Fire Island Lady

The missing tiger

2012-01-13T16:49:00.002-05:00

I am off to "Vogue Knitting Live" tomorrow and I went to print out all the knitted blocks for the zoo blanket. After looking in all my computer files I realized I never took a picture and down loaded the Tiger. So when I get back I will have to do it. There is a picture of it knitted up in the layed out blanket, but no close up. It will just have to do for now. I'm looking forward to the show. I'm taking only 1 class, "Brioche Lace". It should be fun. I also have a lecture "Behind the scenes of Creating the Finishing School" book. That should be interesting. I like both teachers. This year I'm doing the market by myself since I have my very own electric scooter and I don't need anyone to push me like I did when I was in my wheelchair. I feel like I been liberated & freed. I can take my time and not feel rushed. It should be fun. Ruth is going to meet me around 5 and I'm going to sleep over her place. So she will help me go up town & I spend the evening with the Rosenthals. Sunday morning they will help me get into a cab so I can go back to the show for my early morning class. It should be a fun weekend. All for now.

2012-01-06T17:30:00.006-05:00

I'm finally blogging again. It's been quite awhile. Too long. And this blanket has been taking me toooo long to. I am down to 1 more panel, the center one. I've graphed it out. It's going to be a giraffe. As you can see I have layed out the panels so I know the placement of each one and how big I need to make the giraffe. I need to get more yarn so I can start to knit the final panel. You would think I would have enough left over yarn to complete the giraffe, but not. I am very happy on how the animals came out. I have my favorites and I have the ones that I had a hard time doing. But for the most part it's been a fun project. It's going to be interesting when I knit the whole thing together. Right now I'm thinking garter stitch, but I will see. Next weekend is Vogue Live NY & I hope to pick up some ideas. Well all for now. Terry

knitting along

2010-05-24T11:06:00.002-04:00

I have been knitting along doing the tiger and I have about 2" done. I am enjoying this pattern. But as usual I didn't pick out the background color for the sky. And I think I'm going to do the rev st st. But subject to change. I'll have to go thru my stash of yarns to see what blues I have. I did a much better provisional cast-on- it's a crochet cast-on that I found on "You-tube". Also using the shorter size us3 needles. Hopefully this will all work out in the end. Back to knitting!

I'm Back

2010-05-06T19:15:00.003-04:00

As you can see I finally finished knitting the orangutan & the panda bear. I was very pleased the way they both came out. I would have done more but I got sidetracked in other projects. I made 2 chemo hats for my daughter Gail who has breast cancer and is now on her way to recovery having her last chemo treatment last Monday. But she is bald and it will take time for her hair to grow back. I also made myself a silk shawl. I ripped out a shawl that I started 2 years ago that I didn't like working on and found a pattern that I enjoyed much better and it came out great. Maybe I will take a picture and post it. I love wearing it. I am not saving it for special occasions and using it in the evenings when I'm cold. The silk yarn was very pricy so why should it be put away and saved.

I also just finished the graphed for the tiger. That took me 3 days worth of corrections & finishing touches until I was happy with the results. It was a long winter full of family health problems, house problems & weather problems all getting in the way of knitting. I'm glad that it's behind me now. I'm trying to get back on tract. But it seem my health/head gets in the way.
On to knitting. Beside knitting the tiger I am also working on a summer light weight jacket for me with yarn that my friend Ruth got for me from Germany. I like having 2 projects going on at the same time. An easy one that I can take with me anywhere, and of cause the zoo blanket. Signing out for now. Terry

orangutan

2009-11-17T12:43:00.003-05:00

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.

2009-11-16T13:28:00.002-05:00

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

2009-10-19T12:05:00.002-04:00

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

2009-10-18T11:41:00.002-04:00

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

2009-07-16T10:40:00.002-04:00

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

2009-06-05T11:54:00.002-04:00

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!

2009-05-29T11:56:00.003-04:00

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

2009-05-06T11:10:00.012-04:00

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

2009-03-28T11:35:00.002-04:00

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

2009-03-15T11:48:00.003-04:00

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

2009-03-08T12:16:00.002-04:00

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

2009-02-24T11:56:00.003-05:00

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

2009-02-12T17:13:00.002-05:00

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

2009-01-28T12:14:00.006-05:00

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

2009-01-19T16:34:00.005-05:00

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

2009-01-11T10:46:00.002-05:00

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

2009-01-01T16:28:00.002-05:00

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

Continue of layout

2008-12-31T14:35:00.005-05:00

This is the graph that I follow. It is reduced about 50% so that it fits on my magnetic stand. As I complete the row I move up the magnetic bar & also mark off each end of the row. This way I always know where I'm up to. I like to do a double check system. I generally to this with all my projects.

The knitted part is over the bottom of the graph that I'm following. I am very happy that the size is coming out true to size. For handling reasons I have reduced the graph about 50% so I can set it up on the stand. Top picture will have the stand.

This is a close up view of the graph chart. I did this by hand. I first did a test swatch to determine gauge for both stitch & row. This special graph paper is 7 stitch to the inch and 9 rows to the inch, which was the gauge. Next I layed the graph paper over the final draw which was over a light box. Then colored in each appropriate box by hand. I use colored markers. I don't always use the exact colors I would knitting but close enough for me to be able to follow. After the colors are in place I then put in any stitch changes. It maybe hard to see but the white area is the double moss stitch. To indicate the purl stitch I put a line in the box. That was my key.

I thought I might have lost the posting so I hit publish post. I hope it's still there. here are the rest of the pictures I want to show. The other 2 were the final drawing & the final graph. Here are the rest of the pictures I want to show and explain.

End of year

2008-12-31T12:05:00.004-05:00

This is the final graph to follow

This is the original final drawing.

Well the end of this year is here. Can't say it was a good year nor a bad year. But glad it's over. I don't make any reservations. I think that silly. However, it's a good starting point to put someone on a diet. Not me of course. But somehow I have to be on a diet to help Richard out. He has no will power. I better not lose any weight. This year had it's ups and downs. Half of it I can't even remember or want to forget. Even our vacation that we just took seems so far away like we didn't even go. To think I have to live another year like this, same old, same old. I have no control over anything. I have to let go.

But alas, I do have control of my knitting. And knitting I will do. I worked some more on the blanket last night since I could get my act together during the day. Well, that's not really true. I had paperwork to do that took long. I had to take care getting out the prescriptions to the mail order place. Take care of the taxes. Send back the broken camcord for Julian. Then go to our cute little post office. There were other things, but of course I can't remember. Started to knit and finished the first 1/3 part and was ready to go on to the next part but the design of the chervon stitch was too light to see when I made the copies to shrink the design. Which meant I have to go over each dot to make it darker so I can see the design. Well that took me over 1 hour. I know there are faster ways of doing things, like using the computer but I don't know how. I even have a program that could do it. But have no way to learn it. I'm getting near the brick wall and I will have to decide what stitch I want to do. There are many options. I will have to start to look at my stitch library to come up with some idea.

I still haven't even rewound the yarn for the socks & the hat for Richard. Maybe next year!

Blue's Clue Baby Blanket 1/3 done

2008-12-29T14:59:00.004-05:00

This is a test to see if I can add pictures to this blog. Well I guess it worked because here are the pictures of the blanket. The first 3 are the front of the blanket and the next 2 are the back. And as you can see the back is very neat and the ends are woven in. I will try to take more pictures with the blanket spread out on both needles so you can see more. The back ground in white is done in double moss stitch and the green is done in my version of a chevron stripe. There are bobbles in the center of the flowers. I will be doing some black outlining of Blue for some detailing when I'm done. I also will take some pictures of the orginal drawing & the graph that I made for this blanket. All for now as I must do some knitting and winding. There went my day. Terry

Working on the blanket

2008-12-29T11:10:00.002-05:00

I got a lot of responses from the knitters on ravelry on my problem with the red fingers and my being allergic to the bamboo. I came to the conclusion that it's probably the chemicals that is used in the processing in making the yarn. The suggestions some good and some I won't even try. The not try was washing the yarn first. NOT! I think I will buy these "Finger Cots". They look like little condoms for your fingers. I have to be able to feel the yarn. I'm a touchy type of person. Gloves will be to bulky. Others said to try creams. I'm already using different Dr. recommended creams. Mean while I'm still knitting away.
I have to figure out how to add photos to this blog. A fellow blogger (fieldfen.blogspot.com) has a great blog with pictures and all. This way I can post the blanket as I go along. This means another lesson from my daughter and/or son.
One of the tricks that I tell my students when working on an intarsia piece is to weave in the ends, on the back, as you go along. The ends (of the yarn) happen when you add on a new color. This way you won't be overwhelmed at the end. It's also good to do this so the ends won't get in the way when you are changing colors. I do this about every 2-3 " or so. Depending on how many color changes were going on. I'm just about 1/3 of the way through. I also think this part had the most color changes happening. The middle should go fast. The only other area that will be slow is the windows & door. I have got to be able to get pictures on this blog!
Things I need to do today-
1- Go to Post Office to mail back broke Camcorder- present for Julian
2- rewind yarn- sock & hat yarn
3- try to figure out to add pictures to this blog
4- work on blanket- knit knit knit
The rewound yarn is for my DH to make him more socks & a new hat. This way I can take a break from the blanket and give my arms and fingers a rest. As the blanket gets bigger it gets heavier. Also all the bobbins make it heavy. It gets harder for me to hold up. Starts to trigger off my RSD. Then PAIN PAIN PAIN. So taking a break is a good thing. Socks weigh nothing and I don't have to concentrate. Though concentrating is a good thing for my brain. You don't use it, you lose it.
Signing off for now. I maybe back with some pictures if I'm successful.
Terry

Holidays Over!

2008-12-27T12:58:00.002-05:00

I am soooo glad the holidays are over. Way to much stress. Stress leads to pain. Way too much pain. I was a bad mommy and a bad Nana. We spent way too much money that we really didn't have. I did not knit at all. My escape. No time and the blanket is not a good project to carry around. I need to also work on a more portable projects so I think I will make another pair of socks for Richard. I have the wool or the hat for him which I'm not sure I have enough wool for.
Now it's time for me to hibernate. Shut myself off from the rest of the world. Dig myself in. Just me, my knitting, & the tv with movies. Hopefully old movies. Living on Fire Island puts the protective bubble around me. Right now it's a good thing. I'm glad the Richard got to see the family. He never knows what is going on and he likes it that way. We watched old family movies from his family. Which was good for him. Off the computer and on to knitting.

Allergy??? Can't be... Oh no....

2008-12-23T11:22:00.002-05:00

I think I maybe allergic to the yarn I'm using for the first baby blanket for the triplets. Why may you ask? I always get cracked finger tips year round and worse in the winter. However, I've noticed on my middle fingers and on my left thumb on the top it's getting all red and irritated. I wasn't sure why but last night while I was knitting the blanket I looked down and saw where my fingers were touching. Bingo! Red finger tips hit right on the blanket. Other fingers did not or not as much. Now what to do. This is the first time I'm using Debbie Bliss' Prima 80% Bamboo / 20% Merino Wool. It's got to be the Bamboo. I love the way it feels. It is very soft to the touch. I'm going to check it out on Ravelry to see if any one else is having a problem. I will have to finish the blanket and then change the yarns for the other 2. If it gets real bad I will take breaks and knit small projects in between. All for now.

BIG error

2008-12-22T14:35:00.002-05:00

I can't believe what I did yesterday. I decide to make the hat for Gail. I knew it would take me a few hours. I had the yarn. I'm using the purple yarn left over from the fairy blanket. It's good yarn 100% marino wool, very soft. I did a test gauge, as always, and it worked out fine using 3 balls together. I also was able to use the plastic 3 ball separator that I got for free from Simply Knitting magazine, which worked great and stopped the 3 balls from twisting together. I casted on and counted. Or thought I counted. Now mine you I always count twice. And then knitted away. Knitting, knitting, knitting. Got to the part where the crown decrease started and it didn't work out. So I went to look for my mistake. I couldn't find it. I thought I missed k2tog or put k1 were it shouldn't be. I couldn't figure it out. So finally I decided to count my stitches. I was supposed to cast on 47 stitches and I had 42. OH NO!!! You see I count in 5's . 5, 10, 15, 20 see. I took the hat off the needles to see if it would fit anyways, NOT. It had to be Totaled, Frogged, Ripped, Gone! Start all over again. I wasted the day. Richard tried to ask isn't there any you can do to it so you wouldn't have to rip it. Isn't there anyone with a smaller head. I couldn't think of anyone. NO NO NO. So I ripped it and rewound the yarn into 1 big ball. Casted back on and counted 3 times. and after a few rows counted again. I sure I am not the first one that this has happen to. And I'm sure that this is not the first time that this has happened to me. Blocked it out. Time to get back to knitting.

What can I say

2008-12-21T12:24:00.002-05:00

Here I am alone on a sunday. It's raining out side. It snowed for the last 2 days and now the rain is washing the snow away. It was pretty with the snow. The girls from the summer and winter knitting group gave me my holiday present. They were most generous and gave me $240. Of course I'm going to use it on knitting supplies and yarn. I already ordered from Bettz Designs a Double Pointed Needle case & a Supply Case made out of the same fabric as my knitting bag & needle case. I will hold off from getting more yarn because I'm still working on the babies blanket and I haven't even finished the silk shawl that I started from last years yarn purchase from the money that the girls gave me. I'm starting to make a dent in the first blanket and it's starting to move faster. I want to take a break and make some hats. The hats will go fast because I'm using very bulky yarn. I also want to have some easy projects to carry around when I go to Sheila's house for the holidays. Though I'm getting to the point that there are not so many color change on the graph making it easier to do. We will see. Well time to get off the computer and start knitting.

Back from Mexico

2008-12-15T15:27:00.002-05:00

We came home late on Fri 12th. We had a good time. The weather could have been a little warm but it was better then here. As for my knitting- I haven't picked it back up yet. Been so busy unpacking and catching back up with bills and on-line ordering things for the holidays. By the time evening rolls around I'm just to tired. Got to start again because there are more things I want to make for winter projects that won't take so long. At this rate the babies will be in college before they get their blankets.

Home alone

2008-12-01T20:02:00.002-05:00

Did more reading then anything else today. It's Richard 62nd B'day. I don't think he's very happy about it. His brother called him after many years. He didn't talk to him long since he was at work. I don't know if he will call him back. He said he might when we get back from Mexico.
Worked a little more on the blanket. Was on Ravelry for a while. Still trying to decide if I want to take a small knitting project with me on vacation. I took socks to work on last year and never touched them. Oh I don't know. If I do I have to rewind the yarn. Nothing like waiting for the last minute. Got to get off the computer to knit more. Bye for now.

What's on my needles

2008-11-30T13:57:00.002-05:00

This blogging is supposed to be about my knitting & I guess other things. So from now on I will be updating on my knitting progress at the end of each blog. It's a rainy day, so of course it's a more painful day. But lets not get into that. In 3 days it will be off to Mexico.
Projects-
1- Blues Clues Blanket- for Golda- it has taken me quite awhile to get into it. It took me 1 month to draw & graph. It was stop & go at the beginning because I was working on some other projects. I made some premmie hats for the triplets & made a long sleeve shrug for me to take on vacation to protect my arm from the elements. I hope that works. Now I'm into the blanket. It also physically harder to do because there are a lot of bobbins on the needles and I have to hold them up with my right arm. I like the way it's coming out but I'm a long way from finishing it and then there are 2 more to follow.
2- Silk Shawl- still on hold- beautiful silk yarn that I bought last spring from gift money from my students. I did want to finish the shawl to take on vacation with me but that didn't happen. I got about 5-6" done.
3-I want to make some gloves, hats & socks in between doing the blanket. But we will see. I don't like to be working on more then one thing at a time. Sometimes I like the break. I'm starting to get the winter magazines and there are so many things I would like to make but no time. You would think I would have time since I don't work and I'm at home all day. NOT! Well all for now. The computer is doing me in. It's time for knitting & a movie.

back home

2008-11-29T15:24:00.002-05:00

I'm back home to peaceful Fire Island. Been on the computer all day. Mostly on Ravelry checking on the forums. It's always about the knitting. That's my world. Road my golf cart to the post office and my new Knits magazine came. After this post I'm going to lay down, read it then take a nice nap. With all the drugs I'm on, one can not help but take a nap. Later, Terry

Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T12:36:00.002-05:00

Thanksgiving up in the Berkshires with the family. My 3 grown kids & grand kids. Took my knitting with me. But don't seem to have the time. We used 3 weeks of my RCI swaps and took 3 condos. Great place. We are staying at Vacation Village. This is my first post. My daughter Gail has to set this up and show me how to use it. She also set up my face book account and link the two. If it wasn't for my daughter & my son I would be back in the stone age writing on rocks and wouldn't know what a computer is. That's all for now.