theraineysisters knitting and so much more

Rumpie must be living in Canada under the pseudonym, Hand Maiden.  I have solid evidence that silk, kid mohair and nylon have been spun into pure gold:

This yarn is gorgeous beyond belief, and I had to have it — hock the kids, get a fourth mortgage, do whatever it takes, Baby!  You are mine, all mine!!   I bought it from StephenBe’s Yarn Garage Booth at The Knit and Crochet Show at the Hyatt in Minneapolis.  I did not sign up for classes but shopped and took in the fashion show.

The yarn is called Maiden Hair, 67% silk, 23% kid mohair, 10% nylon, 300 m/100 g, color pumpkin (?).  Is that the color name?  I am also curious about how the crimp will knit up.  I am thinking about making Merope’s Cowl with it, though the yardage is far greater than what is needed.  Since I am not quite sure how it will knit up, it just might not work.

We also bought some deck furniture — finally!  It is so nice to be able to actually use the lovely deck that my husband finished last fall.  Note laptop and knitting as part of the accessorizing!

Tomorrow I start the Braided Glory Class at Amazing Threads — really excited about it.  I love futzing around with technique. 

My Left Foot update: I am walking without a boot!  Not great at it, but walking nonetheless.  Progress is being made…:)

PS:  Eek.  Made. Big. Mistake. Husband. Saw. Price. Of. Yarn. $42.50.

PS2: I laughed when Suzan asked if Bonnie’s husband was a skiier: mine is — cross country.  The equipment is tres cher and of course he gets only the best, so we allow each other our little extravagances!  My favorite hubby quote, “Keep buying yarn ’til we run out of money!”  Okay, dear!! 😉

I finally saw the turkey babies!  John saw them once when they were absolutely teeny and said they have really grown.  It was hard to get good pictures because they (rightly so) blend into the underbrush.  I was surprised that they all seemed so tame.  They allowed me to open our back door and walk onto the deck without bolting.  The four jakes were strutting about like it was mating season — proud as peacocks to show off their family.  We have had hours of free entertainment from these little guys! 

One of the Moms in Protective Stance

The Black and Red Bullet
Not every project is an A+, but I am posting this for my own self!  I decided to knit a simple hat as a “thank you” for my young, cute nice surgeon.  I made a Turn a Square by Jarod Flood last Christmas for Matt, my brother-in-law.  I hounded Sally for all of the specs so I could knit the same thing for the doctor.  So, I am posting the details here for my own future reference!

This is a crazy picture, but I do not have a model.  Stash yarn, free pattern, one evening of knitting — nice, small project. 

Turn a Square by Jarod Flood
Yarn: Cascade 220 in black and dark red
Needles: US 5 for the ribbing, US 7 for the hat
Cast on: 104 sts, 2×2 rib for 1 inch, switch to larger needle
Work 5 rows black, 2 red, (3 black, 2 red), repeat between ( ) 2 more times; knit until 5 inches, start shaping.

There!  I will not need to bug Sally next time!

Our heat index in Minnesota was 119 degrees yesterday!!  Ugh!!

Camp was terrific — Kim is a great knitting partner and travel partner. We had so much fun. Everyone was welcoming to us as Camp Newbies and we got quite inspired. There are some damn fine knitters out there! I also met some loyal readers and loved hanging out with them!!

Meg [Swansen] was still recovering from an unfortunate run in with Lyme’s Disease. She needed a lot of rest and could not participate as much as she would have liked. It was a disappointment to everyone, but we all understood and wish her a speedy recovery.

Not the best picture, but the best people!!

The Day in Action

Break Time!!

Each day was a melange of mini-tutorials, Camper Show-and-Tell, contests and raffles.  Serious knitting time with serious, fun-loving knitters.  And lots of shopping and noshing opportunities, too!

My shopping:

The yarn is Cheryl Oberle’s special blend called Dancing Colors. One for me, and one for Sally — Sally’s is red-violet and mine reddish-black. Cheryl has a new vest pattern that I want to start ASAP. It should be a quick knit and will soon be revealed ;). The bag is a complete copycat of Kim’s cute camera bag: The ACME Bowling Case from National Camera Exchange…had.to.get.one.now.

Back on the hamster wheel tomorow…

Summer Solstice is here and finished. I love this sweater! The fit is great and the pattern fun to knit. Even though it is stockinette, it has enough little things going on to make it more interesting. I used six skeins of Ethical Twist yarn in color Oatmeal and really like the way the fabric turned out. While knitting it, it looked awful, but it did block nicely.

I hate pictures of myself as you well know, but I knew this sweater would show better on a person. I was wrong. But, I do not have time to dilly dally taking more pictures! I leave Thursday for Knitting Camp and am not ready at all. 🙂

I lengthened the sweater quite a bit. I wanted it to be a sweater to hide in! If I make this again, I will make it shorter and use really dreamy yarn!!

My Ravelry project link

This is adorable: the world’s shortest and cutest naps!! And those of you who know me know I have a very special fondness for Korean babies!

Well, more like lumbers, but I am off the scooter for the most part and walking in my boot!  It is slow and awkward, and not as speedy as my scooter, but unless I start walking, I cannot move on in my recovery so I am excited about my milestone. 

I am also making some progress on my Summer Solstice cardigan.  I have put my Double Heelix Socks aside for the moment (though I take my sock with me as a portable project).  I was inspired to finish my cardi because I am going to be attending Meg Swansen’s Knitting Camp in two weeks and I have heard that the venue tends to be chilly.  I am going with my good friend, Kim.  Kim is a ton of fun and a great knitter, so it should be a wonderful experience.  So, anyway, I am feverishly trying to finish my SS so I can throw it on at Camp.  I totally love this pattern and may make another in “pretty” vs. functional yarn.

Have a great holiday weekend with family and friends!!

Some loyal readers may have noticed over the years that we do not feature a lot of sock projects on our blog.  Sally and I do knit socks, but it is a rare occurrence and I personally have not knit a pair in years.  I prefer almost anything over socks.  I know there are knitters out there who love to knit socks, but they probably aren’t readers 😉 !!  I do L-O-V-E sock yarn, which is why I am such a fan of the cute shawlette.

So, to get me to pick up the sock banner, I have to be inspired.  The new Knitty just came out and there are three sock patterns that I liked: Chasing Snakes, Lingerie, and Double Heelix.  Double Heelix not only caught my eye because they are fun and cute, BUT were rated “Extra Spicy.”   Hmmm, a challenge!!  (I would link to Knitty, but the links did not work — ??). 

I loved the green and teal color combo so much I rushed to The Yarnery and cleaned them out of Malabrigo Sock Yarn in Solis (blue-green) and Lettuce (mono-tonal soft, acid green).  The colors are very nice together. 

The pattern calls for Judy’s Magic Cast On — a technique I recently learned in order to make Acanthus.  It is easy once you figure it out, but it was hard for me to figure out!  I did manage but…

The socks start with the Double Heelix heel.  It is the challenging part.  After the heel is done, it is pretty smooth sailing.  I am not yet done with Sock #1, but so far, so good.  They are a great fit!  Jeny Staiman gives you three sizes, but I needed a larger size.  I have a high arch, which means my diagonal foot measurement (as described in the pattern) was bigger than the largest size.  It was easy to make size adjustments by following the guidelines given for the other sizes.  Jeny does an unusual short row toe, but I just did my standard toe shaping.

The blue is actually the foot being started (I should have turned this the other way!)

Jeny also created a YouTube video that shows how to do the heelix, which is very helpful.  Thank goodness I am making these because now I have a portable project!!

PS: I received a comment from Jeny (the designer) asking me to include more details about my modifications to enlarge the sock.  I am happy to oblige!

To enlarge: I did 11 cycles and ended up with 36 sts.  Cast on 44 across arch for 80 sts. Decreased to 72 to complete the foot and the cuff.  When I get to the ribbing, I may increase back to 80 and go down to 2.25 mm dpns (they are the size I have!).

Ravelry Link to my Heelixified Socks

PS2: To our loyal readers who also knit socks — I was kidding that sock knitters would not read our blog!  Notice that there is a 😉 with that statement?  Sock knitters are everywhere.  But my point was, if you go to a blog looking for socks, you are going to be disappointed at The Rainey Sisters.  If you come looking for sweaters, lace, cables, beading, and general all around knitting-related gibberish, then you are in the right place.  And all are very welcome!! 🙂

I am back to work.  Back to not knitting all day.  Back to s-l-o-w progress on my WIPs.  So sad!  And yes, I do want cheese and crackers with my whine!

Work was okay, but I was so sore yesterday.  I collapsed into my little nest.  I cannot get up the energy to work on my boring Summer Solstice Cardigan, even on the day of its namesake.

For my four weeks off, I am four for four lace projects.  I finished the fourth on Sunday, on my very last official day off.  It is yet another stunning design by Romi Hill, called Fiori di Sole.  I knit it out of 100% Mulberry Silk Laceweight, hand dyed by Miss Babs in lovely tonal shades of raspberry, cranberry, and pink lemonade.  I added a smattering of beads, which were probably unnecessary except to add annoyance to the knitting process.  When it was finished, blocked and drying, I was amazed again at how wonderful knitting is: a fifth of a mile of silk thread becomes an elaborate, beautiful web.

Le sigh.  Back to the grind.

PS: I have not knit a single stitch since I started back to work!  I knew I would slow down, but did not expect to stop in my tracks!!