theraineysisters knitting and so much more

August 11, 2006

From Sally — Designing Women

Filed under: Current Projects,Designing — Sally @ 2:58 pm

Hello everyone. I saw my surgeon again today. He proclaimed my foot “beautiful,” which is a sure sign that he must see some awfully ugly feet in his line of work. My stitches are out, though, and I am slowly on the mend.

I’ve been working on a new project, which I can’t describe in detail yet. Susan and I have been kicking around a sweater design for a few months and we decided this would be a good time to figure out whether or not it’s workable. Although not a “hard” pattern per se, it presents a few design challenges in trying to make what we envision a reality. Given that I have a lot of free time on my hands right now, I’m doing the bulk of the knitting while she works on some of the more technical design aspects and crunches the numbers. I did a lot of swatching right before my surgery, and I’ve now undertaken the test garment itself. So far, it seems to be working. Because we’re not sure what we’re going to do with this design (publish it here, submit it somewhere, or felt it into a bag if it’s a failure), we’re going to hold off on posting photos or explaining the design.

That’s why I haven’t been blogging much — I’m just not sure what to say!

I know — the progress of an invisible sweater is not very interesting. I plan to try to upload some photographs and descriptions of some of my other unfinished and in progress projects over the next few days.

August 10, 2006

From Susan — Save this Date

Filed under: Back Story — lv2knit @ 5:43 pm

OCTOBER 8 — For Knitting Twin Citians (!? is that a word), the 3rd Annual Knit Out is scheduled for Sunday, October 8 at Brookdale Mall in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.  Knit Out is a national knitting event that is held anytime between September and November.  The purpose is to showcase the different facets of knitting.   Sally has attended the Washington DC Knit Out in the past.

The Minnesota Knitters Guild organizes our local Knit Out.  We have learn-to-knit clinics, “Ask the Knitting Doctor,” charitable knitting, various booths from local yarn shops, and fashion shows of gorgeous handknits.  I am in charge of the Fastest Knitter Contest.  A picker and a thrower have won in previous years.   The event is a lot of fun and gets knitting out in the public eye.  Hope you can be there.

 PS — I am sorry to have missed my knitting group tonight.  There were too many complications with my second job as unpaid taxi driver.

August 9, 2006

From Susan — Attention Surplus Disorder (ASD)

Filed under: Uncategorized — lv2knit @ 8:57 pm

This newly diagnosed disorder runs rampant among the knitting community.  In fact, researchers now believe that ASD was first isolated in knitters and then spread to other crafters, though these secondary carriers do not tend to exhibit the same severity of symptoms.  Could you be an ASD sufferer?  Ask yourself these questions:

1) do you sit for hours on end doing the same repetitive motion over and over AND (this is key) find JOY and comfort in the activity?

2) do your non-ASD friends marvel at your ability to spend months, even years, on the same project, since when they tried knitting they just couldn’t “get into it”?

3) are you unable to leave the house without a knitting bag?

4) when unable to knit, do you become agitated, nervous, lose the ability to concentrate?  In other words, do you exhibit the symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder?

If you answered yes to any of these questions (and if you were truly being honest with yourself, you did), then you too suffer from ASD.  I’ll admit it: I’ve got it bad.

ASD sufferers often think we are superior to those with ADD — after all, we have our finished knitting projects to show for it (at least some of us do).  However, this could not be further from the truth.  We both exhibit the same aberrant social behaviors: unkempt homes, neglected children, poor performance reviews.  Substitute “I’d rather be knitting” for “I just can’t seem to stay focused” and the problem becomes clear. 

We need the support of the community, but we do not want a cure.  Accept us for who we are.  We have ASD and we are proud.

August 8, 2006

From Susan — A Tree, A Tree!!

Filed under: Oregon Cardigan — lv2knit @ 8:34 pm

I have knitted up to the tree line on Oregon — woo hoo!  I was not lying when I said this was going to be a long haul.  Part of the problem is the non-portable nature of the project.  And as yet I have not found my portable project.  I am bereft and have nothing to take to work with me, or in the car (when eldest daughter is driving).  So, I plug along when I have time at home.

But here is Oregon:

Oregon.jpg

Watching grass grow…….yawn!

August 7, 2006

From Susan — The Shirker

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 8:01 am

Lest you get the idea that I have been shirking on both my knitting and blogging duties, I will admit only to shirking my blogging.  I have gotten a small bit of knitting done in the past few days.  I have been finishing up a few loose ends in preparation for the State Fair.  Entries are due next week so the unpleasant part of completing a project has been left to the bitter end in several cases. 

I have finished my Beaded Bag:

Beadedbagfinished.jpg

This is my design in the sense that you have to basically create a shape to fit the purse frame that you buy.

I also finished up the silk American Beauty Scarf:

FinishedScarf.jpg

I had several ideas about how to finish the ends.  My first thought was some kind of beaded fringe, but it seemed like guilding the lily.  I ended up doing a double crochet scallop.  I do not crochet, so it presented a challenge.  I made my daughter a sweater last year with this crochet stitch along the hemline so I had done it before, but it is quite pathetic to watch me struggle with crocheting!  I am not a huge fan of crochet, but it certainly has its place.

I also finished knitting and felting a bag for my youngest — if I make something, she always wants one, too.  It is like the purple bag my daughter, Laura, made but of course in pink.  It is drying.  I worked on Oregon a little bit with very little progress to show and also finished up the second baby hat. 

The hats are turning out like “Goldilocks and the Three Hats” — one was cast on too tight, one was cast on too loose and the next should be JUST RIGHT. 

Oregon7-30-06002.jpg 

So now I am caught up on my blogging for a day or two.   

August 4, 2006

From Susan — Hats

Filed under: Uncategorized — lv2knit @ 2:03 pm

‘Marsha’ generously offered some of her yarn stash for Save-the-Children hats.  I appreciate the offer greatly, but I don’t think I need the yarn.  My Thursday peeps are going to knit a few hats, but want to buy the yarn themselves.  I have enough to make quite a few already.  I also have a friend who offered to subsidize the yarn purchases.  People are very thoughtful when babies are involved!  Thanks, Marsha!

I have made two hats so far and will post a picture tonight.  My other knitting is languishing.  I need to focus and get back to my needles!

Re: Thursdays at Four

Last evening was knitting night and I could not miss it again.  Very fun evening.  We did have a bit of a celebrity sighting as our group was attended by local author, Monica Ferris.  Monica has written a number of fun-to-read murder mysteries (“The Unravelled Sleeve,” “A Murderous Yarn” etc.) which are set in a knitting shop in one of our local communities.  A couple of our group members are prototypes for characters in the book, which also makes them fun.   

Susan, you’re a shameless name dropper!

August 2, 2006

From Susan — Save the Children Hat Update

Filed under: Uncategorized — lv2knit @ 2:47 pm

I bought some cheap, but very soft, yarn to make a few baby hats for Save the Children.  Check out Warm Up America Circular Hat Patterns to find the same patterns done on dpns so they are seamless.  I should get 8-9 hats from the single skein I bought for under $3.  I will post a picture of a completed hat in the next day or two.

August 1, 2006

From Sally — Rolling Along

Filed under: Uncategorized — Sally @ 4:10 pm

It’s hot in Washington, DC right now. I can’t even describe how hot, but since this heat wave has spread over much of the country, I probably don’t have to.

My left foot is particularly hot because it’s in this weird shoe/cast thing, where it will remain for 7 1/2 more weeks give or take a few hours. Not that I’m counting — the pain killers make that kinda hard, anyway.

It will get better and at least I can knit. And, if Clay Aiken announces any concerts, I might even be able to roll my way there.

How, you ask?

Why using this — the handy Roll-A-Bout, a device for people like me who are too clumsy and inept to use crutches.

Sweet, eh? It comes fully loaded with a hand brake that doubles as a parking brake. Here’s a shot of one in action.

That’s just how I look on mine, too, except that I’m not a man in a suit and it’s my left leg that’s injured, not my right, and I haven’t taken mine outside yet because it’s so hot. But you get the idea.

Now steering one of these babies is a bit trickier than it looks, especially if you’re dodging furniture, dogs, things that have fallen to the floor that you can’t pick up because if you tried you’d fall over, skeins of yarn, laptops, headphones, and power cords.

I’m getting the hang of it, though. I did have one mishap in which I almost drove off a cliff (and by cliff I mean the step down to my “sunken” library). Oh! — and I pantsed myself by running over the pajama bottoms on my “good” leg, which pulled said pajama bottoms halfway down my ass. Film at eleven.

Other than that — I’m a pro.

From Sally — Making a Difference through Knitting

Filed under: Uncategorized — Sally @ 2:26 pm

hats.jpg

Susan and I wanted to let you know about a way to save the life of a child just through the simple act of knitting. Save the Children has developed a program called “Caps to the Capital,” which combines advocacy with knitting. Although neither one of us wants to impose a political agenda upon readers of our blog, we wanted to provide the link and information for those interested.

“Can something as simple as a knit or crochet cap help save a newborn life?
In many poor countries,the answer is yes. Four million newborns die each year within the first
month of life–half within only the first 24 hours after being born.
But a package of simple health measures provided to mothers and babies worldwide,including
antibiotics to fight infections,training for skilled birth attendants,immunizations against tetanus,
education on breastfeeding and basic care such as drying a newborn baby and keeping it warm
(this is where the caps come in!) could prevent 70 percent of these deaths.”

If you would like more information — including free patterns for both crocheting and knitting these caps — please visit Save the Children’s website

You can also download a PDF of their action kit here.

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