Family, Knitting

Sisters–And Knitting!

 

Dear Sis,

I know we missed out on some of the stuff in one of our favorite songs, “Sisters” by Irving Berlin.

With almost seven years between us, that business about:

 . . . . . . . . . .sharing

every little thing that we are wearing

never really worked for us, did it? By the time you were old enough to wear some of my favorite clothes, it was a different decade, tastes and times had changed, and, well, you wouldn’t have really wanted to be caught dead in them, would you?

And thank goodness we’ve never had to deal with all those men trying to “split us up.” Wouldn’t have made any difference, in any event, because obviously, “no one can.” Oh, “Lord help the mister” who might have tried, though.

And, Thank the Lord that each of us was so fond of the other’s spouse. Because, that bit about “Lord help the sister, Who comes between me and my man?” Glad we never had to put that to the test. Otherwise, there’d only be one of us left.

As for “Never [having] to have a chaperone? No Sir!” Not touching that one with a ten-foot pole. My lips are sealed. Not sure, sometimes, who was “keeping an eye on” whom, but we got through it unscathed, didn’t we?

One thing I do “know [for sure is] that not a thing can come between us.”  Never has, and never will.

I’m glad you’re around, Sis. And thanks for all your efforts on the home front over the last fifteen years. It’s been tough, on my end and on yours. And you’ve hung in and never wavered. I’ve tried to do my bit from across the pond, but most of it was on you, I know.

I’m especially glad, these days, for the Internet, email and cheap calling cards, because, thanks to them, it’s been easier than ever the last few years, to “stick together” and “act as one!”  And, as always, Heaven help anyone who’s unwise enough to get in our way.

“Devoted Sisters” are we.

Here’s to us.

Love,

Your Big Sister.

PS:  Thanks for the lovely yarn and the knitting pattern which arrived today.  I’m really glad it got here, after about a month wobbling around the USPS, going in and out (according to the tracking texts) the USPS facility in Opa-Locka FL (wherever the hell that is), several times over the last couple of weeks.
It’s a lovely pattern, using natural-color and naturally-dyed double-knitting-weight wool, from your local area, Very pretty.  And the pattern is too.  (Others, in other areas, look for a double-knitting weight yarn around 250 yards/225 meters per 100 grams.
My sister and I have scheduled our own Knit-A-Long (KAL) to start this weekend (around August 8, 2020  Anyone who’d like to join in, just shout.  (Doesn’t matter if you’re date-compliant or not.  We’re all about the knitting here.  Dates aren’t important.  And, if you need help or a hand, just shout that too.)

2 thoughts on “Sisters–And Knitting!”

  1. Thanks for another lovely post. Quite a combo, you and your sister! Count me in on the KAL, but what is an i-cord cast on!

    1. You start by knitting an i-cord, which is a way of knitting a very narrow tube such as you could make on those little wooden “looms” with four pins arranged in a square on top (showing my age). When you do it with two needles, you cast on the required number of stitches, knit across them, slide them back to the left needle (if you’re knitting right-handed), pull the yarn tight across the back, and knit them onto the other needle again. Repeat for the required number of rows. (If you use dpns for this, you can slide the stitches to the other end of the same needle, rather than having to move them back to the other one each row.)

      Then (according to this pattern, with your stitches on the right needle, you turn the “tube” parallel to the needle and pick up the indicated number of stitches from the stitches along the length of the tube, and undo the provisional cast on from the bottom of the tube, and slide them onto the needle too.

      I’ve never used an i-cord this way. I have done cast-ons this way, but just by knitting a flat piece, say three stitches wide and eight rows long, then turning the flat piece sideways and picking up stitches as instructed from the edge and (if there was a provisional cast on), across the bottom. If there wasn’t a provisional cast on, I just pick up stitches across the cast-on edge.

      I imagine that would work here, but also imagine that the i-cord gives a firmer edge at the top center of the shawl, one that’s less likely to pull.

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