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