Some loyal readers may recall that when I finished my Hanne Falkenberg Ballerina I was shocked that the sleeves went from being 5″ too short before blocking to the perfect length after blocking. Woo Hoo for me — project finito. Well, today I decided to wear Ballerina and BUMMER: the sleeves are too short by about 2″. It just feels skimpy. So I must go back to the knitting grindstone and knit a cuff onto the sleeves. The pattern calls for a 2″ cuff on the sleeves, so I my jacket will actually look more like the original. I don’t know about you, but I really do not like to go back to a project even though many would benefit from some kind of redo.
September 19, 2006
September 11, 2006
From Susan & Sally — DC Diary
From Susan:
I just got back from my brief visit to DC. If you’ve been reading our blog you know that Sally had recent bunion surgery. She is getting along pretty well but can use some assistance, and it was a good excuse to get together.
Thursday
First order of business was cooking — I was asked (ordered, directed, instructed, forced??) to bake both a “Cockeyed Cake” and a “Twinkie Cake.” These time-honored recipes are family favorites (esp the Cockeyed Cake, which originated as either a Depression era or WWII cake). After that I made tacos, homemade pizza, and shortbread cookies. And then a second Cockeyed Cake!! When did I knit? In between batches!
Friday
We had lunch with Wendy Johnson of WendyKnits fame. She is a world-renowned knitter and published author. We had a great time! It felt like I’d known her for ages because I start every morning with her over a cup of coffee (reading her blog) – she treated us like old friends. With knitters you always have a lot in common. I have been inspired and humbled by her so many times and learned so much reading her tips on making socks, Norwegian knitting, etc. Â
Thanks, Wendy, for a great time! Hope we can do it next time I visit. I did present Wendy with a small gift.Â
The pattern is one I wrote up for a class I teach occasionally here in the Twin Cities and is based on a fairly standard amulet bag design — though I did use built in i-cord this time on the flap. I certainly cannot take credit for the method — check out any antique store and you will probably find a purse knitted with this style of beading. It has been around quite a while and is a fun break from most of the knitting I do.
Saturday
Sally and I worked on stash enhancement. We visited a couple of nice stores in Maryland.Â
We both fell in love with two patterns in this book and of course, silk is to die for. Mine is the silver and Sally’s the pale green.Â
From Sally:
Yes, my sister waited on me hand and foot. What about it? The cake requests were from my children — I guess they’ve been deprived of sugar during my convalescence. I insisted on the shortbread cookies, even though the recipe is right here waiting on the blog. With my husband bicycling in Italy and my children both back in school (college and high school respectively), it was really nice to have adult companionship and some help. A big thank you to my big sister.
The yarn shops we visited were Woolstock in Glyndon and All About Yarn in Columbia. Both shops are fun places to shop and they both carry beautiful yarn. We were especially taken by the buttons at Woolstock and by the beautiful silk yarn at All About Yarn.
When Susan was allowed out of the kitchen, we sat in my library and watched movies while we knitted. A favorite was the classic film noir Double Indemnity. Barbara Stanwyck is bored with her husband and reduced to knitting (the horror!) until Fred MacMurray comes along. Yes, those insurance salesman are SO much more interesting . . .
September 2, 2006
From Sally — More Fair Isle Knitting
Ahem. Let’s move away from the sock monkeys, ever so briefly, and start talking about knitting again. I wanted to show you some photographs of one of my favorite Fair Isle sweaters: Henry VIII, designed by Alice Starmore. I realized that I don’t have a good “distant” photograph of it that shows the whole sweater and I just can’t hobble up the stairs again to find the sweater, lay it out, and take another photograph. Instead, I’ll post these photographs of her slightly reworked version of the design.
If you own the book Tudor Roses, and feel adventurous, you can purchase this as a kit at Virtual Yarns. She and her daughter Jade have many other lovely designs available there as well.
Anyway, I knit this sweater for my husband. Fortunately, I can wear this one too — it’s somewhat “big” for me but I’m willing to make the sacrifice.
Here is a detail of the neck:
Here is a closeup of the main part of the pattern:
Finally, because you know how much I like to look at the inside, here is the reversed stranded design:
I always have at least one Starmore project going. (Right now, including ones that have been “aging” a bit, I have four on the needles.) The most current one, which I expect to get back to very shortly, is Rosarie, which was designed by Jade Starmore. Although I don’t usually go for vests, I really loved this bold design and just had to work on it.
I haven’t had a chance to do to much knitting on it. Here is my one photo in progress.
This Fair Isle has only 5 colors in it, whereas there are fourteen in the original version of Henry VIII. (I haven’t checked on how many there are in her revised version.)
August 29, 2006
From Susan — Erika’s Sweater
Here is the sweater I made for my niece. I knitted it out of Cascade Etoile in color Iris — very soft: 70% kid mohair and 30% acrylic, 164 yds/50 gm. Probably similar to Kidsilk Haze but bigger. The gauge on the label is 5 sts/inch on a US 7. I used a size 6 to get 5.5 sts/in.Â
 
Here is the pattern. It is a bolero style from Sirdar. I made a size 4 because everything I have ever bought her is too small. I hope she’ll get to wear this some day! I love the picot edging, but I would have done it differently if I had had time to think. They picked up the edges after knitting each piece and then did a picot bind off — I would have done a picot cast on and saved a step. The pattern shows the collar in 1×1 ribbing, but I changed it to reverse st st due to LACK OF TIME!
 
It looks very different in the yarn I chose but I think it turned out pretty cute.
August 28, 2006
From Susan — Knitting Update
Since this is a knitting blog, I guess I’ll actually share some knitting updates :). I have done very little on the Woman’s Continental, but I did knit a sweater since my state fair post. My great niece turned two today (Happy, BD, Erika!). Her mom called me Wednesday evening to invite us to a little party for Erika to be held yesterday afternoon. I realized that other than her family Christmas stocking, I had never knitted her anything, so I thought I’d try to whip something up. Good plan, but the timeline was a little tight. I bought the yarn on my way to knitting (on Thursday, after my day at the fair) and started that evening. Friday I worked all day. That did not leave a lot of time. I had until 3:15 pm Sunday to finish. I sewed the button on at 3 pm. I was still wet and not dressed. That is cutting it close. I’m not sure if or when it will fit her — she was covered in chocolate cake and frosting when the gift was opened, so we did not let it near her! But it was a labor of love. I’ll share a picture and project details when my daughter brings the camera back.Â
August 26, 2006
From Susan — Going Bananas for Monkeys
Apparently we struck a chord with the State Fair post, so I thought I would share the photo I took of the Sock Monkey Bra Gown. This gown has a sleek silouette for a more sophisticated look. The gowns are not hand knit, but rather sewn from knit fabric. Please note the adorable matching back pack that rounds out the ensemble :). To view the Sock Monkey Ball Gown, scroll down through the next post.
August 24, 2006
From Susan — The 148th Minnesota State Fair
The Great Minnesota Get Together
The weather: cloudy, rainy, dreary
The crowds: not bad
The food: put it on a stick, fry it and you’ll find it there. This is pretty much how I looked after a Pronto Pup, pork chop on-a-stick, and a Caramel Pecan Log (omigod, the best!):
This is a momma pig waiting to give birth in the Miracle of Birth Center. They time the pregnancies so live births occur every day of the fair. It is pretty fascinating. The bars are to prevent mom from rolling over on the babies.
Back to What’s REALLY Important
Yes, the phone rang just as Sally hit “publish.” I called her with the “breaking news.” As usual, I was a bit surprised at what ribbons went to each item. I was absolutely certain that some things would do extremely well (they didn’t), and equally convinced that some things would not do that well or even get a ribbon (they did). This happens every year and every year I am surprised — last year pleasantly so, and this year, not so much.
The results, in a nutshell:
And, as they were displayed in the Creative Activities Building:
Sunrise was tucked behind a post, next to Mermaid:
The silk scarf was displayed rather nicely:
I could not get a good picture of the Camilla Gloves — they were hanging down from the ceiling and the light reflected so much off the glass that you couldn’t see anything.
There are many types of handiwork in the fair. In the What-the-Heck-is-That? Category:
Another guy and I were looking on in slack-jawed amazement. Check out the dress behind it with the built-in Monkey Bra.
As someone who tats, I love to see beautiful work:
And here is the sweepstakes winner:
What a gorgeous shawl. Thursdays at Four is contributing a $25 gift card from Panera’s:
I guess now we have to pay up! There was a sweepstakes award on another item as well (I don’t quite get how all the categories work). You may recognize the Koigu Hexagon Skirt from Vogue knitting:
The real excitement for me came when I found that my daughter Laura’s artwork, “Through the Woods,” had been selected for display from among the many high school entries. She won Honorable Mention (whatever that means — but, hey, a ribbon is involved!). Again, the reflection made it difficult to get a good picture:
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So, please excuse this long post. It’s been a long day! But — it’s Thursday! I am heading to Panera’s for knitting group!
August 22, 2006
From Susan — The Earth Stopped Spinning on its Axis Yesterday
I did not knit yesterday. Not a single stitch. I cannot remember the last day that went by without knitting — they are few and far between! When I said I started the front of my jacket, I had started it Sunday at the Como Zoo. I did nothing yesterday — shame on me 🙁
August 21, 2006
From Susan — BRIEF Jacket Update
I finished the back and started one of the fronts. I sure hope it turns out — you never really know. I thought I got inspired to do this project last year, but my forensic evidence (I found the receipt) confirms that I actually decided on this project in June of 2004 — boy, time flies!
August 19, 2006
From Susan — Woman’s Continental
I have been making some progress on the jacket. I am just a few inches shy of the raglan shaping. I am clipping along because this is mindless stockinette and I am enjoying the yarn tremendously. This shows the fabric — just picture a bigger rectangle!
Because I am sizing this up — for two reasons: one, because I am larger than 40″ and two, because I want it to fit as an outerwear jacket — I have had to make changes to the pattern, but nothing too drastic. So far I am happy with the results.
