theraineysisters knitting and so much more

Probably lots!  When my almost-knitworthy daughter mentions that she thinks something is nice…well who can pass up a soaring compliment like that?

Laura saw my Sweet Dreams in the car before I took it to work and said she thought it was pretty.  Okay!!  What color?  Black she said.  Always black!  I asked if she wanted it lighter weight or heavier than the one I had, and she said heavier.

I immediately stopped at my LYS and bought a skein of Malabrigo Sock in Black, Color 195.  It seemed to have a heftier feel to it than some other sock yarns.  I have been puttering around with it for the last couple of weeks.

And here is fall in some of its glory — taken last weekend in my backyard:

I did find out that my Sweet Dreams sold for $40.  I was kind of disappointed, but what can you do?  The money went to a good cause, no matter how much it was.

P.S. from Sally — Thank you so much for your concern and comments about Hurricane Sandy.  We were fortunate; Washington, DC didn’t see the kind of widespread destruction seen in other parts of the east coast.  We had hours of high winds and lots of rain, but we never lost power and life for us is back to normal.  Both Susan and I are thinking of those in the worst hit areas, especially New York and New Jersey.

PPS from Susan — Two Things: darling daughter stopped by and I gave her the shawl.  She said, “I will wear this…now!”  Yay!  And thank you for your comments about the lowball bid on my Sweet Dreams.  Even though the bid seemed relatively low, I received MANY compliments from fellow employees.  I did not feel like the shawl was under appreciated by any means.

I feel like I must be the last knitter on earth to figure this out,  but I do think the potential is there to change my knitting life forever!  Hyperbole?!?  You bet!

What am I talking about?  The best kept [knitting] secret of all time: the bottom up contiguous sleeve.  Yes.  A fitted sleeve knit in one piece with the body from the bottom up.  Others have tried it.  Others have succeeded.  But this is a first for moi.

Let me just say for the record that I don’t have a problem with seams.  They have their place and I am comfortable doing them.  But, that said, I hate sewing sleeve caps into the armscye.  Just hate it.   Many designers have glommed onto the fact that people do not like seams: there are many top down sweaters out there right now to prove it.  But there are still many bottom up designs that are worked in pieces to achieve the look of the set in sleeve.

Recently, Jared Flood introduced a new series of patterns, one of which really caught both Sally’s and my attention: Burr by Veronik Avery.  It is knit bottom up in pieces.  Could it be converted to bottom up contiguous?  I had to know.

The answer.  Yes.

Burr knit in Rowan Tweed, Color Reeth

Look at the beautiful set in sleeve!  And it fits me perfectly!  It is still wet and blocking, but I was too excited to wait to share it with my knitting peeps.

I love the beautiful details in this sweater: the YOs on the front and back, the gorgeous collar, and the inverted “V” ribbing details on the hems of the body and sleeves.  I did make major modifications though to achieve my goal of seamless, fitted sleeve:

1 – work both fronts and the back in one piece (I also made some other small changes in my set up)
2 – work to the armhole
3 – work sleeves in the round to the underarm
4 – join all pieces (leaving live sts at the underarm of both the sleeves and the body — ‘bound off’ sts in pattern) and start all shaping as needed (for this step, I graphed out all of the pieces onto graph paper to figure out my shaping)
5 – at the top of the sleeve cap (which was 2 inches wide at that point = 12 sts), stop knitting the sleeve and instead work the fronts and back as separate pieces for 1 inch each (and add short row shaping for the shoulder) — I added a ‘make 1’ to the fronts and back at the edge next to the sleeve cap for the seaming in Step 7
6 – join shoulders using 3-needle bind off
7 – graft the sleeve cap sts to the front and back extensions
8 – graft underarm sts

The picture below shows the work in progress after Step 5 is complete:

I am thrilled with the results and will share additional photos when it is dry and I have buttons.  This easy to do method is just one way that people eliminate the seam on sleeve caps.  I have experimented with other ideas for doing this and will try them out in the future.

This is another reason I love knitting — even after doing this for over 45 years, there is still so much to learn!!  Yowza!!

Lettie LOVES going to work with me.  She loves the hubbub and the people.  But most of all, she loves being noticed.

Uh, I don’t have the heart to tell her that NO ONE IS LOOKING!!!  Oh well.  She can have her brief moment in the “sun.”  I took my shawl in today for the silent auction.  I know it sold, but I don’t know what the final bid ended up being.  I’ll update this if I hear.

I just finished one of the most beautiful shawls ever — in FOUR days!  It is a stunning crescent-shaped beauty called Sweet Dreams by Boo Knits on Ravelry.  It was quick to knit, easy to block, with lots of visual bang for the buck.

I used Madelinetosh Merino Light in color Golden Hickory.  The shawl can easily be sized up or down in both width and depth.  The Victorian looking points are created with the picot bind off and by just pinning the long points.

The downside is that Sweet Dreams is only available in a ~$15 e-book.  The GOOD news is that another Boo Knits design, called Out of Darkness, is almost identical (wish I had known that before buying the e-book…).  It shows it in laceweight, but believe me — it would also work in fingering weight (Sweet Dreams can be knit in laceweight or fingering weight).

I made the smallest size, but could have done the medium.  I am placing this into our silent auction at work and wanted to make sure I could get it done in time, having no idea that it would go so fast!

PS – the job report is in and unemployment is down.  I already had an inkling: my last two knitting classes have filled…the economy must be doing better!

PSS – Edited to add one more picture from niece Nora’s wedding (taken by a fellow wedding guest!):

Hey, folks!  It has been a while!  I am currently in full autumn mode.  John and I went on one [last?] boat ride last night and the changing leaves tell the tale:

Here is one of my favorite homes along the river:

From the river…

Close Up View

You expect to see Snow White and her Seven Little Friends pop out!

I have been doing a little knitting and none of it is getting me very far.  I did finally finish my Vintage Mood vest — it is blocking/drying as we speak.  I will add some pictures when it is wearable and on Lettie.  It is a bit disappointing.  Sally and I each started a new cardigan that we will unveil shortly and I am knitting a shawlette for our annual Silent Auction at work.  I didn’t think I had time, but the shawl is actually moving along pretty quickly.

I thought I might share a project that I finished, entered into the MN  state fair, but never really wrote about (except here).  I am referring to my Niebling doily, Gloxiniaeflora.

Gloxiniaeflora by Herbert Niebling

This was a long, difficult journey!  I thought it would progress like my Lotus Flower from last year, my mindless knitting project that I could take anywhere!   Oh no.  Not this one.  It was a bear.

1. I used tiny thread, size 30 DMC Cebelia Crochet Coton

2. I used tiny needles: size 000

3. the sts were very difficult to manage

For example: 
The little flower thingies are made by working 12 sts thus:  slip 6 sts as to purl.  K6.  Pass the 6 slipped sts over the 6 sts just worked.

Okay.  Go to your knitting basket, take out some stockinette knitting and try this.  On any yarn.  It does not work.  Or at least it did not work for me.  There is not enough slack in the sts to get them to pass over the 6 knitted sts!  And my thread was so thin, I was sure it would break.  So, I tinked the row back and then the row prior because there was no way I was going to take it off the needles.

On the row before the ‘slip-k6-pass’ mish-mash I worked the 12 sts as follows: [k1, yo] x 5, k7…sometimes I did [k1, yo] x 6, k6 depending on my mood.  In any case, when I got to the pattern st in question, I dropped the yo’s as I slipped the sts and therefore had more yarn to work with.  The sts passed over quite easily.

I also had to go out and buy Addi Lace needles.  Regular Addis, even at size 000, were too blunt to do even the simplest k2tog.  Anyway, it took forever and I was very glad when it was all done.

I was very pleased to win the sweepstakes because it felt like I had really earned it with this one!  The table linen judges are extremely generous in their praise and their points, so it was very nice to read their comments.

At the fair…

I starched this baby at about 50% (50-50 starch to water) and blocked it on my styrofoam board.  I love this delicate little creature and marvel at the genius that is Herbert Niebling.  I never tire of knitting his designs and will end up the little old lady whose house has every surface covered with useless doilies!

Thank you for all the well wishes.  It was a beautiful wedding.  The weather was perfect.  So many friends and loved ones traveled to share our joy.  I did not take many photos, but I will share one.  I am hoping my sister got a few good ones while we wait for the ones from the “real” photographer.

PS from Susan – Nora was absolutely stunning and the wedding was fabulous.  I did get some nice photos (maybe), but my husband has my camera.  He travelled by car and is taking the long scenic route home.  All in all, it was a picture perfect weekend.

We are in packing mode here today.  My husband is driving to Colorado so he can take all the essentials: bike, roller skis, etc.  That means that I can load up his van with all the junk I want!!  I will take a long a small carry on just in case we beat him there (daughters and I are flying out tomorrow).  It’s the best of both worlds!

I am excited about the wedding and to see Sally’s lovely shrug.  She took quite a bit of time landing on the look she wanted and I am sure it will be beautiful.

A Sally mentioned, my daughter will also be getting married — in December.  She has requested a bolero, much like the one worn by Sally’s and my mother in this photo:

We ordered fabric that matches her dress and I found the perfect pattern:

It will take me a lot less time than Sally’s shrug, I’m sure!!!

As for knitting news, I have some projects underway that will be revealed a bit later.  What I realized this week is that I have not really shared some recent FOs and their details.  I entered this hat in the fair and forgot to tell people about it in detail.  And this hat deserves it!  It is a lovely, well designed pattern.

Flavia Hat by Beth Kling
Yarn Used: Miss Babs Tierno in Color Beach Glass
Needles – I think I used size 2’s and 4’s

You start out with twisted rib, which is set up to flow right into the main pattern.  The increases are added without disrupting the ribbing.  The hat is worked on 244 sts!  Quite a lot.  I used slightly larger yarn to get a larger finished size.

The beauty of this design is the elegance of the decreases.  Beth changed up the design in very creative ways to have the decreases naturally flow into the crown.  Beautiful!

I received a second place ribbon for the hat.  Okay.  Nothing odd there.  Except that 1- there was no first place and 2- there were TWO second place awards…now that is unusual!  (Reminds me of Strangers on a Train, “I’ll have a pair of doubles.”)  The judges are not obligated to give out a blue ribbon (or any ribbons) if none of the submissions are deemed worthy, but it seemed odd to have two seconds.

ETA Deepa’s Theory: “Here’s my theory- your hat and the other second place winner had the exact same score, say 98/100. Since there was no outright 1st place, they gave out two red ribbons. Just speculating.”  –Makes sense!

Well, the weekend will be a blur and it is doubtful either of us will post anything before next week.  Wish us luck!!

I know that I’ve been missing in action, and Susan hasn’t been that very visible either.

I leave Washington, DC tomorrow for Boulder, Colorado where my lovely and wonderful daughter (and occasional model) Nora will be married this weekend.  I’ve been deep in wedding details these last few weeks.  I’ve helped create most of the “paper” for the wedding — programs, menus, place cards, etc.  And I’ve knit her a little silk shrug — nothing complicated, just an impromptu pattern.  So I apologize that not much has been posted.  It’s just that other than the shrug, I haven’t knit much.

I don’t want to share the shrug because she hasn’t seen it, and I don’t even know if it will fit or if she’ll wear it.  But here are some quickie photos of one of my swatches:

I do have a new project for the trip, which I hope to share when I return.

P.S. Susan’s deep in wedding planning, too — but I will let her talk about that when she’s ready.

Some of you may recall my post about Vintage Mood — a cute, intriguing design knit with bulky yarn (which I had in stash!).  It had “issues” which I corrected surgically (described in this post).  To recap, the back neck had a hump.

After Surgery

Someone asked if there was way to fix the hump as you were knitting it — what would I do differently?  Would short rows work?  I deferred to the designer to fix the problem, but dear Sivani jumped in with both feet and crafted a solution.  I did not try it because my vest was already supposedly fixed, but Charlotte did.  She said it was a success!

Here is Sivani’s Solution (bear in mind that she was working from my photos and did not have the pattern in front of her — even MORE amazing!):

Sivani’s Solution
Use preferred method of shortrowing, e.g. Japanese, Wrap and Turn, etc.)

20 rows before starting the ribbing, locate and mark the center stitch (CM), and 8 sts either side (M). (17 sts in center group)

R 1: K to M, turn (8 sts to CM))
R 2: (and all even rows) P to end
R 3: K to  3 sts before M, turn (11 sts to CM)
R 5: K to  5 sts before M, turn (13 sts to CM)
R 7: K to  7 sts before M, turn (15 sts to CM)
R 9: K to  8 sts before M, turn (16 sts to CM)
R11: K to  9 sts before M, turn (17 sts to CM)
R13: K to 10 sts before M, turn (18 sts to CM)
R15: K to 10 sts before M, turn (18 sts to CM)
R17: K to 11 sts before M, turn (19 sts to CM)
R19: K to 12 sts before M, turn (20 sts to CM)
R21: K to 12 sts before M, turn (20 sts to CM)
R22: P to end

Do not break yarn!

– End of first side. —

Attach yarn at the other end.

R 1: P to M, turn (8 sts to CM)
R 2: (and all even rows) K to end
R 3: P to  3 sts before M, turn (11 sts to CM)
R 5: P to  5 sts before M, turn (13 sts to CM)
R 7: P to  7 sts before M, turn (15 sts to CM)
R 9: P to  8 sts before M, turn (16 sts to CM)
R11: P to  9 sts before M, turn (17 sts to CM)
R13: P to 10 sts before M, turn (18 sts to CM)
R15: P to 10 sts before M, turn (18 sts to CM)
R17: P to 11 sts before M, turn (19 sts to CM)
R19: P to 12 sts before M, turn (20 sts to CM)
R21: P to 12 sts before M, turn (20 sts to CM)
R22: K to end

— End of second side —

Return to the edge of the first side, and continue working in pattern (starting rib).

Thank you so much, Sivani and Charlotte, for sharing!!  It makes me want to knit another — kind of!