theraineysisters knitting and so much more

That’s what I keep telling myself!!  I just finished the most luxurious thing I think I’ve ever made: The Jayne Wide-Stripe Cardigan in String Yarns Dolcetto DK.  It is BUTTER soft and just luscious!!  And really, really expensive!!  Somehow that last part is not surprising.  It is only 30% cashmere but feels like 100%.

Several people at my LYS, BeWoolen in Champlin MN, have made this.  And I thought it was “all right.”  But I had two skeins of Dolcetto in red (Brick) and maroon (Wine), so I thought, hey!  It takes 10 skeins (at $28/skein) and I already had two…plus they had a sale going, so I decided to go for it.

The knitting seems boring, but because you’re changing colors you have goals to shoot for.  It took me two weeks in all to knit it.  As I was knitting, I also thought my knitting looked rough, but blocking really smoothed it out.

It is very boxy and really only has cuffs for sleeves.  Kind of a plain Jayne!  But I absolutely love wearing it!

I worked the back in one piece and then split for the fronts — up and over!  I would do it the opposite were I to do it again: start with the two fronts and then join them at the center back.  The original was seamed at the back, which is unnecessary!  I added this cute tag at the split.

I had enough yarn left for a fabulous hat!!  The hat pattern is now on Ravelry — Slouchy Five-Stripe Hat.

I also added a tag to the hat — from Kylie and the Machine.  I am really in love this time!

PS to Pam — Surly and I saw some Kylie and the Machine labels at Three Kittens in Mendota Heights.  They didn’t have these in stock, though, so that’s why we ordered them elsewhere.  These were my fave!

Every year our eastern-most yarn stores sponsor a mystery knitalong.  It is called the Progressive East End Project or PEEP.  I did it last year and a couple of times before that.  Initially, the idea was to go from store to store to obtain the yarn needed.  The past couple of years have been virtual.  I think next year they plan on going back to the stores.

The kits needed to be pre-ordered.  I looked at the colors offered at each store and opted for the Three Kittens combination — all stores started with the same mini-pack and then added a skein of their own choosing.  Three Kittens had orange.

The kits arrived.  The first clue then arrived for what they called The Random Acts Cowl.  Off I went!  Problem #1: they had not provided a color key!  So I chose the wrong color.  Problem #2: two of the colors were so close, I couldn’t tell them apart.  This caused me issues later, so I had to add another color from stash.  You knit 4 repeats of the finished chart for a 25 inch cowl.

The cowl is worked as a tube and then grafted.  I started with a crocheted chain provisional cast on and then used the method I used for my friend’s Velvet Mirror Cowl.  It worked great!!  But, the cowl seemed really short.  SO, I ungrafted my cowl, knitted another repeat to get to 30 inches, and then grafted it again.  Of course, now my crocheted chain was gone.  🙁  I did make a cheesy video showing how I grafted the cowl together…the first time around!  See below!

I do like it and people who see it really like it.  I think these double thick cowls feel shorter due to their bulk.  I am currently knitting another cowl similar to this and will make it longer.

Do you take your knitting too seriously??  Isn’t it time to have some fun?  Try knitting this silly, whimsical hat.  I guarantee that you will smile at least once when it’s done!

It’s Scarfy the Snowman!!  In hat form!  In 5 sizes from child to extra large adult!

To celebrate the launch of Scarfy, I am running a series of promotions on Ravelry. Scarfy will be $1 on November 1, $2 on November 2, $3 on November 3, and $4 on November 4 & 5. On November 6, it will be the full price of $5. Coupon code is SCARFY.

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I hope you enjoy knitting this little project as much as I did!!