theraineysisters knitting and so much more

I am a bit frantic today.  My family Christmas is going to be at my house — tomorrow!!  Yes, E.A.R.L.Y.  That means I have been running around like a Christmas clucker with my head cut off.  I am really looking forward to it because I decided to invite the girl friends and boy friends, and my extended family…but, my house is rarely “guest ready” and with Christmas, there is also decorating, gift shopping/wrapping, and all sorts of added stuff to do.

I have finished MOST of my holiday knitting, but not all.  I’m not sure I’ll be able to get it done…I may have under estimated the time required and over estimated my knitting speed! 

I made the little Cardinal and had planned to give him to my great niece.  I am so bad.  I can’t part with him!  So, I made her a baby chick:

Well, actually TWO baby chicks — my youngest daughter insisted that Erika would prefer pink, so I made a “sister” for the yellow peep-ette.  But, I also wondered how (when in “egg” mode) you would be able to tell them apart — here is my solution:

The dyed pink chick would be in an Easter egg, right?  I know it’s nowhere near Easter time, but I could not resist.

The Saga of Surly
Sally wanted to post today as well, but fate intervened.  As many of you know, the East coast has been hit with record-breaking snow. 

Sally’s daughter and boyfriend are home for Christmas and decided to go out and enjoy some family fun in the snow.  Off they went with brother Sterling and Thor the wonder dog to go sledding.  On the first run, Sterling broke his leg very badly.  He suffered a spiral fracture of both the tibia and fibula of his right shin.  He was of course at the bottom of the hill, far from the road, and had to be dragged up the hill to where the ambulance could pick him up — thank goodness an EMT was also there sledding and helped them.  The road had not been plowed, so the emergency vehicle could barely get to him.  Sally has been walking to and from the hospital because it is easier than trying to drive.  Sterling will have surgery today to place a rod from his knee to his ankle and will need weeks of rehab to be able to walk normally again.

Here are some of Sally’s snow pictures:

My heart goes out to Surly and Sterling.  Good luck, Stir-Stir!!

This is a tale from my long and sordid past.  When I was a mere twenty-something, I fancied myself to be quite the crafter.  I dabbled in everything: tatting, embroidery, crewel, knitting, and it was the hey day of my sewing years.

The other day I was reading Yarn Harlot and had a total flash back — the post was about loom weaving.  OMG!  I remembered that I own a loom!!  I have owned a loom for decades, but have never even taken the bloomin’ thing out of the box:

You can see that the box has suffered many moves over the years and yet the loom itself is brand new…untouched as it were.

Why has it not been removed from the box, you might ask?  This:

“Owners of Natural Erica Looms should apply a finish before assembly.”  Okay, then, buh bye!!  I shut that box so fast it would make your head spin and I have not opened it since!!  The thought of sanding and varnishing and whatever else just turned me completely off from weaving.  They are out of production but available here and there —  someone else bought “my” loom at a garage sale for $5!!! 

My fantasy about weaving was that I would knit a sweater and then weave fabric to make a matching skirt ala Harris Tweed.  Oh, well.  Maybe I’ll get it out someday and actually put it together, but for now, back in the box, Erica (“No, no, not the box!!”).

Last evening I had so much fun!  My knitting group started an annual holiday tradition several years ago.  Mary — knitting peep and wonderful hostess! — has our Thursdays at Four group to her home and does all of the cooking.  This year, yummy spaghetti with all of the trimmings!  We then sit, chat, laugh, and have a gift exchange.  It is really one of the highlights of my holiday season. 

Mary presented me with an additional surprise:

It is a book with a ton of hilarious pictures of sock monkeys in different garb and circumstances.  I laughed  until I cried  ! 

Thanks to all of you for a wonderful evening!!

Last Monday I met up with some fun knitting peeps at a LYS near my work.  Beth mentioned the new knitting store in Mahtomedi called Lila and Claudine’s and, hey, I’m in!!  We all decided to head to Mahtomedi on Friday to check it out.  It was well worth the trip. 

When you enter the building, you need to go downstairs to the huge shop (because of the stairs, it is not “accessible”):

The elaborate decorating on the stairs gives you an inkling of things to come!  Here are some pictures that give you an idea of this fun and whimsical shop…

Wow, right?  It is a kaleidoscope of color and fun.  It took me at least 20 minutes to notice the yarn — and they do have a very impressive inventory.  Truth be told, it is a gift shop as much as a knitting store, but there is plenty for all.  Sisters Polly and Kirsten own the store, which is named for their grandmothers.  They are both warm, welcoming and VERY helpful.  They encourage knitters to stop and knit a while!

I did buy a little bit of yarn because they had some things I had not seen elsewhere.  I’ll show it as I knit it up — it is mostly for some more small Christmas projects.   We ate down the street at a little Italian deli called Roma’s that boasts a fine menu and a woodfire pizza oven.  Mahtomedi is northeast of St. Paul, but it only took about 30-40 minutes for me to get there.

To wrap it up, here is a picture of either Lila or Claudine!

My, I ate a lot yesterday!  Oh, well. It is the tradition we have grown to love.  My beloved FIL did all of the cooking (with daughter Mary’s help) but said he just couldn’t do it any more.  It really is hard to see him get older and unable to do what he enjoys. 

Today I did something I NEVER do: I woke up at 4:30 am and ran out to Target to buy a $3 toaster (page 21)!  My husband thought I was crazy…hey, crazy smart!  I did indeed snag me a $3 toaster that I plan on taking to work.  I did not want to spend a lot (check) because I knew it was not an appropriate charge for reimbursement (check).  So, I marched into Target with hundreds of other idiots bargain hunters who were there for much more interesting items.

On the gift-knitting front — I have opted for much smaller scale projects than Surly.  Here you see the latest of my recent FOs, knit for my niece (sister to the Marsan Watchcap recipient):

The pattern is Baby Fan Mitts by Morgan Wolf (free Ravelry download).  I loved the feather and fan lace and the fact that the right and left glovelets are identical.  I also liked what Morgan said about the sizing:

“The gloves measure 6.5 inches (16 cm) around and 6.5 inches (16 cm) from cuff to top. Thanks to the stretchiness of the lace, they are comfortable for hands up to 8 inches so they fit women’s size medium to large. Adjustments to size can be made by adjusting yarn and needle size.”

Not being sure of Tara’s size, I like the idea that they stretch to fit just about anyone.  They do fit me very well and would certainly fit someone with smaller hands.  I do not think mine would stretch to 8″ though because my bind off is too tight.  If Tara’s hands ARE larger than mine, I will need to redo the bind off.

The only change I made was to the decreases — Morgan has all of the decreases worked as “k2tog.”  I changed the two at the end of the pattern repeat to SSK for symmetry. 

Project Summary

Grade: A

Pattern: Baby Fan Mitts by Morgan Wolf

Yarn: Misti Alpaca Suri Alpaca and Silk (80% Suri Alpaca, 20% Silk; 109 yards per 50 grams, 2 skeins)

Color: Deep Velvet #2015

Needles: US Size 3 dpns

We are so happy this year to be spending the day with our families — unfortunately not everyone together in the same place, but all of us with someone!  Susan’s husband works crazy shifts and this is the first holiday in a very long time that he will be able to spend the day with his father and siblings, of course with Susan and daughters in tow.  Our dad is visiting Sally (if she can get him out of the Air and Space Museum 😉 ), and Nora is home from school for the Thanksgiving holiday.  Sally has another special visitor and may share a photo!  Brother Barry is with his kids and his wife’s side of the family.   So together but separate are we.

Hope all of you are sharing this holiday with someone you love.

ETA from Sally: Yep — my Little Assistant is visiting for the holiday. It’s really good to see him.

It’s not even Thanksgiving yet and it’s been “all Santas, all the time” chez moi!  Last week we had a comment on our blog from my cousin, Bonnie.  Her mom, my Aunt Ceil, was the person who knitted their family Christmas stockings.  Unfortunately for many reasons, Aunt Ceil died before Bonnie’s son was born.  He is now 3 and no family stocking.  The stockings carry a lot of emotional weight in our family: you aren’t really a part of the family until you have ‘the’ stocking with your name on it.  Bonnie wrote asking for the pattern.  It is now available as a free Ravelry pdf download, so I sent her the pattern and told her that many shops have knitters who will knit on commission and that because she has the original pattern and a sample stocking, they would have no problem reproducing the stocking.

I clicked “send” on the email last Thursday morning, and then off I drove to work.  Well before I got there, I realized what a king-sized %^^&&^% I was by not offering to make the stocking myself!  Because, I realized, the most inportant ingredient in the stocking is the love that is knit into every stitch by someone who cares about the new arrival.  So, I quickly emailed her and offered to make the stocking.  All I asked for was reimbursement for the materials. 

So, last Thursday, I collected the materials for the stocking and got it mailed on Saturday. 

I used Cascade 220, real angora and US 7 needles.  I usually use Size 6 needles, but I wanted Nathaniel’s stocking to more closely match the gauge of his family’s stockings.  The stockings have to be absolutely identical, so I cannot do any pattern adapting!  Do you know what that means to me?  It was strangely calming to know I did not have to think about anything…just do what it says, Susan!!

Here are my family’s stockings:

And hanging by the Santa mantel:

Bonnie received her stocking and loved it.  I loved making it.  And now I don’t feel like such a a king-sized %^^&&^% !! 😉

PS to June:
June said, “I noticed in your group pic that one stocking is smaller than the others – is it for the family dog? (I saw the bone…?) Does the dog feel short-shrifted on Christmas morning? LOL.” 

It’s true!  That short stocking is for our dog Molly.  Santa replaces the felt bone with a chew bone every Christmas.  I don’t think she feels short changed because she is too busy with her new bonie!!

Oh my, but I do get obsessed!  I just could not settle down until I made my lil Beanbag Santa from Susan B. Anderson’s Itty-Bitty Toys.  Here is the picture from the book (note that it is spiral bound which makes it very easy to keep open):

And here is my lil Santa:

I love him!  He was very putsy to make — lots of little pieces, stuffing with poly beads, adding features to the face and thumbs to the mittens…but I think he’s pretty darn cute!

I did make a few design changes.  I had angora on hand and used Misti Alpaca Worsted for the red and black (I had them in my stash) on Size 2 dpns.  The belt buckle is gold silk — also from stash.  To achieve the rosy cheeks, I dipped a Q-Tip in red food coloring.  He is truly a beanbag and sits quite well.  I used the Poly Beads described in the book.  But Santa still needs his toy bag!! Maybe that’s next.

I was raving on and on to my husband about all the cute toys in the book and he said, “You’re not going to fill up the whole house with these things, are you?” 

You got a problem with that??!!??

I’ve fallen and I can’t giddyup!

Wow!  I just got back from Shepherd’s Choice in Anoka, Minnesota where I had the privilege of meeting Susan B. Anderson and seeing all of the darling toys in her new book Itty-Bitty Toys.  Things were really hoppin’ at SC.  I ran into several people I know — it felt like an “EVENT.”

Here are a couple of the cute toys — and this really does not do the book justice!

There were so many things that I absolutely LOVED: The Princess and the Pea, Beanbag Santa, Sock Monkey (not a sock monkey, but a monkey made from sock yarn!).

Honestly, I fell in love!  There are so many things I want to make from this book — where to start?  I decided to start with the Santa Beanbag so I can put it on my mantel and there may be more in my future 😉 !  Five of the patterns flip inside out to reveal another doll.  Very, very cute.

Here I am with the lovely (much prettier in person) Susan B. Anderson.  She is holding my Elefantes because she is the creator of that well-loved design. 

Susan Squared

Now, I must knit!