theraineysisters

I love Sally’s Luiza Shawl and hope to make one as well. Hmmm. Let’s see. How many shawls/shawlettes are in my queue…? Let’s not dwell on THAT.

Especially since I just finished one of them: the Zephyr Shawl by Lauren Scarpo!  This is the shawlette that I wrote about earlier that came in a kit, purchased at The Yarn Garage.  This was a quick and somewhat annoying little knit.  Only annoying until I got used to the yarn and switched to bamboo needles (to go with the bamboo and silk yarn). 

I was able to add 9 of the 10 rows of an additional 6th repeat — this was great because it made the shawl larger and I did not end up wasting this treasure of a yarn!  I did not have enough sequined yarn for the fancy bind off in the pattern, but I wanted the bound off edge to have some heft, so I used Jeny’s Incredibly Stretchy Bind Off.  It did work very well for my purposes, creating a full bodied, stretchy edge for the shawl.

Zephyr Shawl, Great Adirondack Yarns

It goes really well with a couple of outfits I own and will make them seem a little bit newer — a definite plus since my wardrobe is “old and shabby” at best and “rag bag” at worst.  It also is hard to capture the color of the shawl and the sparkle of the sequins, but I hope you get the idea. 

Was it worth the $89??  No, but I am!

Have a wonderful last blast of “summer” before we embark on the new school year.

As Susan mentioned the other day, I just took my baby to college.  (Fortunately, he doesn’t read our blog so I can call him my baby without his knowing.)  We are now officially a bi-coastal family:  Sterling is ensconced at Reed College in Portland, Oregon and we, of course, are in Washington, DC.  It was much harder to leave him than I had expected.  I know that we’ll adjust and if he is happy, we will be, too.  Perhaps what is hard is the feeling that there may never be a coming home to DC to stay.  Nora loves Colorado and I suspect that Sterling will feel very much at home on the west coast.  We’ll see.

Here are a couple of pictures of his first encounter with the Pacific (at Cannon Beach).

Finally, a last shot just before I left town (then back to knitting, I swear):

Le sigh.

I’m also “letting go” of my most recent knitting project, which is a shawl I knit specifically for charity. The charity is The National Inclusion Project. The shawl is Luiza, designed by Jane Araujo. Mine will be auctioned in October as part of the Project’s Champions Gala.

I had trouble getting good photographs of this shawl — not just the color but the beauty of the lace work. But here are a few. (The last shot is probably the most true to color.)

Pre-blocking:

After blocking:

I knit this shawl using Merino Silk Lace fromSweet Georgia Yarns in the Blackberry colorway. I loved the yarn and I loved knitting this shawl. Once I figured out the method to the charts and translated a few idiosyncratic uses of terminology, it was a simple and quick knit. The pattern, including the border, was easy to memorize and just flowed very naturally. I plan to knit another for myself.

It’s a somewhat smaller shawl than I usually knit (the finished dimensions of mine are 30″ deep and 60″ across). It’s easy to enlarge, but alas I had only one skein of yarn. The original was designed for fingering weight; I used lace weight. I added additional pattern repeats (16 flowers total on each side), but would have added more if I’d had a second skein.

I hope Luiza finds a good home, and I hope that Sterling will be happy in his new one.

No, it’s not a spello!  The word I wanted is ‘runes,’ as in the ancient Viking written characters. 

Last spring I was working on a stealth project — stealth just because I wanted to keep it close to the vest.  This sweater was a labor of love and an homage to a very talented designer: Elsebeth Lavold.

Elsebeth Lavold created a special design for her travelling exhibit “Knitting Along the Viking Trail.”  The exhibit made its way to the Vesterheim Museum in Decorah, Iowa last fall and I was thrilled to travel there with good friend Kathy to see it (I posted about it here).  The REAL reason I wanted to go was to see the Holy Grail of Lavold knitting in person: Brage (aka, The Dragon Sweater).  I even called the Vesterheim ahead of time to make sure the “dragon sweater” was indeed part of the exhibit!   I wanted to see it because I wanted to knit it. 

There is no specific pattern for Brage.  Part of the quest is making the pattern your own.  When there, I was able to photograph it in some detail and get really up close and personal.

Several Ravelers have finished their own versions of Brage, one of whom is Dicksie.  Her sweater was very inspiring and her notes extremely helpful. 

The next step of the quest?  Finding the right yarn.  The original Brage was knit in a fairly large gauge (4.5 sts/inch) with very “wooly” yarn.  I also think it had probably stretched out somewhat in its travels.  I wanted to use something in a finer gauge.  Because it was knit in a golden color, I kept seeing in that way in my mind’s eye,  but decided to go a different direction.  I finally chose Shepherd’s Wool by Stonehedge in color Berries.  It is gorgeous 100% wool and butter soft.  I used it for Alexandria, as well.  I knit it using US 5′s for the ribbing and US 6′s for the body.  I wanted it to be firmly knit to make the cables pop.

Many of the components for the design can be found in Lavold’s book, Viking Patterns for Knitting.  The main cable, runes, and the head of the dragon are found there.  There is a cool website that translates words into rune characters, which I used to create the name I placed on the front of my sweater: “lv2knit” — my knitting moniker!   Lavold’s version says Brage.

The next step was putting the pieces together into a pattern that would fit moi.   The actual knitting went smoothly.  The last piece was the dragon itself, which is appliqued onto the front.  No pattern for the dragon, but the photos and Dicksie’s notes served as a guide. 

Here are all the pieces of the Brage puzzle put together:

Brage by Elsebeth Lavold; Rendered by Susan Rainey, Shepherd’s Wool in Berries

I grafted both shoulders (which I never do except in fair isle because sweaters need structure), so I added a strip of bias tape along the “seamline” on the inside for stability. 

I used French knots to create the spine and added a bead the same color as the sweater to create the eye.  I really had to putter with the sewing to get it the way I wanted!

This motif reminds me of a tattoo because of where it is placed on the shoulder!  This was not in the Vikings Book, but a Raveler charted it (some corrections were necessary, so I recharted it).  I placed my motif closer to the wrist because I did not want it in the crook of my elbow.

And here is a close up of my name.  I did not use “Susan” because it looked too much like the English word, and I wanted it to be a bit more cryptic.  I added two French knots for the “two” because there wasn’t a character for the number.  Yes, I know the two dots are not in the correct place!

Besides the dragon, the fussiest part was getting the ribbing to work.  I wanted it NOT to cinch in a lot, so I used a k2, p2 rib and decreased the 2 purls down to one on the last rib row (except at the main cable).  The ribbing also had to line up with the main cable, which took some figuring.

So there it is.  The quest is complete.  And worth every minute of knitting, worth every mile of driving.  I love this sweater.  I really love this sweater!  It fits like a dream.  It’s soft and yet feels like “real wool” (which it is!). 

Grade
Pattern: A+
Fit: A+
Yarn: A+

So my dragon tale comes to an end!  I entered it in this year’s Minnesota State Fair and will see how it did in a couple of days.  But no matter how it fares, I am truly happy with this project.

PS – Tiger is available if anyone is interested!

Earlier this summer, I mentioned I was doing some stealth knitting.   As I said in May, Danielle at Fibre Space in Alexandria, Virginia asked me to design a baby blanket for her Bundles of Joy Club.   Club members have received their kits so I can now reveal my  Sleeping Baby’s Castle Blanket.

Here is a close up of the central castle panel:

The yarn used is Lorna’s Laces Shepherd’s Worsted in a color that was custom dyed in limited quantities for this project. It’s lovely yarn to work with and it’s machine washable. I really liked the color. (The first photo of the entire blanket is truest to the actual color of the yarn used.)

This design is exclusive to Fibre Space until early next year. There are a limited number of kits for the project — in this one of a kind color called “Astro Baby” — which you can purchase here.

From Susan — I can attest to the fact that this is a beautiful blanket and a very well-written pattern…I test knit it for Surly!  So, I have my very own that will be revealed when Sally is able to sell the pattern independently.  It is called a baby blanket, but actually fits into the “home decor” category.  I don’t have a baby in the house and I love the blanket as a throw.  Mine knit up very quickly (one week) but I do not recommend doing this — I kind of blew out my arms knitting it so fast!  But it could be done reasonably in 3-4 weeks.  My knitting peeps love the design and cannot wait until the pattern is available — but why wait?  If you love it, buy the kit now from Fibre Space and have it ready for Christmas!

This project certainly has a life of its own!  Over ten years old and going strong, with almost 1,000 projects in Ravelry.  I am speaking of The Great American Aran Afghan.  Knitters Magazine teamed up with Plymouth Encore in 1999 and sponsored a design contest for afghan squares with aran elements.  I continue to receive questions about the project and where to obtain the pattern, so I thought I would provide one more update here.

The original squares rolled out four per issue over six issues of Knitters — this took well over a year.  My winning sweater square came out in the last [7th] issue.  SO, if you had a subscription back then, you have the patterns.  They also pulled all the squares into a book which is readily available on-line and at many yarn shops.   There have been numerous knitalongs at various knitting stores — in fact, The Yarnery has one going on now if I’m not mistaken.   This project is a great learning experience and you end up with an heirloom.

Great American Aran Afghan in Cascade 220

If you are interested in tackling this challenging and rewarding project, I suggest joining the GAAA Ravelry Group.   They share their frustrations and learnings, so it’s like a do-it-yourself knitalong.

I’m still in my “blue period.” After not finishing my Ravelympics project on time (more on that another day), I turned to a quick gift for my neighbor. She’s in her eighties, and one of her presents was a tennis racket. She wanted it and she will definitely use it. I want to be Natalie when I grow up.

Anyway, I decided to make her a Damson shawl — just something to throw over her shoulders or wear almost as a large scarf. I dug around in my stash and found some lovely silk I’d bought at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival a few years ago: Cascade Silk Worsted from Tess Designer Yarns. In blue.

It’s a simple project and it worked up relatively quickly. The yarn was lovely to work with (although it’s fairly soft and I worry it will pill). But I’m not completely pleased with the project. Natalie is very petite, and because I chose a heavier yarn this Damson is a bit larger than it should be. I’m a little worried that the size will be awkward — not quite big enough to be a full shawl, not quite small enough to wear easily as a scarf. I will still probably go ahead and give it to her, but I have doubts.

To answer a question: the last photograph is probably the most accurate in terms of color.

I’m feeling blue. It’s not just our long winter in which I am measuring out my life in shovelfuls of snow. I’ve become seriously enamored of some blue yarns.

First is this lovely Lima by Rowan Yarns in the colorway Amazon:

I seriously adore this yarn. The color is hard to capture; it reminds me of Broad Bay’s color Atlantic for those of you familiar with that line of yarns. It’s flecked with little hints of brighter blue and subtle purple. It’s also incredibly soft. When my husband felt it he looked me in the eyes and said, “This feels expensive.” He was right.

I resisted it the first time I saw it, but when I came across it a second time I couldn’t. And didn’t.

So what did I make out of it? A sleeper pattern from the Winter 2006 issue of Interweave: Refined Raglan designed by Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark. I hadn’t really noticed that design when I read that issue back in the day, but I came across it while playing around on Ravelry a few weeks ago.

I made a few modifications. I did more of a funnel neck, added short rows, and opted for rolled hems at the cuffs and bottom instead of the folded hem called for in the pattern. I wanted a casual, comfortable sweater that was really wearable. I’m pretty happy with it, too. The pictures aren’t great but they were the best I could muster after hours of shoveling.

My next two projects, including what I’m going to knit for the Ravelympics, are also blue. More about those later.

Last year, we designed a simple but very “heartfelt” glovelet pattern as a gift to our readers.  Because the time of year is again upon us, we felt like reminding all of you about our free Sweetheart Glovelet pattern in time for some Valentine’s Day knitting.

Sally’s Sweetheart Glovelets

Susan’s Sweetheart Glovelets

Where are YOUR Sweetheart Glovelets??

Some patterns become extremely popular among knitters. The contrary knitter in me (there’s a reason my Ravelry nickname is surly) sometimes skips over those patterns for no other reason than their popularity. “Does the world really need another X Project?” I ask myself. Other times, there’s no denying the appeal of a project no matter how hard I might initially resist. Thus, I come to Evelyn Clark’s Swallowtail Shawl.

This is a very popular shawl pattern; on Ravelry alone, there are 6166 Swallowtail projects as of the writing of this post. It’s easy to see why. It’s beautiful. It’s simple. It’s free. And it’s fast. On a Friday, I bought yarn (more about that later). On a Saturday afternoon, I cast on. By Wednesday, I had a beautiful Swallowtail shawl — and it was even blocked. Who could ask for more?

I love it. And it goes beautifully with my Baby Cables sweater.

As for the yarn, I love it, too. It’s Neighborhood Fiber Company’s Studio Sock yarn in the colorway Cooper Circle. I saw it, and I had to own it.

I tried to knit my Swallowtail in just one skein, but when I got to the bind off row I saw this:

Yep — I only had three grams so I had to dip into the second skein. The remainder of it is going to my sister in the hopes that she can whip up something nice out of it. Otherwise, I’ll have matching socks for my shawl.

Where did I purchase this lovely yarn? At my new favorite yarn shop in the DC area: Fibre Space in Alexandria, Virginia. It’s a wonderful shop. Danielle, the owner, is friendly and helpful. Veronica, her lovely chief enabler, already recognizes my voice on the phone. (Is that a bad thing? Please say no.) They carry wonderful yarns from many smaller suppliers and a few larger ones. They’ll even call you when a yarn you’ve been lusting after arrives in the shop. (Don’t ask how I know this. Please.) They have a great frequent buyer program (gulp), big windows, Italian greyhounds, and — get this — a “Ravelry computer” for shoppers. Yes — it’s true. You can log onto Ravelry from the shop and browse for patterns, check how much yarn something takes, show off a project. It’s a great idea.

I definitely recommend stopping in at Fibre Space if you are in the area. Odds are surprisingly high that I might be there. What?

Today I have a new (well, sort of new) finished sweater to show off. First, however, thank you so much for all of the kind comments about my husband’s Open Cable Cardigan. I really appreciated the response! I know many of you asked whether I’d write up the pattern, and I apologize but I can’t.

When I said I designed it on the fly, I wasn’t exaggerating. Although I have drawings and notes, I didn’t always stick to what I had planned to do and I didn’t keep really great records of my last-second changes. Let me explain a little bit more why recreating the pattern for others to follow would be so difficult.

A rough description of how you knit the sweater:

1. You knit the body up to the armhole. Then you knit the sleeves to the armhole, and join the sleeves to the body.

2. Once you’ve got everything in one piece, you work raglan decreases (taking stitches out of the sleeves and body at four points) until you’ve eliminated approximately half the sleeve stitches.

3. You then knit to the first sleeve, and go back and forth only on the sleeve stitches. At the end of each row, you work a sleeve stitch together with a stitch from either the front or the back. When/where you stop doing this depends upon whether you’re knitting a cardigan or a pullover. Elizabeth Zimmerman’s instructions were for a pullover and included a small diagram of what to do at the neck.

The tricky part of converting those rough instructions into my husband’s sweater was the cable. I had really wanted it to start at the cuff of the sleeve and end identically at the neck. That meant ensuring that the sleeve was the length it needed to be before I joined the sleeves to the body. At the same time, I had to calculate the rate and number of raglan decreases I needed before I switched to the yoke/saddle decreases. Finally, I had to make sure that the row count was such that the cable crossed for the last time right where I wanted it to. In case that wasn’t difficult enough, I used a twelve-row cable, so I had very little room to fudge.

Even having drawn everything out, I had to play with my decreases as I went. There were several points when I thought the sweater was going to be a big fat failure. Susan and I love to share patterns, but when we do we try to make certain that the directions will allow anyone who follows them to have a successful project. I don’t feel comfortable that I could write up this pattern well enough to guarantee that.

But — the seamless hybrid yoke concept itself isn’t all that hard. If you follow EZ’s general directions, but don’t insert a cable on the sleeve or else use a cable with a much smaller row count, it would be much simpler to do.

* * * * * * *

Long, long ago, I started and almost finished a lovely pattern called Baby Cables and Big Ones, Too (Ravelry link). I had it all finished except for one sleeve, and then I stopped. Part of the problem was distraction — I always find something else I want to work on. The other issue is that I decided it was too short. Because it’s knit from the top down, it would be easy to add length, but I just never got around to it. Once I finished all of my Christmas knitting, however, I decided it was time to finish this sweater.

So here’s my Baby Cables with both sleeves:

One reason adding length made me sigh was that I had added a small cable to the hem. To add length, I had to rip back to before the cable started. I liked the detail, though, so when I added length I kept the cable at the hem:

I knit my Baby Cables out of Jaeger’s Extra Fine Merino. It’s a lovely yarn, and I’m sad that it’s no longer available.