out at my back & the bird sanctuary. It's sunny and blue skies with white snow and the starlings are flying around. It's so peaceful no other sound other then the flapping of the starlings wings. It's 24 degrees cold but beautiful. And my pain level is about a 7 (for me that's good). If I could only capture this moment of peace and serenity. Nothing could get to me and I could deal with the pain. Bottle this all up to be used again when I need it the most. If only. These are my words of wisdom. No phones ringing. No nothing. No thinking.
Terry