theraineysisters knitting and so much more

I love yarn. I really really do. I therefore buy a lot of it. Sometimes, I keep buying yarn over and over again for the same project because nothing I buy seems quite right. Often, I will buy yarn just because I like it with absolutely no idea what I’ll use it for. Lately, I’ve been trying to knit more items from my ever burgeoning stash because I generally still love most of the yarn that overflows the bins in my yarn room. Even so, I am still tempted into buying new yarn. I just engaged in some minor stash enhancement — right before I learned that I am not supposed to knit for a few weeks. That is very frustrating, let me tell you.

First, I’d like to thank everyone for their kind comments on my latest finished project and for their sympathy over my wrist woes. It was encouraging to hear that others have struggled through this and been able to return to knitting. I’m optimistic about my prognosis because although de Quervain’s can occur as the result of over use, mine was triggered by hauling heavy luggage up some broken escalators in New York. I just got my custom splints yesterday and I think they’re helping. They’re quite sculptural looking actually:

In the meantime, I have so many projects I want to work on: my Damask Kauni, my Pearl Buck Swing Jacket, Cross Lanes, a few shawls, and, of course, the projects involving my new yarn.

The first yarn I bought was some Nature’s Palette Fingering Weight for the Koigu Keepsake Shawl. I had seen that shawl knit up in just one color instead of the ten or twelve they recommend, and I much preferred how that looked. (Shhhh — don’t tell my sister about this purchase. She doesn’t know.) It’s in the colorway Spruce.

I love how this yarn shades from green to blue and back again.

I must be in a blue frame of mind because when I bought this lovely blue yarn in New York. It’s Koigu’s Kersti Merino Crepe, which is a really wonderful yarn to knit with. I’m thinking about doing a Mitered Cardigan like Susan’s out of it.

Sadly, thinking about it is all I’ll be able to do in the near term. On Thursday, however, I have something to look forward to: a trip to Minneapolis. Yes, the Rainey Sisters are about to be together again — so watch out!!

P.S. Susan and I love sharing how we fix mistakes (because we certainly make our share of them). Romi, one of our favorite readers (and owner of the Rosemary Go Round blog) has a fabulous tutorial on how to fix a big lace mistake in her April 7th blog. It includes wonderfully helpful photos. You can be duly impressed by clicking here and scrolling until your jaw drops.

I’ll admit it: I love to knit by movie light.  There are the usual suspects, of course, such as ::swoon:: Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice, etc., but my real faves are not quite as conventional.  I love horror and sci-fi.  Horror sci-fi a la the Alien Quadrilogy) really does it for me.  I have been known to watch all four of the Alien movies in a row — and have done it more than once! 

In that vein, I want to honor the career of a man who is both famous (for a filmography of biblical proportions) and infamous (for his vocal opposition to gun control): Charlton Heston.  I know Chuck is most famous for his epic roles in the biblical genre — Ben Hur and The Ten Commandments. 

As Moses

But I prefer the Charlton Heston who had to resort to B-Movie rubbish as his film career faded. 

In Soylent Green

Some of my favorite knit-time movies are Soylent Green and The Omega Man.  (I love but do not own the first Planet of the Apes.)  I could watch these classics for hours and have! Soylent Green is a cautionary tale that unfortunately seems more true-to-life with each passing day — environmental catastrophe, lack of food and resources, mercy killing because of unavailable health care. 

The Omega Man has seen new life with the third remake of the short story classic, I Am Legend by Richard Matheson.  Yes, Will Smith is the third to play the role of Robert Neville.  Vincent Price was the first, in The Last Man on Earth, then big Chuck in The Omega Man.  I have to cast my vote with Vincent’s incarnation of the role: by far the best of the three, but I am incredibly partial to Vincent!  I own this trilogy too of course!

My other trifecta favorites: The Wax Museum/House of Wax trio (1933 with Faye Wray, 1953 with Vinnie Price, and even the Paris Hilton version), the Terminator series (luv Ahnold), the Jurassic Park trilogy, and last, but not least, King Kong x 3. 

So now you know I have a male gene in there somewhere.  Not a chick flick in sight!  Except, of course, ::swoon:: Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice (one more plug for Colin ;)). 

I want to thank all of the above for countless hours of knitting companionship with questionable entertainment value.  Keep that drivel coming, folks!

Finally, a humorous and slightly irreverent tribute to Chuck (please note that this clip contains one expletive):

Now I think I better go watch Soylent Green one more time!

From Sally: I don’t really share Susan’s love of horror and sci fi, although I can take it in small doses. (My exception is Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, featuring the classic line “But ya are, Blanche.”) I do have a particular fondness for Charlton Heston for some reason, though. Back in the early sixties, he was a champion of civil rights and marched with Martin Luther King. He even supported gun control early on. My favorite movies of his (besides Ben Hur) are the two Musketeer movies, in which he played Cardinal Richelieu. He was wonderful. I also met him briefly back in the early eighties when I worked for The American Film Institute. He had a commanding presence off-screen as well as on.

PS from Susan: DH warned that this post may drive off our loyal readers!

PS2 to Marina: I have watched Bridget Jones’s Diary so many times I know the entire thing by heart (and fans of BJD have probably recognized misused quotes in my posts over the years ;)).  I’m a fan because Mr. Darcy is played by THE Mr. Darcy, and the whole thing is a huge trubute to — you guessed it — ::swoon:: Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice.

She looks a little tense, doesn’t she??

These needles were made for M-U-R-D-E-R!   

I think this could be another reason to give up straight knitting needles ;)!

Stitch, Bitch n’ Die
The newest member of the knitting group has been brutally stabbed with a pair of knitting needles!
Who is innocent? Who is guilty?
Who will finish their scarf first?

AN ALL NEW MURDER MYSTERY COMEDY!
Written by Joseph Scrimshaw
Directed by Craig Johnson

Featuring an all star comedy cast of knitters:
Kevin McLaughlin, Valerie Rigsbee, Laura Salveson, Jen Scott and Joseph Scrimshaw in a double role as both the victim and the inspector!

THIS SHOW IS B.Y.O.K.
You are invited to Bring Your Own Knitting and craft away during the show!

Coming soon to Minneapolis at the Bryant-Lake Bowl (yes, you can knit bowl!!), during April.  What a hoot!

PS — if you have not seen Sally’s latest FO, scroll down a bit.  It is well worth it!

April Fool’s Day Eve in Minnesota:

And there’s more on the way

PS — So I looked outside this morning and there’s even MORE snow, so I said to DH, “Gee, you can’t even tell we shovelled last night!”  His reply, “WE didn’t!”  Busted 🙂 !

…not you!  Unless you received a congratulatory email ;)!

The winners of the yarn are:

Cindy M. won the Nature’s Palette Fingering Weight yarn in Dark Teal,

Nancy H. won the Nature’s Palette Fingering Weight yarn in Clover,

and Delores S. won two skeins of Fortissima Cotton Colori sock yarn.

 

Michelle M. is the lucky winner of our signature mug.  Now who would mind waking up to these young, pretty knitters??!!

But even Michelle is envious of Esther S., grand prize winner of The Rainey Sisters high-quality canvas tote.

Congratulations to all the winners.  We really appreciated all of your entries — we laughed , we cried, and we shrieked in horror.  We also noted several themes. Many of you chose an Elizabeth Zimmerman book as a favorite that you couldn’t do without on a desert island. Many of you wanted a good, basic wool (despite being trapped in the tropics). And many of you had tales of woe based upon troubles with gauge. However, the following story of a knitting disaster certainly struck a chord — especially since we had both mentioned Henry VIII as one of our favorite projects. 

From Jewel’s Purls

*What was your biggest knitting disaster?  
(Submitted from her blog post, dated August 20, 2006 –Jewel’s Purls):

“I’ve debated all weekend how I was going to write this or even if I should.   As you recall, my last post showed I was starting the sleeves on Hank.   I checked my gauge when I started Hank about a year ago, however, for some unknown reason I didn’t pay close attention to my gauge when I picked him up again.  I have no clue where my common sense was let alone my brain.  I was so captured by paying close attention to the charts and watching the design magically appear before me.   The size of Hank probably would have fit Henry VIII himself.  It was large.  Humongous Hank.

Really upset with myself I put him aside (in a clear plastic box with a tight-fitting lid) and decided to think about what I should do.  I had already cut the steeks and was picking up the sleeve stitches.  I consulted my fellow knit buddies and decided I was going to frog Hank.  After all, it’s about the process and the end result, right?  There was no way I could ever look at Hank again knowing he wasn’t done correctly.   I spent a lot of $ on the yarn and it was going to be done right!

The following day after work I decided my decision was the right one but I wasn’t in the mood for frogging.  I took Hank’s charts and was going to put it in with the yarn and unfinished sweater.  I should have immediately suspected something was wrong when I noticed the lid wasn’t on.  When I picked up the box it didn’t take long for me to realize that Poppy, our male cat, had decided that the half-off lid was an invitation for him to use the box as a litter box.   Hank was the recipient of Poppy’s business and did it smell!   Cat pee is one of the things that immediately makes me want to lose my lunch.  I put Hank outside and sat in my chair and cried.  And cried.   And cried.

Again, my knit buddies were a source of support.   This weekend I tried several techniques and products to try to get the smell out.  It may be somewhat better, but it has felted in some places.   I may continue to felt Hank all the way and use him for something – what, I don’t know – or I may just throw him out.  It’s difficut to spend so much time and money on something and then have it end like this.  I learned several things:  check your gauge again and again and even if you think you’re right-on-the-money – check your gauge again!   Also, I learned that the projects I knit not only have a lot of money invested, but emotion as well.  I am surprised how the demise of Hank affected me.”

Postscript:   I did manage to get the smell out of Henry VIII and over time I meticulously frogged what parts hadn’t felted.  I managed to find several hanks of the discontinued autumn and marjoram and now have a full kit to start it again if I feel inclined to do so.

We were shocked to hear about the tortures perpetrated upon poor Henry and hope for his/its recovery!!  This story was so makes-you-want-to-gasp awful that we decided to compound her misery reward her with one of our signature mugs.

Finally, Sally’s daughter and her little assistant (who helped with the random drawing), really wanted us to reward the very first person who entered the contest for her enthusiasm. To keep the results from being tampered with or chewed up, we agreed. Therefore, a mug will also be going to Valerie B.

Congratulations to all of the winners and thank you again to everyone who entered!

My little assistant is back. He and my daughter will be helping to draw the lucky winners later today.

If my arms were a wee bigger, I could get me one of these tatts:

Unravelled, Inc.

This is a bloggiversary card I we got today from a knitting peep!  OMG…I laughed until I cried.   Check out the innovative storage method for knitting needles … eye sockets.

Anyway, thanks to all for the anniversary wishes and for your fabulous contest entries — they ran the gamut from informative to endearing, and even heartbreaking.  We loved reading them all and will share some of your stories in the upcoming weeks.  Also, we’ll sort through the entries and announce the winners within the next few days.  You’re the best!!

Woo Hoo!  We have made it to our second year!  We have really enjoyed sharing our knitting exploits with all of you and hearing from you about your own tales of wonder and woe through your contest entries.  Don’t forget you still have until midnight to enter our contest and win FABULOUS prizes! 

Here are the contest details one last time:

Send an email to theraineysisters@msn.com and put “Contest” in the subject line. Choose one of the following questions to answer.

1. Of everything you’ve ever knit, what is your favorite? Why?

2. What was your biggest knitting disaster?

3. If you were stranded on a desert island, what one knitting related book would you want to have with you? What yarn? Needles and other knitting necessities would be hanging from the palms! That’s all there is to it! Five lucky winnners will be selected at random. The Rainey Sisters reserve the right to quote portions of winning (and non-winning) entries in a future blog. Deadline is midnight tonight.

We thought it might be fun to answer the three questions ourselves to celebrate.