theraineysisters knitting and so much more

May 28, 2008

From Susan — Play Mystic for Me

Filed under: Mystic Waters Shawl — lv2knit @ 7:20 am

That’s what Lettie said, and I had to comply!  Bad puns abound in our household.

Row 226 and Chart D complete.  Using my crack math skills (or should I say, my math on crack!), I figure that around Row 260 of 367, I will be at the ~50% mark area-wise.  There is something so wrong about that!  I feel better deluding myself with row counts and not square inches :).  But I must be at least 1/3 done…The picture isn’t great or artistic, but the green is pretty close to accurate.

This is a fun shawl to knit and I attribute it to lack of repetitive patterning.  The squares along the sides repeat, but not noticeably and the internal patterns have a rhythm, but the shawl in its entirety does not feel repetitive.  It certainly is not mindless, and I prefer that for my at-home knitting.  My mindless, take-along knitting is not progressing very well because I do not have much time to work on it.  Monogamy assures faster results, that’s for sure!

Rudee “accused” me 😉 of not being completely honest about my “stay-cations,” citing Sally’s and my recent trip to NYC.  I agree and disagree: did you notice who was missing on that trip?  My family peeps!  I go on trips with Surly, but my family and I never go anywhere!  Our family vacations are non-existent :(.

The weather here is downright b-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r.  Last year it was in the 90’s and now it’s barely making it to 60.

May 26, 2008

From Susan — Mystical Progress

Filed under: Mystic Waters Shawl — lv2knit @ 12:15 am

Happy Memorial Day weekend to all of you.  Are many of you having “stay-cations” this summer??  Stay-cations are those taken close to home to avoid rising gas prices.  All my vacations are stay-cations…

Anyway, part of my weekend plans involve knitting — shocking, I know ;).  I’ve been puttering along on the Mystic Waters Shawl and still really enjoying it.  The chart has grown to 4 pages wide already (landscape, no less!), so I now have it folded in half. There are no repeats to the chart, so I marked off 10-stitch intervals to help keep track of where I am.  The sts tend to line up clearly at various points, so that helps, too.

I’m in the 180’s — er– make that the 200’s out of 367 — 50% done with the rows so ~30% (?) done with the shawl.  I am on Chart D out of Charts A through I.  Shawls are a lot of knitting, n’est-ce pas?

Click here for a close up.  The color is greener than the pictures, but still very pale.

PS: We had some terrible weather come through today, and a tornado touched down within a few miles of here.  Further to the northeast a town was flattened. 

 

May 23, 2008

From Sally — A Garden Full of Joy

Filed under: Sally's Ode to Joy — surly @ 6:14 pm

The weather has been dreary here in Washington for much of the spring — we’ve had lots and lots of rain, but few days of clear blue skies and warm sun. Today, however, was glorious. In celebration, I cleaned up the porch off the library. It has a lovely view and is in range of our wireless network. Yay!

The other good news is that I’ve been able to do a little more knitting. I’ve now finished part of each front of my Ode to Joy short jacket. Short is the operative word — as written, this sweater is only 18″ long in the size small.

I have a couple of ideas on how to lengthen it an inch or two. It’s not a rush, given that I can only knit a few rows a day.

So, in the meantime, I’m enjoying what is in bloom. My wisteria:

A bell-shaped Clematis:

What’s this? My Little Assistant is here for a visit?

He and my Big Assistant love the grass.

We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend.!

May 18, 2008

From Susan — Mystic-fied

Filed under: Mystic Waters Shawl — lv2knit @ 9:14 pm

i am really liking this shawl!!  I am in the early phase of infatuation when you need to knit all you can!  It fades quickly as we all know.  Strike while the knitting needle is hot, as they say.

I am done with the first two charts (130 rows complete): 26 x 13 inches:

The finished shawl is supposed to be about 50×100 inches!! Using my bogus math skills, that means I am ~13.5% done.   That’s not too bad, though I will never keep up the same pace. 

Tomorrow is Monday :(.

May 17, 2008

From Susan — A Small (but Time Consuming!) FO

Filed under: Alix's Prayer Shawl,Mystic Waters Shawl — lv2knit @ 11:13 pm

I have been working on a stealth project for a while and finally finished it.  However, it did not turn out quite the way I wanted, so it will not be going to the use for which it was intended.  I think the yarn is too heavy for the project and also not of high quality — the color runs!  I was disappointed but not devastated.

The FO is a shawl: Alix’s Prayer Shawl designed by Myrna A.I. Stahman.  Many people have made this shawl and it is a nice (and FREE!) pattern.  The origins are from a novel by Debbie MaComber which was lent to me by a work peep.  It has a knitting theme so she thought of me.  The books are a light and easy read with a lot of knitting references and quotes from many notable knitters.  I am reading them in the wrong order (3-1-2), but it’s no matter!  The Alix shawl was part of Book 3.

I used a mohair blend from my stash and US Size 9 needles.  I really think this is a nice, easy lace shawl pattern and would look wonderful in a lightly variegated or semi-solid sockweight yarn (like Koigu). 

I also started another project which is just getting off the ground — it, too, is a shawl.  What is with the shawls lately??  I have no idea!  Maybe I got the shawl bug from Surly.  I have at least three more in queue!

Anyway, I am making the Mystic Waters Shawl. 

It is a gorgeous pattern.  I am again using yarn from my stash (I am so proud ) — Zephyr and Silk Laceweight in Sage.  I am already in the 90’s for rows completed, which means it’s about 5″ long!  This is tiny knitting and a huge shawl.  Many people have also made this shawl — will 2 skeins of Zephyr be enough??  I’ve seen 2-3 listed and I only have two.

Mitered Jacket is in a slump but is the only knitting I can take with me.  The MWS is too intense (must follow the pattern stitch by stitch, line by line!). 

 

May 13, 2008

From Sally — Button, Button, Who’s Got the Button(s)?

Filed under: Sally's Ode to Joy — surly @ 10:13 am

I do!

At the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival I found the perfect buttons for my Ode to Joy cardigan. Don’t you love it when that happens?

I may only be able to knit a few rows a day, but at least when I finally finish this project (at this rate, my estimated date of completion will be sometime in 2012) I won’t have to shop for the buttons.

I’m partway through the matching square for the other front. I know. It’s sad.

April 29, 2008

From Sally — A Little Joy

Filed under: Sally's Ode to Joy — surly @ 1:31 pm

I haven’t had a lot to contribute to our blog since mid-March; it’s hard to write a knitting blog when you can’t type much and you can’t knit at all. Susan has been gamely shouldering the blogging burden, but I’m going to give her a little bit of relief today.

I’m still in the splints about twenty-two hours per day. My right hand is improving; my left hand is not. Even so, I was given the clearance to knit a little bit as long as I keep the splint on my left hand while I knit. I’m taking it very very slowly, but I have knitted a few rows each of the past few days. I started my own Ode to Joy (designed by Candace Eisner Strick) in the Cape Cod colorway. I don’t have much to show for it yet, but I’m so happy to do any knitting I don’t care.

Thanks for all of the support and kind thoughts.

April 18, 2008

From Sally — Japanese Flame Stitch

Filed under: Japanese Ironwork,Knitting Tips — surly @ 12:04 pm

I recently completed my Japanese Pullover, and was very flattered by the reception it got on the blog. Here is a photo as a reminder of what it looks like:

I don’t know what the Japanese name is for the stitch I used, so I called it a Japanese flame stitch. Many of you asked how the stitch is made, and so with Susan’s chart expertise and help, I’m finally able to explain it to you. It’s generally charted in Japanese patterns as shown below. Typically, as the chart shows, it is done by “dipping down” three rows and temporarily increasing one stitch to three. It can, however, be worked over more rows and I’ve seen some patterns where the stitch count is temporarily upped to five.

Japanese Flame Stitch

Here are some photographs to better illustrate what is being done. First, this stitch is started on the right side of the work and is done on a background of reverse stockinette. Look at the number “3” in the chart — that is the first row in which you do something different. When you get to the row that Susan labeled as #1, you work your way to the correct stitch, move your yarn to the back (b/c you are no longer purling), and increase by knitting, purling, and then knitting into the stitch three rows below). The first needle insertion looks like this:

Knit one stitch. It will look like this:

Move your yarn to the front and then re-insert the needle “through” the bump you went under the first time. It might be a little awkward but it can be done.

Purl.

Then move the yarn to the back and knit as you did with the first stitch.
Now, the next step is really important but it’s easy to forget: DROP THE NEXT STITCH FROM YOUR NEEDLE.

The “next stitch” is really the same stitch you’ve just knit into three times. If you don’t drop it, you’ll accidentally increase the number of stitches in whatever you are knitting. The dropped stitch will eventually run back the three rows on its own, but it can’t go further because you’ve knit into it three times. Remember, so you don’t hate yourself several rows later when your chart is screwed up, DROP THAT NEXT STITCH. Alrighty, then.

On the following wrong side row, purl the three stitches you just made. (Note: the other stitches will be knit because you are working reverse stockinette.) Then purl your way to the three new stitches. Your knitting should look like this:

At this point, you work a central double decrease as described in the chart above.

Then continue with reverse stockinette.

That’s all there is to it!

(Ack!  Ignore my hands in these photos — I can’t take very good care of them right now although they were happy for a few minutes of being out of the splints.)

April 5, 2008

From Susan — Cute use of the Sweater Mini-Square

Filed under: Great American Aran Afghan — lv2knit @ 9:16 am

I received a lovely note from Laurie of Maplewood, Minnesota.  She made a baby blanket based on the sweater mini-square I designed for the Great American Aran Afghan and sent along a photo:

Isn’t it cute??  The three sweaters coordinate with the variegated yarn of the blanket.  Thanks for sharing, Laurie!!

The ongoing popularity of the GAAA continues to amaze me, but it is truly a classic and a really fun and challenging project:  

GAAA008.jpg

I think the internet and Ravelry have helped keep the interest alive.  Also, Knitters partnered with Cascade Yarns recently to package GAAA afghan kits in both Cascade 220 and Cascade Dolce.  Because I made my afghan with Cascade 220 (the contest was sponsored originally by Plymouth Encore), Cascade asked to borrow my afghan to display at January’s TNNA convention in California.  In return, they sent me two bags of Cascade Dolce in a color of my choice!  Woo Hoo — FREE yarn!!   A tough decision, but I decided on the teal (color 927).  So it is marinating in my stash, waiting for the perfect match.  I love Cascade yarns!

I have slowed down the pace considerably on my Mitered Cardigan — the bloom is off the rose, as so often happens after the first blush of enthusiasm starts to wane.  I am mentally moving on, but want to finish the jacket soon as a supplement to my “spring wardrobe” (now that is a laugh!! ).

April 1, 2008

From Sally — Instead of Snow, Delicate Japanese Beauty

Filed under: Japanese Ironwork — surly @ 3:59 pm

While my sister has snow it’s the beginning of spring in Washington, DC, and the flowers in my garden are just opening.

The Yoshino cherry blossoms are almost at peak along the Tidal Basin, but in my yard they are barely open:

Sometimes in my garden, I find surprises: early hellebores, the first buds of my peonies, or new tendrils of the wisteria. Today, though, there is another delicate Japanese beauty hiding among the cherry blossoms.

I’ll write more details, including instructions on how to make what I call the “Japanese flame stitch,” in a later post.

In the meantime, I’ve been diagnosed with de Quervain’s tenosynovitis and have been advised to refrain from knitting for two weeks. I’m not sure I can do that, but I am going to try.

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