Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all. 

We always have things to be thankful for, but this year I'm especially grateful that my wrist is healing, (though I still don't have full range of motion or all my strength back, but it's coming) and that I am back to knitting and crochet full time. I really missed it while I was incapacitated; what a bummer that was. But now I'm back to business as usual, and enjoying it as much as, if not more than ever. So much so, that my project ideas are growing faster than I can keep up with them.

I've started working on my Wrap Me Up Shawl again, squares for the 2009 CAL/BAM Afghan, (I only need 1 more before I can start putting it together. I'm really anxious to see how it will come out, and how it will look on my presently naked Family Room couch), and have begun work on Vested Interests, my version of Jane Thornley's newest design: Small Investment. This one will be a pretty quick knit, and I'm looking forward to wearing it soon, as I love vests. It will be nice to wear one I've made instead of bought (I have a bunch from thrift stores, as well as some designer ones, none of them knit or crochet)

I'm also grateful to have found a great knitting community, both online (Ravelry in general, and Jane Thornley's group and the 2009 CAL/BAM bunch in particular) and off: Tucson Yarn Co., Kathy Withers, and some other knitters at Knit Nights (also known as Stitch 'n Bitch)


And, this afternoon, when we have our Thanksgiving Dinner (probably al fresco as we have almost since we first came out to Tucson) I'll think of all these things, and the wonderful Arizona weather, as well.  I hope you all have much to be thankful for, too, and enjoy this great day!

I'm Back

Well, it's been a long time since my last post, but I've been busy with Physical Therapy for my wrist, and working obsessively on my Road To Taos Wrap; which I have finally finished. The orthopedist had said that knitting and crochet would be good exercise for the wrist; so I interpreted that literally, and feverishly worked on my wrap, and the squares for the 2009 CAL/BAM Afghan. The wrap is looking pretty good; I'm just not sure if I like the long tails. So I photographed it with the tails hanging loose, and with them knotted. Let me know what YOU think.

Now that I've finished, I'm ready for my next project (not to mention other projects waiting to be done) which is another Jane Thornley design: the Pasha's Investment, a scarf/vest. I love vests, and have a few other vest ideas in the works, but this came along all ready to go. It's an ingenious idea, turning a scarf into a vest, and I have the perfect yarns for it. It's a quick knit, and if I have a chance, I may make up a few as gifts, as I did last year with Schaefer Yarns Feather & Fan short scarf.


I recently read a post on Techknitter's blog that says it all about why we knit. I could never put so eloquently how the act of knitting (or crochet, for that matter) makes one feel. I've been thinking about it quite a bit lately; and now that I can knit and crochet again, I realize how true these thoughts are.

 

Happy Surprise

Well, apparently I did make some progress after all. When I bound off the top of the wrap, planning to then add short rows around the piece to lengthen and widen it, I crocheted rather than knit it off. I used a slightly smaller hook, and the result was that it pulled the whole edge in somewhat, so the tails now hang to my knees instead of to the floor. This also added some fullness to the width. So I think that I can pick up stitches from where I bound off, and continue on for a while, using some of those yarns I never got to. This should bring it all closer to the original shape that I wanted.

Here is a view of the modified shape so far, compared to the original longer version, which can be seen in the previous post, or on my project page.

Making Progress?

10/17/09
Well, it's been 4 days since the cast came off, and it really has made a big difference. The brace is almost like the cast, in that it's a bit uncomfortable and quite restricting; but after knitting for a while without it, (which is a breeze, compared to with it) putting it back on does seem to relax the wrist and arm a bit.

I'm getting some work done on the Road to Taos Wrap, but it seems that for every few inches finished, there are a few rows that have to be frogged. I had to redo 2 1/2 rows (190 stitches each) because somewhere in those rows I lost a bunch of stitches. It was a furry, eyelash kind of yarn, and it was hard to find where I had gone wrong, so I had to rip back to where that yarn started, and begin all over again.

10/20/09
Since I started this post, a lot has happened. I got a lot done on the Wrap, and last night decided to check how it was doing, size-wise. Disaster! I seem to have increased too much too fast, and it's now as wide as it should be when finished, but no where near long enough down the back. My first thought was that I'd have to frog whole sections, and redo them without increasing so much. But that seems such a waste of time, and work. So I think what I'll do is add a section at the bottom of the back, before putting an edging around the whole piece.

I know that will work, but it's a shame because I still have some yarns I wanted to use at the top (which would be the part that hangs down the front). I guess I'll have to save them for another project.

The Cast is Off!

The cast came off yesterday, as planned. At first I was a little concerned, as it didn't look all that good to my untrained eye. But the Xrays showed that the bones are healing as expected, and should only need a couple of weeks more. The Doctor gave me a brace, but I only have to use it "as needed" and NOT when knitting or crocheting, which he said are good exercise. And without the restrictions of the cast or brace, I can knit without discomfort for longer periods. Hooray! He also suggested going for PT, which I know will help me get back to normal.

Besides working on my Taos project, I've started to catch up on my squares for the 2009 BAM/CAL project; I have between 4 and 6 squares to do for September and October. That should keep me pretty busy.

But the Taos wrap is still top priority; I really want to finish this. I am totally obsessing over it, partly because of all the lost time, and partly because one tends to obsess over Jane's designs. You just want to keep going until you finish. As soon as I make a little more headway I'll post a new progress picture.