theraineysisters

December 26, 2010

From Susan — The Long and the Short of It

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 11:22 am

I am very excited because I am writing this post on my NEW LAPTOP!! Santa was berry, berry good to me! I got a Toshiba Satellite L655 and LOVE it. It’s a little cheapie, but has a lot of great features. Yesterday, Surly and I were knitting together via Skype! Woo Hoo!

Just a little FO to share: the long and short of it. I made a shorter version of the Easy Missoni Mobebius Cowl for me — longer version described here. For the long one, I cast on 120 sts, and for the shorter version, I cast on 100. I made the shorter one a bit wider, so ultimately they took the same amount of yarn:

I love this pattern. It is quite easy and the welts form in a very cool way with the moebius construction. On Ravelry, there are a number of projects, and they look good in both smooth and nubby or fuzzy yarns. Great project for that single skein of luxury yarn that you don’t know what to do with.

Comments (5)

December 24, 2010

From Susan — Merry Christmas!

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 12:11 pm

My side of the family celebrated Christmas last night at our house. It was a lot of fun, a lot of food, and a lot of laughter!

No fire last night — this is an old photo!

In preparation

We are getting even more snow! It will make it harder to make my appointed rounds. I missed my Friday morning knitting group and still have last minute stocking stuffers to buy!

Hoping all of you have a wonderful holiday with those who are special to you.

Comments (4)

December 21, 2010

From Susan — Good Morning, PF!

Filed under: Back Story — lv2knit @ 11:29 pm

Good morning! Just sharing a virtual cup of coffee with a very nice friend. Great seeing you last night at the knitters’ guild meeting — and great seeing many other friends!!

It was the MKG annual charity fundraiser and holiday party. I had one of the best cookies I have ever eaten: Pistachio-Orange Cookies. This recipe won this year’s StarTribune Cookie Contest. I guess they are quite expensive to make because you need raw, shelled pistachios (not roasted and salted!), which are tres cher and hard to find. Worth it. VERY worth it!

Comments (3)

December 19, 2010

From Susan — The Count Down has Begun!!

Filed under: Back Story — lv2knit @ 5:50 pm

Are you as crazed as I am trying to get ready for the holidays? We are in high gear around here. Yesterday (our anniversary as you recall — thank you for the well wishes!), we spent the entire day trying to get our tree to stay upright! The elder daughter woke us up with, “The tree fell over.” Okay. So there was water everywhere. The tree stand we have — which is fairly new BTW — is gar-bawge. The entire day we were checking the tree to see if it was still straight. The answer was always, no. We had to re-straighten it multiple times throughout the day, and this morning as well.

I did do some holiday knitting which I could not capture well in a photo. I used one skein of Fiesta La Boheme (which is two yarns held together: boucle and mohair) in the color Wild Oak and made this cowl. The free pattern is from Knitomatic and is the Long Missoni Moebius Cowl. I started it yesterday in-between the tree fiascos. The colors just cannot be captured. The yarn is stunning. S-T-U-N-N-I-N-G. BadAmy made the same cowl with identical yarn — her pics are a little better.

I cast on 120 sts instead of 150 — the pattern says it can be wrapped around the neck twice, but to me, one wrap seemed sufficient:

It will stretch a little with wear. I have more of this yarn and will start another of these today…for me! I will cast on 100 and not make it wrappable — just a cowlish scarf to go under my coat. Too pretty to give away, so I need another!

Comments (8)

December 18, 2010

From Susan — Time Flies

Filed under: Back Story — lv2knit @ 11:06 am

You’ve heard of 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later…how about 28 Years Later??

12-18-1982

Date unknown, but more recent!

Yep, John and I have been married 28 years as of today! He is a wonderful man, and I am extremely lucky. We were married in a small ceremony at the Landmark Center in St. Paul. The eyeglasses sure give away the era, don’t they? And I am wearing a handknit mohair sweater — I was never one for the big meringue wedding dresses!

I love you, John!! Thanks for sticking with me all these years!

Comments (24)

December 15, 2010

From Sally — Christmas Countdown

Filed under: X Marks the Spot Pullover — surly @ 11:16 am

As our regular readers may remember, my son actually asked for a sweater for Christmas. Well, what with my other Christmas knitting and whatnot, I finally got the yarn in hand and started his sweater a few days ago. The “whatnot” included trying to settle on a color (green) and style, which required many back-and-forth text messages and emails. He sometimes takes days to respond and his answers were not always as specific as I had hoped. Here’s a record of my lack of progress thus far.

1. Work out the design and how the ribbing would flow into it.

I chose to knit his sweater out of City Tweed Heavyweight from Knitpicks because it’s soft and warm, and I thought it would be good in the chill damp of Portland in winter. Bonus: I used this yarn for a sweater for my husband last year, and therefore could use his sweater as a giant gauge swatch.

2. Start knitting. Realize I am not that crazy about it. Glance at calendar; press forward.

3. Notice stupid mistake twelve rows back. (Note to self: must actually look at knitting occasionally.) Fix mistake.

4. Keep plugging away. He comes home late Friday night; I am hoping to be on the sleeves by then.

Comments (14)

December 11, 2010

From Susan — All Babies. All the time.

Filed under: Free Patterns from The Rainey Sisters — lv2knit @ 12:07 pm

Thank you for all of the nice comments about the baby set I made the other day. I knit another baby hat this week because there is a party for a friend on Monday — returning to work after having her little baby girl. I thought a hat would be nice and I already had some yarn: Bernat Satin Solid in Color Fern. It takes about 1/3 of a skein.

I made a pretty little hat and wanted to add some embellishment. I rooted around and found a skein of GORGEOUS yarn that I bought years ago just because it was so beautiful. I thought at the time I would never use it, but I had to have it! At $17.25 for 54 yards, it is simply made for embellishing something else! The yarn is Cascade Malizia in the pink & green colorway.

Here is the hat:

And detail of the brim:

The pattern was fashioned after my One Day Hat pattern, so I wrote it up and am calling it the One Day Baby Hat. It is available free on our blog (the link is in the upper right hand corner) and on Ravelry. Hope you enjoy it!

PS — Could this be adapted to an adult size? Absolutely! Any multiple of 8 will work and then use the sizing and decreases from the One Day Hat as a guide.

Comments (28)

December 9, 2010

From Susan — PS

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 8:43 am

“Grandma” loved the knitted gifts for baby! Tears welled up and she said she couldn’t wait to show them to her mom and to her daughter. Quote, “These are the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen!”

Translation = KNITWORTHY!!

Comments (6)

December 6, 2010

From Susan — Knitting for a Wee One

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 3:40 pm

One of my friends’ daughter just had their first grandchild. Certainly a notable reason to knit some baby items. Grandma is heading to the daughter’s home this week in the United Arab Emirates — packing must be light!

I first chose a small carseat blanket — about one quarter the size of a regular baby blanket (18×19 inches). The pattern is called the Shipley Baby Carriage Blanket. It is knit out of -er- how do I say it? — Pound of Love. Yep, crappy practical acrylic. What can I say — it’s for a baby. The size is tiny but I think it’s kind of practical — it can be used as a carseat blanket, changing pad, and when the daughter gets older, a blanket for her dolls.

I attempted to kill the acrylic as described here and hope it worked!

That didn’t seem like enough of a gift and my friend LOVED my Saartje’s Seamless Booties (pattern link here), so I made a pair in Tilli Thomas Pure and Simple 100% silk, color “Hope” and a simple hat:

I used the same buttons for these booties as my first pair! Anyway, I think it is kind of a cute little gift. The “grandma” is so supportive of my knitting that I am sure she will appreciate it.

Comments (14)

December 4, 2010

From Susan — Wrap it Up

Filed under: Wrapped in Care,Wrapped in Care — lv2knit @ 9:32 pm

In June of 2008, I posted about a program at the hospital where I work called the Wrapped in Care Program. Women who suffer infant loss are given a handmade shawl as a way of saying we care, we are thinking about you, you are not alone. Many of you generously knitted and crocheted shawls for the program and for that I am so grateful. I received a call this week from Dee Moore saying that they are running low on shawls.

I know many of you are crazy busy with the holidays — either doing your last minute knitting or shopping or getting ready for all of the festivities. These shawls do not need to be done right away! They can be knit any time throughout the upcoming year. In fact, it would be preferred that they kind of trickle in as space is at a premium. If you find yourself looking for a project that would find a good home, please consider this one.