theraineysisters knitting and so much more

June 10, 2007

From Sally — What in the World Am I Knitting Next?

Filed under: Cap Shawl,Sally's Mermaid — surly @ 12:25 pm

I know you’re all dying to know. First, let me thank you for all of your kind comments on the Cap Shawl and on my daughter, who modeled it for me. It is a beautiful shawl and it is an easy pattern. Really — it is. As I said when I first posted about it, the only thing that might be tricky for a beginning lace knitter is getting started. Once you have some stitches on the needle, the pattern is easy to knit and remember. The border is not difficult either; it’s just slow.

One other note: because Kidsilk Haze is difficult to rip out (the mohair in it acts like velcro), you might want a smoother yarn if you are a newbie.

Oh! And thanks Deirdre for the compliment on my garden. I should have taken pictures a week ago when the primrose and peonies were still in bloom. I’m in a bit of a flower lull at the moment.

So, what am I up to now? Well, I do have to finish the baby blanket (Widdicombe Fair, aka the Carousel Baby Blanket redux). I put it down to finish the Cap Shawl and that baby is due in July which, if I can count correctly, is coming up soon.

I have also picked up one of my *coughgeezhowmanyofthesedoIhavelyingaround?cough* unfinished head start projects: Hanne Falkenberg’s Mermaid. I was actually pretty far on this one when I got seduced by something else:

I started it with a provisional cast on (on the left side of the photo); when I get to the collar on the right side I’ll pick up stitches around the neck and the live stitches waiting on the left side and knit it all in one piece so I don’t have a seam in the middle of the neck. I’m not sure why Hanna didn’t write this pattern that way because she has done that on some of her other designs. Not that I have a cupboard full of unknit Hanne Falkenberg kits or anything.

June 9, 2007

From Susan — Can You Say, “Good Timing”?

Filed under: Susan's Kauni Cardigan — lv2knit @ 4:42 pm

Oh, my!  Lookie what came today!!!!  I am again BESIDE myself, but this time in a good way.  The Kauni fairy left me a box with six of the biggest, fattest skeins of yarn you have ever seen. 

KauniYarnUnwound.jpg

The colors are spectacular — quite bright and sunny — and it appears that the weight of the yarn is slightly heavier than fair isle jumper weight yarn.  Next task: roll this puppy into a MEGABALL and start swatching.

And why is the timing so critical?  Remember when I said that this is the new “it” knitting project?  More prophetic words could not have been spoken.  The Yarn Harlot just started the Kauni Cardigan and posted about it on her blog!  I am so glad our order preceded THAT little announcement!  Whew!  Timing is everything…

 

From Susan — Who Says Knitting is not Brain Surgery??

Filed under: Peacock Shawl -- Susan's — lv2knit @ 10:08 am

Anyone who says knitting is not like brain surgery has never tried to rip out a few rows of fine lace knitting! 

Late last night I was trying to get one more row in on the Peacock Shawl and kaplooie!  A stitch popped off the needle and the shawl started to disembowel!  I attempted to fix it, but it was nearly impossible — too many yarnovers, triple decreases, etc. and it had unravelled 3 rows back.  Needless to say, I was BESIDE myself!  My lifeline was 16 rows back and I did not want to go back that far, seeing as how I had already done that once this week (true confession time 😉 ).  I knew if I went back to that lifeline, I would put Peacock away, perhaps forever.

So, I decided that I needed to try once again to rip back a few rows instead of going all the way to my lifeline.  This was at 12 midnight, so I was very tired and it was very dark.  But emergency brain surgery waits for no one.

This is a picture of my operating suite in the harsh light of day.  You can see my instruments: scalpels, sutures, magnifying devices, etc.

PeacockSurgery.jpg

Peacock is being knit on US 4 needles, so I ripped back past the aneurysm (I believe about 5 rows) and used a US 1 needle to pick up the sts as I pulled out the yarn.  I did so in such a way as to be picking up the purled sts, not the right side “lacework” row.  This actually worked better than I had anticipated.  I then transferred each st to the US 4 needle, making sure every st was placed on the needle in the correct position, counting all sts, making sure the pattern was absolutely correct, and replacing all stitch markers.  Whew! 

This morning I knitted the next chart row AND (you guessed it) placed a lifeline!  It was painstaking, but the patient came through the procedure perfectly, though the surgeon is a bit worse for wear!

June 8, 2007

From Sally — Cap Shawl Finished!!!

Filed under: Cap Shawl — surly @ 11:22 am

It’s going up to a refreshing 98 degrees in the nation’s capital today with high humidity. Yes, a perfect day to force my lovely daughter to model the just-finished Cap Shawl from Victorian Lace Today. As you may recall, I knit it out of Kidsilk Haze in Blush. The pattern called for eight skeins; I used just under seven. I think that is in part due to my having used a smaller needle than called for. The pattern suggests a U.S. 7, but I used a U.S. 6. (The border took almost two skeins.)

Here it is just off the needles before it was blocked. It measured about 54″ in diameter. The finished size was supposed to be 74″ — I knew then that I would not be getting that large a shawl, but that’s in part because I changed needle size.

Here it is blocked and pinned. (The white dot you see on the shawl is a daisy pin that I forgot to pick up.) I was able to stretch it out to about 68″ in diameter, so it’s taller than I am, which is what I wanted.

Finally, here it is free of its pins. These are not great photographs, but it was a bit miserable this morning to be outside draped in mohair and silk.

Brownie points if you spy Mighty Mite wandering around in some of the pictures.

June 6, 2007

From Susan — Tap, Tap, Tap

Filed under: Susan's Kauni Cardigan — lv2knit @ 5:09 pm

That is the tapping of my toes as I wait impatiently for the post.  I am hoping that my next knitting project will soon arrive.  I am going to make the Kauni Cardigan, which is the new “it” project.  I did not mention “it” sooner because I did not want the hoarders to buy up all the yarn before I could get MINE ordered!!  Unfortunately, I mentioned this project to Amy Detjen and she promptly ordered and received her yarn ;).  She has already started!

So, what is the Kauni Cardigan??  It is a free pattern designed by Ruth Sorensen of Denmark that uses Kauni EQ yarn — a Rainbow colourway — to create a simple faux fair isle sweater using only two skeins of yarn.  The yarn does all of the heavy lifting. 

KauniCardigan.jpg

This is not the best picture, but you get the idea. 

Lisette Bilskov of the Yarn Store in Denmark carries the yarn and is very nice to work with.  Sally, Kim and I ordered our yarn together because the cost of shipping from Denmark is nearly equivalent to the cost of the yarn itself.  For approximately $50 worth of yarn, it costs $40 to ship.  It was only $180 for the yarn for three sweaters when shipped together.

This is the perfect mindless knitting project for soccer this summer.  For every ten rows of pattern, only 4 involve stranding, and the stranding is absolutely mindless.  I had planned on doing the Large Lace Collar Bohus, but could not get myself motivated to do the collar portion — it will now have to wait until fall.

So, I wait…tap, tap, tap 😉

PS — the link from Marina (see comments) had a swatch showing the gradual change in the colors:

kaunieqcc.jpg

June 4, 2007

From Susan — In Response to Lisa

Filed under: Uncategorized — lv2knit @ 9:31 pm

When I made the Modular Tote, I read the directions for the bottom and could not make heads or tails out of them.  It made no sense to me!  But I forged ahead and figured it out.  Lisa is now in the same predicament so I will share my findings with her and all of you as well.  If you never knit the tote, this will be of no use to you whatsoever!

The first half of the bottom is knit and forms a mitered rectangle.  You cast on 120 sts: 20 for each “side” and 80 along the bottom.  As the decreases are done, a rectangle emerges.  The short black bar at the top is the final 40 sts as they are bound off. 

To create the second half of the bottom, you start by casting on 20 sts — which will end up forming a straight line with the 20 sts from the first half.  Then you pick up 80 sts along the 80 sts in the center of Rectangle #1; the last 20 sts are cast on and form the second half of the line on the other side.  As you knit back and forth like Rectangle #1, Rectangle #2 forms a mirror image of the first and is attached invisibly along the center of the bottom.  Because I used a provisional cast on, my 80 sts were “live” — I did not pick up, but rather released the provisional cast on and knitted the 80 sts.  

My diagram is not to scale but hopefully it shows the construction:

Diagram.jpg

Here we see the bottom joined in real life.  You can also see the provisional cast on of the two “20-stitch” sections of Rectangles 1 & 2 on the righthand side of the knitting.

MiteredTite003.jpg

Here we see the 40 sts I picked up along the lefthand side of the bottom as they are knit to form the sides of the mitered bag. 

MiteredTite002.jpg

After the square is knitted, you work a tringular shaped piece that tapers to the top of the bag.

MiteredTote5-27-07.jpg

Here you see how the bottom and sides are joined to the front of the bag.

MiteredTote013.jpg

There are not really “flaps” at the top, but insets to form the sides of the bag.  I hope this is helpful. 

And, Lisa, please forgive Sally’s attempt to “help” – I don’t think she’s had any modular training. 😉

June 3, 2007

From Susan — Throw Me a Line!

Filed under: Peacock Shawl -- Susan's — lv2knit @ 1:10 pm

Let’s recap: The purpose of a lifeline is to provide a place in your knitting that you can rip back to if necessary.  The key to a lifeline is that all before it must be error free, or why didn’t you fix it already?  I have been placing lifelines at the end of each chart on the Peacock Shawl — except for Chart #6.  Why?  Because I was so excited to start on Chart #7 that I forgot. 

So, I had just finished Row 9 of Chart 7 and decided I better put in a lifeline – I did NOT want to have to rip back all the way to Chart 5 if a mistake reared its ugly head.  Before setting the lifeline, I knew I had to validate that there were no mistakes, and I was quite confident that I had it all going on!  I was cooking along and paying attention and every row was lining up with the previous row.  Au contraire, Over-Confident One!  There was a serious mistake in the very center of the shawl.  I decided to purl back halfway to the center and fix it on the back side because it was such a chore to pick out the sts one by one over hundreds of sts.

Yes, you guessed correctly.  I could not fix it, so now I had to rip out the half a purl row AND the last half of the knit row.  It took forever. I still could not figure out what I did, but did eventually fix it.  I finished up the row and decided that I better hurry up and set my lifeline.  I recounted to validate the perfection of the row and — tada — there was ANOTHER mistake!!!!!  AAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!  This was easily fixed, but I’ll tell you — lace is an easy thing to botch.  You think you are really paying attention and a yarnover passes you by.

Here I am on Chart 7.  It is deceiving because Chart 7 is the final chart before the edging, so you think you are nearing the end.  But, I am probably only 50% done with the knitting.  It is true!  Chart 7 is ~50 rows and each is getting longer.  Plus the edging is deep. 

Peacock6-3-07001.jpg

Peacock6-3-07003.jpg

I feel much better now that I have a lifeline.  I may place one every ten rows or so just to feel more secure.

The great part of my knitting this weekend is that I watched Pride and Prejudice and knitted much of the day yesterday.  Oooh Baby — Mr. Darcy is one cute dude (any excuse will do to show this again ;)).

Mr.jpg
“And your parents are doing well?”

PS — I keep having trouble with the center — and it is nothing!!  What is my problem?  NOTE: Rhetorical question 😉

June 1, 2007

From Susan — Inquiring Minds

Filed under: Uncategorized — surly @ 9:53 am

Some of you asked about where to get the Mitered Tote pattern:
if you are interested in making your own Modular Felted Tote Bag (which I kept calling the Mitered Tote by accident!), you can get the pattern from The Yarnery in St. Paul: 651-222-5793.  Theresa Gaffey works there and has created many nice designs.

May 31, 2007

From Susan — A Glimpse into the Creative Mind

Filed under: Back Story,Designing,Peacock Shawl -- Susan's — lv2knit @ 8:47 pm

I stumbled onto a wonderful tidbit last evening as I was roaming the internet.  It is an article by Dorothy Siemens, designer of the Peacock Feathers Shawl, on the site Knitting Beyond the Hebrides.  In this piece, Dorothy describes the design process she went through in creating her Peacock masterpiece.  She also discusses some of the response she has had to the design by those of us who long for a Peacock of our own. 

It is a very fun read and really lets you in on the ups and downs of design.  I do not profess to be a designer in Dorothy’s league by any stretch of the imagination, but the frustrations and “indirect route” that define the landscape of knitting design are very familiar territory.  I have often said that a sweater designs itself, though very cryptically.  You have an idea in your head, but it will not let you get there.  It will take you where it needs to go, but you find it only by trial and error. 

I emailed Dorothy in what amounted to a gushy fan letter and her response was so warm and generous — very cool!!  It is wonderful that we have the opportunity to recreate all the gorgeous shawls she has designed — see them at Fiddlesticks Knitting.  Thank you, Dorothy! 

May 30, 2007

From Susan — Seabiscuit by a Nose!!

Filed under: Uncategorized — lv2knit @ 8:11 pm

Why don’t cameras do these things justice!  I really tried to get a GOOD picture of the felted Mitered Tote — to no avail! I wish you could see it in person. 

Here’s a close up of the felting:

MiteredToteFelted.jpg

It is felted to a nice degree: nicely dense and not stretchy.  And it has the boucle finish that I wanted.  Even Hubby commented on how great it looked felted (and he usually just does the ‘uh, looks good’ without looking up thing).  Here you can at least see the difference in size after felting:

MiteredTote015.jpgMiteredToteFelted006.jpg

MiteredToteFelted008.jpg

And Lettie asked, why does Mommy keep making felted bags in the same colors…..???

MiteredToteFelted011.jpg

Lettie, dear, we have a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy around here and you better get used to it ;)!  The above picture (showing one of my many Market Squares bags) is much truer to the color. 

I am extremely pleased with the strap I ended up doing.  I used a provisional cast on for 160 sts; then I worked stripes in the green and red, and did an i-cord bind off all around.  It is the exact width and length I wanted and it felted very nicely, too!! 

MiteredToteFeltedStrap.jpg

So, all in all I am very pleased with the bag.  I do need to ask myself how many is too many, but Sally keeps knitting shawls, right?  Can there be too much of a good thing?

PS — in response to questions — a couple of you wondered about the felting and the fact that knitting usually felts more in one direction than the other.  I’m no expert, but it could be that it felted evenly because the knitting goes in all directions:

Slide1-10.jpgArrows show direction of knitting

This is not the case with the bottom of the bag, but …

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