theraineysisters knitting and so much more

Wow — these shawl stick pins are fantastic!  Another stunner by Romi of Designs by Romi.  I::LOVE::THESE!! 

See yesterday’s post if you are trying to find the pattern for the sweater I pictured yesterday…

Do any of you know the origin of this pattern?  A friend of mine and I are very taken with it, but we don’t know where it is from.  Your help is very appreciated!!

Later that day: June, you’re the best!  I knew my knitting blog peeps would come though.  The pattern is called the Chinese Lace Pullover and is available from Knititude for $5.50.  It comes in a myriad of sizes.  I bought it already!! 😉

I was going to post some shots of my Mermaid — finished but for the sleeves. However, the i-cord bind off is taking me longer than expected and so I’ve basically got nothing.

I just didn’t want anyone to think I’d dropped off the face of the planet and disappeared. So, tomorrow I will have a long (or at least longer) post with pictures. In the meantime, just continue to drool over Susan’s Peacock Shawl.

I went to my sister’s knitting group at Panera’s last night and met some of her wonderful knitting friends. We had a great time. But rather than write a long post about that, I first want to say something quick but very, very important:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BIG SISTER!!!!!!!!

Susan is my sister, my mother, my confidante, my cheerleader, my inspiration, and my best friend.

When I made the Modular Tote, I read the directions for the bottom and could not make heads or tails out of them.  It made no sense to me!  But I forged ahead and figured it out.  Lisa is now in the same predicament so I will share my findings with her and all of you as well.  If you never knit the tote, this will be of no use to you whatsoever!

The first half of the bottom is knit and forms a mitered rectangle.  You cast on 120 sts: 20 for each “side” and 80 along the bottom.  As the decreases are done, a rectangle emerges.  The short black bar at the top is the final 40 sts as they are bound off. 

To create the second half of the bottom, you start by casting on 20 sts — which will end up forming a straight line with the 20 sts from the first half.  Then you pick up 80 sts along the 80 sts in the center of Rectangle #1; the last 20 sts are cast on and form the second half of the line on the other side.  As you knit back and forth like Rectangle #1, Rectangle #2 forms a mirror image of the first and is attached invisibly along the center of the bottom.  Because I used a provisional cast on, my 80 sts were “live” — I did not pick up, but rather released the provisional cast on and knitted the 80 sts.  

My diagram is not to scale but hopefully it shows the construction:

Here we see the bottom joined in real life.  You can also see the provisional cast on of the two “20-stitch” sections of Rectangles 1 & 2 on the righthand side of the knitting.

Here we see the 40 sts I picked up along the lefthand side of the bottom as they are knit to form the sides of the mitered bag. 

After the square is knitted, you work a tringular shaped piece that tapers to the top of the bag.

Here you see how the bottom and sides are joined to the front of the bag.

There are not really “flaps” at the top, but insets to form the sides of the bag.  I hope this is helpful. 

And, Lisa, please forgive Sally’s attempt to “help” – I don’t think she’s had any modular training. 😉

Some of you asked about where to get the Mitered Tote pattern:
if you are interested in making your own Modular Felted Tote Bag (which I kept calling the Mitered Tote by accident!), you can get the pattern from The Yarnery in St. Paul: 651-222-5793.  Theresa Gaffey works there and has created many nice designs.