theraineysisters knitting and so much more

August 4, 2007

From Sally — In the Pink

Filed under: Silver Belle — surly @ 4:36 pm

I like pink yarn and I cannot lie
You other knitters can’t deny

(Sorry. I’ve been watching too many concert videos.)

But it’s true. I love pink yarn and I buy a lot of it. I pulled together some of the pinks from my stash just to show you.

Sadly, that is not all of the pink yarn in my stash; it’s just what was most easily accessible. Although I included in that photograph my Cap Shawl and my “pink pouf,” the truth is that I tend to mostly collect pink yarn but I hardly ever knit it. For some reason I get very particular about patterns for pink yarn. I have no idea why.

Anyway, I received my 25th Anniversary Vogue in the mail the other day and found the perfect pattern to use up my 18 skeins of pale pink Cashmerino Aran. (Quick aside: my mailed copy of the magazine was defective. Halfway through, the ink started to fade away. At first I thought it was purposeful: the issue did have a silver/gray them. When the ink completely disappeared, I realized I had a problem. It’s a great issue, though, so I went out and bought a second one.)

I am knitting Silver Belle designed by Debbie Bliss, one of the “cover” sweaters whose pattern is downloadable as a PDF. Here’s what it looks like:

It’s a bit of slow go at the beginning. The size medium, which I’m knitting, starts out with over 400 stitches in the peplum. There are a few especially slow rows, where I have 40+ cables to cross. At my sister’s suggestion, I am cabling without a cable needle, which does speed things up. (For a great explanation of how to do that, including helpful photographs, visit Wendy Knits. I could explain it in my own words, but why bother when someone else has already done such a great job?)

Here’s where I am on my Silver Belle:

In one of those rare stash miracles, I even have the perfect buttons for it (there is a perfect pink color match in real life in the mother of pearl that isn’t quite captured by the camera):

July 5, 2007

From Susan — Final Fantasy

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 9:51 pm

Before I launch into my latest FO, I’d like to ask this question: “What do you all know that I don’t?”  I mean, do I have two months to live and no one bothered to tell me?  I am trying to figure out why everyone is being so darn NICE to me!!  First, Romi sends me a beautiful pin and then a lovely package arrives in the mail.  Michelle sent me this array of “knitting nirvana” to thank me for a very small favor (and I do mean miniscule!!):

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The yarn is soft and luscious just like vanilla ice cream and the other items are absolute great FUN!!  Thank you, Michelle — you are knit-tastic!  Wow 😉 😉 😉

On to the knitting portion of this blog… 

The Diamond Fantasy Shawl is a fait accomplis.  I finished it Monday, but needed to block and photograph it, which adds time to the blogging process!

Here it is in its unblocked, crinkly, ugly duckling stage:

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Being blocked:

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Don’t you just love the built-in edging?  That’s why I like this pattern.  And now she’s back on Lettie for the final viewing:

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The finished shawl ended up being 68″ by 34″ which isn’t too bad.  I started with ~450 yards of worsted weight silk of unknown origin and now have something to show for it.  I feel pretty good about that.

Front view:

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And, with the gorgeous shawl pin!

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I think it’s wonderful!  I wish the camera captured the sheen of the silk yarn.  I am really glad I read blogs because that’s how I got hooked up with this pattern.  Bloggers rock 😉 !!

PS – Cindy mentioned the lovely photograph of the fireworks — my daughter took that picture.  I thought it looked very professional!

PPS — Sally, please come back!  I need my blogging partner!  I know everyone is tired of reading a single sister — it isn’t called The Rainey Sisters for nuthin’.

 

June 28, 2007

From Susan — On Mermaid and DFS

Filed under: Sally's Mermaid,Updates — lv2knit @ 10:58 pm

I’ve been trying to get this done quickly — it’s a smaller project that I will wear often, so I’m trying to stay focused all the way to the finish line.

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I also want to weigh in on the Mermaid/soft yarn discussion.  I found that my Mermaid softened up a bit when wet blocked, but I agree with Barb Outside Boston: garments can be TOO soft.  I have used some great, soft yarns, but they don’t hold their shape and sometimes pill.  That’s what I like about real shetland wool.  It keeps its shape and wears like iron.  I always wear something underneath so what difference does it make?  I love the feel of real wool.  Now that’s not to say that I don’t like merino or Cascade 220.  They are real wool and soft, so they are great to work with and wear.  But I still love that shetland wool, my friends!!

June 25, 2007

From Susan — Sorry to Step!!

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 11:58 pm

Sorry to step on your post, Surly, but I have a new project to introduce and a great pattern. I can’t wait to see the picture of your Mermaid tomorrow!

First, though, I want to thank all of you for your wonderful comments about the Peacock Shawl. I felt very warmed by your generous and thoughtful praise.

Back to the present!! My next small project is the Diamond Fantasy Shawl/Scarf by Sivia Harding. Many of you are familiar with this pattern, but it is fairly new to me. I was looking for something for some handpainted silk that Sally generously willed to me from her stash (and I did offer it back to her when she was here — honest!!).

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The yarn is 100% handpainted silk in teal and lavendar/purple; approx. yardage is 450 yds.; worsted to heavy DK in weight. I am using a US 10 needle. The pattern calls for fingering weight yarn, but says sport will also work. Sivia thought the heavier silk would work fine — perhaps yielding a medium sized shawl. I love the yarn and the pattern. I like the fact that the edging is built in as you go. This pattern reminds me of the Hemp for Knitting Ponchette I made last year, but a little dressier.

Sivia does not follow pattern writing convention completely — i.e, her charts are kind of different, but you can certainly figure it out. She includes written and charted versions.

I was supposed to be working on Kauni, but knitting is my hobby and I do it for fun — and this seemed more fun at the moment!

June 19, 2007

From Susan — Lace Style

Filed under: Lace Style Cardigan — lv2knit @ 5:30 pm

I have been out of touch with the world the last few days!  Between soccer, work, and life in general I just have not had the time to write — or anything of interest to write about!

I have also been a bit neglectful of some of my knitting projects of late.  This was brought to my attention by Astrid who commented a couple of days ago about the Lace Style Cardigan.  She had to make a few corrections/changes to the pattern and was thoughtful enough to share them with me.  She did not want me to struggle as she had when and if I got back to this project.  Here are her comments:

A belated Happy Birthday, Susan. What a great present [Plisse]. With that and the Kauni, I don’t blame you for being distracted. When (if?) you do get back to the Lace Style cardigan, I have some comments. (Mine is currently being blocked and awaiting final assembly.) First, there is a mistake in the pattern. Also, the collar could use some revising. The mistake is on the armhole shaping for the left and right fronts. Actually, I spent some time figuring out the pattern repeats so that I could work the fronts and back as one piece up to the armholes because I hate seaming. But that is irrelevant. When you get to the armhole shaping for the fronts, after the initial bindoff, the pattern says to decrease 1 st at each end of row 3 times. It should really be decrease 1 st at armhole side 3 times, as is obvious from the resulting stitch count. I was also not pleased with the way the collar came out when I followed the directions to resume the partial feather and fan pattern, so I changed it and worked the entire 18 collar sts in garter stitch. I also thought it looked better with the 3-needle bindoff at the center back of the collar on the public side rather than on the under side of the collar.

Astrid was also kind enough to share a photograph and allow me to share it with all of you:

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What a wonderful, comfy summer cardigan!  I am re-inspired, My Peeps!  But I just started some other small things and the other big thing and the other big thing needs to be ordered…aaargggggggggghhhh!!  Too little time! 😉

June 17, 2007

From Susan — The Whirlwind!!

Filed under: Back Story,Plisse — lv2knit @ 3:04 pm

Thanks to all for your wonderful birthday wishes.  I have been let out of the salt mines long enough to post — actually Sally left this a.m., so any slave labor I endure will be strictly self inflicted!  BUT, let this be said: Sally never subjects me to any tasks that I do not agree to willingly, so I bring it all on myself ;). 

Sally and I spent the weekend visiting yarn shoppes, knitting, sewing, eating, knitting, talking, watching movies, knitting, and eating.  We are an exciting lil duo! 

For my birthday, Sally said she would order this for me. 

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Yes, another Hanne!  A new and beautiful Hanne.  I am thrilled!  I just need to decide on a color from her palette of 72 colors — ugh!  That is tough!  I am thinking of making it in the same color as the Peacock Shawl – I love the color and I really won’t be wearing the shawl that often.  Let’s face it, it’s not the most practical garment in the universe.  But Plisse certainly is!  I can see it being easily worn with jeans or skirt.

So, I am still alive and older and wiser.  By leaps and bounds I’m sure, though I am waiting for the “wiser” to present itself!  I am off to finish Peacock and cook a real dinner for my hubby in honor of his special day. 

Happy Father’s Day to our dad on this day.

PS to all of you in the Twin Cities.  This Tuesday evening (June 19, 7-9 pm) is the Minnesota Knitters’ Guild regular meeting.  Our program is a presentation by guest speaker: Amy R. Singer of knitty.com.  She will do a book signing of her book, No Sheep for You and I’m sure talk about many things knitted.  We will have copies of the book on sale for 25% off the cover price = $17 instead of $22.95.  Stop by and meet Amy.

PPS — I just crocheted off the Peacock Shawl.  It is a crumpled up mess, but it is done.  And after all the rip backs, etc., it was very nice to have my stitch count work out perfectly the first time — no problems!  The bind off is done in clusters of three sts so I was worried that I would get to the end and it would be off.  I will block this in the next day or two, but may need to buy a massive number of pins first.  Obviously, film at 8.

May 26, 2007

From Susan — Hey, Lady, Nice Scarf!!

Filed under: Lace Style Cardigan,Peacock Shawl -- Susan's — lv2knit @ 9:08 pm

I am back in knitting form.  Still sickly, but not too sick to knit, thank goodness!  And thanks for all of your well wishes.  It really was nice to get some sympathy from across the miles (I got too little at home!).

On my infrequent travels, carrying around my portable project, I keep getting asked if I’m knitting a scarf – hmmmm, what gives?  Why would they think the bottom of a felted bag was a scarf? 

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Yeah, I know.  It looks very weird and not like a felted bag at all!  It will all become clear soon, I hope (noting that crossed fingers make typing difficult).  I’m on the final stages of the knitting but there is a fair amount of finishing, not to mention the double I-cord strap.  So, this is not yet in the “Finis” category.

I also worked a little more on the Lace Style cardigan:

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I think I’m to the underarm shaping, but you realize that means a commitment to length ;).  We all know how hard it is to do that, now don’t we??  I’m pretty sure I’ve got it close.

And could I forget My Precious?  Never!  I am now at 22% and on the 5th chart.  I now agree with Surly that my calculation method is fiendish.  It is much better to con yourself into believing you have a magic skein of yarn!! 

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If you look at a picture of the shawl’s details, you can see where I am in the big scheme — I’m in the middle section of the feathers.

I just got back from Pirates of the Carribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.  There’s a lot to like and a lot to not like — it’s a LOT of movie.  But it was fun.  Now I guess I’ll have to go see the other “3’s” — Spidey and Shrek.

Have a happy and safe Memorial Weekend.  If you have someone special to remember this weekend, as Sally and I do, please share our warm thoughts for you and yours. 

 

May 19, 2007

From Susan — Soccer and Knitting: Pas de Deux

Filed under: Lace Style Cardigan,Peacock Shawl -- Susan's — lv2knit @ 10:47 pm

Youngest daughter is in a soccer tournament this weekend, which means endless hours of sitting, waiting, cheering, and Knitting!!  I always take along mindless knitting projects for these occasions — who can just sit??!!??

Anyway, Mitered Tote is the perfect soccer project, so it is going strong.  And I took along lil Lace Style Cardi today, as well:

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I am liking this very much so far.  I love the yarn and love the color.  There is a small mistake in the pattern.  It says to do a long-tail cast on and then knit 4 rows.  If you do it that way, you will have 3 garter st ridges (you get one ridge from the cast on itself).  Three ridges at this gauge is a whopping 1 inch!  Too much.  In the pictures of the finished cardigan, there are clearly only 2 ridges = 2 rows of knitting before starting the pattern rows.  I opted out of both of these options and did a cable cast on and one knit row.  I prefer the tight bead of reverse stockinette at the bottom edge.

I also went back to “My Precious” for a bit this evening and made a little progress:

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According to my “How Much Shawl Have I Knitted So Far” calculations, I am at a whopping 11%!!!!!  Not bad, and I don’t see any glaring mistakes — whew!  I was asked how often I’ll run a lifeline: I’m going to put one in at the end of every completed chart.

More knitting soccer tomorrow morning and if they win, another game in the afternoon…maybe Mitered will get felted this week!

PS to Marina: to add a lifeline, take a tapestry needle and thread it with a small, smooth yarn, thread, or cord.  I used leftover perle coton.  Thread it through all the sts on your needle, making sure not to go through the stitch markers.  For the Peacock Shawl, I am placing my lifeline through a RS pattern row, not the WS purl row.  It is easier to purl the sts with the lifeline through them than to work them as pattern sts.  I push all the sts back from the needle tips so they are on the center cord of the circular needle.  It only takes a few minutes.  See also: April 11 — Sally describes a lifeline and shows pictures :).

 

May 16, 2007

From Susan — I Couldn’t Hep Myself!!

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 10:08 pm

I’m sorry but I have failed at being faithful ;).  I have been thinking about making the cardigan on the cover of Lace Style since it came out:

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This looked like the perfect summer cardi to wear in the meat locker they call my workplace!  Do they really need to keep it at 50 degrees??

The cardi takes chunky weight yarn: 90 yds to 50 gm.  I’ve been searching and searching for yarn.  I finally found my dream yarn today: Sublime Aran in “Clipper’ which is denim blue.  It is 75% merino, 20% silk, and 5% cashmere.  Oh my! It could NOT be softer, and I thought the denim would look cute with everything. 

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I am just getting started and could not get a good picture, but you get the idea.  The fabric is not as “white” in places as it looks here, but it does get that washed denim look from light reflection.  I love it so far.  My justification is two-fold: I need a summer sweater, it is mindless knitting, and my Mitered Tote is nearing completion :).  

I came home and said to Hubby, “Hey, I bought more yarn” and he said, “Keep on buying yarn until we run out of money.”  Okay, dear, anything you say!

 

May 12, 2007

From Susan — Knitting Along

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 1:19 am

I’ve been happily mitering along.  This is the perfect take-along project.  It is semi-mindless (except where I have to do my decreases, since sometimes I motor right past them!). 

One of the big squares is done — it’s a lot of knitting, mes amies!  It’s about 20×20 inches!

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I also started the bottom sections.  I could NOT wrap my brain around how the bottom was going to work, so I had to do it to see it.  It makes total sense once you get going.  I think it would have been helpful to have a diagram with the pattern for us “visual” learners!

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It did not call for a provisional cast on, but I thought it would be nicer and I think it is.

RE: Sally’s brief visit in June.  She will be here on June 14 and we are going to Panera’s in Plymouth for my weekly Knit Night.  Come one, come all!!

I am still 10 rows away from where I was on the Peacock Shawl before I ripped, but I am enjoying it immensely. 

And, please, will someone chip in to buy poor Lucy some underwear?  It is a bit unseemly ;).  They just moved our blog into the porn listings!  And should I be concerned that my husband volunteered to shop for her knickers?

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On another note — thank goodness GA is back on track!  Last week’s show was an embarrassing disaster.  Shondra, what were you thinking?  The lame California story line was only eclipsed by the stupidity and lack of reality of its characters.  This week was pure gold.

 

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