theraineysisters knitting and so much more

June 22, 2007

From Susan — The Elusive Kauni

Filed under: Susan's Kauni Cardigan — lv2knit @ 7:28 am

I have not had much to post about this week because of my busy and ::cough:: exciting lifestyle, so this will be brief.

I have not forsaken Kauni — that said, then where is it?  I have been trying to capture and tame the elusive Gauge.  You all know that wily creature!  A squirmy lil dickens that hides in the shadows, peeks out ever so briefly, only to sink back into the darkness before you can make out its true nature.

I did cast on and then thought the sweater was going to be too small.  It looked like I was getting 30 sts/4″ which seemed ridiculous (that is true fair isle gauge, my friends).  I am knitting with heavier yarn on a size 5.  SO, I did as I was told by my lil knittin’ sister and knitted back and forth in stockinette st to check my gauge.  It is really more like 25 sts/4″.  The pattern says 24 sts/4″, while the ball band says 23 sts/4″.  The pattern appears to be inaccurate because all of the calculations given only work if the gauge is 23 sts/4″.  I had calculated my cast on using my original “gauge” of 26 sts/4″ — so I have too many sts.  Whew.  If you stayed awake through that boring bit, I applaud you or pity you!!  So now I am going to start over.  Pictures will be forthcoming if I can ever get the project started ;)!!

At the knitters guild meeting we heard about a fun opportunity from Three Kittens Yarn Shoppe:

Kruise with Karabella and 3 Kittens

Join us on Saturday, June 30th, for a trip on a Padelford riverboat along with Berta Karapetyan, yarn store owner, Karabella Yarns founder, and author of the new book “Runway Knits.”  The 3-hour boat trip will include a short lecture by Berta, a fashion show of garments from her new book, and lots of time to knit and enjoy stitching and visiting with other knitters.  This is a perfect opportunity to have an afternoon out with your knitting friends!  The boat will leave at 1 pm and return around 4 pm.  Cost is $30 for 3K Club members or $40 for non-members.  Come sail away with us!

My knitting group peeps and I are planning on going — what a fun summer blast!

June 20, 2007

From Susan — You’re Stuck with Me

Filed under: Back Story — lv2knit @ 7:47 am

At least for the time being.  Sally is off gettin’ book learnin’, so I’ll be your blogging hostess for the week — feel free to add something, Surly!

Last evening was the Knitters Guild meeting which I described in Sunday’s post.  We had a HUGE turn out which kind of surprised me because it was only advertised on the MKG website.  There had to be 100 people there, including two of my favorite knitting peeps, Kim and Mary (hi!).  Being a VP of the Knitters Guild is a highly glamorous position (I have the bruises to prove it): setting up the chairs and tables, hauling the boxes of books, etc.  But it was a great event.  I thought Amy was a wonderful speaker.  She spent most of her presentation describing the characteristics of many non-wool fibers and it was QUITE interesting.  Her slides were fabulous, and as a person who uses PowerPoint daily on the job, I was notably impressed!

Here is proof that my future as a photo-journalist is in serious jeopardy (she’s waving at me):

AmySinger001.jpg

AmySinger002.jpg

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The picture I took of Amy herself is so blurry she cannot be recognized!  All in all it was great fun and a good excuse to hang out with a hundred of my favorite people.

 

June 19, 2007

From Susan — Lace Style

Filed under: Lace Style Cardigan — lv2knit @ 5:30 pm

I have been out of touch with the world the last few days!  Between soccer, work, and life in general I just have not had the time to write — or anything of interest to write about!

I have also been a bit neglectful of some of my knitting projects of late.  This was brought to my attention by Astrid who commented a couple of days ago about the Lace Style Cardigan.  She had to make a few corrections/changes to the pattern and was thoughtful enough to share them with me.  She did not want me to struggle as she had when and if I got back to this project.  Here are her comments:

A belated Happy Birthday, Susan. What a great present [Plisse]. With that and the Kauni, I don’t blame you for being distracted. When (if?) you do get back to the Lace Style cardigan, I have some comments. (Mine is currently being blocked and awaiting final assembly.) First, there is a mistake in the pattern. Also, the collar could use some revising. The mistake is on the armhole shaping for the left and right fronts. Actually, I spent some time figuring out the pattern repeats so that I could work the fronts and back as one piece up to the armholes because I hate seaming. But that is irrelevant. When you get to the armhole shaping for the fronts, after the initial bindoff, the pattern says to decrease 1 st at each end of row 3 times. It should really be decrease 1 st at armhole side 3 times, as is obvious from the resulting stitch count. I was also not pleased with the way the collar came out when I followed the directions to resume the partial feather and fan pattern, so I changed it and worked the entire 18 collar sts in garter stitch. I also thought it looked better with the 3-needle bindoff at the center back of the collar on the public side rather than on the under side of the collar.

Astrid was also kind enough to share a photograph and allow me to share it with all of you:

CA7MMLRV.jpg

What a wonderful, comfy summer cardigan!  I am re-inspired, My Peeps!  But I just started some other small things and the other big thing and the other big thing needs to be ordered…aaargggggggggghhhh!!  Too little time! 😉

June 17, 2007

From Susan — The Whirlwind!!

Filed under: Back Story,Plisse — lv2knit @ 3:04 pm

Thanks to all for your wonderful birthday wishes.  I have been let out of the salt mines long enough to post — actually Sally left this a.m., so any slave labor I endure will be strictly self inflicted!  BUT, let this be said: Sally never subjects me to any tasks that I do not agree to willingly, so I bring it all on myself ;). 

Sally and I spent the weekend visiting yarn shoppes, knitting, sewing, eating, knitting, talking, watching movies, knitting, and eating.  We are an exciting lil duo! 

For my birthday, Sally said she would order this for me. 

plisse.jpg

plisse_side.jpg

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Yes, another Hanne!  A new and beautiful Hanne.  I am thrilled!  I just need to decide on a color from her palette of 72 colors — ugh!  That is tough!  I am thinking of making it in the same color as the Peacock Shawl – I love the color and I really won’t be wearing the shawl that often.  Let’s face it, it’s not the most practical garment in the universe.  But Plisse certainly is!  I can see it being easily worn with jeans or skirt.

So, I am still alive and older and wiser.  By leaps and bounds I’m sure, though I am waiting for the “wiser” to present itself!  I am off to finish Peacock and cook a real dinner for my hubby in honor of his special day. 

Happy Father’s Day to our dad on this day.

PS to all of you in the Twin Cities.  This Tuesday evening (June 19, 7-9 pm) is the Minnesota Knitters’ Guild regular meeting.  Our program is a presentation by guest speaker: Amy R. Singer of knitty.com.  She will do a book signing of her book, No Sheep for You and I’m sure talk about many things knitted.  We will have copies of the book on sale for 25% off the cover price = $17 instead of $22.95.  Stop by and meet Amy.

PPS — I just crocheted off the Peacock Shawl.  It is a crumpled up mess, but it is done.  And after all the rip backs, etc., it was very nice to have my stitch count work out perfectly the first time — no problems!  The bind off is done in clusters of three sts so I was worried that I would get to the end and it would be off.  I will block this in the next day or two, but may need to buy a massive number of pins first.  Obviously, film at 8.

June 15, 2007

From Sally — I’m in Minnesota!

Filed under: Uncategorized — surly @ 3:34 pm

I went to my sister’s knitting group at Panera’s last night and met some of her wonderful knitting friends. We had a great time. But rather than write a long post about that, I first want to say something quick but very, very important:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BIG SISTER!!!!!!!!

Susan is my sister, my mother, my confidante, my cheerleader, my inspiration, and my best friend.

June 13, 2007

From Susan — Bone Tired!

Filed under: Back Story,Uncategorized — lv2knit @ 12:08 am

I got home late after teaching the I-Cord class.  It was great fun because of a few dear, familiar faces (Julie and Marilyn) and some newer friends like Pat and Linda.  But not a lot of knitting time to be had!

As Sally works on Mermaid, I thought I would share a few pics of mine — finished about 18 months ago.  This was a project like Peacock that I absolutely LOVED.  I hauled it everywhere, even as it got bigger and bigger and BIGGER!  I even dragged it around the Mall of America when we chaperoned my daughter’s birthday party.  What a knitting nerd ;)!

Mermaid #6:

Mermaid002.jpg

Lettie is thinking, “Does this make me look fat?”

Mermaid003.jpg

This shows the collar detail that Sally referred to — we did [are doing] the collar portion in one piece without a seam:

Mermaid004.jpg

Mermaid.jpg

Another project with acres of garter — I am not very original!

As for Peacock, this is something I would love to knit again.  I’m with Laurie M — I want to finish Peacock, but I don’t want it to be over.  I am also pining for the Kauni cardigan to begin, but it must wait for swatching and planning which takes too much time and brain power for my weary self at the moment.  I hope that when Sally is here, I get some much needed R&R.

June 12, 2007

From Susan — The Peacock

Filed under: Peacock Shawl -- Susan's — lv2knit @ 1:57 am

I have been knitting away on Peacock and loving it.  I don’t know why I am enjoying this so much.  I think it is the feel of the yarn, the sheer brilliance of the pattern, and the fact that each row is different and seems to go quickly despite the number of sts.

Here is a progress shot:

Peacock6-11-07001.jpg

And another:

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I am probably about 8-10 rows from the bind off.  I say “bind off” but it is really a “crochet off.”  I am not the best crocheter to say the least, so I expect that phase to take a while :).

Tomorrow evening (or actually THIS evening, since it is well after midnight), I am teaching a class that I did not know spaced out about until 10 minutes ago!  Ruh roh!!  I did not have it on my calendar and the class is full.  It is the I-cord class, which is a ton of fun, but I’m not prepared.  I’ll need to get up early and pack my stuff — so off to bed I go!

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!

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