theraineysisters knitting and so much more

November 9, 2007

From Susan — What was I thinking??

Filed under: Current Projects,Susan's Kauni Cardigan — lv2knit @ 8:07 pm

Gas is $3 a gallon and going up, the housing market has bottomed out, they are talking recession — so, what do I do?  Buy yarn, of course!  And not just ANY yarn — yarn I already have!

I am talking about Kauni Rainbow.  I was nearing the finish line with my first Kauni Cardigan and then was gobsmacked by the Damask version.  I bought two more huge skeins of Kauni yarn (and I hope it is enough: cross fingers and toes!). 

It arrived today from Wollsucht and was already wound onto cones — very nice presentation.  It inspired me to dabble in a little creative stash maintenance, holiday style:

NewKauni004.jpg picture by lv2knit

Ah-h-h-h-h, see the festive cones hidden in plain sight!!  How do I think I’m going to finish a second Kauni when I haven’t even finished the first??  A true knitting mystery.

Speaking of knitting mysteries: why did I start a new project?  I have plenty of knitting already under way!  I picked up the Lopi yarn I ordered from Needlework Unlimited for this little gem (bought during the Shop Hop):

LopiPattern.jpg picture by lv2knit

and thought, “This is a quick knit.  Maybe I can whip this out and not even miss a beat!” 

NewKauni.jpg picture by lv2knit

The color is actually a very pale grey (Lopi 054) — not so beige as the picture.  It is kind of a quick knit, but really.  What about Lyra, Plisse, Kauni, Homage — the list goes on and on.  I feel conflicted!!

I know a lot of knitters suffer from start-itis, but that doesn’t make it right! ;)  This is a nicely written pattern and I hope to finish it quickly so I won’t be diverted too long from finishing Lyra, Plisse, Kauni & Kauni, Homage….etc.!  I’m outta control!

 

October 27, 2007

From Susan — Humbled by Response

Filed under: Lyra by Niebling,Plisse,Roslin Fair Isle Hoodie — lv2knit @ 10:02 am

Well, what can I say?  Your response to our little hoodie is overwhelming!  Since the math work falls to me (Sally did the knitting, and I did the number crunching), I will try to write up some additional sizes.  It is that huge mental effort that stopped us in our tracks before.  We shall see! 😉

As I reread our post, I realized it sounded more than a little braggy.  Let me explain. Sally and I wrote the post as co-authors: she wrote the parts about my contribution, and I wrote about hers.  The post sounds braggy but we are really just bursting with pride for the other Rainey Sister!  🙂

I have been working on Lyra day by day.  I am (drum roll) on Round #100!!!!!!!!!!!! Woo Hoo! 🙂 Out of 180 :(  I am no where near halfway done — because of the circle thing.  Oh well.  I am almost done with the third set of leaves and have started the “tulips” (if that is what they are).

Lyra10-26-07.jpg picture by lv2knit

My take along knitting is Plisse.  It is at a very strange looking stage.  If asked, “What are you making?” no one would ever believe a sweater:

10-26-07Progress.jpg picture by lv2knit

The teal section is what I have on the needles right now.  Once all of the white is filled in with knitting (quite a while from now, if my current rate of speed is any indication), then I will pick up the peplum and work down.

I won a prize at the Shop Hop two weeks ago from Coldwater Collaborative, so I feel the need to go to a yarn store!!

October 19, 2007

From Susan — Well, THAT Didn’t Work!

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 11:11 am

I have yet another knitting snafu.  Homage is totally HUGE!!  The back is at least 2.5″ too wide.  I have about 12 inches done and will have to rip back yet again.  I am starting to feel cursed unlucky.  So I will rip back another day.  I love the way it was looking so I will give it another go, just not today.

I started Hanne Falkenberg Plisse instead.  You begin at the back with the center strip:

plisse-ryg-1.jpg picture by lv2knit

I have about 10 inches of the strip done and will show more once I get the back started.  It is supposed to be knit on US 1 & 2 needles, so I automatically went up a needle size — look, Ma, no swatching!  I have done enough Hannes to know how my gauge compares with hers.  The color I chose (#98, Lagoon) is very nice and similar to Sally’s Tangled Yoke:

Color.jpg Color picture by lv2knit

I am very happy with Lyra once again – I am almost back to where I had to rip out.  The chart itself is very easy to follow; the mistake was all mine.  The Fino Alpaca is really nice yarn to work with.  It is a slow moving project, but nice to work on when you want to focus on your knitting.  I am hoping that Plisse has less mental effort involved so it will be portable.

I am thinking of putting the Modular Tote/purse together soon (maybe this weekend?).  All the main knitting is done — just the constructing and handle to do.  Kauni is not far off the radar either.  It will be very wearable so I’d like to get it done soon.

One of our French readers finished this intriguing knit:

LionBrand.jpg picture by lv2knit

I had already purchased the pattern (Lion Brand!!), but have not found suitable yarn.  This is one of those projects that looks like it could go horribly wrong, so I was glad to see that someone had finished it successfully.  We’ll see if it makes it up the queue! 😉

It’s the weekend, so start your knitting!

October 13, 2007

From Susan and Sally — Peeps on the Road

Filed under: Back Story,Homage — Both Sisters @ 1:53 pm

What a day I had!  It was peep-tastic!  Yesterday was the start of the Second Annual Yarn Shop Hop sponsored by seven local knitting stores:

Amazing Threads, Maple Grove
Coldwater Collaborative, Excelsior
Needlework Unlimited, Minneapolis
A Sheepy Yarn Shoppe, White Bear Lake
3 Kittens Needle Arts, St. Paul
The Yarnery, St. Paul
Zandys Yarns

We started north and worked our way to White Bear Lake, south through St. Paul, down to Burnsville, up through Minneapolis, west to Excelsior and back north to Maple Grove.  “We” consisted of several of my favorite knitting peeps: Kim (who drove — yay, Kim!), Mary, Roseanne, and Linda.  We had a ton of fun.  We received a small token at every stop and got to see/buy some great yarn and patterns. 

Did yours truly buy anything?  Mais oui, mes amies! 😉

First off, I need to back up and give a brief update on Loll.  It flopped.  My aforementioned peeps told me so on Thursday evening.  They gave it a definite thumbs down :(.  Good friends don’t let bad knitting happen.  The fringes are cute but the ribbed section was not up to our stringent standards — so it must go.

Loll-1.jpg picture by lv2knit

I will make the fringe into a hat…maybe.  With that decision made, I took the yarn back and bought this instead:

Tapestry.jpg picture by lv2knit

WOW!  Beautiful Rowan Tapestry (70% Wool 30% Soybean Approx. 131 yds/50g Weight: DK Gauge:  5.5 sts/1in Needle: US 6) in the color Lakeland — it looks like the ocean.  Sally already bought this same color.  I LOVE IT!!  I’m not sure yet what I will make, but it is fabulous yarn.

I also bought a couple of patterns — one for a vest and then this one for Lopi yarn:

LopiPattern.jpg picture by lv2knit

I think I have enough Lopi in my stash to make this — it takes ten skeins.  They had a shop sample knitted up and it really is a nice wearable sweater for Minnesota winters.

The other knitting update for me is that “Whisper,” which I was knitting in Kidsilk Haze Aura, is another major flop!  Oh yeah!  Yours truly is really cranking out the disasters.  Sally is turning out FO’s like hotcakes and I can’t even get anything started :(.  It looked just awful.  So, I ripped out that lil sucker and started something else. 

You may remember from a very early post, my mother knitted this many, many years ago:

MomsMohair.jpg Mom\'s Dressy Mohair Sweater picture by lv2knit

It is in mohair, much like La Gran, with a stitch at the hems and front bands that LOOKED like seed stitch until I looked more closely.  It is actually a slip stitch:

Start with an odd number of sts:
Rows 1 & 3 (RS): knit
Row 2: *k1, slip 1 as to purl with yarn at back (to the RS), repeat from * to last st, k1.
Row 4: k1, *k1, slip 1 as to purl with yarn at back, repeat from * to last 2 sts, k2.

I am going to knit a boxy jacket-style cardigan based on mom’s sweater and call it “Homage.”  I started it and have this so far:

Homage003.jpg picture by lv2knit

I love it.  I am knitting with yarn spun from clouds.  It is night and day compared to what it looked before.  I thought it was ugly, and now I am in love.  I am knitting with US 8’s instead of 6’s, which makes it looser and allows the light to filter through.  This is a wonderful and very easy stitch.  I will do about 6″ in this and then switch to stockinette, and do raglan-style sleeves.

Lyra is still a joy to work on, though I do not have the time to devote that I would like.  I am on the ~ the 50-ish roundout of 180.  Lots left!  Had a Lyra mishap and am now back to round 40.  BUMMER!!!!!  I had worked on it all day yesterday, too… 🙁

I am feeling much better about my knitting prospects.  Life is good!

P.S. From Sally

While Sue was out yarn hopping, I met a friend in Baltimore for lunch. I didn’t even realize that Stitches was taking place there until I drove by the venue.

I DIDN’T STOP!!!!

Aren’t you all impressed? (Don’t be. If I had been with a knitting friend I would have stopped on a dime.) I did stop at A Good Yarn. I ran in and bought yarn in less than five minutes. I’ll post about that later. I’m happy to see how Susan’s Aura is turning out since I have twenty skeins of it my own self.

October 8, 2007

From Sally — A Kauni of My Own

Filed under: Sally's Kauni — surly @ 5:29 pm

My two giant balls of Kauni yarn look like some kind of desert pottery.

The colors, as you can see, don’t look subtle. Why would I knit a sweater out of tomato soup red and pea green yarn? That was one of the questions I kept asking myself, and it was why I hadn’t yet started knitting with my Kauni yarn. Susan and I (along with regular reader Kim) got ours at the same time. Susan’s Kauni, almost finished except for the dreaded last sleeve, is lovely. See?

I know that the change from one color to another is not as stark as it looks when the yarn is in the ball. When I wound these skeins, watching the color change was magical — like time lapse photography. Even so, every time I looked at the raw yarn I had doubts. I kept getting seduced by other projects, too, which often happens to me. Then Ruth Sorenson, who designed the Kauni Cardigan, put out another design.

LeafCardigan.jpg picture by lv2knit

Although I wasn’t sure I liked the style of the ribbing at the bottom, that design rekindled my interest — it reminded me of some of the sweaters in Solveig Hisdal’s Poetry in Stitches. I vaguely thought about trying to adapt one of the Hisdal patterns or some other fair isle. Then I promptly forgot all about it and went on to other knitting.

Fast forward to the other day, when my sister sent me a link to the blog of another Minnesota knitter named Maria. I took one look at her Kauni and gasped: it was the Kauni of my dreams. Maria used a Dalegarn pillow pattern called Damask. Looking at her beautiful work-in-progress, I remembered that I had bought some of Dale’s pillow patterns when I worked in the yarn store. Why? Who knows? I’ve never knitted a pillow in my life. But lo and behold I had that pattern.

I did a provisional cast on because I didn’t want to waste valuable knitting time trying to decide what kind of finishing I wanted at the bottom. I didn’t do a gauge swatch; I based my needle choice on knowing that I usually knit on one size smaller needle than Susan does to achieve the same gauge. I did a quick calculation of how many stitches I thought I would need, adjusted a bit to center the pattern on the back and started. I’ve knit one full repeat. I don’t know what I’m doing the for the neck or whether I’ll use the same pattern for the sleeves, but I think it’s gorgeous.

I’m trying to make myself finish my lone Mermaid sleeve, but this is pretty hard to resist. How wild do I want it to be? I have these beautiful buttons from an abandoned Intarsia project. The color is perfect, but I think they may be a bit too much. We’ll see.

From Susan: When I saw Maria’s Kauni I felt like I wanted to throw up!  I was so sad that I had already started mine and felt I was too far along to rip it out (though I did consider it!).  I asked myself, “Would I rather knit 1-7/8 sweaters and end up with one sweater, or knit two sweaters and end up with two?”  I may still knit the Damask Kauni at a later date.  Sometimes it pays to wait :(.

There is a benefit to knitting the original Kauni: it takes much less yarn and is much faster because you do not need to follow the pattern so closely: you only do stranded knitting on 4 out of 10 rounds instead of every round. 

When I was still considering ripping back my Kauni, I brought it out and thought, “It’s cute.  I like it.  I don’t want to rip out my lil Kauni.”   So, Lil Kauni, I still love you!

 

October 3, 2007

From Susan — I’m Such a Risk Taker!

Filed under: Whisper — lv2knit @ 11:28 pm

I’m not really, but after trying to make “Whisper” with the yarn called for (Rowan Calmer), I went out on a limb and decided to try something very different.

Here’s Whisper:

whisperpattern.jpg picture by lv2knit

I am starting this as my take along project in the new (trumpets, please!) worsted weight KidSilk Haze — called Aura.  I am using the Ivory, but it is actually more like an ecru.  I know it’s fuzzy and Calmer is anything but, however, I think hope it will work.  We shall see. I have been wrong so many times before! 🙁

Let’s go back to the thrilling announcement: Kidsilk Haze in worsted weight??!!??  I was beside myself when I heard about this development.  It is soft, and obviously heavier than KSH, the original.  It is a mohair yarn so there is a lot of fluff involved in getting to a worsted gauge. I am knitting it down a bit on US Size 6’s and getting 5 sts/inch.  The band says you can knit it up to a US 10 for 4 sts/inch. 

I hope this lil project works out (Susan says, crossing all her fingers and toes).  I’ll post some pics once I am truly underway.

PS in answer to WendyM: The Calmer just did not look nice when knitted up in stockinette for ME (it could just be me and my knitting).  The yarn itself is actually very stretchy so maybe that caused some sts to be smaller if the yarn was stretched out more in one spot.  I don’t know.  Yarn is rarely stretchy — knitted fabric, yes, yarn no.  Maybe I could not knit with stretchy yarn (?).  It is soft and very beautiful.

PS2: The Yarnery now is selling some of their patterns on line.  This includes the cute Easter eggs designed by Marie Mayhew and of course several gems by Theresa Gaffey (including the Modular Tote).  These treasures are a click away — and check out the giant felted candy corn for Hallowe’en!! 

woollycandycorn.jpg picture by lv2knit

OMG, they’re too cute!

September 12, 2007

From Sally — Not Quite Silver Not Quite Belle

Filed under: Silver Belle,Tangled Yoke — surly @ 9:50 am

I’ve kind of but not quite finished Silver Belle. I need to weave in all of the ends because the Cashmerino Aran yarn doesn’t lend itself well to felted splicing. I also need to sew on the buttons. I’m not thrilled with the sweater, though, in all honesty. It measures out to the correct size, but it fits as if it’s way too large. I think I could have made the small, with a 32-inch bust, and it would have fit better (even though I’m a 34). Part of it is that I think the yarn is too heavy for this sweater, even though it’s the yarn called for. I’ll wear it, but it’s much more oversized than I would have liked. It will be something that I throw on over something else if it’s cold, which is not really what I was looking for. That, plus boredom, is not making me rush to do the little bit of finishing I have left. Here are few photos.

Sewing in the bodice:

Starting to attach the back yoke:

The back pre-collar:

The front with collar (I’ve just pinned one of the buttons on for show):

The back:

Yeah — I’m feeling pretty meh about the whole thing. The good news is that there is always some magical perfect sweater just waiting to be ruined knit. So my next project (while I decide exactly what to do with the lovely Betsy) is the Tangled Yoke Cardigan from the most recent issue of Interweave Knits.

I’m knitting it in Rowan’s Felted Tweed in a color called Watery. The color is a bit more interesting and subtle than it looks here.

I’m making several changes to the pattern. First, and most important, I’m knitting it as a pullover rather than a cardigan. I don’t like the skimpy looking button band in the original pattern. I could alter it, but I’d rather just make it into a pullover. Therefore, I’ll be making a few changes in the neckline as well. I’ll worry about exactly what I’m doing later.

September 5, 2007

From Sally — Silver Belle, Silver Belle

Filed under: Silver Belle — surly @ 4:15 pm

Whew. I finally finished the left yoke. My wrist wasn’t sure it was going to make it through the cables and seed stitch. (My wrist is rather delicate after the “hydraulic desk almost lost my hand episode” that we don’t talk about.) Anyway, I basted the whole thing together so Lucy could have a little modesty and I could see how it is shaping up.

This is a view of the back — you can see the gap where the middle cable panel will be continued. You can also see how I reversed the direction of the twist on the four-stitch cross cables so that the two halves of the back would mirror each other.

Another view of the back.

A side view. (Lucy is a little bustier than I am so I don’t think that the front will look shorter than the back on me. It is something I will keep in mind while blocking, however.)

A couple of views of the front. Again, I changed the twist of the cable on the left yoke.

There is a lot of finishing on this sweater. I still need to seam the sleeves, knit the back cable panel, sew in the yokes, knit the front bands, sew on the buttons, and pick up and knit the collar. I think I’ll work on something else tonight and save the finishing for tomorrow (not that I will have it finished in one day. I won’t.)

August 29, 2007

From Susan — Three Unexpected Delights

Filed under: Plisse — lv2knit @ 10:37 pm

I left work today with no expectations to speak of.  Just meeting up with a knitting friend for coffee and then home.  I had a lovely time at the Yarnery waiting for my peep, and then a lovely dinner with said peep.  That constitutes Delight #1.

Delight #2: Aforementioned peep told me about a knitting book “must have.”  We rushed back to the Yarnery and I bought:

BigBookofKnitting.jpg picture by lv2knit

I’m sure many of you have seen it, but it was new to me.  It has some very helpful knitting tips and those were gleaned with a very cursory glance, so I look forward to exploring it in more depth.

Delight #3: My Hanne Falkenberg Plisse kit was waiting for me when I got home! 

PlisseKit.jpg picture by lv2knit

Was this the color I would have chosen if I could see them all?  Who knows!?  But I do know that the color is very lovely — it should go with jeans and khakis (I think), and so will be versatile.  Much needed addition to the fall/winter wardrobe — maybe not THIS fall/winter but… :)  I’m not the fastest knitter and I have a few things in queue but this one will jump to the front of the line pretty soon.

What a day brightener!  And I needed one, believe me.  I want to finish up the Hemlock Ring (it’s growing each day) and of course, the Kauni will be perfect for fall.  So, off I go to do my daily knitting chores!!

PS to all of my blog friends:  I luv ya!!  A big cyber-hug to every one of you who commented yesterday.  🙂

 

 

August 26, 2007

From Sally — Lucy Models Silver Belle

Filed under: Knitting Tips,Silver Belle — surly @ 6:34 pm

I finished the right sleeve and yoke of my Silver Belle. I was very concerned that it would be wa-a-a-a-a-a-y too large, so I crudely basted it together and tried it on.

It fit! The sleeve was even the correct length. I still have a few concerns.

1. It’s a very heavy sweater because the yarn itself is so heavy, especially with all of the cabling. There’s no shoulder seam to give additional support, so I am hoping that when I pick up and knit the collar it will feel as if it has more shape and structure.

2. Am I just way too old to wear this?

3. Will it be flattering? The neck will end up being fairly low.

4. Am I just way too old to wear this?

5. Is there a reason there are no photographs of the back of this sweater in the magazine or the download?

6. Are there no photographs of the back because I’m too old to wear this?

Wear what you are asking. Here are the photos. This one shows the front (and a lot of Lucy, that little trollop).

Here is the back. The middle two 4-stitch cross cables are on holders; they will go up the back with the two yoke halves being seamed there.

Looking at this, you may be wondering why I was so concerned about the size. Well, in this photograph I’ve unpinned the left half of the peplum. Look how far it goes around Lucy without being stretched in any way. Imagine how big it was when both halves were able to do that.

Sewing the peplum draws it in magically without looking puckered or gathered. This means one could play around a lot with the sizing. The Medium, which I am making, is supposed to be 36″ buttoned. It would be easy to adapt the Medium peplum to a size in between the Medium and the Large by adding a little length to the yoke between the sleeve and the neck shaping and then sewing it to fit. For example, if you wanted to make it 38″ around, you would add 1/2 an inch to the yoke before beginning the neck shaping. (It’s only 1/2 an inch because if you do that on the right and left, you add an inch to the fronts and an inch to the backs, giving a total of 2 extra inches.)

For something completely different, look at the luscious Zephyr Wool-Silk lace weight that arrived in the mail yesterday. (Who could have done this to me? I have no enemies.) It’s Cinnabar. I’m debating between two shawls for this yarn.

From Susan:

Many of you are rightly interested in the new design from Ruth Sorensen (to find the pattern, click on ‘Strikning’, ‘Patterns for Sale’, and then on the British flag):

LeafCardigan.jpg picture by lv2knit

Michelle has started a knitalong for this beautiful cardigan and I told her I would help advertise.  Here is the link.  I would join up in a minute, but I can’t take on any more projects right now.  I’m ::blub::blub:: drowning!

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