theraineysisters knitting and so much more

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!

If this:

…had a baby with this…

…I think you would end up with this:

The Sock Monkey Marsan Hat!!  I can’t take credit for this idea — it all goes to cutoutwitch on Ravelry.  I thought it was cute and I had the yarn — very old Lopi in stash; the red is Lamb’s Pride Bulky.  But, I only had one skein of the brown and could have used more.  Oh well.  I am just going to wear this for walking the dog.  I may even add a pom pon for fun!!

And this is the Boo Hat in a more serious pose.  It is another Marsan for my nephew, and I really like how it turned out.  Once blocked, it was plenty big.  Even fits my large melon.  Whew.

And one more small FO from this weekend — finished it up as I watched the Vikes beat the Packers yet again 😉

It’s a Scraper Mitt for my Viking-obsessed bro — just a small Christmas gift. 

So, I think it is becoming obvious even to me…I am suffering from a huge case of “large project avoidance.”  It’s fun for a while and you actually end up with some small FOs, but c’mon — a Vikings Scraper Mitt???  I’m not even a Vikings fan — well, maybe a little bit of a fair weather one, but that’s another story!I

I think I may be the one who is going to need a scraper soon, because in the not-too-distant future I see me scraping the bottom of the knitting barrel!  I told someone recently that I have enough projects in queue to last a year.  But at this rate, make it a decade!!  I will start something this week, I promise [Susan vows hopefully to self!].

I crack my own self up!   I just finished a Marsan Watch Cap for my nephew as part of my Christmas knitting and decided to block it.  It looked just like a lil midnight blue ghost, so I decided to add googly eyes and make it so.  Cheesy!!  I mean, really cheesy!!

The original pattern called for 80 or 88 sts.  A friend of mine made one in the yarn called for and it turned out very small…tiny, tiny, tiny.  I was using slightly smaller yarn so I added sts: 104 total.  Not enough!  I started over: 112 sts (32 more than the original pattern!!).  Still not enough, but I finished it anyway.  The yarn I used is the same as Sally is using for Nora’s Christmas sweater (remember the sexy sweater corset??).  It is Berroco Vintage Wool, in Dark Denim (50% Acrylic, 40% Wool, 10% Nylon; 100 gms, 217 yards, 1 skein). 

The colors shown on the website are not very accurate.  This blue is almost black.  It is a gorgeous deep navy.  I LOVED working with this yarn.  It is soft but has tremendous stitch definition.  I would highly recommend it in place of Cascade 220 when you are worried about how the recipient will care for the finished item as it is washable. 

Topsy Turvy
A number of you have asked (hounded us??  )  about Surly’s Topsy Turvy pattern.  We are making a promise to you, our readers: the pattern will be available as a free download by this Sunday.  It will be out in time to do a bit of gift knitting for the holidays.  It is our gift to you as loyal friends and readers, so stop back on Sunday for the pattern.

I won a prize!  A really nice prize.  🙂  And all I did was read the Twin Set blog and comment on their bloggiversary.  Job well done, I must say.  I received several lovely yarns, a pattern, and a Twin Set pin.  My favorite yarn is the skein attached to the Twin Set pin: it is called Cheeky Monkey in color Leisure Suit!  The gray alpaca is super soft and perfect for gloves.  The blue yarn (on top) is a great unknown and looks like sock yarn.  Thanks, Ellen and Jan!!

Did I mention it is the theater of the absurd??

October Morning in Minnesota

Jeesh.

More on the Yarn Harlot’s Lace Cowl

GinkgoKnits asked about the yarn I used.  I would have mentioned the details but I was too lazy to go dig it out!  It is from Just Our Yarns and is called Myne.  It is micro-thin 100% cashmere (I held it double to make the cowl).  Sally is the one who originally bought it so I was 100% sure she would like the color 🙂 .  On their site, they warn that each color is unique, so purchase all you will need because the color varies, even within the same lot.  Sally thought they said, “Buy all of it you can get your hands on.”  😉  She ended up with so much, she gave me several skeins.  Enough to make many cowls, or a shawl or…you get the idea!