theraineysisters knitting and so much more

June 20, 2006

From Susan — Sunrise Oval Jacket

Filed under: Sunrise Circle Jacket,Updates — lv2knit @ 6:32 am

I have been too busy to get my Sunrise blocked, but I thought I would share some pictures of it anyway.  It is such a cool pattern, and I enjoyed making it very much.  I love things that are a little different — classic yet unique — and this certainly qualifies. 

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Here is the “oval”:

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Here are some detail pictures:

Hem

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Left front

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I also spent some time on Ballerina.  I recommend that if you make this jacket, you keep some notes or something.  My two sides are not what I would call perfectly symmetrical.  It’s not something you can see really, but I did need to fudge to get the numbers to work out, and I have no idea why.  The stitch count is the same, so either Hanne designed it with the sides a bit off, or I am a bit off.  Don’t answer that!

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I am still toiling on my scarf and the wedding ring purses will be done this evening — pictures of them tomorrow…

June 17, 2006

From Susan — A Multi-Tasking Update

Filed under: Sunrise Circle Jacket,Updates — lv2knit @ 9:41 am

As Sally was quick to point out, I had a birthday.  I left work early and spent my afternoon lurking in yarn stores.  I stopped by Borealis – in St. Paul – and asked them if I could hang around and knit.  They were very pleasant about it.  There is a scarf in the shop that I have loved since I first saw it.  It is a simple feather and fan pattern made with Cherry Tree Hill sock-weight merino in the color African Gray.  It has every color in the rainbow, predominantly purple and orange (!).  What on earth will THAT go with?  I bought the $22 skein, which actually makes TWO scarves (one for me, and yarn for Sally) and threw it in with my Sunrise Circle Jacket – it is perfect with it!  I think it will actually go with a lot of stuff because it has so many colors in it.  Here is the start of the scarf:

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I also did finish the Sunrise Jacket.  I think it turned out.  I will need to get the buttons (there’s no rush, so I’m going to be picky), but I think it fits and looks good.  I am going to block it one more time for good luck.

Laura wants me to line her felted purse and include a zippered pocket.  Here is the lining she chose:

Purse Lining

For my birthday, my two girls got me some very nice gifts.  The toiletries came in the cutest knitting bag!  I was more excited about the bag than the lovely lotions etc.  It is absolutely perfect for small projects and right now I have 3 going; beaded purse, wedding ring bag, and scarf.  All three will travel in the new bag for

varietal knitting!

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From Sally — Icarus Shawl update

Filed under: Icarus Shawl — Sally @ 7:13 am

I’ve just started the fourth, and final, lace chart on the Icarus Shawl. It’s difficult to see the pattern in these photographs because the lace is not yet blocked and because of the fuzziness of the Kidsilk Haze (before blocking). It’s interesting how different the color looks in these two pictures. One was taken with a flash and one was taken in natural lighting. The true color of the yarn is somewhere in between. The fourth lace chart has more rows than the others and, with 500 stitches or so per row, it’s slow even though the lace pattern itself is relatively simple. I should, however, find the time to finish it within the next few days.

June 15, 2006

From Sally

Filed under: Uncategorized — Sally @ 1:59 pm

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BIG SISTER!!!

From Susan — The Universe is Turned on Its Head

Filed under: Uncategorized — surly @ 12:24 pm

My daughter was knitting the other day and said, “I can’t believe it!  I’m knitting and you’re not.”  She was stunned that I was sitting there and not knitting — this never happens. 

Laura has become one of my most consistent knitting peeps.  She was bringing her knitting everywhere and was even knitting in the car.  Woo Hoo!  She was working on a cute felted bag.  Here are some pics of the project that I am very proud to display:

Felted Purse before

And here it is drying after being felted:

Felted Purse After

The tape measure kind of shows the scale.  It shrunk up a great deal obviously.  She used a pretty shade of Cascade 220 in a triple colorway: pale pink, pale lavendar and medium lavendar.  I wasn’t sure what the color would look like felted, but it’s very pretty.  She will add some embellishments, maybe beads or ribbon.  The pattern is from Two Old Bags — the Body Hugging Flat Purse.  I made this purse in a soft green and am knitting one in pink for my younger daughter.  It is perfect soccer game knitting because you just knit in the round for 80 rounds — no looking or thinking required.

June 14, 2006

From Sally — Another Reason to Buy Extra Yarn

Filed under: Icarus Shawl,Knitting Tips — Sally @ 8:27 pm

Just the other day, I posted about why it’s important to buy extra yarn and I gave some reasons why. Well, I have another one. Just barely into my third skein of yarn on my Icarus Shawl, I have already encountered three knots. It’s unusual in my experience for this particular yarn; I’ve knit literally thousands of yards of Rowan’s Kidsilk Haze without ever finding a knot. So, finding knots in the yarn is annoying but something easy enough to deal with except . . . After one of the knots, it wasn’t the same yarn. I’m not kidding. It changed color. The fuzzy grey, instead of being plied with grey, was wrapped around black. I pulled out a number of yards before I found another knot. At that point, the color changed back to what it was supposed to be. Say what?

That’s a new one on me.

From Susan — Ballerina

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 7:02 am

Last evening I taught a knitting class at Amazing Threads in Maple Grove — beginning lace.  It was fun.  It was the first of my classes to “go” since January (other than the all-day Yarnover event in April).  I’ve heard that from other shops and teachers — that classes are not filling like they used to.  Any thoughts out there as to why??  I know there are knitters out there — where are they?

I stayed at Amazing Threads for a little while to finish knitting the right sleeve of Ballerina.  When I got home I did a 3-needle bind off to join the sleeve seam.  I tried it on and the sleeves are about 5 inches too short, and I already lengthened them 2″.  You’re supposed to pick up along the bottom edge of the sleeve and knit a garter stitch band, which is meant to add a couple of inches, but mine is going to have to be a lot wider than the design shows.  After putzing with Ballerina, it was too late to bind off the mega sts on Sunrise — I hope to get to that tonight.

June 13, 2006

From Susan — A Comment

Filed under: Back Story — surly @ 4:08 pm

Someone asked in a comment if I planned on modelling Sunrise when it is finished.  I think I can safely speak for both Sally and myself when I say that we will NOT be modelling any of our completed fashions.  There are many blogs out there where people show off their beautiful creations by modelling them.  This is not one of those blogs.  It’s not that Sally and I are hideous or deformed, but I am not photogenic and do not feel the need to prove it publicly in an ongoing way!!

At the Knitters Guild “Knit Out” event held in October, we have fashion shows where volunteers model the sweaters that knitters bring to display.  It is funny to see my sweaters on someone else because the sleeves hang down past their hands and they look like they are in mommy’s dress ups.  Even then, I do not model my stuff.

June 12, 2006

From Sally — Icarus Shawl update

Filed under: Icarus Shawl — Sally @ 8:50 pm

A quick update. I’m through with Chart 1, which means I’ve finished all of the main body of the shawl. I’ve done a few rows of Chart 2. There isn’t enough of the lace border to warrant a photograph yet; I haven’t gotten far enough. I’m about to finish up my second ball of yarn and start on a third; as usual, the yarn starts being eaten up quickly once you reach a critical mass of stitches. I’ll put up a progress photo as soon as there is something to see.

From Susan — Brief Sunrise Circle Update

Filed under: Sunrise Circle Jacket — lv2knit @ 7:04 pm

I know a lot of people have had difficulty with the sizing of this jacket, but mine fits me perfectly!  That is a great feeling!  I am still plodding along with my 500++ sts on the combined facing.  It is going slowly, but hopefully it will be worth it.  TTFN* — I must go knit.

*ta ta for now

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