Thursday, June 26, 2008
my clapotis...r.i.p. 6/18/08-6/25/08
here lies my clapotis...

From the post title and photo, you can guess that things did not end well for my Clapotis. I was so frustrated, I didn't even take a photo before I ripped it. Alarm bells should have gone off the second I bought the yarn which, although beautiful, is probably not the best choice for a pattern with dropped stitches. I'm not sure if the Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb called for behaves the same way as the Artfibers Ming I used even though they share the same 50/50 silk/wool content. The Ming was very grabby and I had to snip the fuzz from almost every space between dropped stitches to get it to unravel properly. But that isn't even the reason I frogged the whole thing. The finished knitting just looked horrible because the slipped stitches in the increase section made the edges of that corner too tight and different from the other edges and also made the whole shawl a weird shape (and no, I don't think blocking would have changed any of that). I'm still not sure why the pattern has slipped stiches in the first two sections and not the others. I guess it's my own fault for not making modifications when I had the chance. Add to that the fact that I ripped the shawl back twice already - once from the first section to change to a smaller needle size and then from almost the very end because I was running out of yarn and had to remove a set of straight rows to compensate.

I'm not sure if I'll start again. Right now, I just need time to grieve.


Wednesday, June 11, 2008
please forgive...
the following non-knitting content but I just had to share this story of the mud-phobic piglet. The photo of her was too cute to keep to myself!

Also, I came across this cool widget to make your own virtual mixtapes. It doesn't have access to every song ever created but it's still fun and I like it because someone visiting my blog has a choice of whether or not they want to hear the music. Click on the cassette tape (remember those?) in the sidebar for a listen. Mouse over to control volume, pause, forward, skip, etc.


Thursday, June 05, 2008
the latest
I had a fabulous time in San Francisco last weekend - met up with some girlfriends for a fun overnight getaway including dinner, drinks, and watching Sex And The City on opening night. I also dragged a few of them (all non-knitters) into Artfibers where I picked up this cone of Ming with which I plan to make a Clapotis (yes, I know, I'm super late to the party). It was hard to choose a color because they were all gorgeous - the photo doesn't do it justice. I wish I could have hung out at the store longer but my flight into SFO had been delayed and therefore limited my time there. Next time I would love to spend a few hours swatching all their beautiful yarns!


Above is my Central Park Hoodie with one of our dogs wondering what the fuss is about. I'm debating whether to add a zipper. I've been wearing it without one and it's fine but I'll probably put one in eventually. Lastly is a lace scarf I just started - pattern can be found here. The yarn is the one I dyed with Kool-Aid as seen in my last post. It's knitting up a bit stiff and I wonder if it will soften with time and a few washings. I'm also hoping it will block OK even though it is superwash. Anyone have any insight?


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