theraineysisters knitting and so much more

Or maybe I should say, it is some family member’s lucky day!  You know exactly what to ask for this year for Christmas (or Hannukah, or a birthday).

Let’s face it.  Knitters are hard to shop for.  We love to spend money on knitting, but others cannot do it for us!  They don’t know what yarn we like, what knitting needles we need, or what books we already have.  Plus, we are E X P E N S I V E to shop for in the knitting arena.

This high end, coffee-table labor of love is the perfect gift because it is:

1. specific — they can’t blow it!
2. priced right (~$25)
3. knitting related
4. you need it even if you already own it!!

The book is Tudor Roses by Alice and Jade SStarmore.  If you have read our blog for any length of time you know we are both huge SStarmore fans, and have knit an array of their designs.

There are several new designs, but also several omissions: specifically the pièce de résistance, Henry – VIII.  There are no men’s patterns included in the new version.  Oh, well.  Nothing is perfect.

But this comes pretty darn close!

PS – I could not find the reference made as to why they left out the Henrys, but it appears to be because their focus was on the Tudor women.  I think the women were like planets revolving around the Henry-VIII sun, and therefore the king should have been included!  Important in their own right, but primarily remembered in history because of their relationship to him.  And, the sweater is stunning!!

I feel like the slowest knitter on earth.  I keep knitting on my Hitofude, but it just does not grow — though Lettie DID say that now her boobs are warm and her a$$ is cold!  Lettie sounds like a chronic complainer, but it’s not true.  She just calls it likes she sees it.  Well, not SEES it, but you get the idea.

I am at least a foot taller than the tiny tomatas from Japan that are modeling most of the Hitofudes, so I do need to do more knitting, but this is ridiculous!

The sweater is meant to be cropped, but I prefer a longer sweater to camouflage some of my “assets” if you know what I mean, and I think you do.  When I tried it on, it fit like a dream and I have plenty of yarn (I bought 4 skeins and have not even tapped the 4th).  I am loving this project and will just keep on knittin’.

On Friday, a knitting peep and I shuffled off to Buffalo (MN) and visited a yarn shop called Silver Creek Cabin.  I had never been there before, but I will go back.  It was jam packed with yarn, yarn, yarn.  Cute kits, great buttons, etc.  She had brands I had never seen before — see the website.  We stopped for lunch at a place near my home called Maverick’s  and had a killer sandwich.  Not fancy at all but great food.  Fun day!!

I wanted to call this post, “My Boobs are Cold,” but Lettie vetoed.  She said that any reference to her boobs (especially in the title) would both demean and objectify her.  I thought it would be funny.  Lettie won.  After all.  They’re her boobs!

I am thoroughly enjoying my Hitofude…but it seems to be progressing at a snail’s pace.  I guess it doesn’t really matter how fast it goes.  It is just knitting after all!

I started out my sleeve section on US 5’s and then thought my gauge was too big, so I started over with 4’s.  Mistake.  Big mistake.  It caused me to have to knit a lot more to get the length I needed to go around my ample upper arms.  So after the ribbing that wraps around the armholes and creates the back neck edge, I switched back to a 5.

There is a decision to be made about the construction of this sweater, and Sally and I split.  In the original version, all the increases (which I just started) are made on the front lace panels.  Another knitter placed the increases throughout.  Sally and I struggled over the decision.  I really don’t think there is a right or wrong answer!  Sally chose the all over increases and I went with the original.  I could just as easily have gone the other way and I think Sally would say the same.

On a different note: yesterday I spent a very pleasant afternoon with two of my knitting peeps.  I had them over for snacks and knitting.  It was wonderful to share time with people who are “of the body.”  Drank the kool-aid.  Whatever you want to call it!!

From Sally:  In truth, I am doing both kinds of increases.  I first did a set of all over increases (which increases the size of the chevrons), but then switched to just doing them on the fronts (which creates wedges of plain stockinette).  So my base chevrons are slightly larger than the original pattern’s, and my wedges won’t be quite as long.  I did that to lengthen out the increases because I know I want my Hitofude to be slightly longer than the original, but I didn’t want the fronts to flare too much.  We’ll see how it works.  I’m on my 10th pattern repeat, and I suspect I’ll need at least 12 to get the length I want.

This is what we woke up to this morning!  Egads!  I was a little worried about the drive because I have a new car and have not tested it on icy roads.  It did okay, but it was not a true test…yet. 🙁

I am progressing on my Hitofude.  Let me just reiterate what Sally already said: this pattern is brilliant in its conception and pure genius in its execution!  It is amazing how it comes together and is super fun to knit.  I highly recommend that you buy 3-4 skeins of a stunning Madtosh Light color and spend the 200 yen ($2!!) for this wonderful design.

I chose Composition Book Grey, which is a mottled gray with purplish undertones.  I love how it looks.  I think mine will fit.  Yay!!  I’ll post some pics when I get it a little farther along.

I haven’t been knitting much lately, but the other day I was casting around for a new project (don’t you love knitting puns?) and Susan recommended the Hitofude Cardigan designed by Hiroko Fukatsu. One look and I was in — I even had the right yarn: 3 skeins of Madelinetosh Merino Light in the Tern colorway.  NOTE:  This pattern is available in both English and Japanese; the English version is very clear with great photographs.

Hitofude is not difficult to knit but it’s a marvel of simple and effective design. Hitofude means “a single brush stroke” in Japanese, and the cardigan is designed to be knit without ever breaking your yarn. If you had enough yardage (in say a cone), you’d never even have to join a new skein.

Unlike many sweaters, it’s not quite knit from the top down. It’s very clever and therefore fun to knit. The lace pattern itself can be easily memorized in a moment, which makes Hitofude easy enough to be portable or to be worked on while watching television. But it’s never boring.

I’m sharing a few photos of mine in progress. This is raw, unblocked knitting so it doesn’t look great. But I’ve tried it on and it fits me perfectly. I’m so excited about this one!

Susan is making this cardigan also but has been distracted by some other projects. I’m sure she’ll share details on hers later.

In other news, why can’t American broadcasters adopt some Norwegian reality television programming?

PS from Susan – I am totally jealous of how far along Sally is on her sweater!  I am not even done with the sleeve section which is done first.  Between the fact that I am larger than Sally, and have a very compressed row gauge in this pattern stitch, I have a lot of knittin’ to do!

…then two are better!  Right?

This summer I made a Trillian and really enjoyed the pattern.   The design takes a long, skinny garter stitch “scarf” (shawl?) and adds a little something to it.

A friend in my knitting group was working on a very similar scarf/shawl called Sandstone Scarf — a freebie from DROPS.  She was knitting her scarf in a stunning combination of two variegated colors of DROPS Delight, #09 and 10.  Just gorgeous!  I quickly went on line to the Nordic Mart website and bought 2 skeins of each in the identical colors.

I started the Sandstone Scarf, but wasn’t sure I liked the garter edges.  So.  I restarted it using the Trillian pattern, and kept at it until it was 80 inches long!  You work both colors simultaneously, alternating 2 rows of one color and then 2 rows of the other.  When I started the final border, I stopped switching the colors — too much going on visually!

You get the “new cow” feeling as you knit because of the color changes.  I did break the yarn a few times to avoid super long runs of one color, or the same color meeting from both skeins.

It is a great carry-along project: smallish and mindless!  Now I have nothing going on. 🙁  I may have to go stash diving…knitting group tomorrow and nothing to knit!

PS – Kim asked about the checkered edge on the bottom two photos.   The checkering is created by the striping of the two yarns.  When I got to the edging for the end of the shawl, the effect was too extreme, so I just used a single color there.

It was cold and windy and cloudy yesterday but my day was bright and sunny!  I spent the day with some lovely peeps and Ann Budd, knitting author and editor.  Ann’s name has long been associated with Interweave Knits (and she still edits for them), but went freelance several years ago.

The class was on cast ons and bind offs.  She was really well organized, as well as a patient teacher.  She provided tags and clear protector sheets — you could put your swatch and the instruction page into the protector for safe keeping.

I bought this book, Top-Down Sweaters:

The book is spiral bound, which means it lays flat when opened – yay!!  Ann was wearing the blue sweater pictured on the bottom of the cover.  I learned some new cast ons and tips.  Never too late to add to your knitting tool box!!

My adolescent male self is anxiously awaiting the start of Season 4 of The Walking Dead this Sunday – Yay!!  For all you zombie freaks out there like me, I want to remind you that you still have time to knit a Beth’s Zombie Apocalypse Slouchy Hat!

I wore mine the other day to walk the dog and it is SO comfortable!  It stretches just the right amount to fit the head, but not tightly.  If you are doing any charity hat knitting this fall, this hat is a fun alternative and works for both men and women.

Summer is definitely over!  We are finally getting some much-needed rain, and the temperature is dropping.  Oh well.  It is what it is!

I did get a sweater finished in the nick of time for the last blush of summer.  It is Sabine by Julie Weisenberger.  I was lucky to use stash yarn – not from MY stash, but from sister Surly’s!  That is even better because it means the yarn cost me nada.  It is GGH Soft Kid (151 yards/25 grams; 70% Mohair, 25% Nylon (Polyamide), 5% Wool).

The picture does not do it justice, but I am experiencing a super bad hair day and have no desire to be pho-togged.  It is soft as a bunny’s belly and has a sheer quality to it.  I wear it with dresses and knit tops alike.  Very wearable!

I did do some modifications:  I original tried the front decreases that give the sweater a “point” in the front (shown in picture below):

I did not quite like the look.  Ripping back meant I had to re-knit half the length from armpit to hemline (!).  I just continued the front increases as many others had done.

I also didn’t care for the flaring sleeves, so I just did them like a normal sleeve, stopping at 3/4 length.  Because of the re-knitting, this took me much longer than it should have, but I am very pleased with the final results so it was worth it.

Yes!  A new blog post and a new finished object.  I bet some of you were wondering about us.

A few weeks ago, I was in Ogunquit, Maine and caught a summer stock production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which I’d never seen. The production was wonderful, as was the cast. I still have some of the songs running through my head (which is a bit annoying at times, actually).

I just finished my own “stole of many colors.” It is a pattern called, simply, Stole by Theresa Gaffey. It’s knit out of 9 different colors of Isager Strik Alpaca 2, an almost lace weight blend of Alpaca and Merino. (They call it fingering but it seems lighter to me.)

I bought the yarn and pattern as a kit at Yarnover (from The Yarnery in St. Paul) because I fell in love with the knitted samples and the colors. I started it in late April and worked on it here and there. It was perfect mindless knitting — long, long rows of simple ribbing.

I changed the order of colors because I liked the green and blue together.

I added a few more stitches for length and knit fewer rows of each color stripe. The knitting looked pretty crappy as often happens with alpaca, but it blocked out perfectly. The finished fabric is light, airy, and drapes beautifully. I love it!