theraineysisters knitting and so much more

I am staying true to my goal of no knitting this week.  I feel like the episode of Malcolm in the Middle (Season 4, Episode 6, “Forbidden Girlfriend”) where Hal and Lois can’t have sex for a week due to a medical issue — their house is spotless and their lawn goes from dirt and weeds to the envy of the neighborhood!  They have so much more time on their hands!!

Well, not quite like that! 😉  My house is still a mess and I never have done the yardwork, BUT I do feel like I have more time on my hands. 🙂

Capture the Moment

Blocked and done.  I love it!

Sally arrives Friday, so I do have some preparations to do and packing for next Monday when we head to Colorado.  Hope to see many of my peeps this weekend at Yarnover!!

This is a hard week for me.  I decided for the sake of my sore hands (sore everything) that I would knit like a fiend to finish my latest project and then NOT KNIT THE REST OF THE WEEK.  Okay.  Project done as of last night.  Blocked it tonight.

Okay.  Now what?  I sit.  I stare.  I think.  I straighten things up a little.  I actually watch TV.  Time passes.    S   L   O   W   L   Y   .     V   E   R   Y        S   L   O   W   L   Y   .

How do non-knitters survive the relentless boredom?  I really don’t know how much more I can take…I even had to resort to writing a blog post!!

At least I can tell you about my latest FO!!!  I am 99.2% finished with Carol Sunday’s Capture the Moment.  The big knitting is done – and I mean lots of knitting on tiny yarn with small needles.  It is truly acres and acres of stockinette!  All I have left to do is to sew down the pocket linings.  Here is Carol’s prototype so you can see how stylish it is on someone young and cute:

I just fell in love with it!  I should have gone with my instincts and used Carol’s Angelic 3 ply, but I decided to use her merino Eden 3 ply for the color Twig, which is very nice yarn…but it’s not Angelic!  Angelic has the softness and halo of angora.

My blocking picture is horrible so I will show an in-progress pic:

Here is the awful blocking picture:

It is not this brown.  It is gray with a slightly green cast.  Anyway, I wanted to have it done for this upcoming weekend.  Sally is coming into town for the MKG Yarnover Event and then I will fly back to Boulder with her to see her new house and hit every yarn store within 50 miles!!

Took another blocking pic that show is better:

I hope to be able to knit on the trip.  I bought yarn for Joji’s new Fading Point Shawl (I am such a lemming!!).  I snagged a Primrose Yarn Co Kit. They sold out of kit #12 in 2 minutes, but I got one!!

The picture isn’t quite right, but I LOVE this yarn!!!!!  Hoping to start on the shawl while travelling.  I would cross my fingers but I am trying not to overuse them!!

PS to Eunice: That is such a good idea (reading Monica Ferris murder mysteries).  I had Achilles tendon surgery in 2011 and was completely laid up for weeks.  I read a ton of her books!  The author came to our knitting group a couple of times and actually named one of her characters after a member of our group (Idonis).  I am trying to get the house in order for Sally’s visit and am working through tomorrow as well.  But I may add one of her books to my Kindle!!

PS2: I don’t drink, but I have a very close relationship with the refrigerator!!

April 15, 2018 Tip of the Week — The Rainey Sisters Ravelry Group

When working top down sweaters, the bottom edge is not the cast on edge obviously, but rather the bound off edge. The standard bind off is very inflexible, unstretchy. We often do a stretchy bind off to mimic the “give” achieved by casting on. Sometimes all that is needed is to go up a needle size or two when doing the bind off, but this tip gives you an addition al option!

We often use our favorite shawl bind off, in whatever stitch combination works best (i.e., rib, plain knit for garter, etc.). Use a smaller needle to make sure the bind off is not ripply!!

Knit Stitch: k2; insert left needle into the front of the 2 sts on the right needle (like you do for SSK) and k2tog through the back loop (1 st bound off, one st on RH needle). Now k1 and cont. as described to end of row.

Purl Stitch: p2; insert left needle into the back of the 2 sts on the right needle and p2tog (1 st bound off, one st on RH needle). Now p1 and cont. as described to end of row.

In the picture you can see a small “dot” in the bind off. That is the extra yarn added by working the sts twice – this gives it the stretch. You can also see in the picture that the finished width of the bind off is the same as the ribbed hem so it does not ripple.

Tip #2: Are your taxes done??!!

Tip #3: Don’t forget to scroll down in case you have not yet seen Surly’s latest FO!

PS to Suzan from Susan:

Suzan commented as follows, “After many less-than-perfect attempts to do a standard bind off using large needles, I decided I should do Jenny’s stretchy bind off instead. And I actually think I can remember how to do it from project to project. Can you elaborate on why your bind off is better than that one for sweaters? Thanks!”

We are not saying this bind off is better than another if that bind off works for you.  In my experience, Jenny’s Stretchy bind off is really stretchy and often “sloppy.”  That can be okay for a shawl when the outer edge needs to be aggressively blocked.  In the sweater above, I did not want the bind off to stretch so much as “give.”  And I did not want it to be wider than the ribbing, which a looser bind off would be.  I also find this bind off to be easy to remember: k1, ** k1, k2tog TBL**  Repeat between **  **

Always it’s Spring and everyone’s in love and flowers pick themselves.  e.e. cummings

I love flowers and yoke sweaters are all the rage, so how could I resist knitting Caitlin Hunter’s Birkin?  I couldn’t.   I did make a few changes because Susan and I rarely leave well enough alone.

A long time ago, I saw another sweater with an intriguing hem:  Colors for a Cloudy Day, designed by yellowcosmo.  I added a similar hem to my Birkin, although I ended up constructing mine in a different way.  (More detailed explanation of how I made the hem is below.)  I also knit full length instead of bracelet length sleeves.  The yarn I used is Brooklyn Tweed’s Loft.  The main color is Fossil, which I already had in my stash.  (Score!).  The other colors I used are Artifact, Flannel, Hayloft, and Thistle.

The photos I have right now are not great.  I’m in Tucson on a family vacation.  When I first arrived, having just finished my Birkin, it was in the 90s.  Too hot to wear wool, even a wool as lightweight as  Loft.  It has cooled off, but it is so windy I can’t get good pictures.  (The hair! the hair!)  At one point my Birkin actually blew away.  It’s a shame because this sweater looks better on.  Unfortunately, my mannequin is back in Boulder, so these photos will have to do.

The fair isle hem in Colors for a Cloudy day was shaped by short rows — the hem itself and the “cut out” curve.  This is a top down sweater.  I made my cutout the way I’d knit a neckline from the bottom up.  I used a slope bind off, eliminating stitches as I worked back and forth instead of in the round.  When the cut out was finished, I had live stitches except where I’d bound off for the shape.  I picked stitches up there and then did an i-cord bind off all the way around.

Here’s a bad selfie that shows what the sweater looked like just before the bind off.

My initial plan was to pick up all the way around for the fair isle part of the hem and shape the inside of the cut out with short rows.  (This was the method used by yellowcosmo.)  I also planned the hem to be a slightly deeper color than Fossil.  I tried my idea with Faded Postcard, a pale purplish pink.  I didn’t like how it turned out for several reasons.  First, despite going down several needle sizes, the knitting looked sloppy — the short rows distorted the fabric.  Second, although Postcard looked nice next to the sweater, it looked too muddy when knit up.  See?

I ripped it out and redid it in the Fossil.  First, I cast on for the widest part of the curved opening with a provisional cast on.  I then worked the floral pattern, shaping it into a curve through decreases at the side.  When it was the right size for the opening, I picked up around the rest of the hem, activating the provisional cast on stitches when I came to them.  I then knit the leaf pattern.  In other words, the floral pattern was knit bottom up and the leaf section was knit top down.  After I bound off for the ribbing, I sewed the curved part of my fair isle pattern down under the i-cord.  Clear as mud, right?

I finally got to the movie (after surviving a ridiculous illness brought home by my husband 🙁 ).  Here is what I wrote on Ravelry:

Finally got to the movie! I loved it. Seeing the shawl on the screen was amazing. I wore mine to the movie, but certainly without the elegance and style of Lupita! She is so gorgeous and looked amazing in the shawl.

I wanted to stand up and scream, but went to the movie by myself…AWKward!!  I really did love the movie!!

I am not sure if any of you noticed, but I received a wonderful comment from Jeff Gillies’ mom – Jeff designed and made the original scarf for the movie!

I am blown away as I read all the comments on Knitting and this particular Infinity scarf!  Being in Sewing – Alterations and quilting, knitting is new to read about. Whereas I know how to knit and crochet, sewing has been my niche. 

I am Jeff’s mother who has been able to watch him create and design, then put those creations/designs into action on the knitting machine and see the finished product.  What an amazing experience! Not because Jeff is my son but just to watch anyone work a knitting machine and put it into action is to me a marvel. 🙂 🙂  

I have a dear friend who has been a knitter all the years I’ve known her, and made many a beautiful sweater for her kids, grandkids, family and friends.   So accomplished!  Remember “Dr. Who” TV show.  He had this loooong scarf of many different colors that Jeff’s younger brother so admired!  So for Christmas Jeff knitted that scarf and Jason still wears it on occasion. That was Jeff’s first knitting experience and began to be hooked into knitting and later sewing costumes. 

I think it’s great when people notice and give credit to those talented in designing costumes and other items for movies, plays, operas, etc. for the enjoyment of the public.  
Love reading the interaction between you who love this craft.  🙂 🙂   
—  Marje Gillies

Is that cool or what??

From The Rainey Sisters Ravelry Group:

April 6, 2018 Tip of the Week

This week’s tip can be summed up in one word: MONOGAMY! Monogamy means sticking with something through thick and thin, through good times and bad, staying true to your one and only. What does that have to do with knitting?

When you stay true to one project, you make progress. You get things finished. Flitting from project to project may seem fun, but the results are sporadic.

Sticking with that boring project through acres of stockinette can be a bore, but the results are worth it.

Are we strictly monogamous? Heck, no! And there is a place for divergence. Some projects are just too big or complicated to drag around everywhere. Sometimes you hit a point in a project that requires a lot of thinking or calculating.  And a portable, mindless knitting project is a must for grabbing as you head out the door to take your kid to the dentist.

A small quick, pretty hat or shawl can be the perfect sorbet to break up that long, boring slog. No one will fault you! It is knitting – it’s a hobby. We do it for fun! If it stops being fun, what good is it?

But, if you want to finish that sweater, keep at it. Slow and steady wins the race!!