theraineysisters knitting and so much more

October 23, 2006

From Susan — Response to Comments

Filed under: Current Projects — lv2knit @ 8:11 am

Thank you for all of the positive comments about the new lace top.  Its progress has slowed as expected because I had to do some other things yesterday — darn it!!  I did start the front and got through the second lace pattern, and also tried to start Anya for my “at-work-mindless” knitting, but it is still not quite right, so I have a few more adjustments to make.  The pattern has a small mistake and then there is the issue of my “customizations,” though these will be few (“I like you very much, just as you are.” — MD).

Michelle asked if I buy my yarn at my LYS or on-line.  I tend to do both, but primarily at my LYS.  Because I teach at two shops, I get a discount.  It usually makes it cheaper for me to buy there AND I like to support yarn stores — to keep them around.  Also, there is the instant gratification aspect.  That said, if the yarn I want is not available at one of the two stores with aforementioned discount, my loyalties end.  I will buy the yarn where I can find the best deal. 

I teach classes so I can afford beautiful yarn.  I won’t waste my time on crap.  It takes as much time to knit something with Red Heart acrylic as it does to knit with merino wool, but what do you have when you are done?  I have made this mistake in the past — as my friend Peggy said, “I only have so many stitches left, so I’m not going to waste them knitting on something I don’t love.”

PS — Michelle, I’m not “one of those.”  I know people who can knit like speed demons and get fair isle sweaters done in a month (you know who you are! :)).  It takes me months to finish those.  The reason I get things done is because I spend a lot of time at it. I wish I was faster because there is so much knitting to do!!

October 22, 2006

From Susan — Some Knitting for a Change

Filed under: Anya,Current Projects — lv2knit @ 12:15 pm

Have you gotten the latest Vogue Knitting?  It has a red scarf on the cover that is very pretty but looks like a lot of effort for a scarf.  Inside is another in their series of gorgeous white camies.  I fell in love with this one for my daughter:

VogueCroppedLaceSweater.jpg

And started it yesterday:

VogueCroppedLaceSweaterBack001.jpg

What fun knitting — rather addictive, really.  It doesn’t hurt that I am making the extra small, which is tres petite for my tres petite daughter.  I have never made a lace shawl with tiny yarn like this.  This is a great introduction to it and not as difficult as I thought it would be. 

I am using a Douceur et Soie/Kidsilk Haze knock off called Ovation from the SRK Collection.  Absolutely wonderful to work with.  The back got done in one day — how long do you estimate the rest to take me?  You know how it goes: lots of activity and then a rapid slow down.  My hands, arms, and shoulders are in pain from doing too much yesterday.  But I’ll try to keep up the pace.

I also bought some yarn for one of those sweaters that you make to wear — a lot.  The pattern is Anya from Jo Sharp.

Anya.jpg

Her Silkroad Aran Tweed is very expensive but I bought the identical yarn called Katmandu in color Plum (I say identical because it is from the same mill and has the same look, gauge, and composition: 85% merino, 10% silk, 5% cashmere).   I can’t start it until I finish the little lace top for Jena — m  u  s  t    k  n  i  t  !    !    !    !

October 20, 2006

From Susan — A Little Touch of Sweden

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 6:16 pm

I am not Swedish, nor of Swedish heritage in any way, but when the Knitters Guild announced that a knitting designer and author was coming to town, I had to get involved.  Inger Fredholm wrote the following book and taught classes here this week.  I took her lace class and even though I did not learn any new techniques, I enjoyed every minute.  She was delightful to listen to and a very generous soul.  We got to see her exhibit and hear about the behind-the-scenes aspects of her lengthy knitting career. 

KnittingwithaSmile.jpg

Her designs include fair isle/Norwegian [Scandinavian] influences and simple lace.  Her philosophy about lace knitting is that the pattern should be so simple that you can memorize it easily and always be able to find your place.  She was wearing a hand-knitted skirt made out of medium gray, heavy-weight, cotton yarn in a feather and fan lace stitch.  It was really quite lovely and something I would consider making.  It is in the book. 

Another thing I promised my knitting group I would share is my recipe for Potato Cream Cheese Soup.  As you may have caught on, our knitting group meets weekly at Panera Bread.  Every Thursday they served this fantastic and very rich Potato Cream Cheese Soup.  It was my stand-by every week — I rarely branched out.  Well, first they switched days of the week and it was no longer available on Thursdays.  I would wander around other Paneras hoping to stumble onto the day my favorite soup was served.  THEN they stopped serving it completely :(.  A couple of weeks ago I experimented with a recipe and came up with a close (not exact, mind you) substitute.  It takes under 45 minutes to make and is great served with buttermilk biscuits.

Slide1-4.jpg

M-m-m-m-m-m-m-m.  I’m going to go have some right now — it’s even better the next day.

 

 

 

October 19, 2006

From Sally — Nina

Filed under: Nina — Sally @ 9:12 am

I’ve been working on Nina in my very limited knitting time. I’ve finished the left sleeve, left front and back, left collar, and most of the back. It’s not a particularly portable project — one of the disadvantages of knitting a sweater (especially a largish jacket) in one piece is that it’s like carrying around a dead body. It’s just not that easy to drag around.

My camera is still on the fritz, but as soon as I can I’ll update with some photographs.

October 17, 2006

From Susan — The Knitter Protection Program

Filed under: Back Story,Updates — lv2knit @ 11:09 pm

I went to the Knitters Guild meeting tonight.  The guest speaker was Inger Fredholm, Swedish knitting designer.  She has an exhibit starting this weekend at the Swedish American Institute in Minneapolis.  I signed up for her European Lace class on Friday afternoon.  She is a lovely woman and appears to be very talented.  I am really looking forward to the class and the reception/exhibit opening that follows.  Her book is called “Knitting with a Smile.”  She had them for sale at the meeting, but I’ll get 20% off on Friday so I decided to wait.  More on her, the book and the class later.

As you may remember, the mitten exchange was also this evening.  MANY of the knitters (most of the knitters) expressed the same level of frustration that I felt in trying to make their mittens.  One woman did not finish her mittens, did not come to the meeting and sent the unfinished mittens with a note saying she would never come back (?).  We figured she became part of the Knitter Protection Program for people too embarrassed by their knitting problems to be seen knitting in public again :(.

I received a gorgeous pair of mittens in the yarn I submitted — Rowan Tapestry.  The knitter (and I am sorry that I do not know her name) also expressed frustration with the yarn I gave her — she said it was thin and rather too soft.  It is DK weight I think and is very soft.  It is a fairly new yarn and I had never knit with it before so I didn’t really know how it would knit up.  She lightly felted them and I LOVE them!  They were my favorite mittens of the night and I am very happy with them.

TapestryMitten.jpg

So, now, as promised, here are pictures of “the infamous mittens.”  I’m sure you will just say to yourself, “Oh.”  There is nothing special or un-special about them.  They are plain old, seen ’em before, whatever !? mittens.

Mittens008.jpg

A close up of the “embellishment:”

Mittens009.jpg

The mittens aren’t that special but I fell in love with pompoms!  I made these little cuties with the following new tool:

Clover-3124-pom-pom.gif

They are beautiful AND easy, just like it says on the package.  I may go crazy for pom poms or pom pons or pompoms (your choice).  My husband could not see the attraction, but I told him they are so out that they’re in.   

So, there you go – I am now off the hook and feelin’ fine, never to do a mitten exchange again.  If you ever hear me say even in jest that I want to participate in a mitten exchange, please call the Knitter Protection Program without delay!! ;) 

 

October 15, 2006

From Susan — Mitten Accompli

Filed under: Back Story,Updates — lv2knit @ 2:52 pm

I finished both mittens last night and did an embellishment that I think took the mitts to the next level (of Dante’s Inferno?!?).  They are done, and now I can move on to other knitting.  I plan on working on Oregon this afternoon, as it has been neglected terribly the last few weeks.  I am so close to the armhole steek that it is a shame not to press onward.  I will post some pics soon.  We have not had any long posts or pictures in a while!

HappyBirthday.jpg to Sterling today :).

October 8, 2006

From Susan — Knit Out in Review

Filed under: Back Story,Updates — lv2knit @ 5:45 pm

Knit Out 2006 is history and what a fun day it was!!  As Patsy Fisk (the main organizer) put it, on a scale from 1 to 10 it was an eleven!  Patsy worked tirelessly to make the event a success.  Brookdale staff went out of their way to be gracious and accommodating.  The rotunda has a huge dome which brought in a lot of natural light.  There was a lot of foot traffic and many curious passers by. 

Knitout2006002.jpg

Most of my pictures did not turn out, but here are a couple more:

Knitout2006004.jpg

This is a picture of the Yarn Garage Booth.  They were the only shop that brought their wares, and I do think other shops made a mistake by not having a presence at the event.  They had so much fun stuff to look at and buy.  Very creative people.

There were fashion shows on the hour and thank goodness Lori Ihnen took the reins and handled that part of the program.  Here is Lori modelling Sally’s Debbie Bliss “Lara” cardigan:

LoriIhnen2.jpg

It looked great on Lori — she added the knitted flower.  The coral color of the shell she was wearing made the Lara cardigan pop.  Very nice!  You may know Lori’s name because she is a published author and knitting designer. 

AGardenStroll.jpg

I don’t have her book (yet) but I know it is wonderful.  I’ve seen the trunk show.

Emily M. of our Thursdays at Four knitting group won the fastest knitter contest — way to go, Emily!!  She won a free Knitters Guild membership.  Her “picker” opponent was a very young and talented girl named Maddy.  She may have been all of ten years old, but she beat out the other pickers!  She was thrashed by Emily in the stockinette round, however.  Good job, Maddy — maybe work on your purling for next year.

Other Thursdays at Four attendees included Birthday Girl Linda, Deb, Lynne, Mary, Idonis, Barb, and Deirdre — I hope I did not leave anyone out :(.  We were also joined by my St. Paul knitting peeps: Julie, Mary and Marilyn.  Plus many other familiar faces, old friends and new.  It was a wonderful day of networking and basking in the warmth of the knitting community.  Wow! 

See you next year!!

October 5, 2006

From Sally — Nina (a new old project)

Filed under: Nina — surly @ 1:36 pm

One of the advantages of having an embarrassingly large number of projects already on the needles is that you can go back to them months or years later and feel as if you’re starting something new, but that you have a head start. Nina, a sweater designed by Debbie Bliss, is one of those projects.

I liked the notched front of this sweater/jacket and its length. When I started knitting it, however, I ran into several obstacles. First, I could not get the recommended gauge (nor am I sure I would have wanted to). The sweater was designed in Bliss’s Alpaca/Silk, which has a usual gauge of about 17-18 stitches over four inches using a U.S. 7 or 8 needle. According to the directions, the gauge for Nina was supposed to be 20 stitches over four inches of pattern using a U.S. 8. The pattern is a kind of “false” rib; K1 p1 on the right side and purl all of the stitches on the wrong side. In my experience, this pattern does not draw in the way ribbing does. As I swatched, I was getting closer to 16 stitches over four inches, even using a 7. I decided it would be difficult for me to get 5 stitches to the inch, and I was concerned that the fabric might feel too heavy and dense. There was also a second problem: the length, according to the directions, was only 24 inches. Say what? Is that model extremely short? To me, this sweater was going to have to be at least 28 inches long in order to have the “look” I wanted. That meant — given the gauge issues and the difference between how the sweater looked and how the directions were written — that I would have to rewrite the entire pattern. I would actually have to think, especially given that this sweater is knitted from cuff to cuff (sideways).

So, I knit one sleeve and then abandoned it until early this week when I remembered how pretty the yarn is. I made my calculations and forged ahead — and it felt “fast” since I already had the left sleeve finished. Here’s a photo. The color does not resemble mine in the least. (My camera is having “issues” and I used my husband’s.) The true color is a deep steel blue. I’ve finished the sleeve (note the strand of Koigu yarn running up and down one side to mark the increases) and cast on what will become the side seams. I used a provisional cast on (that’s the red yarn you see) so that I can either graft the live stitches later or do a three-needle join at the side (the way you would knit together a shoulder).

Here’s another view, which I’ve included because the color is a little bit truer.

I just have a few more rows to knit before I’ll start some shaping for the back neck. My only fear now: running out of yarn.

October 1, 2006

From Susan — All Surgery and No Knitting Makes Susan a Dull Girl

Filed under: Back Story,Great American Aran Afghan,Updates — lv2knit @ 9:11 am

Q: Can you name this afghan from Knitters Magazine? 
A: The Great American Aran Afghan

It started out as a contest in the summer of 1999.  Sister Sally kept telling me that my idea would win, and even though I didn’t believe her, I entered the contest anyway.  The first squares came out in the Winter, 2000 issue, which hit the newsstands in fall of 1999. Because I had not heard anything one way or another, I assumed my square had not been chosen.  Au contraire.  I had actually won the contest.  Sally was right again!  I found out that I won when 20 skeins of Encore yarn was delivered to my doorstep in a large Kellogg’s Raisin Bran box — “Knitters” did not contact me until a few weeks later. 

I was not going to make the afghan, but everyone in my knitting group (which had just started at the time) told me I had to make it, and that they would all make one, too.  Note to self: don’t believe everything you hear at knitting group!  I’m still the only one who finished — mine is made out of Cascade 220:

GAAA008.jpg

The Mini-Sweater square is mine:

GAAA005.jpg

My favorite square to knit was the Janet Martin Fish-in-Net Square:

GAAA006.jpg

This is ancient history, so why do I bring it up now?  I found a large hole in the thing!  Major bummer.  And, what caused the hole is still to be determined.  There are no visible signs of vermin, but??????

GAAAhole.jpg

I am going to try to fix it.  Wish me luck.

Jump Ahead in Time Several Hours

The hole is gone. 

 GAAAholerepair.jpg

And though it looks like a perfect repair, I did indeed cheat.  Miraculous as seems (and if you knew my house and my “organization methodology” you would know that the word miraculous is not used lightly), I found both the leftover yarn I used for the edging AND the instructions I had written out for myself.  So, I re-knit the entire bottom eyelet edge.  I did not want a crummy-looking repair job on this because it was SO MUCH WORK!!!!!!!  Really, one of the biggest projects of my knitting career.

The original pattern edge was created by Rick Mondragon, Knitters Magazine Editor, and took 3.5 skeins of yarn.  It is a lovely braided edge that goes around the entire afghan, but I did not want to add that much weight, plus I did not have enough yarn in the right dye lot.  As you can see, my edging is a much simpler style.  I have placed it under “Free Patterns” if you ever consider making this project.  I used all 24 squares in my afghan, whereas in Knitters they held out four squares and made two pillows. 

Though a lot of work, you really learn a lot about cables, gauge and intricate grafting.  Now can I go out and knit?

September 26, 2006

From Susan — The Lone Blogger

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 9:30 pm

I don’t have a whole lot going on, but thought I better write something anyway.  Sally is again on the road (or plane, as it were), so I am the Lone Blogger.  I have been working on a couple of WIPs — the Woman’s Continental is progressing at a turtle-esque pace.  I have the back done, both fronts and the start of one sleeve.  All the fun stuff with this project is at the end so it will start to get interesting soon.  Oregon is languishing for the time being. 

I also started a small project just because.  Here is the newbie:

LaceTop.jpg

This is the Pure Silk from Debbie Bliss.  It’s very hard to get a good picture, but you can kind of see what it looks like and you can definitely see the luster of the yarn — wow.  I love knitting with silk, but it isn’t looking that good in terms of the evenness of the stitches.  I hope blocking helps :).

The other fun thing I did this weekend was teach a couple of knitting classes.  On Saturdays I’m teaching a class on the Rogue Hoodie from Girl from Auntie at Amazing Threads in Maple Grove, Minnesota.  What a fun project and a bit challenging — you graft the hood together at the top across all the cabling (see photo in Susan’s Gallery for detail).  It was my Olympic Challenge project from February of this year.  The knitters range from “this is my first sweater” to “been there, done that.”  The newbie knitter is absolutely darling.  Her mom is taking the class with her and is a fabulous knitter. 

The other class is another of my favorite projects: the Market Squares bag from Knitters Magazine.  The students are my knitting peeps from Thursdays at Four — we meet at Panera’s (quelle surprise ;)).  It is like a 2 for 1 special because I get an extra “knit night” per week.  This may become a habit!  There are pictures of both of these projects in my “Susan’s Gallery.” 

That’s it for now.

« Newer Posts — Older Posts »

Powered by WordPress