theraineysisters knitting and so much more

January 22, 2007

From Susan — Poor Little Moebius

Filed under: Knitting Tips,Oregon Cardigan — lv2knit @ 12:53 am

I took the finished Lace Tam to Amazing Threads in Maple Grove to drop it off and pick up Sally’s Moebius Lace Scarf.  It looked so pretty up on the wall, I took a picture.  I felt so bad for poor dejected little moebius that I wanted to take it out to dinner — fatten it up a bit. 

MoebiusatAT.jpg

My moebius may still get done, but for now I have moved on.  Maybe this spring when the pretty color of the KSH and the warming temps re-ignite my moebial inspiration.

RE: the Lace Moebius (Fibertrends pattern AC39).  Since I did not get a chance to share this tip with the class, I will share it with others who may be thinking of making this scarf.  It involves the cast on.  I know many of you use the Cat Bordhi cast on method for doing moebius projects of all sorts, and it would probably work here as well.  However, the pattern comes with its own instructions and the buyer of the pattern may not have the Cat B. book OR the desire to use her cast on method.  Click this link to read about my tip under Knitting Tips. 

I worked on Oregon quite a bit and am now at the NECK SHAPING.  Progress – slow, but sure.  The original Oregon is a v-neck cardi, but I am doing something a bit different with standard neck shaping. 

I really have a hankerin’ for something new.  I have a couple of ideas in mind.  I am torn because on the one hand, you can only make progress when you stick to one thing, but on the other hand, you get bored and enjoy your knitting less.  It is a dilemma.  Knitting is a hobby and my passion and is supposed to be done for enjoyment.  When it becomes boring and drudgery — that does NOT sound enjoyable to moi!  However, I also REALLY enjoy the feeling of accomplishment when I finish something.  Therein lies the dilemma. 

Note to self: don’t think about it too much or your head will implode.

January 21, 2007

From Susan — The Green Berets

Filed under: Back Story,Berry Cluster Pullover,Completed Projects,Lace Tam and Scarf — lv2knit @ 2:30 am

Sally’s gorgeous Bohus was very fun to read about — it is so nice to see things actually get finished every once in a while!  I am going to have to drag out some oldies pretty soon — you know, my “head start” projects as Sally calls them.  And it obviously worked out for her with Blue Shimmer.

My knitting has been somewhat sparse the last few days, though I have been knitting a couple of Lace Tams from my Lace Tam pattern.   One of them was for me.  I thought the tam would be pretty out of Tahki Jolie in color 5016 (key lime green).  It is made out of 70% French Angora, 30% merino and is amazing and soft and gorgeous.  I had seen some at Needlework Unlimited and was reminded that I had a few leftover balls in my paltry, uninspiring stash*.  I don’t get to NU very often because it’s kind of a trek, but I always stop when I’m in the neighborhood.

SublimeLaceTam001.jpg

The sweater I originally made (the hemline is shown in the above picture, which is truer to the actual color than the picture below) is the Berry Cluster Pullover from Knitting on the Edge by Nicky Epstein.  Many of you have seen/purchased one or more books from this series of embellishments.  They are really quite wonderful references.  I won my copy at Knit Out a couple of years ago and was thrilled.

BerryClusterPullover.jpg

I absolutely fell head over heels for this sweater, so my sweater is identical to the one pictured (I can’t get a good picture of mine and have no intention of MODELLING it!).  I made no changes to it — same yarn & color, same neck treatment, same pearls.  Do I look like the picture when I wear it?  Uh, that would be a “no”!   I rarely wear this sweater for two other reasons: I have nothing to go with it and it sheds like crazy!!  But it was a labor of love, and I love to look at it and touch it and sometimes that’s enough.  I have several sweaters like that — I made them for the sheer love of the project without the intention of wearing them.

The other tam I made was for Amazing Threads as a shop sample.  The yarn is Sublime which I described in an earlier post.  It knitted up beautifully!

SublimeLaceTam.jpg

You can see how different the tams look depending on the yarn that is used.  Sublime has great stitch definition.  Both hats worked and both fit so I am happy with them.  This yarn would be great for something special but I’m not sure what at the moment.  I just know it is really nice to knit.

PS — Sally asked why the tams are darker in the center — it is because I scanned them and they cannot lie flat on the scanner plate due to the “embellishment” on the top.  The Jolie tam has a little i-cord knot on top which looks very light because it is pressed against the glass.  In reality, both are a consistent color throughout.  Thanks for the chance to clarify, Surly!

*definition of paltry, uninspiring stash: a collection of yarn you cannot count on for a new knitting project: not enough variety, quality or yardage for anything you would really want to knit.  That is why you will never hear of me joining the “Knit from Your Stash 2007” movement — I would be left empty handed and bare needled! 😉

 

January 20, 2007

From Sally — The Blue Shimmer Is Finished

Filed under: Blue Shimmer,Knitting Tips — surly @ 11:43 am

I’m wearing it as I type this post. It’s a cold, windy day here in Washington, D.C. and the Blue Shimmer is soft, cozy, and warm. It looks beautiful, too, although my sad attempt to take some photographs of it this morning won’t show it off to best advantage.

I’m even going to violate my usual role of no modeling because the way that these Bohus/yoke sweaters drape so nicely over the shoulders is an essential part of the look and fit, and you just can’t see that when they are on a hanger or lying flat. My daughter/model is not home and I just didn’t think I could talk my 15-year-old son into slipping it on, even if he is still half-asleep. (*Takes deep breath as she prepares for self-humiliation.) So, without further ado, here are some photos:

I’ll work up to the modeling gradually by starting with my hand.

Lying flat, which doesn’t show it off but allows you to see the color I added at the hem of the sleeves and body. (The pattern called for ribbing.)

Here is a close up of the yoke.

And finally, my self-portrait.

Pretty artsy, eh? What can I say? I was the only one here besides aforementioned half-asleep son so I had to take the photo myself.

I’d like to add one additional comment about knitting Bohus sweaters. In the book, Poems of Color, the directions suggest using a US 3 for the unpatterned parts of the sweater (sleeves and body), a US 2 for the patterned area (the yoke), and a US 1 for the ribbing (which I didn’t knit). In my experience, the needle sizes suggested for the patterning and the plain knitting should be reversed. The reason is that most knitters will find that their plain stockinette knitting is “looser” than the fair isle-type patterning called for with the yoke. If that is true for you, and you use a larger size needle for the plain area, the problem will be compounded and your sweater will tend to balloon out when you hit the body.

Therefore, I knit the yoke on a US 3 and switched to a US 2 for the body and sleeves. For me, the results were perfect in terms of gauge. From my quick glance at the directions in my new Swedish kit for the Large Collar, it looks as if those directions use the same needle for the yoke and body (with a smaller needle for their ribbing). Again, I will adjust and go up a needle size on the color work. Those directions have you split the sweater after the yoke, so that the body and sleeves are not knit in the round but back and forth. That can also affect gauge. I plan, when I eventually get to that sweater, to knit it in the traditional Bohus way: completely in the round.

My Blue Shimmer has no seams. None. Once you finish the knitting, there is minimal finishing work and the sweater itself fits wonderfully and is very comfortable. I personally see no benefit to adding seams, although everyone’s view is different. Here is one last photo, showing the underarm of the Blue Shimmer so that you can see what I mean by no seams.

January 19, 2007

From Susan — Where were my peeps???

Filed under: Back Story — lv2knit @ 1:19 am

I stopped by Panera Bread per my usual Thursday evening routine to spend quality time with my favorite knitting peeps — PEEPS PLURAL!  I found one peep — PEEP SINGULAR!  Emily was sitting alone, peepless, noshing on a lovely lil meal, when I arrived.  Not that I can’t enjoy knitting with one peep – I certainly did enjoy the time spent with Emily, but where were the other peeps?  Eventually Ellie, Deb and Kris arrived to make a full table, but we are used to needing 3-4 tables strung together to hold everyone.  It was just a bit odd for a non-snowy regular old Thursday not to have a few more knitters in attendance.  Occasionally in the summer when people are “up north” we have small groups, but we have been having 10 or more regulars.  Maybe next week.

Re: Grey’s Anatomy — I think of it as television heroin.  I’m hooked and I need another fix the minute the show ends.   

Re: the resume — there’s more:

  • she liked her job at the marina but they kept docking her pay
  • she got fired from her job at the haunted house because she made too many boo boos

I’ll try to stop now 😉

January 18, 2007

From Susan — Potpourri

Filed under: Back Story,Sunrise Circle Jacket — lv2knit @ 8:34 am

In my work life, I am the manager of a small, staff education department.  One of my duties is the hiring and the firing, so in the course of those duties I have the “opportunity” to read resumes.  Here’s one that I just could not believe — this woman was a total job-hopper and shared not only the multitude of jobs she had held in the past, but also her reasons for leaving:

  • her stint in pool maintenance was cut short because it was too draining
  • she worked for Minute Maid orange juice, but got canned because she could not concentrate
  • she left Midas Muffler because she found the work too exhausting
  • she left her job as a commercial fisherman because she could not live on the net income

Okay, so I will not quit my day job for comedy!!!  😉 😉 😉

On a knitting-related note, I am very excited because last evening I bought some fabric (a batik rayon) to make something to go with my Sunrise Circle:

image

I finished this sweater months ago and have not been able to wear it because my wardrobe is so pathetic (we have touched on my “shabby chic without the chic” wardrobe in previous posts).  My Moebius Scarf class, scheduled to start this Saturday is a NO GO ( 🙁 ) so that leaves me with a free day on my hands ( 🙂 ).  I hope to be wearing this puppy by next week — woo hoo!!

Tonight is Thursdays at 4 [knitting group] AND Grey’s Anatomy (Dr. McDreamy, I’m all yours!) — so it is a good day!

 

January 17, 2007

From Susan — A Mini Update

Filed under: Current Projects,Patterns for Sale,Updates — lv2knit @ 8:28 am

Hi, all.  Well I did decide to go with Option #1 on Oregon: leave it be.  For those of you who have knit fair isle sweaters designed by A S****more, you know that most of her designs are the traditional “T” shape: the body is knit as a straight tube without shaping and then the sleeves are picked up and worked down.  With a FEW of her designs, she did some minimal shaping at the underarm.  Oregon is the first of this type that I have done.  Unlike some of my idols (Marina and Wendy) I have only made three other fair isles and they were of the traditional type.  So, my lil Oregon will be a hybrid of sorts.

My knitting of the past couple of days is two lace tams — one for me out of lime green Tahki Jolie angora and one that is a shop sample.  More on these when the second is finished. 

I will just say that the yarn I am using for the shop is absolutely scrumptious!!!!!!!!!  It is Sublime extra fine merino (75%), silk (20%), and cashmere (5%).  At my LYS it is $9.50 a skein, but this link shows it cheaper.  I’ve not seen it before — anyone used it?  It is a heavy DK weight.  They call it DK, but it borders on worsted.  Extremely soft.  I mean luscious.  I am using the Sage green and will post a picture when more is done.  These lil tams are my portable project for now.  They are tres easy to carry with.

PS — Wendy finished her black Bohus and posted a picture yesterday.  It is absolutely awe inspiring and makes me want to drop Oregon like a pimply-faced teenager for the hunky college guy!!

PS — I think I had an incorrect link to the Sublime — it showed an Aran weight.  I replaced the link.

January 16, 2007

From Sally — The Blue Shimmer Progresses

Filed under: Blue Shimmer — surly @ 7:17 pm

I’ve finished one sleeve of my Bohus Blue Shimmer and I am halfway to the elbow on the second. So, I should be able to play with my Royal Alpaca very, very soon. I may also resurrect another headstart project — I love how fast the sweater seems to go then (if you forget about all of the knitting done before tossing it aside).

Some of you asked questions about the Blue Shimmer in your comments to my last update on it and I tried to answer many of them there. One question I didn’t get a chance to answer was the source of the fiber. I bought The Blue Shimmer as a kit, with cream substituted for the light blue that was supposed to be the main color, while at Meg Swansen’s knitting camp one year. It is Kimmet Croft’s Fairy Hare. Unfortunately, I don’t believe that they have a website. [I was wrong. See below.] The last information I have is:

5850 Schudy Rd., Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin 54495 USA
+1-715-421-0121 (voice), Janice Kimmet, jkimmet@wctc.net
Fairy Hare Yarn–40% angora, 60% rambouillet/merino in authentic Bohus colors. Custom spun by Fingerlakes Woolen Mill and hand-dyed by Mary Jo Burke

As I said in my earlier posts, this yarn has a more handspun look than the kit I ordered from Sweden. In my color way, the blues seemed fuzzier and more angora-like than the cream, although the cream is soft enough for me to wear next to the skin (and will be much softer, I’m sure, once I wet block the sweater).

I asked if someone had more up-to-date contact information, and within a few minutes Marina had stepped to the plate with the web address: Fairy Hare. Thank you, Marina!

I see, from perusing the Fairy Hare website, that she has the yarn kitted up to knit “The Dean.”

the_dean.jpg

It’s always been one of my favorites.

January 15, 2007

From Susan — 2 Bummed 4 Words

Filed under: Current Projects,Oregon Cardigan,Updates — lv2knit @ 11:57 am

As Sally said in March 2006:

From now on, I will read directions. Really. I will.

I made a mistake on Oregon — not a deal breaker, but a bummer nonetheless.  I was supposed to do several more decreases on the armhole shaping to the tune of 4 sts each side of the armhole.  I didn’t notice this because I am changing the neckline and it was embedded in the instructions for the v-neck shaping.  Not a big deal, but I still need to deal with it.

Options:

1) ignore it and add 4 sts to the shoulders

2) cast off the extra sts now, re-create the steek, and continue with an odd shaped steek that I will trim before I pick up the sleeves

3) rip it back 

Obviously, #3 is NOT AN OPTION — do you think I’m effin nuts?  “2” was the option I was leaning toward last night (or should I say , this morning at 1 am), but I am now leaning toward “1.”  I don’t think it would be that big of a deal to have an extra half inch of width at the shoulder — I am a large person with square shoulders and a need for extra sleeve length (which derives partially from the shoulder drop, as we know).  The other benefit to Option 1 is that the trees would be perfect little half trees along the armhole.  Does that sound like rationalization??  Mayhaps.

As long as I am coming clean about my knitting boo boos:

I screwed up on the Moebius Lace Scarf.  It has the simplest lace pattern known to mankind — out of an 8-row repeat, there are really only 2 lace rows and they are EASILY memorized.  As I was knitting on each and every lace repeat, I would check the rows before to make sure the pattern was lining up. 

There must have been a rift in the space-time continuum (or I spaced out for a few minutes) because I added TWO extra yarnovers in the previous lace row (!#$%@@&).   Now, I could probably fudge one extra yarnover, but two is an awful lot of extra yarn to deal with.  Add this to the fact that it is very tough to SEE, given the tiny (Kidsilk Haze) yarn and scrunchy texture of the knitting.  I don’t want to “k2tog” a bunch to get rid of the excess because the fabric is so sheer, you might see a “clump” of thicker knitting.  

In short, I need to rip out a couple of rows — 378 sts worth.  THIS might be a deal breaker: if the class does not go, I may not be inspired enough to continue. 

I am off today, so if I plan on knitting I will need to make decisions about the above — like I said, it’s a bit of a bummer!!

PS — thanks to all who purchased the Lace Tam and Scarf Set!!

January 13, 2007

From Susan — A Long Time Getting Here

Filed under: Patterns for Sale — lv2knit @ 6:01 pm

After what seems like a lifetime, I am very pleased to announce that the first pattern of The Rainey Sisters’ line of designs is now available.  It is the Lace Tam and Scarf Set designed by Susan Rainey of The Rainey Sisters.  If you would like to read more about the project details and/or purchase the pattern, click the photo on the right hand side bar.

image

The pattern has been test knit by other knitters, so I feel confident that it is a project that can be completed successfully by knitters other than myself.  Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to get this into print.

 

January 11, 2007

From Susan — Shout Out to Surly

Filed under: Uncategorized — lv2knit @ 11:47 pm

Just couldn’t resist a comment re: Sally’s Bohus: Wow!  It looks great!  I love the hemline and picot neckline.  I will definitely consider something similar in my Large Collar.  I agree that the tightly ribbed waistline is very dated and terribly unflattering for those of us who said goodbye to our waists long, long, LONG ago :(.  The ribbed look works if you have a figure like Audrey Hepburn. 

And welcome to the knitting Clay fans out there.  I have been Sally’s companion at MANY Clay concerts.  I am the tall one in front standing next to the short one holding up the cell phone.  Clay has actually spoken on that cell phone to some lucky listener out there.   Please check out our July 26 post to see Sally with you-know-who.

Oregon progresses with unnatural speed: slower than seems humanly possible — microscopic speed.  I’ll post an update in a few more inches.  Met a snag with the Moebius — it may become a UFO…

 

PS — I am wearing long underwear today — 2 degrees and windy.  Brrrrrrrrrrrrr :(.

 

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