As I said, I finished the lace mitts for my daughter. She is a person of VERY few words, so she “thanked me” by putting them on immediately while she did homework on the computer. I guess she likes them!Â
November 13, 2006
November 12, 2006
From Susan — True Confessions
Well, I did not think anyone would be interested but, here is the skinny on the el cheapo yarn in my scarf: No Bo (No Boundaries) yarn, 59% Nylon, 41% Acrylic, $2 per skein (not $1.99, but $2 — it may have been on clearance), 50 gm, 95 meters. The color shown is #353. Not a natural fibre within 10 miles!!!
I also finished my daughter’s fingerless gloves with the mini-fingers. Thank goodness! I was about ready to cut off one or two of her digits just to get the thing done. Some projects lose their appeal real fast and this was one of them.Â
Next I hope to finish up Anya. I have been plugging away on it and will post a picture soon showing what I went through to get a nice looking SSK on the raglan. Then I’m stopping at my OCD meeting ;).Â
November 10, 2006
From Susan– What pattern???
Sheila asked about the pattern for the little lace mitts. Sally and I both made our glovelets from the same pattern: Wine and Roses Mitts from the new Winter 2007 Interweave Knits.Â
The pattern calls for Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere 2-ply (100% cashmere; 400 yd [366 m]/55 g): #039 slate, 1 skein. This yarn is VERY THIN!!!!! Much thinner looking than it appears in the photo. I added fingers only because my daughter insisted. I much prefer them without — but she will be the wearer and so I deferred to her taste.Â
November 8, 2006
From Susan and Sally — More Lace Glovelets
We both love this little project from Interweave so Susan is making them for oldest daughter and Sally is making a pair for herself.Â
Susan’s first glovelet:
Laura wanted fingers. What a pain! Anyway, the yarn is a combination of Misti Alpaca Laceweight and Kidsilk Haze, knit on Size 1 needles, gauge 9 sts/inch. They are very small glovelets and would not fit Susan.Â
Sally:
Still despondent over the loss of the red cashmere glovelets, while nevertheless fervently believing in the knitworthiness of their recipient, Sally embarked on a new glovelet project. She used pale green Kidsilk Haze held together with a handpainted yarn from Schaefer. It’s called Andrea, and it is 100% silk.
And here is the first glovelet. It’s not been blocked, which is why the bottom of the cuff isn’t “flat.” That and the fact that Sally was apparently too lazy to smoothe it out before taking the photograph. You can’t get good help these days.
November 3, 2006
From Sally — Rosarie and More Glovelets
Yes, I still do knit occasionally — it just doesn’t feel like it.
I did finish my red cashmere glovelets the other day and finally found a camera to take a picture. Here they are in all their glory:
Now that I’ve taken a photograph, I have no excuse for not mailing them to the friend I knit them for. (Yes, I ended that sentence with a preposition. What of it?) I thought this yarn was soft while I was knitting with it, but it softened and bloomed considerably when I wet blocked the gloves. I cannot describe how good this yarn feels. (In case you don’t remember, it’s Jade Sapphire’s 4-ply cashmere.) I have another full skein of this yarn and I will have to knit some small luxury item for myself out of it.
I’ve also made a little bit of progress on my Rosarie vest. I wish I had more time to knit these days; I have so many projects I want to work on, and some of those aren’t even on the needles yet. Here’s a new picture of Rosarie:
I so love knitting. I wish I were faster.
From Susan — I used my own blog as a resource!
A few months back Sally posted a link to the Emily Ocker Cast On — it’s used for starting projects knit as a circle starting at the center. I was swatching tonight and needed to use it — who would have guessed that I would use my own blog as a reference — woo hoo. Way to go, Surly.
Tonight was Thursday knit night and it was great. There was a total party-like atmosphere at Panera’s tonight for some reason.Â
We got to meet Barabra Copeland — she was the recipient of the Thursdays at Four Panera Gift card for winning the sweepstakes this year at the fair. She brought all of the items she entered in the fair. She is an exceptional knitter. It was great to meet her and see this in person:
It was even more beautiful in person. We were shocked to learn that she had to re-knit the border on this shawl — hundreds of stitches involved (~1500+)!!!! The pattern (Mediterranean Shawl from A Gathering of Lace, Edited by Meg Swanson) says to go down in needle size to do the border, but Barb said the edging was way too small even after blocking. It was placed in a bag for a couple of years before she could face ripping it out and redoing the entire border. It was well worth it, but we could feel her pain!
She was wearing the entrelac vest she had entered (very attractive) and brought a Jade Starmore creation that won a ribbon as well. She is very talented.Â
Fun night tonight. My peeps keep me sane :).
October 30, 2006
From Susan — A Little Lace
The top is done. I do need to seek out some better ribbon, but I am not going to travel the globe to find it. I’ll just search as I go along.
Michelle asked for a picture to see if/how it fits:
It fits great. And a picture of the top:
Chalk up another project!! I enjoyed making this. It was probably more for me than for her, but then she gets to wear it. 😉
October 29, 2006
From Susan — I can’t knit ALL the time!
Today I had to clean and do laundry :(. Here are my definitions of cleaning:
Cleaning the house: you are able to open your door proudly to family, friends, and neighbors
Straightening up: you are not absolutely mortified if someone happens into a room
Natural state: one step ahead of the Board of Health
Today I straightened up — somewhat. I also finished knitting the Vogue Lace Top and figured out the embellishment for it.  I found some old lace and also bought a beautiful ruffle, but let’s face it: it is for my 11 year old to wear to school, not to a Victorian-era debutante ball. So, I cheated a little and sewed it on by machine (please don’t turn me in!).
I’ll try harder on the front to get it perfect but I think it looks okay. The finishing won’t take too long, but the front and sleeves need to dry.
I also started the raglan shaping on Anya. I am loving the yarn so-o-o-o much. It is soft and nubby and a gorgeous color. Can’t wait to get it done.Â
PS — Laura made the soup, too: “Wanted to let you know some one else made the potato cream cheese soup — it’s awesome! I made a double batch, so the freezer is full of emergency comfort soup.”
October 28, 2006
From Susan and Sally — re: Comments
Michelle asked what her pattern meant when it said to hold the yarn double throughout (thanks for the question, Michelle). Sally replied that as Michelle had suspected, it means that you hold two strands together as if they were one strand throughout the knitting of the garment. It creates a yarn with a bigger gauge or, if two different yarns are used, creates a hybrid yarn with combined characteristics.
Here is the scarf my daughter is currently making. She calls it Tennis Ball Green, which I think is quite descriptive (this scanned picture is very accurate):
When you hold 2 or more strands, occasionally you drop one strand accidently or only knit through one strand when making a stitch, so you have to pay a little bit more attention. If you look at the three yarns Laura is using, the skinny yarn is the culprit and frequently gets left behind. I’m not sure why so many newbies like knitting with these yarns, except that you get beautiful results with less effort (DUH, I guess that’s a pretty good reason!!). They are harder to work with.
AND, an unsolicited comment from Patti:
“I just wanted to say that I made your potato cheese soup, and my family thought it was wonderful. Such a delicious soup and it is made in under an hour. Thanks for the recipe.”
I am delighted that the recipe worked for someone else. I’ve had it happen that another cook tries a recipe and gets a total flop (it’s happened to me many times!). Thank you for the great feedback.
October 27, 2006
From Susan — redanya
I have been working on my two latest projects: Anya and the Vogue Lace Top. Lace Top front is done, back is done, sleeve #1 is started. It would be great if I could get it completely finished this weekend so I can move on to other things. Yes, I constantly think about the next one in queue, or the next step (how will I finish the top edge?) as I am knitting. I think I kind of drive myself crazy.
Anyway, here is a picture of my mindless, on-the-go knitting:
I absolutely love the yarn and know I will love the sweater. I am fashioning it after a sweater that I wear all the time due to its loose fit and comfort. I always feel good wearing the thing. But I can’t wear it EVERY day, so I’m making its fraternal twin in this gorgeous, soft, beautiful, deep red yarn. Sally and I are both in love with red at the moment.
The only change I will make is to convert it into a raglan — I really like raglans!  Raglans are very nice to knit and sew up because a mattress seam is virtually invisible. I’m just about to the point of the raglan shaping on the back. I sure hope I get some knittin’ time this weekend. THAT is the definition of a good weekend!
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