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!

Art & Yarn

These jaywalkers are my first complete pair o' socks:

Jaywalkers
Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug in Gauguin, 1 skein
Needles: Addi lace circs, 2.5 mm

Now, the drama behind the socks. I started one top-down and when I started turning the heel, took a look at the yardage of the recommended yarn in the pattern. Gulp. I only had approximately 300 yards while the Opal yarn has 465. Double gulp. I had a major panic attack, posted like a crazy person on Ravelry's technique forums and then decided to do the second sock toe-up. This way, I would be able to see how much I fell short and then maybe fiddle around with cutting off the cuff of the first sock and using contrast yarn to finish them both. It turns out, I just barely made two. The second sock is about 1/4 inch shorter, but at that point I didn't care. They're done. The pattern faces opposite directions, which gives them a kind of haphazard appeal. I love the yarn. I love the colorway. They are thick. Come winter, my toes will be toasty. No more reason for me to complain about how my toes is froze. The colorway, by the way, does not entirely make sense to me. I loves it, but it's called "Gauguin." Now, I don't know about you, but I never really see Gauguin as a huge fan of burgundy and sky blue. Mostly I think of muted blues mixing with lots of tans and yellows. But in honor of this beautiful colorway, I present my favorite Gauguin painting:

This painting hangs in the MFA in Boston. I saw it for the first time as a young, impressionable college student. It's called Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? The words are painted into the top lefthand corner and the (very large) painting depicts the different stages of life. There's a babe in the bottom right corner, the strength of adulthood in the middle and an old woman in the left bottom corner. I can see echoes of the blue in this painting, but not so much the burgundy. Let's agree to call this an occasion of artistic license.

Opposing zigzags, up close and personal. Lots of people have complained about pooling with the Jitterbug, but aside from a small area in the second heel, I really didn't have any problems. I loved, loved, LOVED this yarn. I am sad that the yardage is so short, however. I have heard that the Socks that Rock yarn is similar in feel so I think I'll opt for that next time, just to prevent the coronary thrombosis.

I am a huge fan of the small blotches of cobalt blue and muddy brown/green that are scattered throughout this yarn. It was so fun watching them come up between the long stretches of burgundy and aqua.

Since I am now a sock knitter, I purchased some Artyarns Ultramerino 4 I've been coveting for a loooong time. This will be for my own personal pattern. I thought of something while I knitted the Jaywalkers and I think it's about time I try my hand at designing a (simple) pattern.