FO: Jaywalkers and Clapotees...Like Pringles, Once You Pop, You Can't Stop

Yep, I finished off that vacation clapotis:

Sandy, Oceany Clapotis
Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert
Yarn: Jojoland Harmony, 2 skeins
Needles: US 5 (I think) circs
Mods: None, unless you count extending the increase section.

I think I could quite possibly make a zillion more of these. It's the perfect travel knitting as long as it's not made with a lightweight yarn. Plus, a bunch of my friends covet mine so who knows. Maybe the birthday fairy will be kind to them this year.

Doesn't it look like a waterfall? Argh, now I have that song stuck in my head. "Don't go chasing waterfalls...Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to..." Oh, the nineties.

I also whipped these up faster than I even had time to post details on Ravelry:

Candy Jaywalkers
Pattern: Jaywalkers by Grumperina
Yarn: Three Irish Girls Adorn Sock in Maureen, 1 skein
Needles: US 1 Addi circs

I'd only ever made one pair before (if you don't count the aborted attempt that I did when I was first venturing beyond rectangles and did not think gauge was important at all) and that pair was kind of a ho-hum result b/c the Colinette Jitterbug I'd purchased wasn't enough and I ended up doing one sock cuff down, one toe up. And the toe up one was still about an inch shorter than the first one. Rather than ripping, I use them as house socks.

I thought it was about time for another pair and this yarn, while pretty, looks nothing like I thought it would when knit up.

I thought it would be a pretty, variegated affair, but it turned into crazy one-row color shifts between lilac, pink, and chocolate. I ripped out a bunch of different patterns before I decided not to fight it. Yarn: 1 point; Sway: 2 socks.

I actually like them like this. There's something very juicy and delicious about them. But I doubt I'll be buying more of this yarn b/c I don't want a drawerful of crazy striped Jaywalkers. I think one pair is enough.

Plus, at long last, I've rediscovered my knitting mojo and I started on a cardi for my dad:

It's the famous Jarrett from Rowan Vintage Knits. I'm not going to do the shoulder and elbow patches b/c this will just make the sweater unwearable for my dad. He likes plain. Except for when he joins the pick-up soccer game for the baby boomers at his church. Then he will wear whatever my mother packs for him to sweat in.

Also, I saw this pattern and decided right then and there that I must have them:

They're Marlene Socks, designed by Cookie A. That Cookie A. I sometimes wish she had never thunk to design socks, because I love almost every design she's ever made. Grar. These are addictive and I'm already on the heel of the second sock. Go knitting mojo!

Burgers, Pooh, Yarn and Sand

My trip to LA and Vegas went swimmingly. I don't think I've eaten that much red meat in that short a time in about fifteen years.

Part of the problem was this place:

It's this lovely little bar in LA that serves a gajillion kinds of beer and locally-made wines and they also happen to make the most delicious burger. EVER. There's crazy goodness in it, like caramelized onions and then the fries come with some ridiculous garlic-flavored mayonnaise that tries to kill you with its tastiness. My friend Viv goes there a lot. If I lived in LA, I think I would, too.

On the way to Vegas, I did have to partake of this:

In and Out. I hate to say it, but I really don't get the hype. It was good, but it wasn't life-changing, man.

We also went to Disneyland:

Where I stalked and got a paparazzi shot of Pooh:

And then I stole him and brought him home:

Also, this is Viv's dog, Baron:

He did not want me to knit in the car. And so he sat on my knitting and fell asleep.

We also looked around Santa Monica. Of course, before we even hit the beach, I had to go here:

Where I bought these:

And these:

I know I'm all about using stash right now, but my aunt is going through a hard time (my cousin has just been diagnosed with some crazy autoimmune disorder) so I will make her a nice shawl out of this lovely Auracania fingering cotton.

There are my feet, touching California beach for the first time in my life:

And my first glance at its water:

And my travel knitting, which turned out to be a perfect match for the beachiness of my trip:

It's a lightweight clapotis using two strands of Jojoland Harmony laceweight together. I got a lot done over two six-hour flights and two four-hour drives.

I'm almost tempted to move out there.

FO: Clapotis o' Human Bondage...and a bit o' crochet

Finally, we have an FO 'round these here parts...

Clapotis o' Human Bondage
Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM color P117, 5.5 skeins
Needles: US 4
Modifications: More increases and more straight rows for a proper-sized Clapotis.

Although I enjoyed making this, I named it the Clapotis o' Human Bondage because 1) I will forever link this to reading Of Human Bondage and 2) it really does slog on through the last bit of straight rows.

When I bought the Koigu, I battled a terrible guilty conscience due to the 'spensive-ness of the yarn. However, I had coveted this yarn for quite a while and decided that since I couldn't get it out of my head, I should buy it and make something that I could keep for a looooooong time. Clapotis it was.

Despite giving up on my last Clapotis, this one was not difficult to stay faithful to. Koigu is like buttah. These colors are subtle but rich and will make a perfect scarf (see above pic) for many winters to come. It can also serve as a wrap:

And as ninja headgear:

The Clapotis, I have discovered, is lovely as a thin, lightweight fabric. The fingering weight is perfect on US 4s for a warm but feathery wrap. The dropped stitches and the wrong side look--appropriately--like waves and pebbles.

I also dug out this oooold project:

This crochet bag is the Caban pattern from Rowan 35. It's made of Reynolds Saucy and it was my first crochet project, ever. I loved the bag so much that I bit the bullet and learned to use a hook properly. I'm thinking of making another one now that I am much better at crochet (if you look closely, those bobbles don't quite alternate at even intervals).

Also, this project taught me that my sewing/finishing skills were lacking:

Since I didn't know how to do it, I just whipstitched the lining to the bag. That resulted in this:

Note to self: Whipstitching is not a very sturdy way to put together a bag.

But in other crochet news:

I couldn't stop myself anymore. I hate alternating yarns every round because it creates so many ends to weave in, but I found a perfect compromise between crochet motifs, blankets, and Kureyon Sock.

Do you see those little orange flecks? I love the way Kureyon keeps presenting me with little surprises.

Knit Lit 101

After many attempts to learn to read and knit simultaneously, Sway has finally figured out how to make this magical combination work:

This, my friends, is what happens when one digs up a rusty, seldom-used old music stand, drops it down to eye level, and places a delightful tome upon it to peruse whilst running one's hands over easy-peasy knitting. As you can see, Clapotis 2.0 is coming along nicely.

The book ain't so bad itself...

My good ol' dad is not much of a reader. Mom keeps her hand in by devouring Mary Higgins Clark and Jodi Picoult. Dad, on the other hand, tends to read books with lively titles such as "LAN Networking" and "Internet QoS." He never really got into the habit of reading "for fun" but he always speaks fondly of this book. Methinks this is because this is the only book he ever finished in his entire life.

I walked past a used bookstore a few months ago and noticed this in the dollar bin. And if you know me, you know that I cannot pass by a dollar bin at a used bookstore without plunking down some change.

It's a bit long, but I'm quite enjoying it. For whatever reason, I always feel as though W. Somerset Maugham is speaking directly to me and that he means for me to understand him. Also, Philip Carey seems like my doppelganger. Aside from the club foot. And being male. And British. And, you know, fictional.

Wrapping Up in Comfort

So...

I have had a couple of mean, stressful weeks. It started the last week of June (having to do with miscommunication with the accounting dept. of work) and then continued on through Fourth of July (having to do with miscommunication with friends and family). Not to mention the frickin' storm clouds that have apparently chosen to take up permanent residence over the skies of Manhattan. W. T. F.

So...

How does one go about comforting oneself when it's too hot for chicken soup? Why, one goes to see many summer popcorn movies and then buys up a load of Koigu to make oneself the Clapotis O'Dreams.

Here is Clapotis O'Dreams prior to dropping any stitches. Ain't she a beaut? The colors are less bright than the photo reads and they're all my favorite colors. The blue shifts from dove gray to deep blueberry, the berry shifts from pale carnation pink to dark wine, there's goldenrod and jewel green and some dusty purples scattered about.

I went the marker route this time. My last attempt, with the Colinette, did not end so well. I figured out that 1) I dislike having to purl the dropping stitches on the right side b/c this interrupts my flow during the knit row; 2) I dislike having to knit the dropping stitches on the wrong side b/c this interrupts my flow during the purl row; 3) I like markers. Problem solved, case dismissed!

Also, I don't believe that I really wanted a wrap made of synthetic fiber. While the yarn was gorgeous, the whole thing never felt "right" to me. This time, although pricey, I told myself that I was making an investment. Not only do I love to knit with Koigu, but it holds up fairly well in my socks so it should likewise hold up very well in a wrap. The colors are exactly right for me and gosh darn it, I need a pick-me-up. I'm knitting on a US 4 and added several increase sections for a substantially-sized wrap.

As for movies, over the past week and a half, I've gone to see Wall-E, Wanted, and Hancock. I highly enjoyed Wanted. It starts off so completely over the top that I just settled in to see lots of things exploding and crashing and people hitting each other. Hancock, on the other hand, is fairly entertaining but I was getting dizzy from some of the camera movements (not a fan of the "let's spin the camera around the hero's head a dozen times" move) and the surprisingly cheap-looking special effects. But the highlight was definitely Wall-E. You must all go see this film. I laughed, I cried, I loved it.

So You Think You Can Knit, aka SYTYCK

Yeah, there's been a lot of reality show watching en la casa de Sway. I am not one for those shows that only want to feature a lot of conflict between foul-mouthed crazies, but the contest-inspired ones get to me. I avoided So You Think You Can Dance for a while, but I caught it by chance when it narrowed down to the top 14 or so and immediately became addicted. While Sabra's cute and wonderful and all and Danny is all hot and graceful, my personal favorite was Pasha. I lurve him. He is so durn cute and so durn Russian. I defy you to watch this and not be a teensy bit in lurve with him:



On my end, I can dance decently (high school musicals and all), but I'm thinking I'll stick to knitting. More repeats of the Smoke Shawl:

I cannot wax poetic enough about these colors. This is in direct sunlight and a bit brighter than reality, but the violets, dusky blues, rich browns and greys are just scrumptious.

Here are a few Clapotis dropped stitches:

And finally, I can't keep my promises to myself:

I cast on for the Central Park Hoodie. There's a group on Ravelry called "Pens and Needles" for knitters who are writers. Or writers who are knitters. We just started a two-week run of making ourselves write three pages per day and finish a project within that time frame. This was the project I chose, so does it really count that I broke my promise to myself in order to keep another promise to myself? Huh? Wow, I would be a terrible lawyer.

But I've finished the back of CPH and looking at this long run of double cables makes me so happy I could dance.

I love yarn sales!

The Melon shawl is done, but needs some blocking and modeling. I'm pretty sure I can accomplish this tomorrow when I visit the 'rents for the weekend in NJ. But in the meantime, I scored some yarny goodness this week without even thinking about it.

The other day, I walked into String, on the Upper East Side. I had errands to run and thought I'd check out the store while I was in the neighborhood. I'm sooooo glad I did. They had a bunch of stuff on sale, but I've set aside a stockpile of wool for sweater knitting and so I skipped over those. But Colinette Lasso was on sale for 75% off. That's right, not a typo. 75. I bought four hanks of it for the price of one. The pattern in mind? Clapotis!

Clapotis and I have some history. It was the first full-scale project I finished when I returned to knitting after a lengthy hiatus. I knit Clapotis I with Rowan Tapestry, finished last September and I only wore it a few times before surrendering it to my mom, who liked it better than the Swallowtail Shawl I knit for her. She hasn't returned the Swallowtail, though. And whenever I knit something that I tell her is not for her, she says I never knit her anything. Hmmm.

The Colinette Lasso is interesting. It's remarkably soft for something that's listed as 100% polyamide...which is essentially nylon. The yarn is cushy and feels a bit like velvet. I started on bamboo needles, but had to switch over to Addis because the yarn was sticking too much to the wood. I'm not sure if I'm in love with the color, but I like it well enough and might like it even more once the stitches start droppin'. If not, I'll finish it up for a very lucky friend for Christmas.

I also stopped by Purl Soho. I swear, I did not mean to purchase more yarn. I only meant to get one hank of the Kidlin in order to complete the Melon. However, the MerLin Tristan was on sale for 40% off. I've had my eye on the Euroflax for months because I want to knit the Linen Kilt from Knit 2 Together. But Tristan is the same weight but in a 50% wool/50% linen blend. I think I'll prefer that to 100% linen. And of course, they had four hanks of the gorgeously docile Sandalwood colorway.

And finally, this does not count as a "purchase." I had to return some surplus yarn from the Daisy cardi and got some sock yarn (Claudia's Hand Painted in Pink Cloud) in exchange. After I wound it up, though, I noticed something. Take a good look:

Same yarn, same dye lot, same store...different size yarn cakes? I'm really hoping that maybe this has to do with the sproingy nature of the yarn and not getting gypped by the manufacturer. I did notice that one hank seemed squishier than the other when I purchased them. I'll knit the first sock out of the smaller cake. If that covers the toe, I know I'll be safe. I'm not usually a pink person (especially such a delicate pastel pink) but I think the charcoal cuts through it just enough to give it an edgier, less dainty demeanor.