theraineysisters knitting and so much more

We are co-parenting our daughter’s Shiba Inu, Yuki. Shibas are described perfectly in this article: more cat than dog, smart, and “independent” (read: he’s a stinker).  Too cute for his own good and totally aware of the effect he has on humans.

Yuki Loves his Care Bears!

PS – In answer to your questions, Yuki is fully grown and will not change color.  He is creamy all over except for the back of his legs and his ears.  Most Shibas are stockier than Yuki and a darker gold.

His tail “unfurls” when he relaxes and the recoil process is a sight to behold…that thing has a life of its own!  He is a tiny bit chubbier right now because John shares bagels with Yuki and Molly (our yellow lab) every morning.

They love their bagels with Daddy.  I know.  Bad for dogs!

Generally speaking, I prefer to knit with wools and cashmere — warm, winter/fall yarns. But the one advantage of more summery yarns is color. I just finished (almost) one project and have launched another based on the beautiful eye popping colors of the yarns.

My new project — just started yesterday — is Colina designed by Elizabeth Doherty. It’s designed to be knit out of Quince & Co.’s Sparrow, which is a sport weight organic linen. (Given the way this linen changes when wet blocked, you should be careful if you knit it out of a different yarn.)

I chose the color Citron. It positively glows.

The (almost) finished project is Purl Soho’s Silken Straw shell. This yarn is a thin pure silk tape. It feels almost like raffia before it’s blocked. I can’t say it’s a joy to knit with; it splits and if you drop a stitch it will just keep on going. But the colors are gorgeous and once it is wet blocked, the yarn softens and changes. I’ve finished the knitting and blocked my shell, but I haven’t woven in all the ends.

Because I’m leaving for an unexpected quick trip out of town, I thought I’d share it anyway. My color is called Geronimo. It’s tricky to photograph; I’ll take more once it’s wearable.

Finally, speaking of splashes of color, I thought I’d share pictures of my new “pet.” Froggy. He lives in our back pond and I think he’s adorable. I’m not sure the adoration is mutual.

It’s someone’s birthday.  I’m not at liberty to say whose birthday we’re celebrating today. A few clues: she’s the best sister ever, she’s my partner in crime, she’s my best friend.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSAN!!!!

Remember, you didn’t hear it from me.

PS from Susan — I don’t know who she could possibly mean! 😉 I did take today off so I could go see Jurassic World but that may not happen.  We will go out to eat because I want to order and walk away from all of the dirty dishes.

The Sherlock Rainey Sisters spent the better part of this morning attempting to de-construct a link to the past that Surly was interested in.  She wanted to knit a poncho like the following Eileen Fisher Devale Linen Tunic from three years ago:

This color might be more accurate:

BUT – we had no picture (it was way back in emails), no product name, no hope.  With searching Google and trailing after Pinterest photos, we finally found both the correct name AND the exact item for sale on Ebay.

Susan to Sally, “Just buy it!  It’s not worth your knitting time and the cost of yarn to make it!!”

Sally to Susan, “I already did!”

Yep, Sherlock Rainey and Watson in perfect harmony.

ETA from Sally:  I found it, or rather Susan found it, on ebay.

Remember this?

It is Buh Bye.  Did not like it.  Did not want it.  Took it back.  When I went to Unwind Yarn Shop the first time, I saw a yarn I loved.  I did not buy it because I needed two skeins of the above and did not want to spend the money.  So I went back and exchanged my extra skein of pink&brown for a bright little summer skein that I love:

It is a specially dyed color for the shop from Dream in Color.  I love it and should have bought it the first time around.  They were so kind when I came in to exchange my yarn.  Great shop!

What will I do with it?  Probably look at it from time to time until I die.

Certainly not my favorite FO, or best-knit FO, but perhaps now my most seen FO??!!??  Sally (and others) alerted me to the fact that my Alchemy Blocks Ponchini (aka “Color Blind“) appeared on the Ravelry blog this morning!!  My ponchette is famous!!

Last weekend I did a little field trip with a couple of fellow knitting enthusiasts to check out two new shops in the southern metro (we live more north by northwest, so we don’t get that way very often).

The shops were both wonderful.  We first stopped at Unwind in Burnsville. So cute, very well stocked and the owner (?) extremely welcoming and helpful.

Next up: The Twisted Loop, located in the Prior Lake Library. Again, the shop was beautiful, well stocked and the staff could not have been nicer.

We went to lunch at The Artisan Bistro because that is the place that everyone mentioned whenever we asked where we should eat.  They were absolutely correct!! I had Mahi Mahi tacos and they were fabulous.

So, what did I buy.  Not much and too much.  I have been looking for yarn for a shawl called Strandwanderer for months.  You need yarn dyed in sections with specific spacing.  Friend Kim is my “yarn whisperer” so I texted her a picture and asked, “Will this work?”

The good news: yes.  🙂  The bad news: Buy two.  🙁

Sweet Georgia Tough Love Sock in Boheme

The reason the yarn is so specific is the way the shawl is knit.  When you knit with these hand dyed yarns, as the item gets wider (like a shawl) the pooling continually changes.  With this pattern, you knit plain rows that do that, but you also knit sideways sections with a fixed number of sts.  The sideway sections pool identically throughout the piece because the stitch count never varies.

What you should see are little repeating boxes in the sideway sections.  I have the little repeating boxes.  What I don’t have is a color that I like.  The brown-pink combo just isn’t doing it for me!  Oh well.  I may continue my quest for the perfect yarn for this project.

PS to my Commenters: Wollmeise is the yarn used in the pattern itself, but it is not always easy to come by nor easy to judge the colors from a picture.  I did try that route but thought I would be better off seeing the yarn in person.  Maybe my mistake!!

PS to Kathy: according to the pattern I am about 22% done, not even close to being finished!!  This project is a slog on size 2 needles, and all the sideways rows are much slower than normal rows.  I don’t know when I will get this thing done.  I may make it smaller and just use one skein.