theraineysisters knitting and so much more

I received a small package in the mail the other day.  It was unexpected — no purchased goods expected.  To my surprise, it was a baby sweater that I had made for my now 24-year old niece when she was just a baby.  I did not know what to make of it.  Why would my brother return it now, after all these years, after my own two girls were far too old to be able to wear it.  My first reaction was one of hurt feelings.  Was he mad at me?  Ridding himself of all past reminders of his big sister?

Naaaahhhhhhh! 

I called him and he said, “You asked me to send this to you if I ever found it.”  Oh, yeah!  I forgot!  I thought it would be nice to have one of my old knitted relics as a keepsake — if they didn’t want it any more.  It has meant a lot to me to have the sweaters that my mom made me, and I like looking back on my own first attempts at knitting.  The sweater in question was my first blue ribbon at the State Fair.  In fact, when I gave the sweater to them, I left the ribbon attached. 

It’s fun to look at your old knitting.  There are many opportunities for “I would do THAT differently,” and, “What was I thinking when I did THAT?” and “Why did I choose that technique?”  The usual answer to these questions for me is, cuz it’s the only way you knew HOW to do it back then!

So, here is the old, old baby sweater, my own design, made in CHEAP acrylic yarn — for the baby, of course!  I did use antique buttons (because I had them in my stash!).  Be kind…

I think I crocheted the buttonhole bands, which is surprising because I really do not crochet.  Doesn’t it look like something someone’s Grannie should be wearing?  In those days, baby garments were very traditional.

The back:

And a close up of the back neck detail:

I did a chain embroidery stitch around the back neck to carry the line all the way around.

And the sleeves have the small cable detailing:

So, no new FO’s to share, but instead I am dredging up the past!  Now I knit very little seed or moss stitch because it is so slow, and it bothers my elbows (I have tennis elbows from knitting no less!), but I did a lot of it back then. 

Hope your holiday was filled with family and fireworks.

PS to kellistar: Unfortunately, I did not write the pattern down — at least that I know of.  I do have a lot of old knitting papers around and if I stumble upon the pattern, I will share it.  OW, feel free to use it as a creative starting point for your own rendition.

Happy 4th of July to all of our readers.  Let’s remember the reason we celebrate the 4th.  We hope you enjoy this holiday with family and friends.

From Susan : As for me, I am celebrating independence from work.  I am relaxing, knitting, doing errands and hanging out with peeps.  I have a feeling that several WIPs will morph into FO’s all at once!  I can’t be “knit-ogamous” so each is getting a little bit of knit time each day!

I know.  We said we wouldn’t blog much over the summer, but what the heck!  Sally is on an extended road trip and will not be able to write much, so that is one reason for the announced hiatus.  I’ll check in when I can, and we will for sure hit the blog-o-sphere at least weekly (weakly?). 

Check this out:

This is the road to my house .  Now, picture a torrential downpour.  The road was a muddy mess all weekend — you should see our poor cars!  The “high road” to the left is not even really a lane — I have no idea why they built it up like that.  It is supposed to be “in process” until November…bummer!

Re: knitting.  Lorraine mentioned that she is in a bit of a knitting funk.  I can relate.  Is it the summer blahs?  Is it due to the fact that it’s not sweater weather? 

I have been knitting every day but seem to have absolutely nothing to show for it.  Nada!  For me, that is contributing somewhat to my funk.  If I start something new — to feel excited about my knitting again — it will continue the downward spiral of nothing getting finished.  It is a dilemma and one which I have written about before.

On the bright side, the Wrapped in Care Ravelry Group now has almost 60 members.   They have shared some great shawl pattern ideas and one member is ready to mail in two shawls.  I am amazed. 

PS — I realize that not everyone is on Ravelry — but they are the only people I can keep tabs on with regard to the Wrapped in Care Project.  I will track the numbers on our blog (see upper righthand corner).  Thanks to all for supporting this project!

Okay.  So I’m wearing my cute new outfit today (see previous post) and was in the cafeteria getting coffee.  The cashier complimented me on my new dress.  I said, “It has these pants, too.” And she said, “Lose the pants.”  Then someone else walked up to pay for her food — a complete stranger, mind you — and said, “Yeah, you’ve got to lose the pants!” 

So, I took them off — not in the cafeteria line, but…I did lose the pants.  I’m a little bummed that no one liked my cute pants!

The Yarnery is sponsoring its own charity knitting event, called The Promise Blanket.  They are creating a simple, but beautiful blanket that will be auctioned.  The proceeds will benefit Women’s Advocates, Inc.  They have a free pattern available at the Yarnery for a blanket square.  Knitters and non-knitters both can bid at auction time.

Gee, everyone!  Thanks for the birthday greetings!  Surly, I’ll need to get back at you for sharing the photos!

As you may recall, the OH was this weekend — on my birthday!  And on Father’s Day.  So, DH and I had a “relaxing” day of hosting 60-75 people at our house!  It went extremely well, the weather was drop-dead perfect, I had food for 150 people (oops — note to self: buy less food next time!)….it was a success.  Just not relaxing.  Especially at ten minutes to 1:00 when nothing seemed to be ready.

Here is the cake before:

And after:

Friend Mary was right: cut the cake and put pieces on plates so people eat the darned thing!  The cake was humongous, and we did send a HUGE chunk home with John’s dad to share with relatives who could not be there.  I saw many old and dear, dear friends and felt overwhelmed by their love and caring.  So many of them go back to BEFORE the days when Laura was tiny.  One friend I have known since I was twelve!  So it was as special for me as for Laura and well worth all of the effort. 

Sally, your Ode to Joy is absolutely stunning and I keep thinking I should have gone with that colourway — so easy to second guess oneself!

Thanks again for the well wishes!