theraineysisters knitting and so much more

In 2005, Surly and I took a trip to Scotland where we had the ultimate honor of attending a class held by the legendary Alice Starmore herself.  In the class, she cut the steek of her Oregon Cardigan, Autumn Colourway.  I was hooked!  I immediately embarked on that knitting journey, which was chronicled here in the blog for MONTHS.  Fifteen years have passed and alas, my cardi no longer fits (I blame the sweater 😉 ).  So, I decided to reknit Oregon, but as a vest this time.  My husband got the kit for me as a Christmas present (“John, you bought me this kit for Christmas!”), but I opened it a week early!!

I decided to knit it at a looser gauge.  The cardi had a potholder-like, felted quality to the fabric.  I am so glad I did!  It looks less refined when held up to the cardigan, but that is never going to happen!!  The vest took me a month.  Retirement (and no children in the house!), not faster knitting, is the secret!!

I used the buttons purchased for Elizabeth of York — they are gorgeous!!  I gave my Elizabeth of York to Surly because it didn’t fit (I blame the vest 😉 ).

I searched everywhere, including my old class notes, to find a really nice buttonhole for corrugated ribbing, but wasn’t thrilled.  So I invented one!!  It is virtually invisible and accommodates this fairly large button — a tight fit, but it does work.  I wouldn’t want to button/unbutton often, but I believe it will get easier with use.  I describe it in detail on my Ravelry project page.  I am experimenting with this BH for regular 2×2 ribbing.  It looks great if done starting on the wrong side, like I did for this vest.  I am going to keep trying!

For old times sake, here is the original cardigan:

The good news is, the vest DOES fit!

PS to Poodletail: I used a US sz 5 for the bottom ribbing and the body of the vest.  I used a US 4 for the armbands and buttonbands, but should have used a 3 for the WS rows of the buttonband.

I’m here to say that I finished one of the projects I talked about in November.  Whew!  First, however, I’d like to thank those of you who have reached out to make sure we are okay.

As many of you know, we moved to Boulder about four years ago to live near our daughter.  And, as you’ve probably seen on the news, a devastating fire destroyed whole neighborhoods in several communities in and around Boulder just before the new year.  It’s hard to describe the scope of the damage.  Almost a thousand houses burned to their foundations in a matter of a few hours.  We were having such high winds that the fire was racing the length of a football field every few seconds.

You can get an idea from this Map.  In it, the red markers are houses that were destroyed, blue indicates damaged.   If you zoom in on the affected neighborhoods, you can see the scale of the loss.  My neighbor’s daughter lives in one of the areas that was hardest hit.  Her home survived.  It’s the only one in the neighborhood that did.  Please keep the residents of Superior and Louisville in your thoughts.  It is going to be a slow and painful recovery.

Back to knitting.  I finished Hinterland by Jennifer Steinglass.  I had originally set it aside after knitting the yoke.  That was the fun part, right?  I did eventually knit the body, but was left with the dreaded sleeves.  Despite wanting to start so many new projects, I persevered and it’s finished.  My husband thinks it will make the perfect après-ski sweater when we hit the slopes later this winter.  (Weather and Covid permitting.)

The main yarn is Arranmore Light by the Fibre Company in the color Meara.  The contrast color is Salty Dog, Spincycle Dyed in the Wool.  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to have the design at the cuffs or leave the sleeves plain.  I finally went for the color work because I thought I should be more daring.  I deliberately mismatched the cuffs just to show more of the color changes.