theraineysisters knitting and so much more

Today we reached a milestone of mega-proportions.  My oldest daughter graduated from high school.  It’s true! I know this happens to just about everyone sooner or later, but it still feels pretty special to me.  I am bursting with pride!

It’s hard to believe that the little peanut John is holding (with those unbelievable cheeks ) grew into the lithe and beautiful young woman pictured.

Laura is bright and talented and artistic, and wise beyond her years.  Graceful, gentle, with more than a touch of class and elegance.

Laura, you are special and loved! And, you’re not my little baby any more!

PS (June 1) — Commencement was tonight and now it is official! Hats off to you, Graduates!

Last night was the knitters guild meeting — very well attended with many new knitting peeps!  We had a couple of guests.  The first was Jennifer Castellanos who represented Project Little Lambs.  They need 200 baby afghans by August 1.  The afghans will go to babies and children whose families have been victimized by domestic violence.  The brochure shows how you can sign up to knit an afghan or donate money.  This is a worthy cause and the afghans do not need to be large or expensive.

Contact info for Project Little Lambs: Jennifer Castellanos, 612-335-2759; or Jennifer.castellanos@k-a-c.com

Our second guest was the aforementioned (in an earlier post) Kari Cornell, co-author of Retro Knits. 

OMG!  What a fun book!  She brought the original source material for us to look at — several people recognized some of the sweaters and patterns from their own childhoods (“My mom made my brother that sweater!”).  The patterns have been re-worked with yarn weights rather than the way they were originally written: for a particular yarn brand.  Just as many companies today put out pattern books to support their yarn, so did the companies of yesteryear.  Most of those companies are gone.  It was amazing to see styles from the past that are stylish today: shrugs and wraps, etc.  One observation: the designers were unknown…no names listed anywhere.  Now, we seek out particular, well-loved designers.

So, I bought the book as I expected and Surly, your signed copy will be in the mail soon!

Thanks for the great and supportive comments about my book-buying spree!  I can’t wait until they all arrive!

Kelli already has the Retro Knits book and had this to say:

“I just received the Retro Knit book in the mail today and it is fabulous!!! I actually plan on writing the authors via publisher, asking them to expand on the patterns and do another book. I love vintage patterns. This book is well done with original photos of the original publications. The added tips, yarn alternatives and sizes are also great. This belongs in every knitters library. There is something for everyone in this book.”

That is SO good to hear!  As I mentioned, Kari Cornell will be at Tuesday’s MKG meeting and will be selling copies of the book.  She told me that the book was originally supposed to be out last fall, but the work involved in re-writing the patterns for modern sizing, yarns, etc. was more time consuming than they originally anticipated.  If the book does well, I’m sure they would consider a second volume.  They probably had a hard time deciding on which patterns to include and have dozens (hundreds? thousands?) of additional options.

Well, yes, I could stand to lose more than a few el-bees, but I am talking about a book diet!  I have been stuffing my fat face with new books lately and it is leaving me very little $$ for yarn (or food, or gas, or…).  Here is a sampling of the books I have on order:

Numero Uno:

This delectable book is due out in October and was written by my blog friend Romi Hill.  I couldn’t diss her by bypassing her book, now could I?

The next sweet lil morsel is brand new and co-authored by someone I know IN PERSON: Kari Cornell.  Kari is a member of the knitters guild and will be talking about this book at our meeting on Tuesday, May 20.

Again, would it not be rude to diss a member of the guild? 

Okay, another luscious tidbit (tres cher, like high quality sushi) is this acquisition:

And like sushi, an acquired taste — there are some German patterns, translated into Japanese with a few English pages thrown in for reference!  I feel like I’m in a WWII movie.  There is a pattern that I am very interested in which I will describe in a later post, I’m sure ;).  Yvonne asked for the source of this book: I bought it from Lacis ($67 plus handling).

This is bad, very bad!  Each book contains potential projects and another trip deeper down the rabbit hole.  My bookcase is overflowing.  Where will it end?

Now, many of you are probably thinking: why doesn’t Susan just go to the library like all frugal/smart people do?  One phrase stops me in my tracks: OOP — out of print!  G-r-r-r-r-r!  So many great knitting books go OOP and become a) unavailable and b) highly sought after. 

I decided to take my dad’s advice: buy every copy they have before the hoarders get them!