theraineysisters knitting and so much more

Yes!  A new blog post and a new finished object.  I bet some of you were wondering about us.

A few weeks ago, I was in Ogunquit, Maine and caught a summer stock production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which I’d never seen. The production was wonderful, as was the cast. I still have some of the songs running through my head (which is a bit annoying at times, actually).

I just finished my own “stole of many colors.” It is a pattern called, simply, Stole by Theresa Gaffey. It’s knit out of 9 different colors of Isager Strik Alpaca 2, an almost lace weight blend of Alpaca and Merino. (They call it fingering but it seems lighter to me.)

I bought the yarn and pattern as a kit at Yarnover (from The Yarnery in St. Paul) because I fell in love with the knitted samples and the colors. I started it in late April and worked on it here and there. It was perfect mindless knitting — long, long rows of simple ribbing.

I changed the order of colors because I liked the green and blue together.

I added a few more stitches for length and knit fewer rows of each color stripe. The knitting looked pretty crappy as often happens with alpaca, but it blocked out perfectly. The finished fabric is light, airy, and drapes beautifully. I love it!

Good morning!  Just sharing a virtual cup of coffee with a very nice friend.   Great seeing you Tuesday night at the knitters’ guild meeting — and great seeing many other friends!!

Patsy mentioned that she checks our blog every morning, and she is probably disappointed most days!  We post irregularly to say the least.  So, hello, and please keep checking back!!

I hope I am not badgering our loyal readers, but this post will be about Wrapped in Care…again!  I finally put my knitting where my mouth is and completed two shawls for the Wrapped in Care Program.  I gave them to Dee Moore last week and quickly received this lovely note:

She said that the shawls are the most wonderful thing she is able to provide for the moms when they go through this ordeal.

The shawls I made are both free patterns on Ravelry, knit in Caron Simply Soft.

Shawl One: Tethys knit in Caron Simply Soft, Country Blue

Shawl Two: The Lonely Tree Shawl in Caron Simply Soft, Pagoda

I attempted the steaming method for blocking acrylic, but did not test it.  Hope it works!  Both shawls were pretty easy to make.  My Lonely Tree is T-I-N-Y but Dee thought it looked big enough.  People have different tastes.

Anyway, if you feel like you have the time to knit a shawl, there is no deadline.  Dee actually prefers that they trickle in.  And thank you so much for helping!!!