theraineysisters knitting and so much more

A few of you were asking about the machine made buttonholes on the sweater my mom made.  My first buttonholes were done in the same way: like mother, like daughter, or some such thing.  It made sense to me and actually they turned out okay.  I’m not sure what purists think of this approach!

I made this sweater at least 25-30 years ago.  A co-worker of mine was knitting this Penny Straker design — which is still available – and I couldn’t believe I had found another knitter.  I made the identical sweater because I am so darned imaginative.  To be honest, in those days we didn’t have knitting magazines with fabulous designs arriving at our doorstep.  You had to go to a knitting shop and search through patterns.  It made it much easier to just knit the same thing she was making.  One thing I do remember is that she did not make buttonholes at all.  Her front band was knitted so loosely that she just shoved the buttons through any-old-where.  I think that is one reason I used this BH method — to make sure I HAD buttonholes. 

Here is a close up of the buttonholes:

And the inside showing the grosgrain ribbon:

I still use grosgrain ocassionally on the button side of the front bands for support.  Now I tend to use the one-row bound buttonhole or the very simple k2tog, YO buttonhole, but I do think the sewn method has its place.

The main problem with this sweater was that the sleeves were INCHES too long.  I did not know how to calculate the sleeve length for a raglan sleeve — and my sweater had very deep armholes, which of course added length.  The sweater is way too small for me now anyway! 🙁

 

Am I the only one who feels like summer is so fast paced it is hard to catch your breath?  I am on a whirlwind, let me tell ya!  And knitting is not even a part of it!

Hubby has been working a lot of OT, which puts me into “single parent” territory (a sympathetic shout out to all of you who handle this full time — I will try not to whine ;)).  Knitting takes a back seat when you are driving!

So, I am going to pull out past projects at the suggestion of Marina.  I have nothing new to share, but can’t let the weight of the B::L::O::G fall solely on Surly’s delicate but capable shoulders.

Here is the first sweater I ever made.  I took this walk down memory lane way back in the early days of our blog, but most of you probably missed our early posts.  Please don’t hate me for serving up re-heated blog.

There are so many things wrong with this sweater that’s it’s hard to list them all.  Let’s just say that “buy enough yarn in the same dye lot to complete your project” was advice that fell on deaf and inexperienced ears.  Who knew 100% acrylic was so “dye-lot sensitive?”

I wore this sweater constantly in college:

I was such a little seamstress back then that I used a sewing machine to whip this puppy together (no, I’m not kidding!).   This was my first cable experience and at the end of it I was convinced that I knew everything there was to know about knitting.  Period.  I was a total expert — oh, brother!  “Do not wash wool in the washing machine as felting will occur” was additional advice that seemed to go right over my head!

My mom made this sweater for me in 6th grade.  I absolutely love it:

I like to try and figure out stitch patterns when I encounter something unusual, but I have not been able to decipher this one. 

And just look at the buttonholes — hey, maybe this is why I thought you could use a sewing machine to put knitted garments together!

So Sally and I were exposed to very lovely knitting at an early age.  It seemed like a very normal past-time.  We both started out by knitting sweaters — no scarves, hats or mittens — though of course we branched out along the way.  To this day, I prefer sweaters to all other knitting, and I think that is true of Sally as well (though she did go through that lengthy “shawl phase”).

I hope to get back on the knitting horse again soon — I need my fix! 😉

 

Thanks to everyone for the heartfelt words.  I really appreciate the outpouring of kindness for our community.  I do not plan on dwelling on this incident, but thought I would share a few pictures before moving on.

A view from the dam:

The road leading into the lock:

The other side of the river:

Now we will move to the healing phase.

I know all of you have heard about the horrific incident yesterday in Minneapolis.  The bridge in question is familiar to everyone in the city and is very familiar to my husband.  When it collapsed, it collapsed right at his place of work.  You may remember when I spoke of the Karabella Kruise that my DH works on a lock and dam.  It is the dam that is shown in all of the news reports.  The security video that is being shown was taken at the dam.  He was not at work when the incident occurred, but did go in to see if he could help and does work tonight.  The bridge landed on the road into the lock site and debris is blocking the lock chamber — blocking the entire river actually.  It is a terrible scene and is still actively playing out. 

This event will be remembered for years to come — where were you when … ?  We are asking ourselves: What would I have done?  How would I have fared?  Everyone is thinking, “It could have been me.” 

All of my family members are fine, but many people still await news of their loved ones.  Emergency crews have seen people in the cars that are trapped underwater and cannot recover them due to debris and the river current.  It is extremely dangerous to do any underwater work near the dams under the best of conditions. 

We are shocked, we are saddened, and we are appreciative of the outpouring of sympathy that has been sent our way.  Thank you for your kind thoughts.

 

Heidi left a question a couple of days ago about the sweater that is often seen on Lettie as a backdrop (I hate to have Lettie naked, just hangin’ out for the world to see).  I emailed her, but thought I would also share the information here. 

This is the sweater in question:

It is a very nice, very wearable sweater.  It is an Adrienne Vittadini design from the following source:

This is from their Fall 2002 book.  The picture on the left is on the cover and is very recognizable.  Carmela is cashmere and held double for this sweater — Sally made it in this very yarn and it is gorgeous.  I could not get enough money for my kids, so I opted instead for Debbie Bliss Alpaca and Silk in Color 10, which is a salmony orange. 

Front neck details:

The back is plain — I added the same wishbone shaping without yarnovers because I wanted to dress it up.  I substituted lifted increases for the yarnovers:

I hope this information was helpful, Heidi, and I hope you can find the pattern.  There are so many on-line sources out there, it should be available somewhere.

Sally, if you have time, maybe you could share a picture of your sweater, though I know you are quite busy the next couple of days!!

I just received a very special gift from a very special blog-friend: Romi of Designs by Romi sent me this stunning copper shawl pin.  I absolutely LOVE it:

And here it is on Peacock:

Romi’s designs have been featured in various knitting magazines.  Plus, she just signed a deal with Interweave Press to write a book on knitting and crocheting jewelry with wire and beads — very impressive.  She is truly talented and obviously very generous.  Thank you from the bottom of my overwhelmed heart!!  I will wear my pin proudly and often!

 

I feel almost sorry for the rest of you and a bit hesitant to share yesterday’s knitting adventure. Be forewarned, Maties: this post will make you green with boat-knitting envy ;)!

Here are the anxious knitters, waiting impatiently for the Betsy Northrup to dock at the Lilydale Yacht Club. Usually the Betsy sets sail from Harriet Island in St. Paul on its Mississippi excursions.

Here comes Betsy!!

The Betsy is not a real paddleboat as many of the excursion boats are, but really a decked out barge. Ugh the Tug, a lil tugboat, pushes the Betsy along (they don’t “tug” they push from behind):

The weather was picture perfect: 80’s, sunny, light breeze. You could not ask for a better day. We boarded Betsy and were greeted by the friendly new owners and staff of 3 Kittens Needle Arts. Here we are perusing our gift bags and getting registered.

And a picture NOT of the back of Mary’s head!

After a rousing welcome, Cis (far left) from 3 Kittens introduced Berta Karapetyan (2nd from right below) and we had a fashion show of most of the garments from Runway Knits:

The above picture was taken after the show — I couldn’t drool and take pictures at the same time! After that, we bought books and yarn, and hung around enjoying the Kruise.

We got to go through Lock 1 of the mighty Miss. Here we are entering the Lock, which has about a 40 foot drop:

Now we’re leaving:

Looking back:

And looking forward:

This is my beautiful city! The heart of Minneapolis and St. Paul is this river. We live on the river and my husband works on the river, so we are true river rats.

Many of us enjoyed the balmy open air of the upper deck, where you could choose to be in the shade or catch a few rays:

Or you could sit in air conditioned comfort to knit and visit — or shop for jewelry or pottery from several vendors on board.

The Kruise ended at 5 pm, an hour longer than planned, but we did not complain!! Except for one person perhaps who was expecting dinner guests!! When asked if we would like this to be an annual event, there was a roar of approval. Sign me up now!!

It was a perfect day. 100% fun was had by all!!

Thank you for the nice comments about the Diamond Fantasy Shawl.  I am really enjoying it and it is not too much “laceness” to take along. 

One of my best friends is having a birthday tomorrow — here is the card I am giving her:

Inside: …but we’re still pretty hot!!

I about choked when I saw this in the store — can you guess which one I am??  2funny4words!

Sally and I were just conversing about stashes and how yarn can morph into something less than desireable over time (“What was I thinking?”).  There are classics that we could never part with and others that do not improve with time.  Stash clean up, Aisle 10! 😉