theraineysisters knitting and so much more

What more could a knitter want than another Swallowtail Shawl??  I loved my first (in Malabrigo Sock, color Solis) so much I decided to make one more.  I got the yarn last year as  a result of the 2009 Sock Summit.  People could vote on different hand-dyed sock yarns from a variety of sources.  I fell for Georgia Peach (at least, I think that was the name!) by Three Irish Girls.  I liked it so much that I ordered a skein.  It took months.  So long, in fact, that I totally forgot about it.  It was like a little surprise package when it arrived!!

I couldn’t think of a good project for it until the last couple of weeks when I needed a second Swallowtail as a shop sample.  The colourway isn’t typical for me, but it is in my “warm, summer palette.” 

I used US 6 needles as called for.  With my first, I used a US 4 and added 5 repeats of the Budding Lace Chart.  They ended up the identical size.  The peach one is looser — and not quite as nice, in my HO. 

As luck would have it, Sharon from the Three Irish Girls will be here next weekend at Darn.Knit {Anyway} in Stillwater.  I didn’t realize until today that Sharon was conducting a workshop.  I teach that day myself so I wouldn’t be able to attend, but I may stop by to see if there is any yarn to buy look at.

Twinsetjan commented on my last post:

“Yay for knitting warriors!!  Twinsetellen got me into the next level of knitting while I was stationed in Iraq.  She sent me a sock pattern, yarn and dpns and told me to just figure it out.  (Up till then I’d been a very basic knitter!)  Knitting in an up-armored HMWVV is one of my favorite memories.”

I love reading Ellen and Jan’s blog because we share so much in common (and they happen to be very interesting people): two knitting sisters, one in Minnesota, one in or near our nation’s capitol.  I really like their blog format of writing a letter to the other in way of an update.

Ellen was certainly instrumental in advancing Jan’s knitting to the next level!!  Surly did (and still does)  the same for me.  Years ago, she got kind of pushy and told me I HAD to branch out beyond knitting in one color.  She dragged me downtown to Ram Wools yarn shop (yes, it used to be located in Minneapolis, right downtown in kind of the warehouse district).  My daughter was 3 at the time, so I figured if I made something for her, it would be easier.  This pattern is an Annabel Fox design from an old Rowan pattern book (Rowan Children #1), and is called the Bill and Ben Cardigan.

That same day I bought some sale yarn in apricot and after completing the above, I tackled another intarsia design from the same book and designer, called Magic Dragon:

The rest is history…once I started using more than one color, I never looked back!  I guess I have to thank Sally for pushing me beyond my perceived limits and expanding my knitting world.

I certainly enjoyed myself at Eat-O-Rama -er- Knit-O-Rama!  What a great day — kudos to the fabulous planning committee. 

Let me get the important part out of the way first: the food.  The event was held at The Northland Inn in Brooklyn Park.  I live in Brooklyn Park and have attended many events there. 

Our Room

Outside our room was the snack kiosk.  In the morning, it was stocked with a continental breakfast: pastries, juice, coffee, hard boiled eggs, bagels, fruit, yogurt, etc.  Wonderful.   For lunch, we had the pleasure of sampling their famous buffet: salads, hot entrees, made-to-order grill (I had walleye!), specialty desserts…yum!  After that, we returned to our meeting room and discovered that the breakfast kiosk had been replaced with afternoon snacks: cheese & crackers, bars & cookies, pretzels, gummy bears, malted milk balls, and assorted sodas.  Okay.  I was in heaven!!  Clearly, I could live there and be happy for life!

The Program
A few months ago, an article appeared in the StarTribune about an American soldier in Iraq who was himself a knitter and taught his fellow soldiers how to knit.  Many of us implored the Guild to arrange for him to speak to our group.  Staff Sargent John Sorich IV was the keynote presenter at Knit-O-Rama.

Staff Sargent John Sorich IV

It was more than amazing.  John started out by describing the role his platoon (? right word ?) played in Iraq building bridges for use by both the military and the civilian population.   He talked about the unbearable heat, the emotional toll, and the sense of accomplishment.  After that, he talked about knitting — he learned here in the States and brought his yarn and needles with him.  Despite a bit of ribbing (pun intended!) from his peers, he eventually convinced a few of his buddies to give it a try to help stave off the boredom of their non-working hours.  Several of them really enjoyed it.  He had pictures and video of their knitting group and brought FOs to share.

The curved item in the upper right of the last picture is the ammo magazine cover he knitted from parachute cord, using pencils for knitting needles to get gauge!  You’ll note that all of his FOs are knit in “army green” using vintage patterns from a WWII knitting book.  I believe he said the color is Cascade 220 # 9547.   He said his current project is his first sweater, in (you guessed it) #9547 using one of the vintage sweater patterns!!

John was a great speaker, humble and very interesting.  It was wonderful hearing his story and we were all very grateful that he shared it with us.

Next was the Ugliest Knitting contest — very few entries!!  I think most of us rip out or discard our failures (or gift them….!!), so not many people had anything to show.

Rox Richardson and I were next up for Stump Ask the Expert.  

Susan and Rox

Rox is well known on Ravelry for answering technical knitting questions.  She writes for the Ravelry Newsletter and has a group devoted to her called Rox Rocks with over 550 members.  We answered questions from the audience for about an hour.  Last on the agenda was yours truly, discussing how to enter items in the Minnesota State Fair.

All in all, I think everyone enjoyed the day as much as I did.  I sure hope the Guild offers more of these events in the future.

From Chloe:

“I read somewhere a supposition by a knitter that the reason Middle Ages knitted stockings etc., looked so evenly stitched was the mere passage of time, the element that allowed every knitted item – eventually! – to block out evenly.   I have always thought it useful to hold that thought!”

I had heard that, too, about an Egyptian form of knitting…after thousands of years it looked like a machine had made it!  Egads!  Can we wait that long??!!??