theraineysisters knitting and so much more

Kim and I are ALWAYS standing at the entrance of the Creative Activities Building right at 9am for the opening of the doors.  Not this year.  It reminded me of the many times in recent years I have missed hubby finishing at the Birkie. 🙁  The bus gods were not with us.  We got there shortly after the place opened, though we did take the time to scarf down a corn dog for breakfast! 😉

The first thing you see when you walk in is a big boat.  It was one of the entries and did quite well!

The only thing was that it blocked the entrance to the building and created a bit of a bottleneck.

The hunt was on to find our entries.  This was a strange year for me as far as knitting is concerned.  My  Dale of Norway was such a time eater I didn’t get as many things done this year.  Loyal readers of the blog will recognize most of my entries.

I was very pleased this year.  Roosevelt, Window to my Soul, Vogue Hat #5, and Dale of Norway won first place ribbons.  My Elephant Hat and Scatness took second.  The winners in those categories were amazing.  The sweepstakes went to a circular lace shawl.

Kim’s entries were displayed very well and showcased her flawless knitting (elephant hat and submarine sweater).

The winner of this year’s Penelope Knitters Award for best gloves went to a fellow Camper – Lucy Norman.  We saw the gloves at Camp and knew she would get this award.  Just stunning!!  Congratulations!!

So, a fun day!  The weather was picture perfect and we left exhausted.  I will probably go again next week with hubby!

PS – We tried the Macaroni and Cheese Cupcake at LuLu’s and definitely recommend it!!  🙂

I put Erika’s sweater into the mail today — yay!!  Well in time to be there for the start of school.

I have been fairly monogamous lately, basically working on my Woodfords Cardigan.  It is a slow, slow knit.  Lots of acreage and small yarn.  I am enjoying it though.

I am loving the yarn…LOFT.  Yes.  It is official.  I am a LOFT-loving convert.  🙂  It is so fluffy.  The sweater feels like air.  I hope the yarn holds up with wear, but at least when you make it yourself, you can fix it.

The knitting looks rough — it is a thick-thin yarn and has not been blocked.  But I love the rustic look.

The pattern is very complex but everyone seems able to do it.  The instructions are unusual but clearly written.  I am glad I am using the same yarn and got pretty close gauge so I can just go with the flow.  I am wondering why she didn’t make my size wider — the smaller sizes cut in at the underarm more than the larger sizes*.  Oh well.  I am going to move forward and trust the designer.  That is a stretch for me!!

*I measured the back width against the store-bought sweater I am aiming for for fit, and they are the same.  Yay!

PS: Annie asked about my “basting” sts along the fronts.  That is actually the waste yarn I use for counting rows for the front increases.  I described my method in this post.  It is my go-to approach for counting everything.

PS to Pam: The Breckon Cardigan is gorgeous!!

I am glad so many of you liked the cookie recipe.  I had no idea that it came from an oatmeal canister!!

When I get done with a project, the key word is D O N E.  Never to return!  But sometimes we have to revisit our projects to make improvements.

I made a sweater for my great (in so many ways!) niece last Christmas.  When she tried it on, she and her mom asked if they could return it for a bigger size, since they couldn’t tell right away that I made it.  Once they realized it was handmade, they said that it fit perfectly, but I knew that Erika was disappointed in the sleeve length.  I told them both that it would be an easy fix and I had a whole, untouched skein of yarn left over.  But they didn’t want me to go to the trouble.  However, they finally admitted defeat and asked me to lengthen the sleeves.  With fall in the air and school starting soon, the time was NOW!

I threw in a piece of yarn so I could rip back.

Length added — about 2 inches I think.  It should fit better!

As long as I was at it, I decided to fix my Hitofude.  I had just worn it and it bugged me yet again that the sleeve “seams” have no give whatsoever.  They are joined using a 3-needle bind off and there just isn’t any stretch at all.  I tug and nothing happens.

So, I threaded a small needle through each side of the bind off before unzipping the seam (not going all the way to the armpit or to the outside edge).  That way I did not have to try to catch two sets of teeny live sts at the same time.  It actually worked.  For both sleeves!  I joined them with a stretchy 3-needle bind off, that doesn’t look very good, but works better.  To add stretch, I did a k1 (k1, k these 2 sts tbl) but going through both layers at the same time.

The most amazing thing is that I found the leftover yarn for both of these redo’s.   Awesomeness!!!

PS – someone on Ravelry was discussing my Hito and pondering grafting the sleeve seams instead of the 3-needle bind off or its variations.  I did graft the seams on my Sweet Dreams Hito and it worked fine. You really don’t need structure there. I just didn’t feel like taking the time to graft my gray Hito. Call me lazy!!

May I assume that most of you, as readers of a knitting blog, are kind of into crafty, DIY types of stuff, and may peruse Pinterest for fun and clever ideas?  Today I saw this assortment of attempts at recreating the cute things found on Pinterest.  It so reminded me of many of my knitting, sewing, baking projects!!

44 Pinterest Fails

Which was your favorite???

It feels like summer is over.  To be honest, summer doesn’t really end in Minnesota until October,  but we start whining about it as soon as August rolls around!!

Today felt like a day that needed a cookie.  So I made my favorite homemade cookies and it was a perfect batch.  I shared a small plateful with the neighbors and thought I should share the recipe with you!!

These cookies are chewy and crisp, and absolutely delicious.  I did not realize that I prefer my oatmeal cookies ‘sans cinnamon’ until I tasted these.  The recipe comes from a woman I used to work with.  She had these down to a science.  This is a half batch which is perfect for my little family.  I like it that I always have the ingredients on hand.

Go make these right now.  Really.  You will be happy!!!

PS: These are the type of oats that I use:

You just don’t know how much it has meant to me to read your words of sympathy and support.  Thank you, Dear Readers!!