theraineysisters knitting and so much more

Have you ever googled your name?  Some other Susan Rainey goes by the stage (?) name Sparkles the Clown for kids’ parties — IT IS NOT ME!!  But there are some sparkles in my knitting life!

I usually opt for very traditional yarn and colors.  I have tried to branch out from time to time, but I seldom stray.  When I went to The Yarn Garage last Wednesday, I saw some gorgeous yarn.  They had variations of it kitted up with a sequined yarn for a simple shawlette (price: a mere $89).  I am all about the shawlette lately and I love the yarn, so here I be.  The proud owner of sparkly yarn!

The kits come is a very cute and functional bag.

I want to start this NOW, but I have a couple of things to wrap up.

This looks like something my alter ego, Sparkles the Clown, might be interested in! 😉

PS: A couple of you have asked about the pattern I will use.  The kit came with a pattern, and I am using the pattern they provided because it looked great and is made for this yarn.  It is the Zephyr Shawl by Lauren Scarpo.  The Rav pics do NOT do it justice!!!  It apparently was in the June 2010 issue of Knit ‘n Style.

Yesterday I had to drive to the far side of the moon for me for a work related event — way on the south side of the Twin Cities.  SO, I thought I should stop by Steven B.’s Yarn Garage, since I rarely get down that direction.   First off, I was no where near Yarn Garage!  I was southwest and YG is southeast!   Oh well.  My lack of knowledge got me there because I may have changed my mind otherwise.  I live northwest, so the drive home was 1.5 hours 🙁 .

They are so nice at YG.  And an announcement: they now sell Madeline Tosh yarns!  I’m not sure that it’s available in too many places in town.  They opened the box just for me and it was swoon worthy! 

I did buy a LITTLE something, but no time for a picture now.

I am sure that most of you are familiar with Rosemary Hill, aka Romi Hill. 

She is the talented designer of beautiful lace, such as the Ice Queen Cowl, Brandywine Shawl, Maia Shawlette, and many other incredible designs.  She is well known for her stunning shawl pins and knitting-inspired jewelry.   She is the author of Elements of Style (fabulous knitted jewelry).  Her designs and  jewelry have been featured in Vogue Knitting, Interweave Knits and more.

Romi is also my friend.  I met her through blogging and then in person at Yarnover.  She is a sweet, lovely, generous person; talented beyond description and truly creative and original.

Romi lives in the breathtaking wine country of California with a husband and two growing boys.  Both Romi and her husband work from home and also home school their kids, so “close knit” really applies to their household.  Romi agreed to be subjected to an informal phone interview with me as I attempted to find out what makes her tick as a designer.

S: Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed for our blog!  Sally and I both admire your work tremendously.

R: My pleasure!

S: When did you really start to feel like your design career was taking off?  Was there a moment when you thought, “I have arrived?”

R: Have I arrived?  I live in my myopic little world and am unaware of what’s going on out there [in the knitting world].  There are a lot of people who don’t know who I am, but then someone will come up to me and recognize me!  I think things started to take off at the end of 2009.   I was asked to design for a few magazines and then Brandywine came out.  I don’t know if it was the combination of it being a quick, one-skein shawl and the charitable aspect of it [Help for Haiti], but things seemed to take off then.

S: I always thought of Ice Queen as a turning point [Ice Queen appeared in Knitty in Winter 2007 and there are over 1400 projects in Ravelry]. 

S: And seeing  your shawl pins discussed in Vogue!  How much time do you spend a day on your jewelry and designing?

R: I spend probably more time per day than people with regular jobs — at least 8-10 hours a day, and also one or both weekend days.  I kind of pick away at it all the time.

S: I associate your work with lace.  Is that your focal area?

R: I love lace, I really do.  I love the negative space.  Before I started designing shawls I did a lot of texture and sweaters.  I would love to combine cables and lace into something.

S: Sally and I are both making Leyfi (pronounced Lie-Fee, shown above).  What inspired that particular design?

R: It started when I saw a lace cowl and thought, “That type of thing would look great as the neck of a sweater.”  Then the concept of a doily and a round yoke took shape.  I wanted to make an Icelandic-type sweater with lace.  Eunny [Yang, Interweave Knits editor] thought something softer would be better and suggested Tinka [Merino Roving by Tahki] mixed with cobweb weight cashmere and silk [Superior by Filatura Di Crosa] would be softer next to the skin.

S: Ya think?  It is very pricey yarn!

R: True!  But I needed something chunky to achieve the look I wanted. 

S: How do you come up with appropriate sizes?

R: I use standard guidelines and reference books.  Plus, I check the fit along the way.

S: My Leyfi appears to be fitting perfectly, so something is working! 

S: Sally and I are also making your Maia Shawlette (above).  It, too, is an extremely clever design!  We love the variation you came up with on the garter tab cast on [incorporating a large leaf].  I also love the fact that the border works with any number of repeats.

R: I have started doing that with all my shawls.  People have different amounts of yardage and want different sized shawls.  This way they can make it the size they want.

S: I love your shawlettes: they make use of one skein of sock yarn.

R: I like that, too.  I love sock yarn but do not like to knit socks.  This way I can use the sock yarn I have accumulated!

S: I’m with you there!  I love sock yarn and don’t like knitting socks either!  What inspires you?

R: Taking walks [in the wine country] inspires me.  It is beautiful!

S: What’s next for you?

R: I have three secret projects going, the 2011 Pins & Lace Club is coming up, and I am continuing to work on my Seven Shawls to Knit E-Book.

S: I’m going to have to knit faster to keep up!

R: I’ll try to design faster to give you something to knit!

I want to thank Romi for taking the time to talk to me today.  My next Romi project will be the stunningly beautiful Fiori di Sole:

Stop, Romi!  I’m way behind already!

Thank you for all of your sympathetic comments!  You would think I would be knitting up a storm, but every night I am so tired, I flop on the couch!  I am hoping that today I’ll be a bit perkier. 

The dinner went extremely well.  We had a very casual menu so it wasn’t a lot of work.  I need to do this more often as my house is STILL clean!  I don’t hate my house when it’s clean!  I wish a neighbor would stop by so I could invite them in instead of standing guard at the door hoping they can’t see past me! 😉

There are many reasons not to like housework — too numerous to list.  But I think I have come up with a new one.  Last evening as I was emptying the dishwasher, I put a coffee cup in the left side of the cupboard, which pushed another cup out of the right side of the cupboard: a very heavy, white porcelain mug.  It hit the counter and broke, and then proceeded to the floor.  A large chunk of it hit me above my heel, right at the location of the Achilles Tendon.  It bled like crazy and hurt like hell.  The gash is the shape of an inverted “V” with each leg ~1 inch long.   I could see white behind the flap of skin and presumed that the shard was still embedded in my ankle.  No.  It was my tendon (when I heard that I about passed out!!).  They stitched me up, but I am in pain and limping. 

We have put off our little cookout until tomorrow.  And no, Jena (youngest daughter), I did not do this to ruin your life.  Though, as we all know, everything I do is done in order to ruin her life! 😉

PS: I love Sivani’s idea of convalescence yarn!!