theraineysisters knitting and so much more

March 14, 2008

From Susan — Thursdays at 3

Filed under: Back Story — lv2knit @ 12:39 am

Today was a good day: I got to knitting group by 3 pm!!  That is 2-4 hours early.  Does that mean I left for home 2-4 hours early?  Au contraire, mes amies!!  I stayed, knitting and cavorting, until 7:30.  I do love them peeps o’mine.  Woo Hoo!

Lyra Alert:
I am hoping that this will not jinx it, but I am over half way done with the bind off row of Lyra.  I am giddy with excitement and anticipation.  I’ll need to buy a barrel full of pins for blocking, but get me a fork, cuz by this weekend she will be done.  

The bind off involves crocheting chains between groups of sts — NOT my forte.  I do not have an affinity for crochet.  I feel awkward holding the needle hook, and even the yarn feels unnatural in my hands.  But, I am progressing slowly and steadily.  Pictures of the blob and the blocked blob to follow…

March 11, 2008

From Susan and Sally — Our Second Annual Bloggiversary Contest!!!!

Filed under: Back Story — Both Sisters @ 1:09 pm

 Yes, it’s once again that magical time of year when we thank you, our readers, for sharing another year of knitting adventures and misadventures with us. March 20, 2008 is our official Bloggiversary. This year’s fabulous prizes:

Yarn! Yarn! Yarn!

Three lucky winners will take home some cheery yarn for a spring project.

1. Two skeins of Nature’s Palette Fingering Weight yarn in Clover. This bright pink would make a wonderful pair of Sweetheart Glovelets. (Each skein is 50 grams and contains 185 yards of 100% merino wool.)

2. Two skeins of Fortissimia Cotton Colori sock yarn in bright pinks, greens, blues, and yellows. (Each skein is 50 grams and contains 210 meters.)

3. Two skeins of Nature’s Palette Fingering Weight yarn in Dark Teal. (Each skein is 50 grams and contains 185 yards of 100% merino wool.)

As exciting as those prizes are, there’s more!

The Official Rainey Sister Mug

Yes, one lucky knitter could be reading our blog while relaxing with a cup of tea or coffee served in her (or his) very own Rainey Sister mug. It’s almost like being a Rainey Sister, but without having to blog about it.

Last, but not least (drumroll please):

The Official Rainey Sisters Project Tote

We know. It’s almost too much to take in at once.

While you take a moment to get your breath back after all the excitement, here’s how to enter:

How to enter:
Send an email to theraineysisters@msn.com and put “Contest” in the subject line. Choose one of the following questions to answer.

1. Of everything you’ve ever knit, what is your favorite? Why?

2. What was your biggest knitting disaster?

3. If you were stranded on a desert island, what one knitting related book would you want to have with you? What yarn? Needles and other knitting necessities would be hanging from the palms!

That’s all there is to it! Five lucky winnners will be selected at random. The Rainey Sisters reserve the right to quote portions of winning (and non-winning) entries in a future blog.

Deadline is midnight March 20, 2008 (meaning that you have all day on the 20th to submit your entries.)

March 9, 2008

From Susan — High Anxiety

Filed under: Lyra by Niebling — lv2knit @ 12:48 am

Whew!  I made it through that one!  I found the smallest little problem on my lace knitting: a strand of yarn was split a row or two back.  No problem, says me to self.  I’ll drop it down and fix it with a crochet hook.  What a maroon! 

By the end of that little decision, I had unravelled 8 sts down about 6 rows (the sts betw the green headed pin and the black pin).  And then tried to ladder it back up with all the multiple yarnovers.  Sally is much better at this than me, that’s for sure.  This picture is NOT a picture of the offending area, but rather one I kept in front of me as a guide.

At one point I was an eighth of a second away from going back to my lifeline in defeat (the black thread in the picture).  That represents over 15,000 sts and hours/days of knitting — I forced myself to keep trying.  I did indeed fix the lil sucker and am plowing onward.  No doubt the stress took a few days off my life! 

I am sharing my travails here because you are the only people who might care and/or understand.  Muggles just stare!

March 7, 2008

From Susan and Sally — Watch This Space

Filed under: Uncategorized — Both Sisters @ 9:50 pm

We are very excited to announce that two weeks from today is our second bloggiversary!  Woo Hoo!! 

7b7466a7.gif glitter horse image by deere3594

Stay tuned for more details about how to win “fabulous prizes” as we gallop into another wonderful year.

March 6, 2008

From Sally — Shout Outs to Two Cute Babies

Filed under: Back Story — surly @ 4:23 pm

When you read my sister’s post about her scarf (just below this one), you might see a photo in the background. It’s of my sister when she was a baby! Hard to believe thirty years have gone by so quickly (plus a bunch of other years we don’t talk about).

I’d also like to give a shout out to my little assistant, who turns one today. Here’s a photo of him the first day I saw him.

I think Susan’s scarf is great and I love the label idea (even if she did borrow it).

From Susan — Little Plain Jane

Filed under: Knitting Tips — lv2knit @ 12:14 pm

Sally has been wowing the knitting masses with her stunning Japanese knitting.  I have not been wowing or Japanese knitting or anything exciting like that .  I did think I would share the final chapter of the scarf I made.  I “borrowed” an idea I heard about from a reader of Grumperina’s blog.  I am not a reader of her blog, but someone told me that when she gives socks away, she makes a label for them.  I thought that sounded like a cute idea for my scarf, and thought I would share it with you:


The picture in the background is me with Grandma Thelma — she made the dress I’m wearing

I included a picture of the scarf being worn so the recipient will understand my “motivation.”  I also included care instructions so it will not get washed and dried in the machine .   I printed the label on high quality photo paper.

Because the rolled up scarf was too big for the label, I tied it in the back with leftover yarn:

 

The color shown here is very true.  So, there you are.  I think it makes a pretty cute little gift and hope the recipient enjoys it. 

I wish I had a knock out to show you like Sally has been working on — maybe the next time!

March 4, 2008

From Sally — More Joy of Silks

Filed under: Japanese Ironwork — surly @ 2:41 pm

This is just a brief post to show the progress on my “Japanese” pullover. I have finished the front and just started the back. (I normally knit the back first but I screwed up in my pattern translation and realized I had started the front. There’s a different stitch count so I didn’t want to muck around too much.)

Here’s Lucy modeling what I’ve done:

Here are two close ups of the actual pattern. I love the stitch in the middle of the lozenges and it’s quite fun to do. (The color in the second photo is a bit pink for some reason. I think the other photo is truer.)

March 1, 2008

From Susan — To H*LL and Back

Filed under: Roseleaves Tunic — lv2knit @ 12:04 pm

I have seen the Gates of Hell.  We will get there by virus.  OMG!  Even with a flu shot this year, I suffered for almost a week, unable to lift head from pillow.  UNABLE TO KNIT for days.  That, mes amies, is my definition of hell.  Oh well, I’m better now :)!

I have been knitting on the Roseleaves Tunic.  I cannot tell if it will be gorgeous or an absolute disaster.  It is that darned variegated yarn — I have a love-hate relationship with the handpainteds.  It is very difficult to tell how they will look.  DH is my Muggle Canary-in-the-Mines.  He has no sense of fashion (he thinks he does…), but he will comment favorably on beautiful yarns.  For instance, he loved the Merci Scarf and said so frequently.  He has not said a single word about Roseleaves — not one.  That tells me he is saying to himself, “What is she thinkin!?!  Utt-bay ugly.”  Like I said, he has no taste so that may not be enough to deter me ;)!

Here is a picture of the yoke;

The sleeves are knit top down from each side.  Here is a picture of the first sleeve, which is almost complete:

Sally says to keep knitting.  I have a long way to go: the sleeves from cuff to cuff will be 5-1/2 feet!  And then the body.  She promised to give me some of her yarn if I run out — at least I think she did 😉 !  She will, because she is so good to me!

February 27, 2008

From Sally — The Joy of Silks

Filed under: Japanese Ironwork — surly @ 5:23 pm

Susan recently talked about Japanese knitting patterns and pattern books. She and I both purchased several of them recently and, being easily distracted, I started playing around with some swatches. I won’t bore you with all of the various swatches I knit and all of the yarns I tested. I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to knit one of the patterns I was seeing or whether I wanted to design something using some of the unique stitches I was seeing. I finally decided to try a fairly simple but elegant design. My scanner isn’t working and although I know I’ve seen a photograph of this design somewhere, I can’t remember where it was. (I will definitely post it when I find it.) I’ve made some modifications to the design, but not too many.

I have in my stash some beautiful white laceweight silk. Lots of it. Several thousand yards. I felt guilty dipping into it, but on the other hand I’ve been hoarding it for so long that it’s ridiculous. Even after I finish the sweater, I’ll have plenty for a shawl.

I decided to mix it with some Kidsilk Haze in the color Pearl both to get the gauge I wanted and to make a soft fabric with a little bit of a halo. I’m very pleased with the results, although I will be upfront: I know that the knitted fabric doesn’t look great in this photo. Because I am twisting stitches on most rows, the stitches look irregular — like teeth that need braces. I did wet block my swatches, however, and when I did so the stitches really straightened out and looked great. So I am fairly comfortable that the finished project will look better than it does right now. (*crosses fingers and toes*) I do love how the Pearl color softens the white silk; in person, the resulting color does look like a pearl. It has a soft, luminescent sheen. After being wet blocked, my swatches were unbelievably soft. I can’t wait to wear it.

Here is the current state of the back:

I don’t know what the Japanese name for the pattern is, so I am calling it Japanese Ironwork here.

Never fear — I’m still working on my Cross Lanes and my Pearl Buck.

P.S. I want to thank my sister for blogging in my absence. I was visiting my daughter (and my little assistant!).

February 25, 2008

From Susan — I Want to Thank the Academy

Filed under: Uncategorized — lv2knit @ 1:19 am

For what?  You didn’t win anything!!  Well, that’s true, but I want to thank them for hosting the awards this evening — an annual event I enjoy every year :).  Unfortunately, I saw very few of the movies because they were so grisly.  I did see Juno and was pleased Diablo Cody won the writing award.  A couple of other Twin Citians did well, too (the Coens).

This afternoon I went to the MKG Tea and had a wonderful time.  Met some new peeps and ran into some people I have not seen in AGES (15-25 years to be exact).  Wow — flashback time.  It goes to prove that knitting is a way to bring people together.  We had a 7-year old there (Anna) who has been knitting since last October — taught by her grandmother and attending her first Guild meeting.  How cool is that?

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