theraineysisters knitting and so much more

February 10, 2008

From Susan — Is it Hubris?

Filed under: Back Story — lv2knit @ 11:18 am

I know we have been back from our fabulous whirlwind tour of New York for quite a while now, but I just received the last of our purchases yesterday by Pony Express.  Sally and I were in our lovely hotel browsing the internet for knitting-related stuff (how unusual!) when I remembered a project that had been percolating in the dark recesses of my mind:

AmKamin.jpg picture by lv2knit
Am Kamin by Shimada Toshiyuki

I have seen this knitted up on several blogs and now on Ravelry, and thought it was stunningly gorgeous.  The pattern book is in Japanese and has not been translated:

NewStylesinHeirloomKnittingCover.jpg picture by lv2knit

We bought our copies from a Canadian source: The Needle Arts Book Shop, proprietor Marsha White.  Since the book’s arrival yesterday, I have been immersed in it, seeking understanding!  I feel like a newbie knitter who looks at ANY pattern for the first time: it looks impossible to decipher:

AmKamin001.jpg picture by lv2knit

Is it hubris to think I can accomplish this project?  I keep telling myself that it is, after all, just knitting.  And I have learned a little Japanese in the process, thanks to Marsha’s treatise on Interpreting Japanese Knitting Patterns.  There is only one size given for Am Kamin (which would fit Sally, of course, but not moi :(), so I will need to do major adjustments to the pattern, but I do like having it nonetheless. 

Am Kamin is worked using worsted weight wool.  I have a gorgeous red in Cascade 220 (#9404) and a wonderful teal in Cascade Dolce (#927).  I’m not sure I will start this anytime soon — it needs to marinate!

When you start exploring some of these other sources, you really feel like Alice falling down the rabbit hole.  I felt the same way when I discovered Herbert Niebling!  Aarrrrrrrrgggghhhhh!!  There is so much out there and the deeper you go, the more you find! 

February 8, 2008

From Susan — My Little Sweethearts…

Filed under: Sweetheart Glovelets — lv2knit @ 7:48 pm

I finished a pair of the Sweetheart Glovelets for me — and the added bonus is that I already have a matching hat!  I used leftover yarn from the Lace Tam (Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk DK), and the lace pattern itself is very similar so they look cute together. 

They are soaking wet in this picture, so I can’t wear them, but glad to get them done 🙂

February 6, 2008

From Sally — Continue to Be Our Valentine?

Filed under: Sweetheart Glovelets — surly @ 9:21 pm

We wanted to post the pattern for our Sweetheart Glovelets in time for Valentine’s Day, so we went ahead and put up the pattern before I finished knitting the second glove. Indeed, the first one was still damp from being blocked — that’s why it wasn’t shown being worn. (Besides, I kind of liked seeing it surrounded by all of those goodies.)

So here are two photos of the finished pair being worn. No more candy or cookies, though; they seem to have mysteriously disappeared.

PS from Susan: I found a tiny error in the chart for the left glovelet, Size large/Extra Large: one YO symbol was in the wrong place on the thumb increases.  I fixed the chart and replaced the pdf with the revised one.  Most knitters would figure it out as they were knitting, so I hope no one had a problem with it. 

February 5, 2008

From Susan and Sally — Be Our Valentine

Filed under: Sweetheart Glovelets — Both Sisters @ 8:52 pm

We both love small projects and have a special fondness for gloves, glovelets, and mitts. Last year, Sally knit a beautiful pair of red cashmere fingerless gloves for a friend and kept wishing she had knit an identical pair for herself. She had the yarn, but just never found the time. The other day, we were talking on the phone and came up with the idea of a quick, easy Valentine-themed glovelet using Sally’s red cashmere. The result is our Sweetheart Glovelets.

The pattern is free to our readers. Sweetheart Glovelet Pattern

We hope you enjoy it!

P.S. If you have any trouble with the first row of the pattern (the ruffle at the cuff), click here.

February 4, 2008

From Susan — One for You and One for Me

Filed under: Roslin Fair Isle Hoodie — lv2knit @ 12:36 am

My Roslin is complete and blocking at this very moment.  It seems like only yesterday I was sitting in a coffee shop with a hoodless hoodie in my lap, sipping lattes and wishing I was done.  Hey, that WAS yesterday!  Yeah, I had ripped back the hood a bit, but plundered on.  I really wanted this thing to get wrapped up, so every obstacle was met with determination; every painful part of the process breached (i.e., sewing down the hems :)). 

Here is my baby blocking:

Very hard to get a good shot.

An unblocked “Lettie” shot:

And the namesake:

I quickly started something new because I am an obsessed knitter 😉 — I plan on making a few small things before starting the next “big” thing!  It is a scarf which I have named The Merci Scarf because I am making it as a thank you:

The yarn is drop dead soft: it is Cascade Autunno in Desert Shade (Color #34918, 98 yds/50 gms, 100% Fine Merino).  I had never heard of it, but it is very soft with gentle variegation and a ragwool effect.  I had trouble finding a stitch that would work because of the ragwool coloring — too much going on for many stitch patterns.  I am using a seed rib as follows:

The Merci Scarf (multiple of 4x + 3 sts)
I am using US Size 8 needles and 35 sts

Row 1: *k3, p1* rep betw * * to last 3 sts, k3
Row 2: k1, p1, *k3, p1* rep betw * * to last st, k1

It is mindless and perfect for a scarf because it does not curl and is reversible. 

When Rossie is dry, I’ll slap her back onto Lettie for better pics.

PS1 — AND one for Regina, another Roslin finisher!

Congratulations, Regina!

PS2: I thought I was done, but seeing Regina’s picture reminded me that I need to add the little sleeve pocket, which I planned on doing after I blocked it 🙂

February 2, 2008

From Sally — More Sleeve Avoidance

Filed under: Knitting Tips,Sally's Kauni — surly @ 6:38 pm

It’s too bad I never wear vests because I really am not of a mood to knit the sleeves on my Pearl Buck cardigan. So, in addition to a bit of stealth knitting, I’ve gone back to my damask Kauni, which I started in a burst of enthusiasm and then set aside. It’s just what I have been in the mood to knit the last couple of days, however. Here is how it is looking.

I’m getting to the point where I need to figure out exactly how long I want it so I can decide where to start the armholes (which means dreaded future sleeves). I also need to decide what kind of neckline I want. To that end, I made some graph paper to my gauge and charted the pattern again onto that paper. Then I used that as a kind of stencil — making multiple copies of the pattern repeat. Now I’ll cut and paste my sheets of graph paper together so that I have a paper duplicate of my sweater upon which I can plot out the neck. Doing it this way makes it easier for me to make sure that I’ll start the neck shaping at an attractive place in the pattern.

January 30, 2008

From Susan — Response to a Hoodie Question

Filed under: Susan's Roslin Fair Isle Hoodie,Uncategorized — lv2knit @ 3:23 pm

Astrid wrote a comment about Roslin, “I can’t wait to see it. I know you’ll love yours as much as I do mine. How are you working the neck opening? It looks different. If you continued in the round that far up, how did you do it?”

Response to Astrid: I think it is an optical illusion in the photo.  I started working back and forth right above the fair isle band as described in the pattern:

Roslin004.jpg picture by lv2knit

It may be hard to see, but the split is there.

January 29, 2008

From Susan — There’s a Hood in my Future

Filed under: Roslin Fair Isle Hoodie — lv2knit @ 12:45 am

It is amazing to me that this pattern is working!  I know I should trust the designer 😉 , but even though the number cruncher is moi, I was not very trusting.  So the fact that it is working makes me very happy.

I have about 2.5 more inches of raglan shaping to do and then the hood.  I hope to be blocking by this weekend, which means there is no way I’ll be blocking by this weekend!  My self imposed “deadlines” rarely mean anything at all, except minor to major disappointment…

 Roslin004.jpg picture by lv2knit

I have been hauling this thing to work and getting a row or two done on break.  It’s a lot to drag around, but the knitting is mindless and fun!!

PS: The temperature is supposed to drop 45 degrees between now and tomorrow, with 50 below wind chill — even WE [Minnesotans] can’t believe it’s happening to us!

PS2: The windchill is only 34 below — positively balmy compared to -50!  I am 3″ into the hood!  Maybe I’ll be wearing this bad boy next week…

January 27, 2008

From Susan — Going Topless

Filed under: Roslin Fair Isle Hoodie — lv2knit @ 11:51 am

Not me!  That would send screaming hordes running through the streets in horror!  No, it’s ROSLIN that’s topless– at least for the moment ;):

RoslinHoodie1-27-08.jpg picture by lv2knit

I joined the three main pieces and now it seems HUGE.  You have the widest portion of both sleeves joined to the widest portion of the front and back.  It seems like a lot of knitting at once!  You decrease 8 sts every other row, which helps fairly quickly.  Once you get to the neck, you go straight up to the hood and then, finito, Bandito.  I did try it on, which looked a bit ridiculous: like an extremely rustic ballgown for the Oscars, and it looks like it will fit.  Yay!

My Roslin has quite a way to go, but here is another finished Roslin from our German knitting friend, Joanna (aka, Asinek on Ravelry) — Guten Tag, Joanna!!

AsineksRoslin2.jpg picture by lv2knit

AsineksRoslin1.jpg picture by lv2knit

She used very fine merino sock yarn.  It amazes me that people can use all these different yarns and come up with a finished Rossie!  Thanks for sharing!

So, I will continue to plug away on Topless so she will not be topless for long. 

PS to Lorraine: you will always be an honorary Rainey sister because of who you are!  Maybe if we had designed the Fetching glovelets it would be a different story!

January 25, 2008

From Susan and Sally — Glovelets on Parade

Filed under: Glovelets — Both Sisters @ 12:40 pm

From Susan:
As I said when I listed this little project on Ravelry, “Is knitting a pair of Fetching glovelets a requirement of all knitters?”  Honestly, I think every knitter on earth has made a pair of these!  My pair was knit from some of the yarn we purchased at Knit New York on our trip: Art Yarns 5 ply cashmere.  It could not be softer and my lil daughter actually likes them!  Should I have a contest to see how long before she loses one or both of the little [$45 –eek] cuties??

Glovelet002.jpg picture by lv2knit

Did I say she likes them?  She LOVES them!  She would not take them off last night, and I cannot tell you how happy that makes me feel!  They look absolutely adorable on her.  The last thing I knitted her was the lace top from Vogue Knitting which she wore once for a total of five minutes because I made her.

From Sally:
I was bored with my sleeve for the Pearl Buck cardigan about five rows after I started, so on the train up to New York I decided to finish my Wine and Roses glovelets from the Winter 2006 Interweave Knits. I had knit the first one ages ago, but never started the second. I knit them holding together a fine pure silk (Andrea in colorway greenjeans) and a pale green Kidsilk Haze. Here is the finished pair:

Then I, too, decided to make a pair of the Fetching glovelets/mitts out of the 5-ply cashmere. I really debated at the store (Knit New York) which color to buy and I think I chose poorly. I loved this yarn in the skein, but knitted up? Not so much. That is one of the real risks in my opinion with variegated yarns. Fortunately, these are just kind of a funky, fun knit so it’s okay. (FYI: I added a number of additional rows to these before reaching the thumb; I have small hands and they still would not have been long enough.) Here is the one I’ve made. I have started the second one.

From Susan:
I also started a pair of Dashing glovelets for moi.  My daughter was HORRIFIED!  “You’re not making the same ones as mine, are you?”  No, but to her they are WAY too similar.  She will not let me wear any fingerless gloves when she is wearing hers for fear that someone will mistake us for twins ;).

Dashing001.jpg picture by lv2knit

There are some problems with the pattern, but I am working it out as I go.  The yarn was acquired as a result of the recent stash diving I did at Surly’s 🙂 — Manos del Uruguay, Color Prairie #104 (it does not look like any photos on a website — it looks exactly like stained wood!).  I love this yarn and the color is spectacular.  I will provide an update this weekend on my Roslin Hoodie.  I joined the sleeves to the body so now it is moving as glacially as our weather has been!

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