theraineysisters knitting and so much more

Let me say first of all that I am not here to cast stones.  I know how difficult it is to design sweaters.  Not that I’m famous or anything, but I am in a couple of books.  It looks easier than it is.  So, I am bringing this potential problem to people’s attention to help them fix it, not to diss the designer.

I am trying to find buttons so I can finish my Sunrise Circle Jacket.  I tried on the jacket and (again) noticed a “hump” at the back neck — just below the back collar.  I thought I had corrected it by increasing the length of the inside facing slightly.  This did not fully take care of the hump.  I don’t think the hump is there because of a physical problem on my part.  My back neck area is one of the few parts of my body that I have never thought — gee, I wish I could fix that. 

So, I had two thoughts: one, do nothing.  Two, fix it.  Once you see a problem like this, it’s hard to just leave it there.  I wear my sweaters.  A lot.  I don’t want to sit there the whole time I’m wearing Sunrise thinking about the back of my neck!  So, I’m going to dismantle the back neck, redo the i-cord turning row and reattach the facing.  Wish me luck!

‘Cheaper than therapy’ is a not a phrase I coined and has been used often, but that does not make it any less true.  Mary, you know what I mean!  I need to go to my knitting group — especially now that my job has gotten more stressful.  It really is the highpoint of my week (“What a gripping life you must lead.”).  I’m glad Sally has gotten a group going, even if it is not a regular thing yet.

Mary just completed her Ponchette, but it was still drying from being blocked.  The unveiling is next week.  We welcomed a new member to the group: Ginny.  She is a great knitter and happens to know many of the group members already!  Her knitting journey and mine are running in tandem.  She has many of the same (identical) projects, so I must respect her FANTASTIC taste.  She was working on the most gorgeous garter stitch shawl in Kidsilk Haze (color Trance? — light teal) with a bead accent.  (Sally, you would be starting another shawl, believe me).

If you want to start a knitting group, here are some things I have learned that has made our group so successful:

• have it at the same time every week (establish a routine)
• meet at a local coffee shop or restaurant (check around — they usually welcome you with open arms) — the advantage is that no one has to host (i.e., clean!) and you can come and go as you please
• invite a lot of people — open it up to any knitter of any skill level, not just the ones you know; encourage networking, word of mouth, flyers at your LYS, etc. 
• make an effort to get there as often as you can to guarantee a core group
• share ideas, share enthusiasm, share expertise

After going to my group for five years, my husband finally says, “Oh, it’s Thursday — it must be knitting night.”  Even my work friends caught on after six months!  Oh well, at least he gets it now!

I am taking a few days off, but going nowhere (in more ways than one), so I might get to the “Next Big Thing.”  I need to be mentally prepared to embark on a project that will commit me to several months of knitting.  It is not to be undertaken lightly, but I am just about ready.

You may be wondering what happened to me — I know I haven’t blogged in *cough* a little while. Sorry about that. The problem is that I have nothing of particular interest to share in the knitting department. I’ve been a little preoccupied/busy with non-knitting issues, and the knitting that I have been doing isn’t necessarily blog-worthy.

I am motoring along nicely with the feather and fan shawl. It’s a wonderfully portable project because most of it is straight knitting. I am still using the Knit Pick interchangeable needles on it and I still like the needles. I have found that they will occasionally unscrew slightly and then the join gets a bit sticky. They easily screw back together nice and tightly. This seems to happen when the shawl is shoved into my bag and/or thrown around carelessly. When I’m not mistreating the shawl, the needles behave.

I’ve been swatching for various and sundry projects I might want to knit on, but have nothing of interest to report.

Oh! Last weekend, a group of former employees from the yarn store I used to work at got together for a few hours of knitting and conversation. (Thank you, Jennifer, for being such a lovely hostess.) It was great to catch up and see what everyone is knitting on; knitting is such a wonderful social activity. I don’t belong to a regular knitting group, unlike Susan, and I sometimes forget how nice knitting with friends can be.

I went to the Knitters Guild meeting tonight.  There was no real program, just a short meeting, a picnic and socializing with knitters.  My kind of event!  Kris, who I know from Yarnery knitting classes, was there.  She had just travelled to Ireland so I asked about her trip.  She was VERY disappointed in the lack of yarn.  Not the lack of sheep mind you — they’re everywhere.  But there is very little knitting wool.  What little she found was being hoarded by one of the few knitters of traditional Irish fisherman knit sweaters that she stumbled upon.  The woman would not sell any of it because she wants to continue using genuine Irish wool for her handknits and has great difficulty finding it.  Kris bought one of the sweaters.  She finally found a small amount of less than wonderful yarn and bought it just to have some from her trip. 

When Sally and I were in Scotland and England, we had trouble finding knitting shops.  You can buy yarn in some of the larger department stores, mostly Rowan and Jaeger yarns.  They do not have in-store knitting experts per se, but have company reps that travel to the different stockists to lend their expertise and promote their designs.  We thought we would find knitting nirvana, but really had to search for any evidence of knitting.  Jean Moss (the tour sponsor) said British designers love Americans because we do so much more knitting than the English. 

The wonderful place we did visit was the home of Wensleydale Longwool.  They have the sheep right there and sell the most beautiful colors of this unique wool in their own shop.  They do have a website, and the shop appears to still be in business (Wensleydale Longwool Sheep Shop). The yarn has a gorgeous sheen and knits up like adult alpaca — a long staple yarn that kind of fights you a little bit.  The sheep are the cutest you have ever seen:

 

Anyway, back to the Knitters Guild!  It was a great evening and wonderful catching up on the local knitting community.  I can’t get enough of all that.