Not So Fancy Nancy

Clapotis a fini

Bet I'm not the first to type that title with great enthusiasm for both the meaning and the rhyme.

Stayed up way too late. The kind of late where my eyes were no longer focusing and I was literally nodding off. I was knitting on faith that at that point my hands knew what to do. Luckily, as those who've finished have said, it sails along at the end. That's what kept me going - all those markers landing in my lap and all those ladders going zip (more of a gentle pop really).

No one's here to take photos, so I've taken these with a tripod. Will get better shots with Brian's help this weekend, but until then these will have to do. Clapotis certainly inspires one to toss it about and pose. I've seen this on other blogs and now I really understand. You feel dramatic, classy, pretty, sexy, chic -- basically oh-so-French. If you're thinking of making one go for it. And I can promise it will fit!

This is Artyarns Supermerino, which specifies US #7, 18/4" on the label. I used US #8 without taking gauge. This is the same yarn Froggy used for her Clapotis in a different colorway, so I made it on faith (click that link to see hers in several chic poses). I send a big thanks to you Froggy because Clapotis was just another random project on the maybe list until I saw yours and then I just had to make one immediately.

I want to make another after I've had time to forget how it dragged in the end, though I suspect the fun of wearing it will far outweigh that inconvenience. Plan to use a light colored merino/silk or merino/cotton blend. The bounce of the merino seems very suitable, but I want a warm weather fiber blended for spring and summer. The openness of the pattern will look perfect with a summer dress.

Our relationships with knitting

The theme that pops out at me as I cruise knigblogs is how so often our feelings about our knitting projects are so easily compared to human relationships. If my intellect was sharper I'd have a good paper here. Let's not go there - no need to examine my mental dullness too closely. Anyway, Anne-Caroline was comparing her yarn lust to her wanton teen years - I loved that correlation. Today, I'm in the fading relationship. You know, ya like him, he's a good guy and you had fun, but that cute guy over there is looking so much more interesting. Luckily, this is a memory for me at this point (DH and all that), but oh I know the feeling. Clapotis is just going on and on. At least I finally got my brain wrapped around the fact that "repeat 12 more times" means there are 13 repeats total - duh. Thankfully I came to that golden understanding just stitches before starting the decreases one repeat too soon. No wonder I kept asking if it was going to be too short. Anyway, I'm including this pic so you can see that yes, I'm almost done. Sorry the photo is a bit off, trying to hold the shade shut and keep Emily off the sofa while holding the camera steady and shooting with one hand - something had to give.

To take a break Emily and I wound yarn, which she finds endlessly entertaining. Helps that the sweater is for her. Sooo bright, but she's in love with the colors. And yes, that's the Berroco Plush throw in the background. Will sew some today too. Making this pattern from Paintbox Knits again and this time I think I'll do sleeve shaping - whadda ya think? Isn't that hilarious. Really don't know what I did. How I gained 4" in diameter is a mystery too. And just why did I CO the biggest size but only knit the length and sleeves to the shortest measurments? This was the first pattern I ever followed (badly it seems) - my first two sweaters were made without patterns. Think about that - the hubris is beyond words. But it was worn then, and is now being worn by the little one. But since she swims in it I thought I'd make one that fits. With shaping even!

btw, the opposite of hubris is arête, "which implies a constant striving for perfection and self-improvement combined with a humble awareness that such perfection cannot be reached." My experience with fiber has definitely led me to a state of humble awareness. Very humble. Hum, guess the second paper could be on the religion of knitting? Yeah, I know, others have been there. It's wicked hard to find fresh topics.

Clapotis almost done and Noro waiting

OK, I fess up, when adding photos of my yarn to the yarn-in-waiting gallery I kept missing this Noro stash somehow. Guess I didn't want to admit to yet another dream tucked away in my closet. But today I just knew it was time to start Rocktorp from the Cornelia Hamilton booklet (#2).When I bought the booklet I loved this pattern and am thrilled to find short tweed jackets are in this year (might I even be fashionable?). When I went looking for the yarn last September (shortly before starting this blog) I had a tough time finding it since the fall Noro shipments had yet to arrive on these shores. But I did find it, and it's been waiting patiently for me to re-discover it ever since.

The Noro wrapped balls are Shinano #13 (65% wool, 35% silk) and the balls wound by me are Cash Iroha #22 (40% silk, 30% lambswool, 20% cashmere, 10% nylon). Look at these colors together. How could I have resisted so long? Yeah, this is a gratuitous 2nd photo, but it's just so beautiful. The color in this close up is more accurate. It's raining right now and the light is low.

While they were hidden away I'd forgotten how much I LOVE these yarns. I admit it, I'm a Noro freak. I also must admit I bought 10 balls of Silk Garden on ebay today for Klaralund - I'm late to that particular party, but while wearing my entralac today I just kept thinking about knitting with SG again. Will show and tell when it arrives.

Socks are on the toe box - finished photos soon.

Clapotis is on repeat 11/12 and getting ready to be decreased - I expect to finish tomorrow. Jacq recommened keeping the standard length, so I'm getting pretty excited about the impending cast off. FO - YEAH! Already planning a spring version in light, soft colors. Maybe a silk/cotton or silk/merino blend? Thanks Beth for putting that in my mind!

Life in mid-project

My little foray into Birch aside, I've been such a good knitter this week. Anyway, Birch was an existing project, so that's acceptable. No new projects started. No new yarn purchased. No sir-ee, I've been just knitting along in that mid-project zone. The place where you know the pattern, you know the yarn, you're not sick of it yet, but you've passed that first phase of young love and the end is not in sight. Still, I'm determined to stay the course and knit on to the finish.This is Clapotis beginning repeat 7/12 of the straight section.

This is now my public knitting project. Between the dropped rows, the gorgeous yarn and the stitch markers I always get some sort of comment. Met another fiber person at Emily's first dance class today when I pulled it out in the waiting area - she came across the room to see it.

Rogue is still lovely too, but I'm a little worried. I should know by now to knit the medium since I always seem to grow my gauge between swatching and knitting. Transferred half of it to another set of circs today to try and get an accurate measurement and my fears were legit - it's running more than 6" over. 54" instead of 48" is too big, even for me who likes em loose. Considering not widening back to the original CO width (it has hourglass shaping up to the armholes), but taking it down to the medium size stitch count, then shaping everything from that point up as a medium. Other thought is to knit the sleeves in the round then join at the armpit and convert it to a raglan from there. Haven't thought it through yet or done any math, but I must do something about this width or my shoulders will be swimming in it. Watch this space for tears and drama.

Clapotis reveals itself

I was having a very hard time visualizing how the dropped stitches in Clapotis were going to work. Biggest problem was that I forgot to factor in the K2tog on the pearl side that begins with the straight section after you build the initial  wedge. I kept thinking I was going to drop them all, then build a new ladder on top of each run (don't try to figure that out - it's wrong). That idea deeply traumatized me to the point of sending out a desperate email that Jacqueline so kindly answered with the obvious -- relax, it'll work itself out, you'll see. This is what happens as you start dropping stitches.

I turned the flash off for this photo to show another issue. Look at the huge color change between ball 1 and 2 (about 5" from the left)! I'm really hoping the ladders help disguise that. Also finding this particular ball of yarn is fragile and prone to fraying. At one point a strand in the twist completely broke. I've never used this Artyarns Supermerino before, so I don't have a comparison point. I'll let you know as I use the other balls.

The Well-Marked Clapotis

With three rows on the needles as of Monday I feel comfortable designating Clapotis a WIP and therefore, open for work during this finishing marathon.

Finally got a chance yesterday to work out the pattern. It's easy once you get it, but boy does it use markers. Could stop using the markers now that I've got the rhythm, but this is my on-the-go project so I'm afraid of losing my place. Had to rip once about 4 inches into it and it's no fun. So, a-marking am I. Trouble is, I ran out of little plastic loops in the afternoon. Which of course means I took the girls to Micheal's at 6:30 to pick up findings (threw in a Hawaiian pizza to motivate them - what is it about kids and pineapple on pizza?). Dug out my beads and went to work. So much better than plastic!

Knitted most of this yesterday, but got a few rows in at the dentist today. Fun conversation (by visit to the dentist standards) ensues when you knit in the chair between attacks on your mouth. Otherwise, this has been a knit-free day. Taught art in my daughter's class today which renewed my appreciation for teachers and my thankfulness that I left the MAT program in my second year. Still, the kids had a good time and some nice drawings were made, so it was a success.

Got a little obsessive and made a huge handful of these. Here are the ones not already in the knitting. Sorry, but I'm having a heck of a time get good photos with my camera display screen broken. (Will have to let it out of my hands to be fixed sometime - what will I do???) I used these great blown glass beads bought a craft fair that have been waiting for the right project for 5 years now. Used cheap findings to make it a "low new expense" project, but now may rework my favorites with sterling. Will have to price the findings first. Was happy that the postman delivered fresh reading.

In fact, the postman was very kind today. Ordered all of this at great prices from ebay using proceeds from my sale of Emily's old clothes. PayPal in ... PayPal out. Planning lace with the KidSilk Haze, but no specific pattern yet. I've got some books on order that look promising.

Planning to knit Fern from Rowan Magazine #36 with the Kid Classic. This is such a romantic and timeless design. Thanks to Carriebelle for getting me started on this. Blogging is so dangerous!

Speaking of blogging, I've got Bloglines going now and strongly recommend it to anyone not already using an aggregator. I'd signed up a while back, but not taken the time to figure it out. Now I've got that "What took me so long!?" feeling. I read more blogs in less time and don't go where there's nothing new - perfect.

Yarn winding buddy

Haven't gotten to knit more than a round or two on Em's poncho today. Will try to get a photo of it tomorrow. Busy around here with a trip to the doctor and pharmacy for eye drops, plus older kids in and out all day. Took the tree down and started returning things to normal. Know that may sound hasty to some, but our family's celebrations were front-loaded this year and we've been at it for two weeks now - we were all ready to be done!

Was feeling a bit bummed and uncreative, but the mail brightened my afternoon.

My Clapotis unknitted - six hanks of Artyarns Supermerino. Isn't it pretty! So bright and warm on a dark and blustery winter afternoon.

Btw, sorry, but I had Clapotis misspelled Clapitois in my previous post about this. I had the pronunciation of Clap-i-twa rather than Clap-o-ti glued in my head no matter how many times I must have looked at it - will correct that. 

Decided to wind it as a way to feel somewhat creative and my helper joined me. We got out some of the Angora out too to make it worthwhile (and even more colorful).

Knitting for sanity

Made good time on the kids poncho in the last few days and will try to add a photo later. I took one the other day, but it's double that now. We went up to OC for dinner last night so I had drive time to knit. Then worked on Cozy this morning, but I think I'll wait until tomorrow or the next day for a more dramatic difference to show up.

Kids and DH home, but we're having a quiet holiday since we did our family celebriations with Brian's side last night and last weekend. We went to my family's over Thanksgiving, which was good timing since they've got snow and ice now and it's way too cold for us wimpy Californians (just joking, I lived in New Hampshire one winter, but you do get used to the weather here).

Since I'm not posting photos, I'll direct you to something very inspiring. Visit Froggy Knits (Dec 19th) to see her Clapotis and, if you're not making one yet, I bet you'll want to start. I ordered Artyarns' Supermerino that she used from LoopYarn yesterday. Free shipping through year-end... Here's my color (big shock):