Extreme Knitting Redhead: Intarsia & some skies

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Intarsia & some skies

To quote the wonderful Rolf Harris "Can you tell what it is yet?"

It's a swatch for a rose idea for the blanket.

I know it can seem tedious to swatch but it really allows you to see what works and what doesn't.

Not only am I experimenting with the shading on the rose, but also it is showing me how it works with the background. As a start I'm using the shading techniques I'd use in embroidery which may turn out to be overly complicated; we'll see.

Already I can see that the background needs to be darker where it meets the lighter shading on the rose petals.

Also, one of the colours I thought would blend in well with the beige/neutrals is shrieking right at me! In the photo it appears on the bottom left as a pale greyish blur.

The process has also reminded me how much I don't like purling when doing intarsia - now that can be a real pain! So now I'm thinking about knitting it lengthways with each row a knit row and perhaps braiding the ends as I go along. Of course the problem with that would be the massive amount of stitches on my needles which could be prohibitive. I've already decided I'll be using circulars.

I'm still capturing some beautiful nights skies, each one has it's own character.

This one is from 25th June 2012.

I love the drama of the dark outline of the trees against the shimmering clouds and that dark band through the middle.

We haven't had a dramatic pink/mauve glow for a while now.

This one is from 26th June 2012.

I never tire of watching the sky change as the sun is setting.

Now doesn't this look as if you're seeing into another world? As if a slit has opened up through which you can just peep for a few moment.

This was from 27th June 2012

2 comments:

Lisa Degen said...: Dear Susie, I have lurked your blog for about 2 years. I don't remember if I ever left a comment. I became interested as you are a knitter and a runner. I knit and my daughter is a runner, she is always trying to get me to run with her. Her longest run so far was the Phila. Broad Street run in May. She had a great time,and her running time was about 11 1/2 min. mile. I tried running with her when she started but the shoes I purchased cause shin splits my first time out and it took nearly a year to heal. Anyway the reason for writing, have you tried to knit backwards? So you don't have to purl. It may help, might be a little slow at first, but if youcan knit and run, I'm sure you can do this. :) I also have asthma and am very interested in your progress. I would like to try again, but the heat here in the states is oppressive to say the least. Not good for people with respiratory difficulties. By the way my daughter has MS and is using the running as part of her health therapy. She is signed up for a 1/2 marathon in Philly in Sept. I think I am her biggest fan, besides the other mom aged friends that she runs with. Well, thanks for letting me chat too long. Take care. Lisa; July 8, 2012 at 11:55:00 AM PDT
Susie Hewer said...: Hi Lisa,

How lovely to hear from you and thank you so much for the suggestion about backwards knitting. I've heard the term before but don't know what it is so I'll go and look it up.

Well done to your daughter for taking up running and please tell her that 11 1/2 minute miling is a jolly good pace. I used to work with a man who had MS and he took up long distance walking as part of his therapy and he reckoned it really helped stave off the problems.

I'm sorry to hear that you suffer from asthma too. It is grotty isn't it! I am really struggling with it at the moment and I'm going to write a post about my progress soon as I've seen that my post about the turbohaler has had a lot of views.

I hope you will have another go at running as it is very relaxing and it's a great way of getting out into the fresh air. I suffered from shin spints too when I first started running, 10 years ago now, and the Physio told me it was because I was doing all my runs on the road. Now I make sure that I vary the surface I run on and do 2 cross country runs each week.

Thank you for dropping by. Susie; July 8, 2012 at 1:49:00 PM PDT

Mum's Story

In 1997 my mother, then aged 81, had a series of minor strokes. Shortly after that we started to notice behavioural changes notably memory loss and confusion over everyday items. We thought it was just old age finally catching up with her. Then she started wandering and had violent mood swings. Although she already lived with us it became obvious that she couldn't be left alone for long and so I left my job to care for her. The next few years saw a gradual decline into the blackness that is 'vascular dementia'. My normally placid mum became violent and aggressive. She had psychotic incidents where she would see imaginary people (children hiding in her wardrobe, Russians sitting on the stairs, women stealing her clothes) and she would shout at them and sometimes throw things too. She was so convincing that we used to go and check that there wasn't anyone there! When my sister died mum did not know who Judy was or that she was her daughter. There came a point when I suddenly realised she no longer knew that I was her daughter and this was a terrible time for me. In the last 2 years that she lived with us, life for us all became almost unbearable as she needed 24 hour care - she couldn't be left alone at all because she would either wander off or hurt herself, she never slept for more than 30 minutes at a time during the night, she became incontinent and incapable of doing anything for herself. Finally my husband and I realised that we could no longer provide her with the care that she needed and she went to live in a special care home where the team did a splendid job caring for her in the last few months of her life. There she lived a zombified existence unaware of who she was, what she was or where she was. It was heartbreaking. She died in March 2005, the day after her 89th birthday.

Thank you for taking the time to read mum's story and I hope you'll dig deep and sponsor me using the link below to help find a way of beating this destructive disease.