theraineysisters knitting and so much more

August 23, 2007

From Susan — The Minnesota State Fair is HERE

Filed under: Back Story,Lace Tam and Scarf,Oregon Cardigan,Peacock Shawl -- Susan's,Updates — lv2knit @ 11:11 pm

OMG — check out this Big Guy from the Minnesota State Fair:

WhattaBoar.jpg picture by lv2knit

I’ll try not to boar you any longer!  I just had to go to the Fair today, come rain or shine (it was VERY rainy 🙁 ) and despite the fact that I was sick.  I had entered multiple knitted items in the fair and needed wanted to know how they did.  Attending on the first day is a ritual for me.

Okay.  I am just going to spill it, and you can decide for yourself if I am as big a pig as my friend here, but I entered ten things in the fair. They all received ribbons: 6 first place, 3 second place and 1 third. I also won the Sweepstakes. 

So, what did I enter?  Here are two items: My silk Diamond Fantasy Shawl and Camilla Gloves:

DFSandGloves.jpg picture by lv2knit
I entered the gloves last year and got 2nd place.  If you do not get a blue ribbon, you can re-enter the item. I should have quit while I was ahead ;).  I was extremely pleased that the shawl won something because I did not expect it at all.

I also put in the little lace top from Vogue Knitting that I made for my youngest daughter:

VogueLaceTop.jpg picture by lv2knit
She won’t even wear it, but at least it got a ribbon!

Next are a pair of socks I made right before the fair.  I wasn’t sure that they would win anything because so many very talented people knit socks…lots and lots of socks — they did get second place even though you can’t see the ribbon:

Socks.jpg picture by lv2knit
The pattern is from “More Sensational Socks” and they are knitted with Fortissima Socka Bamboo in Color 07 Ocean.

I also threw in one of my Lace Tams for the heck of it and was stunned it got a BLUE ribbon:

LaceTam.jpg picture by lv2knit
It is knit in Rowan Silk Wool DK.

I finally got the zipper sewn into Eris and it received a blue ribbon:

EriswithRibbon.jpg picture by lv2knitEris.jpg picture by lv2knit
I struggled mightily with the zipper pulls.  I cut off the ones that came with the zipper — perhaps an OOPS! — and then made 457 attempts at “pretty” zipper pulls.  It was crazy. I finally ended up using some beads I already had and attached them with wire wrapping.

My Peacock Shawl did very well and I was surprised and very pleased about that.  I know a lot of people knit fabulous shawls so I knew the competition would be tough:

PeacockShawl.jpg picture by lv2knit

The Modular Tote also did well:

ModularTote.jpg picture by lv2knit

Another total surprise was Ballerina.  I finished Ballerina last year but did not have a category to put it into, so I entered it this year in the plain knitting cardigan category.

Ballerina.jpg picture by lv2knit
You can see it also won the knitter’s Guild Award, but I have no idea how that is determined.  And I’m not sure what it means either! 

When I got into the building I started looking for my things and could not find Oregon anywhere.  It was not in any of the main knitting cases.  Sometimes they place knitting in odd places as part of a theme (i.e., Norwegian Sweaters with rosemaling, etc.), so I started searching high and low. I found Oregon between two gorgeous quilts:

OregonSweepstakes.jpg picture by lv2knit
Oregon surpassed all my expectations.  I was hoping it would do well because it was such a thorn in my side for so long and was so darned much work!!  I was beside myself!  It was thrilling to see those ribbons, I must admit.

I was equally thrilled to see that my dear friend, Kim, won a blue ribbon for her gorgeous Cats and Mice mini-afghan:

KimsBlankie.jpg picture by lv2knit
When I got there, the little cats were standing on their heads, so I asked them to flip it around — and they did!  I knew this darling blankie would do well.  I’m so proud of Kim.  It is an Alice or Jade (?) Starmore design.

I’m also VERY proud of my friend Linda who won second place for her cookies. 

LGsCookies.jpg picture by lv2knit 
She is a great cook and very deserving!  The only bummer was that my other friend did not get a ribbon for her ethnic bread, but she will try again next year.

Now, could I do a state fair post and leave out the infamous Sock Monkeys — au contraire, mes amies!  Our lil sock monkey fiend friend has been hard at work all year exploiting perfecting the sock monkey concept:

SockMonkeyChair.jpg picture by lv2knit
And perhaps more practical for you:

SockMonkeyHat.jpg picture by lv2knit

All in all a great time — until I got laryngitis.  I mentioned that I was sick and it did go into my chest/throat.  I hope this bout is shorter than last time (a full week!). 

I’m sure by now you are thoroughly bored, but are you as boared as this 1200 pounder?

Boar.jpg picture by lv2knit

And I know what you are thinking — yes, they are HUGE!!

August 22, 2007

From Sally — No Longer Just a Sleeve and That’s No Yoke

Filed under: Knitting Tips,Silver Belle — surly @ 1:26 pm

Does the fact that I am now shunning myself help? I thought not.

I finished the sleeve on my Silver Belle and have just started the yoke. The pattern tells you to cast on stitches for the front at the beginning of one row, work across, and then cast on the stitches for the back of the yoke at the beginning of the next row. Instead, I did a provisional cast on of the front stitches, worked across the sleeve, and then did a provisional cast on for the back at the end of the same row. (I also made sure that I started the yoke in sync with the cables on the sleeve; I wanted to make sure I was crossing all of the four-stitch cables on the same row.)

I did that because I wanted both the front and the back yoke to start on the same row. I also wanted to be able to do a three-needle bind off for the side seam there (using the live stitches after getting rid of the provisional cast on once I’m all finished with the knitting). It makes a cleaner, less bulky seam which I thought would be useful because this is relatively heavy yarn. (I’m using, in answer to some questions asked earlier, Debbie Bliss’s Cashmerino Aran to knit this. It was the yarn called for by the pattern and I even had it in my stash.)

I use a crocheted provisional cast on in which you crochet the stitches directly onto your needle with waste yarn. Here’s a poor photograph — it’s hard to take a picture with one hand while doing something.

Eunny Jang has some good directions for how to do it here; she even has photographs that are in focus. Imagine that! Scroll down to Invisible Crochet Cast On I. When using this technique for a provisional cast on, you use a nice smooth waste yarn and then start knitting with the project yarn.

Here is the sleeve with the crocheted provisional cast on stitches waiting to be knit. (In order to use the provisional cast on here, I have to break the yarn and start with new yarn at the beginning of the yoke.)

Here is the sleeve with the beginning of the yoke. Not much to see yet.

Finally, a close up of the front stitches and the provisional cast on.

August 19, 2007

From Susan — My Klowny Kauni

Filed under: Susan's Kauni Cardigan — lv2knit @ 2:01 pm

I have been knitting on the sleeve a bit. I think what is going to happen is that one sleeve will be all blue and red, while the other will be yellow/orange and green. Each sleeve will match up with a different part of the sweater. I will cut quite a colorful figure in my new sweater.

Sleeve8-19-07002.jpg picture by lv2knit

I’ve also been trying to knit on the garter stitch squares of the Modular Purse while reading Harry Potter. I’m only on Book 3 (The Prisoner of Azkaban) and, since reading takes away from knitting, I’m attempting to do both at once. The only trouble is positioning the book properly.

It is a very dark and dreary day here today. The news is full of stories about flooding in southeastern Minnesota. My DH is from there and his dad still lives down there. Their old house surely flooded because it did so 12 years ago during that year’s “100 Year Flood.” This time the flooding is much worse.

PS — Now I’m on Book #4!  Woo Hoo!  However, as you all know, they get LOTS longer from this point on!  And my knitting is not growing very quickly either.

PS2 to Connie — I know that Stephanie (aka Yarn Harlot) said she is going to match up her Kauni Sleeves and I say, “Go for it!”  However, I intentionally do not want mine to match.  I like the look of different sleeves.

PS3 — My hubby’s family is not in the flood area now — their old neighborhood was just on the news and it got hit quite hard.

ps4: The Harry Potter audiobooks are over $50 each AND the copies at the library are back ordered for months.  I had already thought of audiobooks since I have a long commute every day, but the $$$$$$$$$$ just did not seem worth it.  I’ve been reading fairly consistently, but a part of me does not want them to end… 🙁

August 18, 2007

From Susan — Does Susan Knit Anymore?

Filed under: Modular Purse — lv2knit @ 8:55 am

The answer: not much, apparently!  I have not been doing enough knitting to brag post about so Sally has been doing the heavy lifting.  I have done a little knitting on the Modular Purse I am working on for my class at Amazing Threads.  Here is part of the first large square:

FirstSquare.jpg picture by lv2knit

I did it differently this time and it is much improved.  I started with a provisional cast on and then joined the last small square to the first using a ssk (slip last st of the row you are working, slip corresponding provisional stitch and join like a[n] ssk). 

SquareJoin.jpg picture by lv2knit

In the original pattern, you do a knitted cast on and then seam the last square to the first.  It was bulky and unattractive (at least mine was!).  This join is seamless and when you’re done, you’re done!

I was very enthused about knitting the purse WHILE making the large Modular Tote.  However, it is not so enthralling now.  I’m not really in the mood, and I have many other things I would prefer to be working on.  Like this:

plisse.jpg picture by lv2knit

As mentioned in a previous post, Sally said she would get this for me for my birthday — I just could not pick a color.  Yesterday, I asked her to go on line with me and help me pick one out.  We pulled up the color cards and BOTH of us said immediately, “Color 98 jumps out at me.”  It’s called Lagoon:

ColorCard2.jpg picture by lv2knit

Since I really don’t care which color it is, just that it’s pretty, I ordered #98 on the the spot.  Thank you, Surly!!

Surly & I also ordered and received enough Rowan Calmer in off white for both of us to knit Whisper:

whisperpattern.jpg picture by lv2knit

This is a summer sweater so it will have to wait until Spring.  And, of course there is the Chinese Lace Pullover which I plan on making next in Cascade 220 in a Chinese lacquer red.

I am also working very slowly on my Kauni sleeve.  Nothing to show there as yet but soon — ???? ;)  So, I’m not making any progress on anything but I sure have BIG PLANS for the future! ;)  Am I biting off more then I can chew — but, of course!

PS to Marina: You are CORRECT!  I do have the Large Lace Collar kit from Sweden — that will come after Chinese Lace Pullover and will be my fall knitting project.

PS2 to Elizabeth: The jacket is a Hanne Falkenberg design called Plisse.  I purchased the kit from Cucumberpatch.  Sorry I did not include the details :).

 

August 17, 2007

From Sally — Do Not Ask for Whom the Belle Tolls . . .

Filed under: Silver Belle — surly @ 1:58 pm

Having finished one sleeve of Mermaid, I’ve now gone back to the Silver Belle cardigan designed by Debbie Bliss. I finished the peplum yesterday. I am making a size Medium, which is supposed to be 36″ around when buttoned. I was tempted by the Small, but at 32″ buttoned I decided I just couldn’t. Well, even though the top of my peplum measures the same as the schematic, it seems huge when I put it on. I suspect I could have knit the size Small and had it fit, even though I have a 34″ bust. Oh, well.

Here it is. Doesn’t it look huge?

I’ve also started on the first sleeve/yoke. It also seems “big.” Part of that is because I have very small wrists. This sleeve starts out fairly wide in order to accommodate the two drunken cables. I started the sleeve with the number of stitches for the Small, but that only reduces the circumference by about half an inch or so. At 11″ around, it’s big. It occurred to me later that I could have reduced the number of stitches in the center Trinity portion and then tried to adjust for that at the top of the sleeve, but it’s not worth it to go back.

One change I did make was to start the second cable on row ten of the chart, so that the cables mirror each other. She didn’t write the pattern that way, but I didn’t want the cables to be moving in unison. I think it looks better if they “reflect” each other.

August 15, 2007

From Susan — Kauni has a Little Sister

Filed under: Susan's Kauni Cardigan — lv2knit @ 9:42 pm

Ruth Sorensen is just amazing.  She really is the master of working with Kauni yarns.  Here is her latest design:

LeafCardigan.jpg picture by lv2knit

It is quite striking.  I bought the pattern even though it is not on my short list at this moment in time (I need a little break from my Kauni family ;)).  I bought the pattern to acknowledge the creativity and talent that many of us are taking advantage of with Ruth’s free pattern.  I want her to get something out of her moment of fame!  I need to finish a few things before I even think about this one, though I really like it.  For those of you who have not yet started a Kauni, this is certainly one to consider. 

Hmmmmm, I could start over—-N-n-n-n-a-a-a-a-a-h-h-h-h-h!! 😉

PS — By request, here is a link to the Kauni Knitalong (KauniKAL) that describes another source for Ruth’s pattern.  I actually bought my pattern from this source but gave Ruth’s information so the link would be directly to her.  Sorry if people had trouble buying the pattern from Ruth!

August 14, 2007

From Sally — A Mermaid Resurfaces

Filed under: Sally's Mermaid — surly @ 5:01 pm

We really do need to stop the bad puns.

I just came back from a jaunt to North Carolina where it was a bazillion degrees. Instead of bringing Silver Belle with me, I brought my half-finished Mermaid sleeve. I knew I wouldn’t have a lot of time to knit and I wouldn’t want to haul a large piece of knitting around with me anyway. So I finished the sleeve. One more to go unless I decide to be really trendy.

Here is the finished sleeve before seaming. One one side there are live stitches on one side and on the other a provisional cast-on.

In this photo, I’ve removed the provisional cast-on and placed the now live stitches on a second needle.

This is the beginning of working a three-needle bind off of the seam.

Here’s the wrong side (the inside of the sleeve) once the seam is completed.

The right side of the seam:

The sleeve with a view of the blue detail:

I couldn’t resist pulling the sleeve on. Eeek. It looked really short. I quickly and crudely basted it into the jacket; the sleeve fits perfectly into the armhole opening and the sleeve length is fine. Whew.

Scroll alert:

While I was in NC, I went to a couple of Clay Aiken concerts. I was playing around with black and white photographs. If you are interested, here is one.

I also played around with taking some bootleg concert video. The one that I really liked is of Lover All Alone, which he co-wrote with David Foster. I won’t embed it here, but if you’d like to see the video, click here.

August 13, 2007

From Susan — Made a Quick Left!

Filed under: Modular Purse — lv2knit @ 2:44 pm

I was ready to start the second small square which is part of the larger square on the Modular Purse and decided the Plum was a no go — too dark and too dull a color.  I wanted denim blue, but had to settle for this:

MiniModularBag006.jpg picture by lv2knit

I am not going to change it again — it is what it is!  I’ll post a picture once I get a square completed.

August 12, 2007

From Susan — Mini Modular

Filed under: Modular Purse,Susan's Kauni Cardigan — lv2knit @ 9:35 pm

Today I spent a grueling afternoon at the Mall of America — I know that many people travel from all corners of the world to shop there, but why?  It is NOT my favorite hang out, and I just may never go there again.  At least I can hope.

I did start a little take-along project.  I am reknitting the Modular Tote by Theresa Gaffey into a smaller purse version.  As I was knitting the regular tote I kept thinking that it would make a great purse.

I’ll be teaching the standard Modular Tote as a class at Amazing Threads and also offered up the purse as an option — I thought maybe I should knit one myself before “teaching” others how to do it ;)!!

MiniModularBag004.jpg picture by lv2knit

I had a very specific idea for the colors but could not find them, so I settled on these in Nature Spun 100% Wool Worsted (from left to right): Plum Line (#015), Limestone (#010), Hurricane (#001).  The class starts in September so I thought I better do my homework!

I have been very lax on my Kauni 🙁 .  It is not fun knitting the sleeves so I have been avoiding them like the Sleeve Plague of 1752.  Hmmmm, the Kauni Vest———??   I like the sound of that ———> N-a-a-a-a-h-h-h-h-h-h!   As I have often said to other knitters: this is a hobby, it is supposed to be fun — not like taking your medicine (OR doing homework), so pick up a project you LOVE!  But, I want to wear the Kauni and it will be more wearable with sleeves, so I will work on it again soon.

Enjoy your Monday!

August 10, 2007

From Susan — The Sun[rise Circle] Also Rises

Filed under: Knitting Tips,Sunrise Circle Jacket — lv2knit @ 12:03 pm

This has been a crazy week with a little bit of knitting, but a lot more “non-knitting.”  I really enjoyed seeing the progress that Sally has made on her Silver Belle.  It is absolutely gorgeous. 

I’d like to answer a question from a reader/commenter:

Nancy asked a question about The Sunrise Circle Jacket which she plans to start soon:

I have re-read your blogs about the Sunrise Circle Jacket since I am contemplating starting it in the next weeks. I am hesitant about making it since the facing on the front flaps is so obvious, at least in the pattern. Neither of your sweaters have this obvious line of facing. Is this because you used a dark color of yarn?

Actually, the color of the sweaters is not the determining factor in how visible the facing is from the right side.  It is all about the way the facing is attached to the wrong side of the sweater.  Here is a picture of my Sunrise Circle to illustrate not what you can see but ::hopefully:: what you cannot see:

SunriseCircle2.jpg picture by lv2knit
Lettie likes the Sunrise Circle!!

I make sure that the facing is sewn in such a way that I don’t pull up on the sweater fabric as I attach the facing.  I let the facing float on the WS and use thread to tack down the underside of the facing to the WS of the sweater.  The stitching is invisible from both the RS and the WS of the sweater. 

The following diagram will help explain it — we all know that words get confusing.

Facing-1.jpg picture by lv2knit

I think the most visible method is the “knit the two edges together” method which is often used on hems.  It is easy and requires no additional finishing BUT it creates a very visible join line — ridge — whatever you want to call it.  This method has its place and I have used it, but do not use it if you are concerned about the visible ridge that will occur as a result.  Just my opinion!! 🙂

 

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