theraineysisters knitting and so much more

August 23, 2007

From Susan — The Minnesota State Fair is HERE

OMG — check out this Big Guy from the Minnesota State Fair:

WhattaBoar.jpg picture by lv2knit

I’ll try not to boar you any longer!  I just had to go to the Fair today, come rain or shine (it was VERY rainy 🙁 ) and despite the fact that I was sick.  I had entered multiple knitted items in the fair and needed wanted to know how they did.  Attending on the first day is a ritual for me.

Okay.  I am just going to spill it, and you can decide for yourself if I am as big a pig as my friend here, but I entered ten things in the fair. They all received ribbons: 6 first place, 3 second place and 1 third. I also won the Sweepstakes. 

So, what did I enter?  Here are two items: My silk Diamond Fantasy Shawl and Camilla Gloves:

DFSandGloves.jpg picture by lv2knit
I entered the gloves last year and got 2nd place.  If you do not get a blue ribbon, you can re-enter the item. I should have quit while I was ahead ;).  I was extremely pleased that the shawl won something because I did not expect it at all.

I also put in the little lace top from Vogue Knitting that I made for my youngest daughter:

VogueLaceTop.jpg picture by lv2knit
She won’t even wear it, but at least it got a ribbon!

Next are a pair of socks I made right before the fair.  I wasn’t sure that they would win anything because so many very talented people knit socks…lots and lots of socks — they did get second place even though you can’t see the ribbon:

Socks.jpg picture by lv2knit
The pattern is from “More Sensational Socks” and they are knitted with Fortissima Socka Bamboo in Color 07 Ocean.

I also threw in one of my Lace Tams for the heck of it and was stunned it got a BLUE ribbon:

LaceTam.jpg picture by lv2knit
It is knit in Rowan Silk Wool DK.

I finally got the zipper sewn into Eris and it received a blue ribbon:

EriswithRibbon.jpg picture by lv2knitEris.jpg picture by lv2knit
I struggled mightily with the zipper pulls.  I cut off the ones that came with the zipper — perhaps an OOPS! — and then made 457 attempts at “pretty” zipper pulls.  It was crazy. I finally ended up using some beads I already had and attached them with wire wrapping.

My Peacock Shawl did very well and I was surprised and very pleased about that.  I know a lot of people knit fabulous shawls so I knew the competition would be tough:

PeacockShawl.jpg picture by lv2knit

The Modular Tote also did well:

ModularTote.jpg picture by lv2knit

Another total surprise was Ballerina.  I finished Ballerina last year but did not have a category to put it into, so I entered it this year in the plain knitting cardigan category.

Ballerina.jpg picture by lv2knit
You can see it also won the knitter’s Guild Award, but I have no idea how that is determined.  And I’m not sure what it means either! 

When I got into the building I started looking for my things and could not find Oregon anywhere.  It was not in any of the main knitting cases.  Sometimes they place knitting in odd places as part of a theme (i.e., Norwegian Sweaters with rosemaling, etc.), so I started searching high and low. I found Oregon between two gorgeous quilts:

OregonSweepstakes.jpg picture by lv2knit
Oregon surpassed all my expectations.  I was hoping it would do well because it was such a thorn in my side for so long and was so darned much work!!  I was beside myself!  It was thrilling to see those ribbons, I must admit.

I was equally thrilled to see that my dear friend, Kim, won a blue ribbon for her gorgeous Cats and Mice mini-afghan:

KimsBlankie.jpg picture by lv2knit
When I got there, the little cats were standing on their heads, so I asked them to flip it around — and they did!  I knew this darling blankie would do well.  I’m so proud of Kim.  It is an Alice or Jade (?) Starmore design.

I’m also VERY proud of my friend Linda who won second place for her cookies. 

LGsCookies.jpg picture by lv2knit 
She is a great cook and very deserving!  The only bummer was that my other friend did not get a ribbon for her ethnic bread, but she will try again next year.

Now, could I do a state fair post and leave out the infamous Sock Monkeys — au contraire, mes amies!  Our lil sock monkey fiend friend has been hard at work all year exploiting perfecting the sock monkey concept:

SockMonkeyChair.jpg picture by lv2knit
And perhaps more practical for you:

SockMonkeyHat.jpg picture by lv2knit

All in all a great time — until I got laryngitis.  I mentioned that I was sick and it did go into my chest/throat.  I hope this bout is shorter than last time (a full week!). 

I’m sure by now you are thoroughly bored, but are you as boared as this 1200 pounder?

Boar.jpg picture by lv2knit

And I know what you are thinking — yes, they are HUGE!!

May 4, 2007

From Susan — Proud Clucker

Filed under: Back Story,Lace Tam and Scarf — lv2knit @ 2:46 pm

I am as proud as a mother hen!  Stephanie finished her Lace Tam and has some pictures on her blog.  I borrowed one to show here:

BlockingTam.jpg

It turned out so beautifully!  In way of reminder, Stephanie won the pattern and yarn during our Bloggiversary Contest in March.  Way to go, Stephanie!!!

January 21, 2007

From Susan — The Green Berets

Sally’s gorgeous Bohus was very fun to read about — it is so nice to see things actually get finished every once in a while!  I am going to have to drag out some oldies pretty soon — you know, my “head start” projects as Sally calls them.  And it obviously worked out for her with Blue Shimmer.

My knitting has been somewhat sparse the last few days, though I have been knitting a couple of Lace Tams from my Lace Tam pattern.   One of them was for me.  I thought the tam would be pretty out of Tahki Jolie in color 5016 (key lime green).  It is made out of 70% French Angora, 30% merino and is amazing and soft and gorgeous.  I had seen some at Needlework Unlimited and was reminded that I had a few leftover balls in my paltry, uninspiring stash*.  I don’t get to NU very often because it’s kind of a trek, but I always stop when I’m in the neighborhood.

SublimeLaceTam001.jpg

The sweater I originally made (the hemline is shown in the above picture, which is truer to the actual color than the picture below) is the Berry Cluster Pullover from Knitting on the Edge by Nicky Epstein.  Many of you have seen/purchased one or more books from this series of embellishments.  They are really quite wonderful references.  I won my copy at Knit Out a couple of years ago and was thrilled.

BerryClusterPullover.jpg

I absolutely fell head over heels for this sweater, so my sweater is identical to the one pictured (I can’t get a good picture of mine and have no intention of MODELLING it!).  I made no changes to it — same yarn & color, same neck treatment, same pearls.  Do I look like the picture when I wear it?  Uh, that would be a “no”!   I rarely wear this sweater for two other reasons: I have nothing to go with it and it sheds like crazy!!  But it was a labor of love, and I love to look at it and touch it and sometimes that’s enough.  I have several sweaters like that — I made them for the sheer love of the project without the intention of wearing them.

The other tam I made was for Amazing Threads as a shop sample.  The yarn is Sublime which I described in an earlier post.  It knitted up beautifully!

SublimeLaceTam.jpg

You can see how different the tams look depending on the yarn that is used.  Sublime has great stitch definition.  Both hats worked and both fit so I am happy with them.  This yarn would be great for something special but I’m not sure what at the moment.  I just know it is really nice to knit.

PS — Sally asked why the tams are darker in the center — it is because I scanned them and they cannot lie flat on the scanner plate due to the “embellishment” on the top.  The Jolie tam has a little i-cord knot on top which looks very light because it is pressed against the glass.  In reality, both are a consistent color throughout.  Thanks for the chance to clarify, Surly!

*definition of paltry, uninspiring stash: a collection of yarn you cannot count on for a new knitting project: not enough variety, quality or yardage for anything you would really want to knit.  That is why you will never hear of me joining the “Knit from Your Stash 2007” movement — I would be left empty handed and bare needled! 😉

 

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