theraineysisters knitting and so much more

Augusta made the mistake – er – showed her curiosity about our banner photo: where was it taken?  We discussed this years ago in this post, which I have chosen to re-post because I don’t have a new post! 🙂

From Both of a Us — A Postcard from Italy
January, 2012

We have received many comments over the years about our banner photo, such as: Where was it taken? Or, who are those gorgeous babes — they couldn’t possibly be you. Or, when on earth was that taken??!! You’re so old. We are always touched by your interest!

But never so moved as when we received this lovely photo from Helen, taken with beautiful daughter Susanne at her side:

Channeling The Rainey Sisters

Helen found herself at the very spot of our banner photo (on the walk to Piazzale Michelangelo), and tried to explain to husband Steve and Susanne why she wanted this particular photo — because of The Rainey Sister’s blog! Steve accommodated and the rest is history. What a wonderful way to revisit this magical place in Florence, Italy. Thank you, Helen and family!!

PS from Susan to Anne, who asked why we were in Italy at such a tender age: Sally was studying in France. Our grandmother wanted me to be able to see Europe as well, so she funded my trip. All she asked in return was that we go to Venice and take some pictures for her, which of course we did. We travelled through France and Italy — on a complete shoestring. I have never gotten back to Italy, though Sally has. I cherish those memories and that is why I was so struck by the kindness of Helen sharing her picture with us!

I recently did a test knit for Hudson + West Co in their yarn Forge.  The hat pattern, Asthore, is part of their STUNNING fall launch.  I’ve never seen so many gorgeous cabled sweaters!

I decided to use my famous tubular twisted rib cast on (how can it be famous if no one knows about it!?!).  Someone suggested I write it up for a magazine article, so I will let you know!

Anyway. I proceeded to the main chart. The chart key was on a different page. I glanced at it, but did not read it carefully. So, I didn’t realize that the gray squares were purl sts, I thought they were “no stitch” place holders!! After several unsuccessful attempts, I read the key! Novel idea. Things went swimmingly until I got to the end of the row. I had cast on 4 extra sts! Argh!!  KNITTERS CANNOT COUNT!!  I “creatively” decreased them away, while retaining the flow of twisted rib into the pattern. 8-(

My other issue was needle size. I am a tight knitter, so I did my usual and automatically went up a needle size, esp given the robust nature of the yarn. Mistake. Huge. As is my hat: HUGE. I did a very light felt when blocking, but it is a really big hat.

I knit the second hat with different yarn (Cascade 220 Superwash, color Parsnip) and the correct needles. It’s much smaller as you can see!

The pattern is easy to remember after a few repeats, esp if you have the right stitch count!

Health update on The Rainey Sisters: I finished my radiation treatments last week and Surly started hers yesterday (she has to do 5, I did 20).  We are doing great.  That can’t be said about our 89-1/2 year old dad!

Last Wednesday at about midnight, he fell and broke his hip.  He laid there for 7 hours until it was light enough for him to see his phone!!  He called a neighbor who swooped in like a hero and called 911 and helped him.  He had surgery on Thursday afternoon and they sent him HOME on Saturday!  My brother (Barry) and I had quickly driven down there (to Omaha) Friday, but had no expectation that he would go directly home that soon.  Typically, people go to a rehab unit for a week or two.  Needless to say, we were in a scramble to get him in-home care!!  We had driven my husband’s van so Saint Barry couldn’t just stay down there.  There are medicare staff coming in once a week and we arranged round-the-clock caregivers until Barry gets back.  So many people have to deal with elderly parents and I guess it’s our turn.  Dad is super independent and wants to stay in his home (his log castle).  He is in really good shape for his age, which has amazed all of his nurses.

That’s the latest!!  One crisis after another! 😉

Surly is enjoying a nice little road trip with family, so I thought I would launch into the story of the Tapestry Wrap.

The Tapestry Wrap is a Marie Wallin design.  It is part of her fair isle club collection, so its official name is Fair Isle Club Six (or #6).  This was our first foray into the “club scene.”  We saw the design and were intrigued, but thought it might be a bit “out there!”  Plus, the colors seemed kind of bright and a bit “out there!”  (The colors are far more muted IRL.)  We decided to go for it.  So on the allotted day at 10am, we logged in and bought our kits.  All 500 kits were sold within 2 hours!!  Uh, we were shocked and very glad we got there first!!  The kits were expensive, but to me well worth the price.

The kit included Marie’s British Breeds yarn (all 20 colors!), a high-quality hard copy of your chosen pattern size, a cute fabric project bag, and a sterling silver shawl pin.  The yarn is gorgeous.  She uses a unique mix of wools that give it a luster and almost alpaca quality.  It is softer than Shetland wool, and maybe a little thicker?  You also received a pdf of ALL sizes, and video support/zoom meetings with Marie.

I knew right away that I would need to lengthen mine.  The unusual construction gave me a pause, but I figured out what to do and forged ahead.  We started our sweaters in mid-December.  Many days I knit on this for 8-10 hours!!  Sally and I were on a roll, and I had a lot more knitting to do than she did!

This video shows the day I finally cut the steeks:

The visual interest to this sweater is in the back.

This shows what the back looked like after cutting:

The big “U” in the picture above is the back after cutting.  There were full steeks on either side and a partial steek in the center.  You needed to pick up and knit the center back panel and side panels, using flat fair isle, and then graft those sts to the other side.

Bad photo before grafting:

After grafting:

The sleeves each had a flat panel and the sides were knit flat (and had short rows).

What I am trying to say is, the construction truly was unusual and kind of pieced together!!  The sleeves run a little short and I have super long arms, so I added 40 (gulp!) rows to the sleeves.  I used a number of splicing and weaving techniques to avoid ends and had very few considering that Marie changes both colors quite often!!  I love the sleeves because they almost look like they belong to a different sweater!

The good news is that once you join the club, you can buy any previous kit, which Sally actually did.  Fair Isle Club 7 is called the Kilim Jacket and will launch December 1.  To sign up for emails about the club, register here.  I will not be doing the next one — it is kind of similar to the Tapestry Wrap.  One was enough for me!!  A true labor of love!

PS — I just got a $10 check from the state fair for my sweepstakes!!  They didn’t give out prize money with ribbons this year because last year was such a loss.  This was so unexpected!! 🙂

PS to Chloe: Shawl Pins

Corn Dog!!  With mustard!!  I prefer the corn-bready goodness of the Corn Dog!! 🙂

So, two posts in as many days!  I’m sure you are simply reeling with excitement!  Actually, this is an update that I promised a couple of days ago on my River Wrap/Cowl/Whatchamacallit.

Done.  Blocked.  Dry.  Worn!!  I love it.  Simple to knit.  Easy and versatile to wear.  The Susurro softened beautifully and has a lovely glow about it.  It only took a skein and a half for the largest size!  This might even be something to knit for someone for gift giving.

The only thing I did differently was to do a pick up/bind off along the short edges of the split “hem.”  I don’t know if that was even necessary, but I thought it would add some stability.  The yarn called for, DanDoh Yarn Silk +, is lighter weight and marled.  Beautiful!  Anything kind of lightweight, lineny/raw silky, would work well.  Shibui Twig comes to mind.

PS to Augusta: I did not block the long strip before I picked up the top part.

I’m a bit late for my annual state fair wrap up!  Maybe a year late??  I went yesterday with my husband, brother, and SIL.  Friend Kim opted out due to COVID concerns.  I can’t blame her and maybe should have followed her cue!

My Crew: SIL in front, brother to left, hubby in the middle, and me

We got there about 9am.  John dropped Barb and me off at the front gate (yay!), then parked 3 minutes from the gate!  Yay!  We were there right after the doors opened to the Creative Activities Building.

We entered and saw a few of my things with 2nd-3rd-4th place ribbons.  Not thinking it’s a great year!  I looked around for my most ambitious entry and couldn’t find it.  It was not in the sweater cases…but then I spotted my Tapestry Wrap, tucked away in the quilt case:

I was keeping this project under wraps with the fair in mind.  It was the Fair Isle Club 6 design by Marie Wallin.  Sally and I both bought kits and knit them this past winter.  Will post much more about this project later!

I was thrilled that this sweater was recognized in this way.  It was so much work — but I loved every minute of it!!  I noodled around and found my other entries.  This little hat got 2nd place:

It is called Beanstalk — knit in my favorite Fresco yarn, with a pink beaded tassel.  Lavender Fizz got a blue and was displayed so poorly I could not get a good picture!!

I was thrilled that Stars and Stripes also got a blue ribbon!  It is such a lovely Carol Sunday creation!

I entered Pagan Sky in the seniors category:

Because I had knit so many Baby Ganseys, I entered two of them in different categories.  One got a blue and one got a 4th!  Go figure!

Sandness, Mulled Cider, and Katie’s Kep got 2nd place ribbons, other entries got either no ribbon or lower.  Then it was off to the Horticulture Building to track down my Queen Bee-nie!!  It looked so cute in the case!  I was pleased with 2nd place, that’s for sure!

Friend Kathy entered her gnome Gnectar in Honey Bee (not same category as me) and snagged a 3rd!

The fair itself was great: cool weather, small crowds, NO lines at the food booths!  I ate all my faves: Corn Dog, cheese curds, and Big Fat Bacon!!  Oh, how I love me some Big Fat Bacon!

I always thought I was a Corn Dog fan — not a Pronto Pup girl.  But John got a Pronto Pup and it was BETTER!!  What??!!??  I was shocked!  The quality of the dog itself was superb.  I think I’m going to have to rethink my Corn Dog vote!  We go again next week with the girls so I will have a chance to really study this! 😉

We left at about noon and missed a HUGE thunder/lightening storm!  The weather has been super rainy, which is great for our drought conditions, but not so great for the fair.  We will see what happens next week!

PS to Sue: I’m no Pronto Pup/Corn Dog expert, but my understanding is that it’s all in the batter: a cornbread-type batter vs a pancake-type batter.  Corn dogs have a cornbread coating that’s a bit sweeter.

PS to Marla: we love the apple cider freezies, too.  They’re $2 now instead of a buck, but still worth it on a hot day!!

PS to Twinset Ellen:  I’m not sure if your link worked for others, so adding it here: Pronto Pup/Corn Dog Challenge.  It sounds like you had a bad testing day!  Neither even seemed edible!!  I will be testing again tomorrow (Monday, August 30, 2021). 🙂

I am knitting on something small, simple, fun, and mindless!  And loving it!  The pattern is a wrap called [DanDoh] River.  I am using Susurro (color, Sunset) that I had in stash.

Here’s what it looks like:

Surly picked up the “real” yarn today, so we’ll both be knitting these about the same time and can compare.  Surly’s cor is a black/white marl, which gives it an interesting charcoal effect.

And from both of us, thank you for your warm and wonderful comments — we really appreciate your support!!

It’s been a tough couple of months for The Rainey Sisters.  In June, Susan found out that she has breast cancer (on her birthday no less!).  Sally immediately went in for the mammogram that she had postponed during Covid.  As usual, she was following in her sister’s footsteps.  Susan had two surgeries in July and Sally had surgery this week.  The good news is we are both very early stage and very treatable.  No chemo for either of us.  Just radiation therapy.  We can still knit, though any plans for a nude photo shoot have been completely ruled out (for Susan anyway!).

We wanted to share this with our loyal readers and urge you all to get your mammogram, get vaccinated, get a colonoscopy, and take care of yourselves!!

Surly visiting after Susan’s First Surgery

PS: Our sisterly sweaters are both Woodfords!  Surly just finished hers.

Hello, everyone!  I know it’s been a while!

Many readers will know that I like to enter knitting into the Minnesota State Fair.  It makes attending the fair much more fun!  This year, someone mentioned that the Horticulture exhibits have a honey bee section where they accept entries on all things “bee” including something wearable.  My brain immediately went to some bee mitts that I had seen on Ravelry called Hey Bee-Otch.  Once I started looking at the pattern, I decided I didn’t want to knit mittens.  Decided on my own hat design after all.  I call my hat Queen Bee-nie.

The hat is a hodge podge of techniques: beads, intarsia, stranding, duplicate stitch, embroidery, twisted cord, and a pom for good measure!!  I colored the wings with food coloring.

You can see the hive overflowing with honey, bees buzzing around, and the queen’s crown on the right.  The other side of the hat is the same design.  The whole time I was knitting, I thought whatta mistake!  But the lil sucker is growing on me!

I am still working on my Pink Fizz, and might even get it done some day!

PS to Millie regarding Pink Fizz: I didn’t split the bottom ribbing because I converted it into a cardigan.   The split ribbed hem works better for a pullover.  That’s my logic anyway!!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had trouble finding anything to go with my new Pagan Sky Cardigan.  I thought, NO PROBLEMO!  I figured I would simply go to my LYS and pick up a tonal gold yarn.  Nope.  I did end up ordering yarn from Simply Socks: Life in the Long Grass Silk Merino Sock, color Gorse.  Three skeins was enough to knit up a revised Tegna that I call Tegna Dreams.  As I have often done in the past, I used the lace border of BooKnits Sweet Dreams to create the picot points that to me resembled the colorwork of Pagan Sky:

The color isn’t a perfect match, but kind of blends in a non-matchy-matchy kind of way.

Added picots to the neck and sleeve bands:

The original Tegna starts at the hem and works bottom up.  I did a provisional cast on, worked down to the hem, activated the sts and then worked up.  Overall, pretty pleased!!

PS to Stashdragon — the butterflies are on the tablecloth.  I bought it from Amazon.