Caden and the Clap

The clappie continues onward. I am closing out the 3rd skein. I think I've decided to go with five skeins instead of six. It feels like it will be plenty long after five and I'm not entirely sure I have the need or stamina for six. The color variations among this same colorway, same dye lot yarn continue to obsess/amuse/frustrate me.


I'm currently pretending that the color changes won't be as dramatic once all the dropped rows are dropped and it's blocked out. Or that I actually find them interesting and character-giving. Or that since I kind of love each variation individually, having them all on one project is fine, just fine-thank you very much. Or... well, I dunno, whatever will get me through the urge to frog and/or cast on a new one I might like better.

In positive Clap news I really, really, really like how sharp the pre- and post-dropped rows look. I'm twisting the stitches before and after on both the knit and purl sides. I think the result is a much crisper line. I'll have to take close up photos to convey what I mean. This silky mal is actually letting me drop rows, too. It might be that I've learned the yarn more, but it seems more than that. I am pretending it's the difference in tension due to the wonderfully twisted stitches.

And for a little clap break, I finally really, truly decided I deeply, irrevocably disliked working Caden's 2008 sweater (found here) and came to accept there was no way I was going to force myself to finish it before 2009 ended. While at Windsor Button for WWKIP/Pride, I scored some yummy yarn.


It is Cascade Yarns 128 Chunky Tweed. I got it cause I grew a little fond of tweedy yarn working on Emma's Viking Bag. And I figured I needed a quick knit - and a kid's project on bulky yarn should be that. And I didn't want to give him another blue sweater, so the red appealed to me. And it was on huge, mega-sale. Score.

I'd fallen in love with Zoe Mellor's Robin Hood Jacket (RHJ). Unfortunately, it's a pattern I can't just download on Ravelry (gasp), and I was feeling pressured to start a project. I hunted around literally through several hundred patterns on Rav. I found many I adored, but the RHJ kept calling to me. Finally, I bit the bullet and bought her book, Adorable Knits for Tots: 25 Stylish Designs for Babies and Toddlers. It's a great book with a lot of awesome patterns. Unfortunately it runs sizes 1-3 years and Caden is three next week. Thank goodness I tend to knit big.

So with yarn in hand and neat, shiny book for pattern, I finally cast on Caden's 2008 sweater-Robin Hood (for real this time). I got a good start on it on the needle size suggested, but it looked a little sloppy-ish to my eye. I frogged it and went down on needle size and like it far more. I've gotten as much done on it as I had on the Devan and am not feeling overly fatigued by it yet. Good sign.


I have about 1.5-2 pattern repeats til I'm done with the back. Unlike what I do historically, I am going to mix it up a little and work a sleeve, then front, then sleeve, then front. I am constantly getting the back and fronts of something done and then thinking "Yay, only sleeves left!" and then getting completely thrown (and often disheartened) by how long sleeves actually take to knit up. Hopefully, this will make it all move more smoothly. Overall though, I've no real complaints. The yarns feels good and knits up nicely and I still really like the pattern. Some had written how much attention it required. I'm not really finding that. I'd pretty much learned the pattern before completing the first repeat of it. I think it's because I can read the cables now (thank you Must Have Cardi and Viking Bags; I do believe I've got the cable thing now!). I am still amused by working with a tweedy yarn and it's coming along quickly thus far. The only caveat I'd add is that I'd forgotten how bleeding heavy cabled bulky yarn can be. Oy, it's murder on the wrists after working with the silky mal.

Soooo, WIPs currently going now include (but are not at all limited to, since I know there's a bunch hibernating and/or forgotten): halloween orange clappie, red clappie, blue/green/purple clappie, Caden's 2008 RHJ, Emma's Viking Bag, my WEBS score jawbreaker, the KAL swirl shawl (though I am 99.7777% sure I am going to frog that baby), the Pink Amanda hat, my new Cookie A socks (more to come on those later) and a pair of surprise gift socks. Oh, and I still need to find the perfect project for the Silk Noir I scored a couple of weeks ago! So, yeah.....

a little something new

got home and couldn't sleep. also couldn't contemplate the many colored clappie (though i love how nice the stitches on either side of my ladder rows look. more on that later...) somehow it made random sense to me to try something new, as though that would help me sleep.

i've been getting lots of nudges and supportive pokes to finally try my hand at crochet. a former co-worker taught me a basic stitch, but i promptly forgot it. so i checked out a few videos on youtube and after many failed starts made this little bit:


it's just a tiny little thing, but it's a start!

silky mal misgivings

i am having some silky mal misgivings. i am referring to the silky merino yarn from malabrigo. i've written about it several times - both this specific yarn and malabrigo wools in general. i extolled their virtues, marvelled over the colorways and softness. i still feel strongly that their yarns are about the softest i've ever laid fingers on and their colorways are among the most beautiful i've ever seen. but i am having misgivings.

it seems to me the good people of malabrigo may have decided that since they make some of the most beautiful, deliciously soft yarn, they can afford to be a little 'sloppy' elesewhere. specifically, i have two pseudo-complaints.

tangles. i bought six skeins of the silky mal on my last jaunt and have spent just over six hours detangling yarn. more than an hour a skein does not a happy girl make. not all were unwindable, but of the two that were - they were a real mess. one took over four hours to get wound. not okay.

variances in colorways. okay, let me repeat, i looooove this 'indiecita' colorway. i love it in all it's varied representations. unbeknownst to me, i managed to buy three very distinctively different versions of the indiecita colorway. all contain gorgeous shades of greens, golds, purples and blues. all contain various hues of these colors. but of the six skeins i bought, two are distinctly more purple, two are disctinctly more blue, one is ultra green and one is mostly green. this is after we made sure all six were from the same dye lot and then also did a visual check for uniformity. not okay.

now of course i didn't note these hugmongous color variations until well, well into the second skein of my clappie. somewhere close to 80% into this skein, i stopped to look at photos i'd taken just after adding it. imagine my surprise to see this:

riiiiiiiiiiiight, my clappie went from bright primarily green to bluish purple. yeah, super. but i was about 80% into the bluish purple skein and hadn't yet wound the others (cause did i mention the tangles?!?!?!? after the two hour untangling debacle i'd decided to only wind two at a time, to preserve my sanity). i looked at them and it seemed the rest were more bluish. so i had options, frog the entire thing (um, did i mention this is the third clappie i've cast on in two weeks - no way!) or decide that i fully intended one brighter, greener end, with darkening, bluing happening as i went.

so yeah, let's try that.

however, when i went to wind another skein today, guess what? yep - that's when i discovered my third color combo. i decided it would be wise to wind em all and see what i got and try to do some planning. after 4 hours - yes i timed it - untangling yet another skein, i realized the three distinct color variances i acquired from one bloody dye lot. i tried to photograph one of each, but with another overcast day, this was
the best i could do:


counter-clockwise from the bottom, we have: kinda green, primarily blue and primarily purple. these are far more distinct IRL. the photo is the suck, but is as close as i could get to capturing the differences. and none of these is really even vaguely the same as the super happy ultra greenish-blue i started with and was so pleased by:


since i already have greenish then bluish, my plan is to go forward with the two purplish, then go out with blue and then green on the end. we’ll see.

i’m kind of bummed about this, but am moving forward nonetheless and hoping for the best.

in any case, lesson learned. we did make sure all skeins were from the same dye lot and double checked for colorway uniformity, but apparently that is not suffucient. not by a long shot. i will never again use this yarn without winding all skeins beforehand and triple checking.

naturally, i will have to devote an entire day to this because of the endless detangling.

after which i will likely not even want to knit whatever bloody thing i bought the yarn for in the first place.

so, ummmm....yeah, silky mal misgivings.

and now, it seems i have a wee clap problem

soooo, i have been working the clapotis shawl finally. i do believe i was the last known knitter on the planet who hadn't worked this shawl. seriously. i'd been super excited last summer when i decided to do one post ravelympics. i spread my excitement to kimberli (ravelympics creator and team, then group leader) and a KAL was planned for last october. i was all kinds of into it and got the supremely delicious malabrigo silky merino on the cheap online, in a colorway i was sure i'd love.

and then...

and then life happened and somewhere between october and last month, i barely touched needles, nor yarn, nor even took a very deep breath.

but i've slowed things down a bit, am regaining my equilibrium and getting things back on track overall - including knitting.

so naturally, i got all excited about the clapotis once again, spread it again and am now in a small KAL. after a good deal of support, i finally wound up my silk mal. it was as soft as anticipated. dreamy soft. heavenly cloud soft and light as a happy thought. i cast it on and it was like knitting a tiny bit of heaven. it glided across my addis like skates on fresh ice. nirvana.

but then...

but then i realized that what appeared (on my monitor) to be a deep orangish-red was, in fact jack-o-lantern orange. and kinda bright. and - to me - kinda nauseating. i sought out my partners and they encouraged me properly - keep with it, i'm sure it'll grow on you,etc. several even commented they liked the colorway and would be willing to receive the shawl once completed. so, i kept at it. at one point, i noted there was alot of orange in my life - much of it by my choosing. so clearly i don't dislike orange per se. maybe it would all work out.

but also...

but also, the dreamy shiny yarn is a bit...sticky. the halo is part of why it's so super soft, but it sticks to itself. this is terrific if you're prone to dropping stitches, which i naturally am. stitches hold even if they're off the needles - in fact, they hold on as if for dear life. this is generally a good thing. but let's remember the pattern:

see those arrows? they are rows of dropped stitches that are dropped and then laddered all the way down. it is kind of what makes the clapotis a clapotis. it adds more drape and drama and is lovely. but with sticky yarn? pure, unadulterated unfun. with sticky yarn each individual stitch has to be unworked . there's no dropping fun when your yarn is holding on to each stitch for dear life. unh uh. nope.

so, what with the colorway that was causing me nausea and the painstaking unworking of each stitch in rows that were growing progressively longer... well, let's just say this shawl and i were fast becoming enemies locked in serious battle.

but let me reiterate: this pattern is hugely, widely popular. and that is because it is a great pattern. knitting on the bias is neat, i love the parralelogram shaping, the drape, the simple elegance of it - when others have done it. and this yarn? there are fan clubs dedicated to it for good reason. those good people at malabrigo are color geniuses generally and the yarn is soft, shiny, smooth and light. it is knitting beautifully colored air shot up with angel blessings and sweet baby smells.

and i was hating it.

so.... i decided to give it a little rest, lest i seriously harm it. but i couldn't shake the promise of the pattern.

and so....
and so i grabbed one of my acrylics. because hey, it's acrylic and thus not overly expensive. i've no fear of hurting it and if i do it serious harm, there's always a michaels or ac moore stocking plenty. and i love, love the color (autumn red). so i cast this baby on and determined i would work at least through one row dropping to see if it bugged me less when the stitches actually dropped. and it did. so i kept on. i also decided to twist the stitches on both the knit and purl sides to sharpen up the stitches around the dropped rows. i kind of loved it.

except....

except it is heavy as heck and as it grows, my wrists are really taking a beating. and being heavier, this is not something i would be likely to use before fall. i would just be a sweat pool wearing this and i was so looking foward to a light, lovely summertime clapotis. finally, acrylic doesn't 'give' like wool - just not the same kind of springy-ness as my silky mal. i liked it well enough, but knew it wasn't going to be my dream clapotis. and the silky mal was stalking me. i wanted to love it. it was so soft. ever since i first saw the clapotis pattern, i knew i wanted to make it up with silky mal.

and so....

and so, yesterday was WWKIP day and boston pride. i headed into town with emma and janet and we had a fine, fine day! lovely people at the WWKIP. lots of good conversation and knitting and the sun came out to dance over the scrumptious yarns. and then walking along the pride parade. just enjoying the vibe and hooting along. and theeeeeeeeeennnnnnnn, a grand finale trip to windsor button! according to their website windsor button has the largest assortment of buttons and yarn in the boston area. i've wanted to go for ages and just never have. it was magical. and ummm, they carry silky mal. there's one colorway i've stalked on ravelry called indiecita. it looked gorgeous - on my monitor. but then, the viena i used on that first clap looked gorgeous on my monitor too and in person it was close to giving me dry heaves. so, it was with a little skepticism that i approached the indiecita. but guess what? beautiful sea colors - with greens and blues of various, perfectly harmonizing hues that shimmer and shine incandescently. it was... dreamy.

so yeah, thanks to emma and janet:

and now, it seems i have a wee clap problem. over the course of fifteen days, i've cast on not one... not two... but three clapoti.

but, this last one? oh yeah - this is the dream.

results of my 'incident'

my dreamy blue, super soft mmmmmalabrigo Amanda Hat got completed tonight. i loved working this pattern with this yarn. it was super dreamy! i think it’s a little snugger than i’d like at the top. i'd gone down a needle size as i felt the first hat was a little too loose on the head. next time, i think i will go back up a needle size for the second set of pattern repeats. otherwise, i love, love, love it. the color knocks me right out. i am going to try hard to keep this one for myself.



i really, really wanted to get gorgeous photos of my silk noir up. however, today was all rain and grey. according to the forecast, it's gonna stay rainy and grey for some time. so, here it is - though shot in overcast conditions.


this picture does this yarn no justice at all whatsoever... IRL it is far more vivid and rich and red-pink.

a little yarn incident

i had a little yarn incident. i don’t remember where i was in the village*, but someone reminded me of my abiding mmmmalabrigo love and oops! - i accidentally bought some. it came today at work and is soooo lovely i almost used pencils to cast it on... just to work it a little.

then i went to knit night and… well, i bought more yarn.

i just sort of fell head over heels in love with the silk noir by the great adirondack yarn co. it was like being possessed. the colorway is called ‘candy apple’ and it is unearthly beautiful. there was only one skein left! i had to have it, right? granted, it’s 900 yds and i did have the two skeins of mmmalabrigo right there with me, but….

…. wait, i think the mmmalabrigo fumes put me in a trance! yeah, that’s it - i was in a trance and in my mmmmalabrigo weakened state i made an unaccountable additional yarn purchase.

all that and i did not buy yarn to make me love the clappie pattern. which means there is undoubtedly another bad-girl purchase in my future.

please send help.

post script, some three hours later: i tried but i couldn't resist the mmmmalabrigo. balled up a skein and am three repeats into the lace background pattern of the amanda hat. the color is divine and working this yarn is finger orgasms.

seriously though.

*the village is a total win group on ravelry.com. it rocks, the residents rock. total win.

Emma's Mingus, revisted

Emma granted me permission to use the photo she took of her socks. It's a much better photo of her wearing them.

It was through reading her blog and seeing her handknit socks that I found my way back to knitting. Somehow, her feet in the very first pair of handknit socks she'd received and that I made as a result of her blog feels kinda full circle-ish.

So much for project loyalty (and FOs)

soooo, i am three repeats of the straight rows away from the decrease rows on my clapotis shawl. every bloody row is knit with a slight (but growing!) resentment. i timed it today as i worked the last two repeats and it takes me two bleeding hours to do one repeat. that means six hours til i hit the decrease rows. ugh and ugh again.

on the other hand, in an attempt to escape the clap, i did finish the last repeat on my second viking bag. i celebrated for a moment and then remembered it was i-cord time. i began and yeah, i’d kind of forgotten how tedious it can be.

i am definitely going to need to cast something else on right away. i’m thinking socks as it needs to be something fun and also something i can easily put down and then pick up again when i need some escape.

also i have a sh*tstorm of work to catch up on and am determined to do a thorough cleaning of the kitchen tomorrow.

it's a sad, sad day when cleaning the kitchen looks like a valid alternative to working a knitting project.

when you might be knitting too much (or too late at night)

This morning I woke up with two stitch markers stuck to my face. That's all I have to say about that.


(other than I kinda wish I'd thought to take a photo)

Ugh, ugh and argh....

sooooooo, i just started on my third skein for my clappie and suddenly kind of hate it. i couldn't figure out what was wrong when it hit me: (non-triangular) shawls are pretty much just really, extra wide scarves and ummm.... didn't i kind of swear off scarves just the other day because the monotony was unbearable?!?!?!

so yeah, i am at an ugly place with it of either giving it a loooong nap (which doesn't appeal to me because i am going through some sort of phase wherein i need FOs and, i think i might love it when it's bloody done) or buckling down just to get it over. argh.

i am loving the yarn (Malabrigo Silky Merino). it is soooo super soft and light and glitters in the light. sigh. it is knitting heaven. on the flip side (for this project), it is also kind of sticky and laddering down the dropped columns is work, i tell ya. however, given how much panic a dropped stitch usually generates, this is a lovely yarn for me. it holds even dropped stitches like it woolen life depends on it.