theraineysisters knitting and so much more

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

plisse-ryg-1.jpg

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:

Peacock6-11-07003.jpg

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!

June 8, 2007

From Sally — Cap Shawl Finished!!!

Filed under: Cap Shawl — surly @ 11:22 am

It’s going up to a refreshing 98 degrees in the nation’s capital today with high humidity. Yes, a perfect day to force my lovely daughter to model the just-finished Cap Shawl from Victorian Lace Today. As you may recall, I knit it out of Kidsilk Haze in Blush. The pattern called for eight skeins; I used just under seven. I think that is in part due to my having used a smaller needle than called for. The pattern suggests a U.S. 7, but I used a U.S. 6. (The border took almost two skeins.)

Here it is just off the needles before it was blocked. It measured about 54″ in diameter. The finished size was supposed to be 74″ — I knew then that I would not be getting that large a shawl, but that’s in part because I changed needle size.

Here it is blocked and pinned. (The white dot you see on the shawl is a daisy pin that I forgot to pick up.) I was able to stretch it out to about 68″ in diameter, so it’s taller than I am, which is what I wanted.

Finally, here it is free of its pins. These are not great photographs, but it was a bit miserable this morning to be outside draped in mohair and silk.

Brownie points if you spy Mighty Mite wandering around in some of the pictures.

June 6, 2007

From Susan — Tap, Tap, Tap

Filed under: Susan's Kauni Cardigan — lv2knit @ 5:09 pm

That is the tapping of my toes as I wait impatiently for the post.  I am hoping that my next knitting project will soon arrive.  I am going to make the Kauni Cardigan, which is the new “it” project.  I did not mention “it” sooner because I did not want the hoarders to buy up all the yarn before I could get MINE ordered!!  Unfortunately, I mentioned this project to Amy Detjen and she promptly ordered and received her yarn ;).  She has already started!

So, what is the Kauni Cardigan??  It is a free pattern designed by Ruth Sorensen of Denmark that uses Kauni EQ yarn — a Rainbow colourway — to create a simple faux fair isle sweater using only two skeins of yarn.  The yarn does all of the heavy lifting. 

KauniCardigan.jpg

This is not the best picture, but you get the idea. 

Lisette Bilskov of the Yarn Store in Denmark carries the yarn and is very nice to work with.  Sally, Kim and I ordered our yarn together because the cost of shipping from Denmark is nearly equivalent to the cost of the yarn itself.  For approximately $50 worth of yarn, it costs $40 to ship.  It was only $180 for the yarn for three sweaters when shipped together.

This is the perfect mindless knitting project for soccer this summer.  For every ten rows of pattern, only 4 involve stranding, and the stranding is absolutely mindless.  I had planned on doing the Large Lace Collar Bohus, but could not get myself motivated to do the collar portion — it will now have to wait until fall.

So, I wait…tap, tap, tap 😉

PS — the link from Marina (see comments) had a swatch showing the gradual change in the colors:

kaunieqcc.jpg

« Newer Posts — Older Posts »

Powered by WordPress