theraineysisters knitting and so much more

It has been difficult for people interested in the Kauni Cardigan to obtain the yarn.  A Canadian shop called Fun Knits is now stocking the yarn in its new put up.  Check it out!  You don’t have to use the Rainbow Kauni — there are other colors to choose from. 

PS:  Margaret shared this information about another source for the Kauni Yarn:

“If anyone in the US is interested in a little more instant gratification wrt the Kauni, the same put-ups arrived today at Knitty City in NYC upper west side Manhattan www.knittycity.com – contact Pearl Chin the owner pearlATknittycityDOTcom if you need it with a touch less shipping costs, or if you actually live within driving distance of the shop.”

Thanks, M!!!

I started one of the Kauni sleeves a few days a go, but just can’t seem to get with it.  Part of the slow-mo stems from the fact that I am having some pain in my right wrist — repetitive motion injury. 

The other part of the lack of speed is that I’m not in love with where I started the colors on the sleeve.  I did it on purpose to position most of the sleeve in my favorite color zone.  However, I think the blue-green/purple is not as attractive as other combinations.  I have decided to keep going to see how it evolves, but may start over at some point.  Then again, does it matter?  I know that Stephanie the Yarn Harlot has decided to make both her sleeves identical.  I kind of like the way the sweater looks when they do not match, so I am not going to do that.

I knitted the garter stitch cuff back and forth and then joined it with a seam to knit the stockinette in the round.  It was much easier that way.

Just a little shout out to Surly: what a fantastic job on the fair isle blanket.  I love the colors and the design — and she did an incredible job.  And she did a very nice job showing the cutting and finishing of the steeks.  I came up with the crocheted edge technique when I made my first fair isle years ago (Rambling Rose by A. St*rmore).  I had seen the “x” method on several sweaters and was not pleased with the result.  I am not a crocheter but thought a crocheted “casing” for the cut edge would work well and have used it ever since. 

I am hoping that if I bind my wrist I’ll be able to do some knitting.  I need to knit every day or I go a little ::c::r::a::z::y:: ;)!

PS — Tamara asked about where to insert the crochet hook when using the crocheted edging that Sally described.  I do not get real hung up on hitting every other stitch, but this is generally what I do:

And, Tamara, just take the plunge!  Cutting is better than not cutting — if you don’t cut, you don’t finish!  I love cutting my sweaters — but only the fair isles!!

PS2: I bought a wrist splint so I hope that helps.

PS3 to Carol: I do my own diagrams.  I use PowerPoint to make the diagrams (sometimes with a photograph) and then save the slide as a jpeg.  It allows me to add text and arrows etc. to a picture or create a diagram from scratch.  “How much Shawl Have I Knitted?” is an example, as well as the bottom of the Modular Tote from the June 4th post.  The jpeg picture does not always turn out as well as the original slide but the point gets across.  I use PowerPoint a lot in my regular job and find it very versatile, though I’m sure there is drawing software out there that is better.  For my limited needs, PowerPoint works well.

As luck would have it, Kim’s Kauni invited my Kauni to koffee.  Kim and I had to drive them so we had coffee, too.  I took a picture of the Kissin’ Kaunis side by side (mine is on the left, Kim’s on the right):

You might be saying to yourself, “Hmmmmm.  What is all the hoo ha about?”  I’m not sure.  They look different.  They certainly look different in real life.  But row for row they aren’t crazy different.

Feel free not to vote for your favorite (our Kaunis are very sensitive), but I thought I would share their klose encounter of the Kauni kind.

I hate to leave the wrong impression.  While I looked at Kim’s Kauni with startled envy, it was more along the lines of “Gee, maybe I should have ordered the pasta instead of the steak,” and then proceeded to enjoy my steak.  It was not, “OMG, what have I done?  I married the wrong man and my life is ruined!!!”

It kind of reflects my whole approach to life.  My husband and I have totally different outlooks: he is an optimistic pessimist and I am a pessimistic optimist.  To outsiders my DH appears to be upbeat, easy going, and fun loving.  I appear to be the prickly naysayer.  BUT, I always believe that everything will work out in the end.  My hubby, the “don’t worry, be happy” guy, can imagine anything becoming a firey inferno of death.  We call him Debbie Downer because of his skill at seeing the dark lining in every silver cloud. 

Example: I was showing hubby a picture in Better Homes and Gardens that showed a hanging flower basket from summer that they had converted into a beautiful Christmas decoration by simply weaving small, white holiday lights through the grapevining.  He immediately started in on how this was a fire hazard, the whole house could go up in flames, and in unison my daughters and I scream, “And then we’re all going to die!”  That’s how all of his “stories” end — in a horrible death for all.  He has the creative mind of a paranoid lunatic!  I worry constantly, but always figure it will be okay in the end.

And that is how I am approaching my Kauni project.  It is A sweater, not THE sweater.  I know it will be fun to wear no matter how it turns out.  I am enjoying the process and don’t really give a flying fig about each color combination because I like the the overall look.  So, don’t picture me krying in my koffee over Kauni.  I’m doing fine!  🙂

Sleeve Number 1 is started, and I will post a picture after there is more to it.

I went to Pat’s last evening for knit night and had a great time: we shopped, we ate, we laughed — but not much knitting.  Oh well!

My good friend Kim (the friend who gave me “Lettie,” my alter ego) brought her Kauni Cardigan in progress.  She pulled it out of the bag and everyone gasped and started to say, “It’s so much prettier than Susan’s!!” but stopped short and said, “It’s so ::mumble::mumble:: nice -er- different than -er- Susan’s.”  But, I was thinking the SAME THING — it IS much prettier than mine!!

Kim’s is much richer, earthier and darker looking.  It looks like completely different yarn.  I was shocked.  We compared our balls of yarn AND THE COLORS ARE IDENTICAL!!  What gives?  She has her colors paired up differently and it makes the colors look completely different.  I am stunned, shocked, etc.  She has only knitted about 6-8” so she has not cycled through the entire color wheel yet, but I am a little bit bummed about this turn of events. 

BUT, it’s too late for moi.  I’m not changing a thing (can’t) and I will just have to like my lil Kauni, “just the way you are” (a shout out to Mark Darcy — I love you as much as the original Mr. Darcy ;)).

I will start the sleeves this weekend and also try to work on the neckline. 

 PS — I’ll try to get a picture of Kim’s Kauni at some point for comparison’s sake.

I feel like I have not posted in ages!  That’s what I like about sharing this blog — one of the Raineys usually has something to say!

I have been knitting a bit on my Kauni Cardigan, but not too much.  I have not had a lot of knitting time lately.  Life gets in the way now and then. ;) 

I am done knitting up to the shoulders.  To recap, I decided to not do any neck shaping — it will all be done after the fact.  I am thinking “square” — I know: carrying the square motif throughout is not terribly imaginative, but…

I am going to have a single line of squares at the shoulder rather than completing a full pattern repeat and having two of the same square patterns line up.  I will show this after I graft it together.  It will make more sense when I can include a picture (unfortunately, not a moving picture a la Surly!). 

The next step is to start one of the sleeves.  I will need to figure out where to start my colorway — I am starting at the cuffs so I can be sure of the color.  I do not want the cuffs to end up with real pale colors, so I’ll control for that by starting at the cuff in the colors I want.

Tomorrow is Knit Night — we are meeting at the home of one of the peeps so it should be really fun!

Happy Friday, Everyone!  My knitting is limping along.  I am loving my Kauni knitting: very soothing because it is mindless (and yes, I AM paying attention at the transitions points ;)). 

I am two squares past the armhole steek:

I did pull the trigger on a decision about length.  I placed 8 sts on a holder (yarn) and then decreased 2 sts on each side over the next few rounds to taper the opening slightly.  Twelve sts total are gone on each armhole.  This means the armhole depth can be slightly shorter because you gain ~2 inches across the bottom of the sleeve opening — this will add ~2 inches to the sleeve width as well. I also planned it so the shoulders will fall in the center of a square so double squares do not line up along the shoulder line.  That will make sense when I get there. 

Re: the neckline — I have not decided on a neck, but am leaning toward a square neckline.  I will knit to the shoulders and cut out the “offending section” afterward.  That way no pre-planning is involved and the colors will end where I want them to.  If I steeked the neck opening, the color transitions would get longer from that point to the shoulders.  Many Norwegian patterns are knit this way: they often just knit to the shoulders and cut away the neckline.  I will use the garter check around the neckline.

I am hoping to get something done with this over the weekend.  I have 2-3 projects singing their siren song and am anxious to move along to the next ;).  Unfortunately, two of those projects could be classified as summer knitting — my timing is WAY off!!

 

I’m seeing double!  I’ve been working my way back to you, Kauni — but it’s slower when you reknit something.  It took a little bit of the wind out of my sails. 

The picture shows spliced photos of the old and the new Kaunis.  I really did prefer the old, mistake-ridden colourway, BUT it is better to have the mistake-free version instead.  I am very near the armholes and therefore must do the math so to speak so everything lines up properly.  I hate that!  It means making a commitment to sweater length and shoulder placement, and I am such a commitment phobe with knitting.  Eeeeesh — the neckline comes next! 🙁

PS — I had such a nice evening yesterday.  I met with Maura from The Yarnery and several of the teachers.  They are great people and fabulously talented knitters!  We talked some business and then went next door to Axel’s Bonfire for a lovely dinner.  I had a wonderful time!

I thought I was really on a roll.  This Kauni thing is easy and kind of addictive.  HOWEVER, you still need to PAY ATTENTION!!  Just a little bit!  I mis-counted my rows and obviously spaced out.  I was almost to the armhole steek when I noticed that I had added a few rows and switched polarity on my foreground and background colors. 

It would not have been that big of a deal, but as I said to Sally, “It is bugging me now, it will bug me tomorrow, and it will be all I can see when I look at this sweater.”  To which she replied, “Hang up and start ripping.”  

Right under the blue marker are two red lines: one with 2 rows and a single row red stripe.  That is where I screwed up.  The background of the next section should be red with blue squares.  I would have left it as is if I had not done such a bold red line.  It just screamed “M-I-S-T-A-K-E” at me.  So, it is gone.  I did as Surly told me: I hung up and ripped.  It was painful, but like ripping off a bandaid, it is over and done with.  Time to move on!!