theraineysisters knitting and so much more

Summer is definitely over!  We are finally getting some much-needed rain, and the temperature is dropping.  Oh well.  It is what it is!

I did get a sweater finished in the nick of time for the last blush of summer.  It is Sabine by Julie Weisenberger.  I was lucky to use stash yarn – not from MY stash, but from sister Surly’s!  That is even better because it means the yarn cost me nada.  It is GGH Soft Kid (151 yards/25 grams; 70% Mohair, 25% Nylon (Polyamide), 5% Wool).

The picture does not do it justice, but I am experiencing a super bad hair day and have no desire to be pho-togged.  It is soft as a bunny’s belly and has a sheer quality to it.  I wear it with dresses and knit tops alike.  Very wearable!

I did do some modifications:  I original tried the front decreases that give the sweater a “point” in the front (shown in picture below):

I did not quite like the look.  Ripping back meant I had to re-knit half the length from armpit to hemline (!).  I just continued the front increases as many others had done.

I also didn’t care for the flaring sleeves, so I just did them like a normal sleeve, stopping at 3/4 length.  Because of the re-knitting, this took me much longer than it should have, but I am very pleased with the final results so it was worth it.

Yes!  A new blog post and a new finished object.  I bet some of you were wondering about us.

A few weeks ago, I was in Ogunquit, Maine and caught a summer stock production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which I’d never seen. The production was wonderful, as was the cast. I still have some of the songs running through my head (which is a bit annoying at times, actually).

I just finished my own “stole of many colors.” It is a pattern called, simply, Stole by Theresa Gaffey. It’s knit out of 9 different colors of Isager Strik Alpaca 2, an almost lace weight blend of Alpaca and Merino. (They call it fingering but it seems lighter to me.)

I bought the yarn and pattern as a kit at Yarnover (from The Yarnery in St. Paul) because I fell in love with the knitted samples and the colors. I started it in late April and worked on it here and there. It was perfect mindless knitting — long, long rows of simple ribbing.

I changed the order of colors because I liked the green and blue together.

I added a few more stitches for length and knit fewer rows of each color stripe. The knitting looked pretty crappy as often happens with alpaca, but it blocked out perfectly. The finished fabric is light, airy, and drapes beautifully. I love it!

Good morning!  Just sharing a virtual cup of coffee with a very nice friend.   Great seeing you Tuesday night at the knitters’ guild meeting — and great seeing many other friends!!

Patsy mentioned that she checks our blog every morning, and she is probably disappointed most days!  We post irregularly to say the least.  So, hello, and please keep checking back!!

I hope I am not badgering our loyal readers, but this post will be about Wrapped in Care…again!  I finally put my knitting where my mouth is and completed two shawls for the Wrapped in Care Program.  I gave them to Dee Moore last week and quickly received this lovely note:

She said that the shawls are the most wonderful thing she is able to provide for the moms when they go through this ordeal.

The shawls I made are both free patterns on Ravelry, knit in Caron Simply Soft.

Shawl One: Tethys knit in Caron Simply Soft, Country Blue

Shawl Two: The Lonely Tree Shawl in Caron Simply Soft, Pagoda

I attempted the steaming method for blocking acrylic, but did not test it.  Hope it works!  Both shawls were pretty easy to make.  My Lonely Tree is T-I-N-Y but Dee thought it looked big enough.  People have different tastes.

Anyway, if you feel like you have the time to knit a shawl, there is no deadline.  Dee actually prefers that they trickle in.  And thank you so much for helping!!!

Remember how last week I was saying that the state fair people had displayed Inggun wrong side out?  How could they??  It is so obvious!!  Well, I did the same thing in yesterday’s post re: Trillian!

Here are the two faces of Trillian side by side (the “right side” is on the left in the following picture):

It’s one of the things knitters comment on when they see Trillian — the cute edging!!  Oh well!!!

So, another shot of it set up correctly:

What is that saying about casting stones…..?

Have you ever bought yarn that you looked at later and thought, “What the %$%%^ was I thinking??”  I bought some sock yarn called Purl Diver Adorn Sock from A Good Yarn in Sarasota Florida.  Bright.  Real bright.  Too bright.  You need retina reattachment surgery after just looking at it!

Anyway, while at knitting camp this summer, I saw a pattern worked up in yarns that made Purl Diver look blah.  And the pattern worked well in these over-the-top yarns.  The pattern is a one-skein shawlette called Trillian, and it is ingenious, fun, and very easy to knit…just repeat two rows until you are almost done.   It is equally nice in lovely, tame colors!!

Trillian in Adorn Sock, color Purl Diver

It is long and skinny and you work it until you have ~10% of your yarn left and then you work some finishing rows.  This means you shouldn’t run out of yarn!

This shows the cute corner:

I think this is a great pattern for any of those skeins of sock yarn you may have floating around that seemed great in the skein and then a bit “too much” when given a second glance!!  Or that lovely sock yarn you want people to be able to SEE! 🙂

Matt Cooke is King of the Mountains!  Matt, you thrilled us with your skill and your perseverance (and those crazy legs!!)!  We are so proud of you!!

Matt and Nora Cooke – picture taken after Stage 5 of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado

Yesterday was the first day of the Minnesota State Fair.  My annual routine is to head to the Fair with knitting peep, Kim, where we await the opening of the Creative Activities Bldg doors at 9 am in anticipation, eager to see how we did with our entries.  Not this year.

A work snafu brought on by some incompetent boob (okay, it was me ) meant that I had to work.  Not only WORK, but get to work by 6 am !!  Kim decided she might as well go to work, too, so we met up at about 4:30.  Some of my other friends came along (including “The Other Susan”), so it was quite a fun afternoon-evening, although I was already crispy fried like a nice calamari.

Kim and I agreed to enter the building as “results virgins” and not look up the results on line ahead of time – we both kept our promise.  It is always a challenge to find everything and this year was no different, especially since I could not remember what I entered!  Really sad, I know.  Kim had entered four items and I entered seven.  Finally found them all.  Here is an overview:

I entered:

Moose River Cowl – 1st
Burr Cardigan – 1st
Inggun – 1st
Icicle Hat – 1st
Lyra Shawl – 2nd
Sock Monkey Project Bag – 3rd (yay – recognition for a Sock Monkey!!)
Pueblo Stole (entered as scarf) – nada

The Moose River Cowl was a last minute throw in – I expected to get nothing for it, but it won a blue!  I was shocked.  My High Country Pueblo stole was a lot of work and came up short — you really never know what will win!  Honestly, there are so many wonderful knitters in Minnesota and fabulous entries, it is truly an honor to win any ribbons.

It took me a while to realize it, but my Inggun vest was displayed wrong side out.  Kind of weird because it is highly cabled around the neck so it seemed pretty obvious which was the right side.  They did change it upon request.  I got to step into the display area to assist!   It is fixed in the picture above.

Lyra came in second to the sweepstakes grand champion: a large, traditional, Shetland-style shawl that is simple and elegant, in cobweb laceweight.  Not a surprise!  I was thrilled to get 2nd.  I was also thrilled that my Sock Monkey Project Bag received a ribbon – you rock, Lil Sock Monkey, you rock!!

Kim did EXTREMELY well!!  She received 1-2-3-3 place ribbons.  I do not have a picture of her linen-stitch scarf, but here are the rest.  Can you tell she has a new grandson to knit for?

Romper in sockweight, Monkey Hat, Bubbles Baby Blanket

Kim’s mom also entered for the first time and won several ribbons this year!  Yay!!

By the time we left the fair, I was afraid I would not be able to get my sorry [edited to maintain PG rating] off the Sky Ride, but I did and got home after a long and action-packed day.  Whew!

Matt Cooke Update: Matt is 4 for 4 as King of the Mountain.  One more mountain stage to go tomorrow — it is likely that if he simply finishes the race he will win overall King of the Mountain, in the toughest race in the US.  We could not be prouder of Matt!  You go, Cookie (aka “Hotpants” 😉 )!!  We love you!

I just returned from a few days in Ogunquit, Maine. (I’d gone up with a friend to catch Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Oguinquit Playhouse.) It’s been years since I’d had a chance to go up to the New England coast, and it was just as beautiful as I remembered, despite a bit of fog.

I brought with me my latest finished object: Havsfrun, a stole designed by Anna Dalvi. Havsfrun is based on a medieval Swedish ballad about a sea witch who loves a mortal. The shawl depicts the water of the sea witch’s realm, which part around her lands and fields.

I knit mine out of yarn that I had purchased at this spring’s Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. Nona, from Spirit Trail Fiber works, is a heavy lace weight yarn that is 50% merino, 25% cashmere, and 25% silk. Yes, it’s a darn shame to knit with. My color — Woad — was a limited edition blue with little touches of dark and light and occasional glimpses of green. Perfect for a sea witch, but hard to capture in photographs. First, I took some artsy shots in Maine.

Here are some more “traditional” shots that show the pattern a little better.

The pattern was a fun, quick, and easy knit and I love the shawl and the yarn.

So that takes care of the Oceans and Witch portion of the post. Where are the Mountains and the King? As many of you know, my son-in-law, Matthew Cooke, is a pro cyclist. He rides for the Jamis Hagens Berman team. Yesterday was the first day of the USA Pro Challenge, aka the Tour of Colorado. This is one of the premier races in North America and includes all of the top riders from the Tour de France. Matt went out on a break and swept up all of the points for the King of the Mountain jersey. We couldn’t be more proud, and we are rooting for him to keep it. (Of course, I don’t know if that’s the team’s strategy for him!) Personally, I think he looks great in polka dots.

PS from Susan — We are thrilled for Matt as he got the ‘KOM hat trick’ for his 3rd King of the Mountain ride today!!  Please help us cheer him on so he gets the overall King of the Mountain award for this thrilling race!!

I’ve been off the last few days, just relaxing — not really a vacation, but more like a taste of retirement!!  And now back to work so I can afford to retire some day…

Jeremy from StevenBe’s  hosted a luncheon last Monday with notable author and knitter, Debbie Macomber.  Yes, that Debbie Macomber!  She has written a zillion books and has had some work made into movies, and recently the Hallmark Channel series, Cedar Cove starring Andie McDowell.

Debbie is completely accessible and down-to-earth.  She seemed like anyone you would hang out with in your favorite knitting store or knitting group.  Except that she is world famous and probably could buy and sell us all!

She chatted about her early years and the role that knitting played in building her confidence and self esteem.  Her prolific writing career began after she started her family.  She now owns a knitting store in addition to her writing.  She keeps it upbeat in both her stories and her approach to life.  I have only read a couple of her books, but I really enjoyed meeting her!!