theraineysisters

June 17, 2010

From Susan — Oh……Never Mind

Filed under: Alexandria — lv2knit @ 4:11 pm

Man, when I blow it, I really do a bang up job! My stupidity is irrefutable and clearly documented in my previous post (which has been removed to stop the spread of inaccurate information). I feel really bad about the negative comments I made about Connie Chinchio’s Alexandria Cardigan and indicating that there was something “off kilter” about the design. The only thing off kilter was me: it was my misinterpretation of the pattern — not the pattern itself — that is to blame. I hope that Ms. Chinchio accepts my sincere apologies for any distress I have caused her. I am really sorry and even sorrier for being caught with my ignorance showing!

Never Mind!

To quote myself (from March 25, 2006 — one of my first posts):

“I had not really thought about the fact that by chronicling my knitting progress in such a public manner, my mistakes will be on ready display.

To quote Sally,

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

To show my sincerity, the first three commenters to this post (and please do not be TOO hard on me) will receive a free copy of the Alexandria Cardigan Pattern, courtesy of moi.

Comments (24)

June 15, 2010

From Sally — Wishing My Sister a Happy Birthday!

Filed under: Back Story,Counterpane Blouse — surly @ 9:24 am

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSAN!!!

Yes, my big sister celebrates her birthday today! Susan has always been my guardian angel and protector, my confidante, my best friend, and my favorite knitter.

Please join me in wishing her the happiest of birthdays. I wish we were off on some fabulous knitting jaunt together today, but we aren’t, Blanche.

As for knitting, I have had very little time to knit lately, and the time I have had has been devoted to my stealth knitting. I have managed to pick up my Counterpane Blouse here and there. This is a simple, quick knit. I should have finished it by now, but I haven’t. I like what I’ve got so far, and once it’s washed and blocked so that the yarn softens and the stitches even out, I think I’ll be happy with it. Here are some not-so-great progress shots.

PS From Susan — Thanks for the lovely birthday wishes (and on the right day!!). I received this card from Dad:

Inside:

Uh, thanks?!?

The Counterpane is looking great. I’ll update people on my Alexandria fiasco soon.

Comments (22)

June 8, 2010

From Susan — First Blush

Filed under: Alexandria — lv2knit @ 8:04 pm

Well, as I said, I voted on Alexandria.

It seemed like more of a summer sweater and therefore more timely, though with the yarn I’ve chosen, it is really a winter wear. The knitting is going extremely slowly…partly because I had to grapple with size and gauge for a while. Don’t we all?

So far, I am slogging along. The fronts and back are knitted together so that always makes it seem slower. What I really am looking forward to are the sleeves: you pick up around the armhole and knit around using short rows, before knitting the sleeves from the top down in the round. It’s a technique I have not yet tried.

PS: Sally and I received a message from Betsy Hershberg, the designer of the beaded necklaces we just made:

“I am the designer of this necklace and I’m so glad you both enjoyed knitting it! And you both did a fabulous job – both with the knitting AND the picture taking. Just wanted to let you know that the kits are now available (as of 6/8/10) on the Just Our Yarn website: www.justouryarn.com. I admit that we didn’t anticipate the immediate popularity of the kit, but lots of gorgeous color ways are now available online. There is also a direct link to the kit on my website at www.studiobknits.com. Thanks so much for the great post! Much appreciated.”

Thanks, Betsy!!!

Comments (13)

June 6, 2010

From Susan — As Seen On….

Filed under: Surrounded — lv2knit @ 12:44 pm

…KnitPicks email! My Surrounded Afghan and Laprobe Pattern was featured in their weekly email alert. It was a nice surpise to see it.

Bonnie told me about it (I’m not on their email list ), so thanks, Bonnie, for letting me know. It definitely resulted in a slight bump in sales, which had trickled to v-e-r-y s-l-o-w after the initial release!!

Now I can go buy a latte and a muffin!

Comments (7)

June 4, 2010

From Susan — What’s Up?

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 5:22 pm

Well, not much. Both Surly and I are working on some ‘stealth’ projects, though mine will be wrapping up very soon.

As I was looking through some old boxes the other day, I ran across this little baby blankie. I knit it in the 80’s, before I knew if and when we would become parents. So, each stitch was knit out of love for a baby not yet born.

After our girls joined our family, they both used this blanket to play with their dolls, so when I happened upon it, it was in kind of rough shape! I washed it, but it still looks pretty rough. I used [crappy] acrylic yarn — it was for a baby, after all! — and it is now fuzzy and pilled. But just finding that blanket was like stepping into the past and returning to a time of anticipation and unfettered optimism — the kind of optimism you can only feel before reality sets in!!

I am thinking about my next project and am narrowing it down. I did buy yarn today so THAT part is taken care of! One candidate is the Alexandria Cardigan, which I highlighted a week or so ago and the other is the Jali Cardigan from Summer 2010 Interweave Knits. I bought Shepherd’s Wool in a natural off white. This yarn is deliciously soft and knits up beautifully. I really like it! I know off white sounds boring, but I keep wanting to grab a cream-colored cardi and do not have one! Now I need to swatch and think…

PS to those with questions about the source of this lace pattern: The pattern stitch is called Rose Trellis Lace and is in the first Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara G. Walker. It is written in long hand notation (all 44 rows!) instead of charted. At the time, I was not a lace knitter and charts were a rarity. Now, the first thing I would do is to chart it. By doing so, I know I would have made some changes (such as not starting partial patterns along the side edges). I can’t even believe I sat there reading each line as I worked this, but I remember having that piece of paper with me and following along!!

PPS: Alexandria won!

Comments (12)

May 31, 2010

From Susan — Beautiful Weekend

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 11:28 pm

Hope you were able to enjoy this long weekend, the harbinger of summer. It is one of those odd holidays because it is based on sadness, but is celebrated with picnics and water sports. I feel conflicted because I have personal reasons for honoring this day.

So, enjoy the beautiful weekend. Enjoy the rite of spring and summer. And honor the sacrifice of our service men and women, and the families they left behind.

Comments (4)

May 27, 2010

From Susan — GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Filed under: Great American Aran Afghan — lv2knit @ 10:42 am

This project certainly has a life of its own! Over ten years old and going strong, with almost 1,000 projects in Ravelry. I am speaking of The Great American Aran Afghan. Knitters Magazine teamed up with Plymouth Encore in 1999 and sponsored a design contest for afghan squares with aran elements. I continue to receive questions about the project and where to obtain the pattern, so I thought I would provide one more update here.

The original squares rolled out four per issue over six issues of Knitters — this took well over a year. My winning sweater square came out in the last [7th] issue. SO, if you had a subscription back then, you have the patterns. They also pulled all the squares into a book which is readily available on-line and at many yarn shops. There have been numerous knitalongs at various knitting stores — in fact, The Yarnery has one going on now if I’m not mistaken. This project is a great learning experience and you end up with an heirloom.

Great American Aran Afghan in Cascade 220

If you are interested in tackling this challenging and rewarding project, I suggest joining the GAAA Ravelry Group. They share their frustrations and learnings, so it’s like a do-it-yourself knitalong.

Comments (16)

May 21, 2010

From Sally — In the Pink

Filed under: Counterpane Blouse — surly @ 5:12 pm

I love pink, as I’ve said here before. I collect pink yarn in all shades but I often just pile it up and admire it. In a surprise move, however, I’ve actually started a bright pink summer project from the summer issue of Interweave Knits. It is the Counterpane Blouse designed by Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark. I loved the color — pink! — so I’m using the exact yarn called for: Louet’s Euroflax Sport (100% linen) in Crabapple.

Here is where I am in the project at the moment:

It’s not a difficult pattern, but I’m not sure what I think about working with this yarn. I tend to shy away from cottons and linens because I prefer wool and because cotton in particular is not as easy on my hands. This particular yarn feels like unwaxed dental floss when you work with it. It’s also difficult, at least for me, to achieve uniformity in stitch size and appearance, which tends to drive me a little crazy.

Everyone tells me, however, that linen yarn really softens up and has a wonderful drape the more it is washed and worn. I can tell that it has softened up just from being worked with and from having been lightly steamed. So I am cautiously optimistic, and I really like the design.

I’m not sure when I’ll finish it, however, because I’m also working on a bit of a stealth project. It’s not a total secret but I can’t really show photos of it in progress. Fibre Space — a wonderful yarn store in Alexandria, Virginia that I’ve mentioned in the past — asked me to design a baby blanket for their Bundles of Joy club. Subscribers receive the yarn and exclusive pattern for four different baby projects. The blanket features a color that was custom dyed just for the club. I’ve done all of the design work, but I’m still knitting the model. I’ll share it here when I can. They still have spots in the club if you’re interested.

Comments (22)

May 19, 2010

From Susan: Call a Doctor!

Filed under: Updates — surly @ 7:28 pm

As many of you already know, our blog has been hit hard by a hacker/virus/whatever! My own computer became riddled with disease and caused me no end of despair.

Sally is the “man behind the curtain” here at The Rainey Sisters and spent HOURS working on the problem, both with our host-site geeks and through trial and error.

It appears that the problem has been remedied, at least for the time being. These viruses are pesky and determined, so we can’t make any guarantees! We are sorry if this caused you any problems and hope things settle down.

Comments (5)

May 15, 2010

From Susan — From the “Favorites File”

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 5:08 pm

Not a lot going on — a stealth project and little more — so I thought I would share some of the designs I have saved in my “favorites” file in Ravelry. I LOVE the fact that you can ‘favorite’ both patterns and specific renditions of patterns for future reference. It makes Rav worthwhile even if you do not want to catalog all of your WIPs and FOs or your yarn stash.

Here are a few that I have favorited recently:

Panda Silk DK Fan Shawl (free pattern) — it looks crocheted, but isn’t!