theraineysisters knitting and so much more

Happy Holidays everyone!

As Susan explained, she and I were in New York. I had tickets to two Clay Aiken Christmas concerts: one in Long Island and one at West Point. I had planned on a girlfriend trip: staying up late and talking and knitting. Alas, my friend (she of the red cashmere glovelets) could not attend at the last minute and my dear sister didn’t want me to have to cancel. So, I met another friend in Long Island and went to West Point with Susan.

After the Long Island concert, my friend Mary and I went back to our hotel, which had a lovely lobby. There were comfortable, overstuffed chairs and a fire in the fireplace. We decided to sit there and have a drink. I ran upstairs to get my laptop, some wine glasses, and my knitting. This particular hotel has especially long hallways because it is built around a central, open courtyard. I grabbed what I needed in record time and hurried down two long corridors to get back to the elevator. Then I glanced down. Hmmm. I had dropped my ball of laceweight grey Shetland wool. I peeked around the corner. I couldn’t see it. Uh oh. I started to walk back down the first of the two hallways. No skein in sight. I set down the wine glasses and laptop and started gathering wool (so to speak). I rounded the next corner. No ball of yarn.

Well, it was wedged in the door of my room. I had HUNDREDS of feet of grey yarn winding through the corridors of this hotel. So I started winding. And winding. And winding my way back to the elevator.

It took a long time. I think Mary had just about given up on me. At least she had the wine.

As for my knitting, I am almost finished with my Sunrise Circle Jacket; I’m finishing up the facing and hope to have all of the finishing done in the next few days. I’ll definitely post pictures.

I flew to Los Angeles on Thursday to watch the Tonight Show being taped. Why? Well . . . I’m impulsive. And Clay Aiken (new cd in stores September 19th) was appearing and a friend of mine in L.A. had VIP tickets and my husband’s in Italy and it was my anniversary and I felt like doing something fun. So I went.

I did a lot of knitting on the plane, almost all of which I had to rip out because I was tired and not paying attention. I was working on my Sunrise Circle jacket and I knit most of the sleeve before I remembered that I had changed the frequency and number of my increases on the first sleeve. This is an example of unmindful knitting. I don’t really recommend it unless you like knitting things twice. I discovered the error of my ways on the flight back. Fortunately I had sock yarn so I could start a new orphan sock.

Le sigh.

I attracted a lot of attention at the airport with my roll-a-bout. Not only that, but my foot and its lovely shoe/cast thing threw security for a loop. I got a lot of “personal” attention from the security personnel if you know what I mean and I think that you do.

I haven’t forgotten that someone asked to see what other Starmores I have on the needles. I’ll give a pictorial update on that tomorrow.

Also — YES! I designed the Trellis jacket. My big claim to fame. I’m not sure why it would have had Susan’s name on the pattern, too but hey — I guess no one can tell us apart. (Hint: She’s the big one.)

PS from Susan — Here is a picture of the Trellis Jacket (featured in Interweave Knits), even though it is also pictured elsewhere on the blog:

I finally finished Sunrise Circle.  The buttons are on.  They are made from snail shells and quite pricey, but I think they are perfect. 

And a close up of the button loop.  I did a “faux tatting” stitch instead of the buttonhole stitch I usually use for buttonhole loops.

So all my entries are ready.  I’ll do a little steam pressing, but everything is finished.

Whew, it was touch and go there for a while, but Sunrise pulled through.  The hump appears to be a thing of the past.  Sunrise is recovering nicely. 

Ideally I should have taken the extra fabric out as follows, but it would have meant a LOT more work:

Instead, I took the extra length from the top along the basting line.

From the inside:

I dismantled the I-cord, machine stitched along the basting line, and trimmed off the excess.  I then picked up sts, re-knit the I-cord and tacked down the cut edge.  After that, I grafted the facing back onto the I-cord. 

I wouldn’t recommend doing it this way if you can avoid it!  I have a couple of things in my favor:

1. I know how to sew
2. It does not bother me in the least to cut knitting
3. I do not mind grafting, Kitchener — whatever you want to call it — in any of its forms

Most people do not like to cut OR graft.  What I would have done differently is to shape the back neck as I was knitting the garment.  That’s where the designer comes in.  And as I said before, I am not faulting her.  She designed an incredibly unique and fun project.  You often don’t know what the fit issues will be until after the garment is constructed.