theraineysisters knitting and so much more

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! 

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.

I am not Swedish, nor of Swedish heritage in any way, but when the Knitters Guild announced that a knitting designer and author was coming to town, I had to get involved.  Inger Fredholm wrote the following book and taught classes here this week.  I took her lace class and even though I did not learn any new techniques, I enjoyed every minute.  She was delightful to listen to and a very generous soul.  We got to see her exhibit and hear about the behind-the-scenes aspects of her lengthy knitting career. 

Her designs include fair isle/Norwegian [Scandinavian] influences and simple lace.  Her philosophy about lace knitting is that the pattern should be so simple that you can memorize it easily and always be able to find your place.  She was wearing a hand-knitted skirt made out of medium gray, heavy-weight, cotton yarn in a feather and fan lace stitch.  It was really quite lovely and something I would consider making.  It is in the book. 

Another thing I promised my knitting group I would share is my recipe for Potato Cream Cheese Soup.  As you may have caught on, our knitting group meets weekly at Panera Bread.  Every Thursday they served this fantastic and very rich Potato Cream Cheese Soup.  It was my stand-by every week — I rarely branched out.  Well, first they switched days of the week and it was no longer available on Thursdays.  I would wander around other Paneras hoping to stumble onto the day my favorite soup was served.  THEN they stopped serving it completely :(.  A couple of weeks ago I experimented with a recipe and came up with a close (not exact, mind you) substitute.  It takes under 45 minutes to make and is great served with buttermilk biscuits.

M-m-m-m-m-m-m-m.  I’m going to go have some right now — it’s even better the next day.