The Ponchette is at the 32″ mark. The finished length for the largest size is 53″ so I’m getting there. It is a lot of knitting! I would post a pic but it looks the same except wider. When you’re knitting along, you see all the gorgeous colors — seagreen, rose, gold, purple – but when you look at it overall, it looks kind of muddy green and reddish pink. Hmmmmm. Oh well, on I go. I am enjoying the knitting, and I’m sure when it’s done it will go with something!Â
July 11, 2006
July 4, 2006
From Susan — Internet: the new Heroin
Our internet service was out from the day I got back to today. We were all in withdrawal. Everything we did, we thought, “I’ll go check it out on the internet….no, wait, I can’t.” It was horrible! I had no idea I was so hooked.
I went to my friend’s daughter’s wedding on Saturday evening, which was the reason Sally and I had to hotfoot it back from Omaha. The wedding was beautiful. The following people were wearing my daughter’s jewelry creations:
Bride, three bridesmaids, two junior bridesmaids, two grandmas, one mother of the bride, two of my daughters, one guest, and me. I was bursting with pride! The junior bridesmaids each wore one of the small wedding ring purses on their wrists and then gave them to the bride and groom to open at ring time. It was quite cute. The bride wore the wedding purse throughout the reception.
I am 99% done with Ballerina — it is blocking at this very moment. I wanted to block it before knitting the cuffs so I would know how long the sleeves would end up. Good plan because the sleeves gained at least 3”!! Thank goodness because they were SOOOOO skimpy.
I’ll post more later with some pictures and the update on my next major project — it is something that has been aging gracefully for at least 2-3 years (maybe more).  Sally and I will also share our impressions of the knitting shops we visited along the way.Â
It is good to be home.
PS — Ballerina was dry this morning so I tried it on. The sleeves are the perfect length without adding cuffs at all (!?!). That was surprising! I’ll i-cord edge the sleeves tonight and it will be D-O-N-E.
June 22, 2006
From Susan — Mini Update
The Wedding Ring Purses are complete. Ballerina is nearing the finish line. And all I can say about Sally’s Icarus Shawl is WOW!!
June 20, 2006
From Susan — Sunrise Oval Jacket
I have been too busy to get my Sunrise blocked, but I thought I would share some pictures of it anyway. It is such a cool pattern, and I enjoyed making it very much. I love things that are a little different — classic yet unique — and this certainly qualifies.
Here is the “oval”:
Here are some detail pictures:
Hem
Left front
I also spent some time on Ballerina. I recommend that if you make this jacket, you keep some notes or something. My two sides are not what I would call perfectly symmetrical. It’s not something you can see really, but I did need to fudge to get the numbers to work out, and I have no idea why. The stitch count is the same, so either Hanne designed it with the sides a bit off, or I am a bit off. Don’t answer that!
I am still toiling on my scarf and the wedding ring purses will be done this evening — pictures of them tomorrow…
June 17, 2006
From Susan — A Multi-Tasking Update
As Sally was quick to point out, I had a birthday.  I left work early and spent my afternoon lurking in yarn stores.  I stopped by Borealis – in St. Paul – and asked them if I could hang around and knit.  They were very pleasant about it. There is a scarf in the shop that I have loved since I first saw it.  It is a simple feather and fan pattern made with Cherry Tree Hill sock-weight merino in the color African Gray.  It has every color in the rainbow, predominantly purple and orange (!).  What on earth will THAT go with? I bought the $22 skein, which actually makes TWO scarves (one for me, and yarn for Sally) and threw it in with my Sunrise Circle Jacket – it is perfect with it!  I think it will actually go with a lot of stuff because it has so many colors in it. Here is the start of the scarf:
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I also did finish the Sunrise Jacket. I think it turned out. I will need to get the buttons (there’s no rush, so I’m going to be picky), but I think it fits and looks good. I am going to block it one more time for good luck.
Laura wants me to line her felted purse and include a zippered pocket. Here is the lining she chose:
For my birthday, my two girls got me some very nice gifts. The toiletries came in the cutest knitting bag! I was more excited about the bag than the lovely lotions etc. It is absolutely perfect for small projects and right now I have 3 going; beaded purse, wedding ring bag, and scarf. All three will travel in the new bag for
varietal knitting!
June 14, 2006
From Susan — Ballerina
Last evening I taught a knitting class at Amazing Threads in Maple Grove — beginning lace. It was fun. It was the first of my classes to “go” since January (other than the all-day Yarnover event in April). I’ve heard that from other shops and teachers — that classes are not filling like they used to. Any thoughts out there as to why?? I know there are knitters out there — where are they?
I stayed at Amazing Threads for a little while to finish knitting the right sleeve of Ballerina. When I got home I did a 3-needle bind off to join the sleeve seam. I tried it on and the sleeves are about 5 inches too short, and I already lengthened them 2″. You’re supposed to pick up along the bottom edge of the sleeve and knit a garter stitch band, which is meant to add a couple of inches, but mine is going to have to be a lot wider than the design shows. After putzing with Ballerina, it was too late to bind off the mega sts on Sunrise — I hope to get to that tonight.
June 11, 2006
From Susan — WWKIP Update (and Sunrise Update)
Yesterday was World Wide Knit in Public Day, as I mentioned a couple of days ago. I did make it to Barnes & Noble in Blaine to meet up with Mary and her knitting pals, Tessa, Becky, and Emily — very nice young women. A few of MY knitting pals also showed up: Marilyn, her daughter, Nicole, Julie, and Emily. My oldest daughter, Laura, came with me with her current knitting project. It was a lot of fun. Mary et al are just starting out on their knitting journey.  Some of the rest of us have “been on the road” awhile! It was fun to share our love of knitting and help out some of the newbies as they interpreted the sometimes confusing world of knitting patterns. I’ll be there next year, Mary!
I bought this magazine at B&N because of the pattern for the sheep puppets — I do not spin and do not plan on ever learning. I only have time for knitting.
Are these the cutest things you’ve ever seen? I think you could substitute fair isle weight shetland.
Sunrise is setting: I am finishing Sunrise. What intrigued me about this pattern was the possibility that the entire outer perimeter could be handled as one big circle, instead of working it in pieces — neck, lower back edge, front half circles. So, I decided to do an I-cord bind off around the entire perimeter (instead of a purl turning row as shown) and then I will pick up the facing and knit it in one piece in the round. To do this, I’ll either need several sets of circular needles, which I own but probably can’t find, or buy one really long needle. I had been thinking that the bottom back hem did not need a facing, but I think I’ll go ahead and do it to prevent curling. The sleeves will not get a facing.Â
This in-progess view shows the right front I-cord bind off completed. The bottom back edge is also finished. There is a way to do an i-cord bind off and keep live sts so you can keep knitting. It was not worth the trouble here and does not turn out as well anyway. As you can see, this is a fairly slow process, so I doubt I’ll get it done today. Button shopping is next 🙁
June 7, 2006
From Susan — A Blast from the Past
I decided to pull this project out of mothballs because it is very portable and mindless. I have made several of these purses (this is my design), but have given them all away. This one is for me. The beads are much prettier in person. They have a copper sheen and touches of aqua that can’t be seen here. I hope to get a better picture at some point, but the design can be seen in Susan’s Gallery (see ‘black beaded purse’). The embellishments will be a bit different but the style is the same. I am using sz 000 needles (24″ circular Addis) and size 11 seed beads — approximately 8,000. It goes faster than you would expect if you just keep plugging away. When you are done with the knitting, you sew the bag onto the purse frame.
I am also still working on Sunrise and Ballerina: Sunrise is blocking and drying at this moment, and I will work on Ballerina in between. I hope to finish Sunrise this weekend — woo hoo.Â
June 5, 2006
From Susan — 80 Down, 20 to Go
Quick update: I finished the knitting of the Sunrise Circle Jacket tonight, though I did not block it — too late. I’ll do it when I get home tomorrow. It should dry overnight. I’ll drag out Ballerina to haul around for a while. I have to have something with me to knit!! Not real portable, but mindless.
June 4, 2006
From Susan — Sunrise Serenade
I SO thought I would finish the right front of Sunrise this weekend, but my kids had other plans. Both of them did nothing but work on school projects all weekend and of course that meant I had to help. The last of day of school is next Friday, so we can all take a breather!
I am on row 75 of 103. The end is in sight. It really did help to place the markers ahead before knitting the row. Count once and forget it.Â
I’ll share my finishing plans later — I have some ideas about the front facings etc. I am in the knitting groove and should finish Sunrise within a week or so. Some people think that when all the main pieces are done, the project is over — but many projects fit the “80-20” rule: 80% knitting and 20% finishing. Finishing takes a lot of time: blocking, sewing, and knitting the edges/collars/facings/making buttonholes, etc. etc. Finishing is one of my favorite things to do, and I don’t like to rush it. It can make the difference between homemade and custom made.
I almost forgot: one of the reasons I didn’t get further with the Sunrise Jacket is because I was working on the little wedding bag. Here it is before grafting the bottom:
As you can see, I did not work it in the round.  I just could not make myself do it! I made a strip of five repeats instead of ten and then picked up 38 sts (72/2 + 2 for the seam). I also spaced the beads closer together.
Here it is finished:
It was a lot of work and I don’t even know if I like it. The bride wanted two bags, so I thought I would copy Wendy’s very cute design for the second so they will be different — they need to be able to tell them apart.Â
