theraineysisters knitting and so much more

I suffered from extremely crooked teeth as a child.  I had braces for four years and several oral surgeries.  I even suffered through a second round of braces in my 60’s!  No, my teeth still aren’t perfect, but the point is I don’t like crooked teeth.

I also don’t care for “crooked teeth” in my knitting.  You know what I mean.  Uneven stitches.  I have been knitting for a long time and have spent no small part of that time trying to improve the appearance of my knitting.  I have come to realize that it isn’t always my fault.  For instance, the choice of knitting needles can produce different results.  Another big factor is yarn.  Some yarns knit like a dream — stitches smooth as silk!  Oh, how I love knitting with that kind of forgiving, beautiful yarn!!

Some yarns on the other hand are known for their tendency to be unforgiving.  Linen is one such yarn.  But linen in summer is a wonderful thing, so I am currently working on a cute little cardi (Flora Cardi) in Classic Elite Firefly (75% Rayon, 25% Linen / Flax; 155 yards / 50 grams; color Capri).  My knitting needs braces!

I love this yarn, even though the knitting looks horrible.  But, I have hope.  I have a beautiful garment gifted to me by my fellow blogger and sister knit in Firefly, called Claire de Lune by Carol Sunday.  She called me quite a while ago now and said she had tossed her Claire de Lune in the trash without even seaming the underarms!  Ack!  I told her to drag it out of the trash and give it to me!  It is now one of my very best favorite summer tops.  It just didn’t fit her.  The waterfall fronts come almost to my knees, and Surly is 7 inches shorter than I am, so it looked ridiculous on her.  Yay!!! 🙂

Hmmm, I wonder if she’ll knit this one for me…

One of the few blogs I read is Mason-Dixon Knitting.  I know.  As a blog writer I should be a blog reader… 🙁

ETA (June 6): Mason-Dixon Knitting just announced that they have changed their name to Modern Daily Knitting.  Dana’s post and the comments by others opened their eyes to the racially charged subtext of their name.  Good change!!

Today’s MDK post by Dana Williams-Johnson is gut wrenching and a must-read.  I “met” Dana at last January’s Sweater Camp hosted by Darn Knit Anyway.  I was late to the Jelly Bean party, but started following Dana on Instagram after that introduction.  She is a prolific knitter of very vibrant hues.  Not my usual palette, but quite fetching.  Her dog Jelly Bean often has a matching ensemble, for which Dana is renowned.

Andrea Mowry just launched a new hat pattern called Minted.  I had some yarn in stash, the pattern was less than $5, so I bit!  I used BeWoolen DK paired with Lang Lace Mohair.  It created a lovely fabric…at the exact gauge called for!  But, oops.  Hat was very small!  Many others said the same thing!

My usual blocking method for hats involves my snowflake bowl, which fits into the groove in the lid of an old Folger’s container perfectly!  This keeps the snowflake bowl locked in place.  The bad news is that the shape of the container is straight and stretches out the ribbing.  I don’t usually care that much, but for this hat I wanted the ribbing to retain its elasticity.

I scoured my kitchen, looking for the perfect combination of shapes.  I found it!  The black plastic lid snaps onto another blue bowl (on the right side in the above picture).

This curved shape allowed me to cinch in the ribbing while it was blocking:

So, the hat is “okay,” but small for me.  I love the big pom and may gift this to someone with a peanut-sized head.

KnitPicks just launched a new handpainted version of Aloft, their laceweight mohair and silk.  They also launched my design, called Sparkler!!  I knit the Sparkler prototype using the original Aloft yarn…LOVE IT!!  It really is fabulous yarn at a fabulous price!  AND, the pattern is F R E E !!

There are three sizes: narrow scarf (10 x 75″), wide scarf (15 x 75″), and stole (20 x 65″).  They take 2-3-4 balls respectively; Aloft is $7.99 a ball!!  The size 6 beads used are large for laceweight yarn, but work because the yarn is fuzzy.  This makes beading a breeze.  The fabric is soft against the skin and warm for its weight.  The prototype shown below is the wide scarf in color Carbon.

The beading consists of sparkler sprays on each end and a bold center motif.

It started out innocently enough.  I started out knitting the Sandness Cardigan from a recent Interweave Knits.  I thought the style was cute, nice cabling, etc.  I spent months trying different yarns (spent a ton of $$ test knitting skeins 🙁 ).  I landed on old standby Rowan Felted Tweed.  You knit the sweater on size 3 needles, so it was a bit of a slog.  But, I enjoyed knitting it.

I had some doubts all along because of the unusual construction AND the lack of ANY OTHER RAVELRY PROJECTS!!!  That is such a red flag!  I was getting pretty far along and had questions that the available photos (skimpy at best) could not answer.  I contacted the designer (Mone Dräger) and she responded, answered my questions, and provided a very helpful photograph.  My doubts persisted however.  The sweater was very over sized, long, and drapey.  I just could not picture it with long sleeves.  I could picture it looking like my Capture the Moment, however!!

Here is my Sandness laying on top of my Capture the Moment:

Hmmm.  I opted out of the sleeves.  I simply did 2×2 ribbed cuffs and called it done!

I am very happy with it.  I do think that I could have added long sleeves and it would have worked.  Maybe some day I’ll change my mind and add sleeves…I have enough yarn!!

I also did something a little different when sewing on the buttons.  I used a large bead for the button shank!  I also added small beads on the top of the buttons between the two holes, which I have done many times before.  The Rainey Sisters Tip of the Whenever shows close up pics!!

PS to Cynthia: I worked one row buttonholes over 5 sts to center them.  The method is described in this post.

I just finished a hat out of Brooklyn Tweed LOFT…yarn from my stash!  It is Andraos, with a bold graphic design.  I used bold contrast colors and a splash of red at the brim.

Invisible stranding helped me across the 19-stitch carries!  I lightly felted this little guy by swishing it in hot water when I blocked it.  I wanted to smooth out the very rustic appearance of the LOFT yarn.  It is a lightweight, warm, unisex hat that I have already worn on cool spring days.

PS to Suzan: I might have to pull it out again!  It’s suppose to be in the 30’s tonight!

The MKGs stellar annual event, Yarnover, was set for the upcoming weekend, but was cancelled of course.  I bought a summery linen shirt that I thought I would wear.  When I got the shirt home, I did a stash dive, pulling out every color I could find that went with the shirt. I chose The Miller’s Daughter so I could combine colors in the garter sections and have solid colors in the lace sections…to mimic the woven fabric.  The colors aren’t perfect, but I think they go.  I know some of the yarns I used, but all were already wound without the labels so some are mystery yarns!

The colors are the closest here, but it’s so hard to capture color:

I did a picot bind off:

I used my No End Stripes techniques, so only one end to weave in: the tail after binding off!  There is a picture of a written chart in the video that may be hard to see.  Click here for a pdf copy: Minimizing Ends in Knitting.

It never hurts to repeat!

Easter is Sunday, and you still have enough time to knit this small bunny, or should I say Small Rabbit, which is the name of the pattern.  I have been in the knitting doldrums of late, as I’ve heard many knitters are.  I needed something small, cute, and fun to knit.  Something that I could actually finish!  I made this over the course of two days, but you could finish it in one if you start in the morning!!

I used worsted weight yarn from my stash…so bunny was almost free!  The sweater is my own addition.  I made this for the not-yet-born baby in the family…the baby for whom I knit the little grandpa sweater (Elevenses).  The bunny’s shorts are from the same yarn so I thought a grandpa sweater for the bunny would be fitting.

And the tail is adorable!!

Another QUICK knit is these little hearts!  They whip up in no time.  What are they good for?  Absolutely nothin’…say it again!  But they, too, are small, cute, and fun to knit.

PS to P: I think you hit the nail on the head!!  Knitting feeling like a chore instead of a respite.  Because I’m no longer working, my life has been quieter anyway.  But, I always felt busy: knitting groups, lunch with friends, having the kids over for dinner, flying to Colorado to visit Surly, etc.  The curve that has flattened for me is all the high points of my life!!

No, not a typo!  I just finished Katie’s Kep, the 2020 Shetland Wool Week free hat pattern.  I was looking forward to this excuse to do a little fairisle knitting.  My arthritis didn’t appreciate the top of the crown,  but I soldiered on!  I was lucky to have the main colors in stash.  I wish that my purple was a bit softer.  I should have substituted something else!

I experimented a little bit with a technique I’ve used haphazardly in the past for mitigating the “jog” you get in fairisle patterns, that amounts to more of a break in the continuity of the patterning.  Here you can see what I mean on these Fjord Mitts.  The back of the left mitt shows the break in the pattern caused by working in the round.  I wear these mitts with the bad side down, so no one can see it!  But hats are different…there’s nowhere to hide!

A recent Interweave Knits (Winter 2020) had a great article on how to manipulate the pattern to minimize the break.  I charted Katie’s Kep in Excel and played around with the transition from one round to the next.  It was semi successful:

The top motif was totally cut in half and “broken,” but mine is only kind of broken!  The hat is very large, but my husband and I both have big heads so the fit is perfect!

PS — Wore my kep on a morning walk today.  It was cool and breezy, but my kep kept my ears and head warm!  It fits perfectly, too.

With several inches of slushy snow on the ground, I’ve found myself missing the early springs we had in Washington, DC.  The cherry blossoms and forsythia are in bloom there and I know some of my more adventurous tulips and daffodils would have emerged by now.  Here, it won’t be truly safe to plant flowers until after Mother’s Day.

A few weeks ago, as I longed for that first blossoming of warmth, Mirella Freni died.  She was an Italian soprano.  I first heard her on a recording of La Bohème with Luciano Pavarotti.  Her voice was otherworldly.  I used to listen to her haunting version of “mi chiamano Mimi” over and over again.  It is still gorgeous after all these years.

I had just started knitting a self-designed sweater out of a luscious blend of two Shibui yarns when I heard about Freni:  Nest and Silk Cloud in the color Vintage Rose.

These lines from Mimi’s aria spoke to me:

Ma quando vien lo sgelo
Il primo sole è mio
Il primo bacio dell’aprile è mio!
Il primo sole è mio.
Germoglia in un vaso uno rosa
Foglia a foglia la spio!
Cosi gentile il profumo d’un fiore!

(but when the thaw comes
the first sun is mine,
April’s first kiss is mine,
the first sun is mine.
A rose blooms in a vase,
Leaf by leaf I watch it open,
The scent of a flower is so subtle)*