theraineysisters knitting and so much more

January 12, 2011

From Sally — Sleeping Baby’s Castle Blanket Pattern Now Available!

Filed under: Sleeping Baby's Castle Blanket,Updates — surly @ 1:05 pm

Last summer, I designed a baby blanket for Fibre Space in Alexandria.  When I showed the finished design here, many of you liked the pattern and wanted to knit it.  I am happy to announce that it is now available for purchase.

Close up of the central castle panel:

Shown in cream:

Susan’s version:

The green blanket was knit out of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted; the cream blanket was made with Cascade’s 220 Superwash.   Susan’s was knit out of Plymouth’s Worsted Merino Superwash.

Quick facts about the pattern:

Size: Approximately 32 by 40 inches after blocking.

Gauge: 18 stitches and 28 rows over four inches.

Yarn Requirements: You will need approximately 1100 yards of worsted weight yarn. (Each of my blankets used slightly less than that, but I prefer to give a quantity that allows for gauge differences as well as swatching.)

Instructions: Provided in both chart and row-by-row format.  Two versions of the pattern are included; the bonus version omits the central castle panel.

Cost: $5.00

How to Purchase:

Sleeping Baby’s Castle is available through Ravelry .  Whether or not you are a Ravelry member, you can purchase the pattern by clicking the link below.  You will be taken directly to a purchase page; after purchase, you will receive a link to download the PDF of the pattern.

Edited to add: A couple of readers have asked about the difficulty level of this pattern.  That’s hard for me to answer because perceived difficulty is so variable.  On Ravelry, there are about 9 or 10 Castle Blankets that weren’t knitted by me or by Susan.  (The design was initially available as a kit at a local yarn store, Fibre Space, and those projects were knit from the kits sold there.)

I can’t  know what the level of expertise of each of those knitters was, but the average difficulty rating given by them was between easy and medium.  I don’t know if that helps.  The pattern has a lot of repetition, and is very pictorial, so my sense is that it looks more complicated than it is.  But each knitter is different.

January 10, 2011

From Susan — Happy Birthday!

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 8:44 am

Yesterday we celebrated a milestone birthday for my oldest daughter: 21!!  This pic isn’t the best (she is even more gorgeous in person!), but I don’t have any from yesterday to share yet.   It was a wonderful day and we are so terribly proud of her and the wonderful woman she has become.  Happy Birthday to my dear, sweet, lovely Laura!

Here she is as a baby with my hubby in his “Tom Selleck” phase!

January 3, 2011

From Susan — Happy New Year a Little Late!

Filed under: Updates — surly @ 10:05 pm

That is the story of my life: always running late!

I think I am suffering from the winter blues. Nothing I did today worked. I even got a boo-boo grabbing a bottle of milk out of the case at the store! I started a knitting project that just screams, “WTF were you thinking?” but started it anyway. Time will tell, but all signs are pointing to…blah.

I hope this is not a predictor for the year. 🙁


Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Edited to add: I must have been in quite a funk last night when I wrote this!   My perspective is a bit sunnier this morning.  I’m sure the questionable project will end well: whether it gets finished or not 😉 and the light is at the end of the tunnel for Eala Bhan.  I could finish it in a few days if I would just concentrate on it.

Happy New Year, all!!

December 26, 2010

From Susan — The Long and the Short of It

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 11:22 am

I am very excited because I am writing this post on my NEW LAPTOP!!  Santa was berry, berry good to me!  I got a Toshiba Satellite L655 and LOVE it.  It’s a little cheapie, but has a lot of great features.  Yesterday, Surly and I were knitting together via Skype!  Woo Hoo!

Just a little FO to share: the long and short of it.  I made a shorter version of the Easy Missoni Mobebius Cowl for me — longer version described here.   For the long one, I cast on 120 sts, and for the shorter version, I cast on 100.  I made the shorter one a bit wider, so ultimately they took the same amount of yarn:

I love this pattern.  It is quite easy and the welts form in a very cool way with the moebius construction.  On Ravelry, there are a number of projects, and they look good in both smooth and nubby or fuzzy yarns.  Great project for that single skein of luxury yarn that you don’t know what to do with.

December 24, 2010

From Susan — Merry Christmas!

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 12:11 pm

My side of the family celebrated Christmas last night at our house.  It was a lot of fun, a lot of food, and a lot of laughter! 


No fire last night — this is an old photo!


In preparation

We are getting even more snow!  It will make it harder to make my appointed rounds.  I missed my Friday morning knitting group and still have last minute stocking stuffers to buy!

Hoping all of you have a wonderful holiday with those who are special to you.

December 9, 2010

From Susan — PS

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 8:43 am

“Grandma” loved the knitted gifts for baby!  Tears welled up and she said she couldn’t wait to show them to her mom and to her daughter.  Quote, “These are the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen!”

Translation = KNITWORTHY!!

December 6, 2010

From Susan — Knitting for a Wee One

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 3:40 pm

One of my friends’ daughter just had their first grandchild.  Certainly a notable reason to knit some baby items.  Grandma is heading to the daughter’s home this week in the United Arab Emirates — packing must be light!

I first chose a small carseat blanket — about one quarter the size of a regular baby blanket (18×19 inches).  The pattern is called the  Shipley Baby Carriage Blanket.   It is knit out of -er- how do I say it? — Pound of Love.  Yep, crappy practical acrylic.  What can I say — it’s for a baby.  The size is tiny but I think it’s kind of practical — it can be used as a carseat blanket, changing pad, and when the daughter gets older, a blanket for her dolls.

I attempted to kill the acrylic as described here and hope it worked!

That didn’t seem like enough of a gift and my friend LOVED my Saartje’s Seamless Booties (pattern link here), so I made a pair in Tilli Thomas Pure and Simple 100% silk, color “Hope” and a simple hat:

I used the same buttons for these booties as my first pair!  Anyway, I think it is kind of a cute little gift.  The “grandma” is so supportive of my knitting that I am sure she will appreciate it.

November 26, 2010

From Susan — “Christmas Knitting” by Franklin Habit

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 5:19 pm

This is really cute and very timely!  It made me laugh!

Christmas Knitting by Franklin Habit

I do not know how to insert a YouTube video directly into a post — technically challenged!

November 25, 2010

From the Two of Us — Happy Thanksgiving!

Filed under: Updates — Both Sisters @ 10:03 am

We are both spending the day with family, across the many miles.  And, no, the turkey pictured did not fall out of Susan’s tree onto the dinner table!

Enjoy some quiet knitting time this weekend!

November 21, 2010

From Susan — Turkey Day

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 12:56 pm

I hate to “step on” my own post, but I have to share these pics!  Do any of you need a turkey for Thanksgiving?  Come on over!

I woke up today to a city of ice — it drizzled all night in below freezing temps.  While on the phone to Surly (of course! 😉 ), I noticed a whirl in my peripheral vision — the turkeys had descended!   We have been overrun with turkeys in our community, and in our neighborhood specifically.  We have a huge crabapple tree that holds its fruit throughout the winter, and the turkeys have found it.

They look like vultures and are WAY too big for the tree!!  Yikes!

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