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And that would be the Clapotis. Those who play the guitar know– it’s an unwritten law that you must learn “Stairway” if you are going to play. The same goes for knitting. At some point you have to knit a clapotis. Resistance is futile. No matter how hard you try to avoid it, it will seek you out and force you to cast on. But of course, this is my stashbustergetmyknittingmojoback clapotis, so it’s actually going to serve a purpose.
And surprisingly, it’s not as boring as I figured it would be. This isn’t just all stockinette…it’s a saucy stockinette with a twist. Par example, pfb. Really. How you purl through the back of the loop? Thank god for ravelry, as I had to look that one up. Plus I’m going to get to drop stitches. Hells yeah! Nothing like knitting with reckless abandonment. I may be ready for some steeking after this.
I’m knitting this out of some yummy Malabrigo worsted in alpine pearl. I had forgotten how luscious this yarn is. But also, it feels like a sort of homage to the Malabrigo Mill, which suffered a fire earlier today. It’s so sad. But I’m sure that they will be back soon, giving us more and more of that wonderful yarn that is adored by so many (definitely me!).
I’ve lost a bit of the knitting mojo recently and I really need to get it back. I’m thinking that I need a new project. I really only have one going right now (unless you count needing to add the fringe on Lady E. and blocking the lace ribbon scarf- eh, I don’t count those), so maybe that’s why I’m not feeling the stitches right now. But speaking of that one WIP, I have picked it back up and have made a little progress on it. It’s just a simple feather and fan stitch, but the yarn is turning it into something quite dashing.
It’s very watercolor like. And I dig it. Plus it really moves along quite quickly.
But I’m still needing something easy, yet a little more substantial than socks right now. So, I’m thinking Clapotis. Because, well, who hasn’t knit a clapotis? (other than me, that is…) I should really catch up. Besides, I have all of this malabrigo worsted hanging out in my stash. And I’ve been stalking the pattern on ravelry and I do like the malabrigo versions of the pattern. So, why not?
In other news, simple socks 3 are on the feet now. Groovy.
Not much knitting has been done this past week. I honestly can’t explain why. Out of guilt, I did sit down at the wheel a few nights where I finished filling the second bobbin with singles and then began the plying process. But I still have yet to finish that. There was progress made on the sock front, though. Sock 1 of Simple Socks 3, the Revenge has been completed and #2 is on it’s way:
Oh, and Eleanor just needs some fringe.
She lays so wonderfully now that she’s been blocked. The difference is amazing. But that’s about it for the knitting front. Not much to report, really. Or well, nothing exciting to report.
Today was a little sad, though. One of my girls from the knitting posse is moving away…a few states away, actually and I’m quite sad about it. Today we helped her finish up some packing so she’d be ready to go in the next couple of days. Of course, we’ll carry on without her presence on Friday nights, but she will be missed. Sadness.
Afterwards, I picked up a few herb plants. Apparently, I think that this will be the summer that I don’t kill anything I try to grow. Actually, I don’t know that I necessarily killed everything last summer, it’s just that the stinkin’ bugs ate everything I tried to grow. But I have high hopes for this season. I picked up just a couple of basic herbs that I tend to use the most:
Thats rosemary, purple basil, thyme, and italian parsley. They were out of sweet basil, which is my favorite, so I’m going to give it a go with starting them from seeds.
I started all twelve peat pellets with the basil. I figure if I shoot for 12 plants, surely I can at least manage to get one to grow and to continue to grow after being transplanted. I did go ahead and pot the rosemary, purple basil, thyme and parsley into a couple of large pots and sat them on the patio table. I had considered planting a little herb garden along the side of the house, but I wasn’t sure that I could manage that. I figured the pots might be a little easier. Besides, there’s already a large spot of oregano and chives growing along the side of the house. I guess they were planted a few years ago and keep coming back every summer. So I’ve got plenty of those two herbs as well. I ought to at least be able to make a nice italian meal with the herbs I’ve chosen. And I’m still thinking about a chili plant. That might be fun. I might need to pick up one of those tomorrow.
So I’ve made the move here from a previous blog. I wanted a little more freedom to spread out and be a little more crazy about all of my knitterly things. I think this place is going to work out much better for me and my stitches.
Lady Eleanor has been sitting in waiting for about 2 months now. The thought of having to block her made me sick to my stomach. I’m not a fan of blocking. In fact, I think it would be safe to say that I detest blocking. I would rather shop at Wal-Mart on a Saturday afternoon than block a piece of knitting. But seeing her peek though the clear plastic container that houses my WIPs everyday for the last two months has left me feeling guilty. Not to mention all of the crap that I’ve been getting from the girls at knit nite… So, I sucked it up yesterday and dove right in. Knowing that she was going to be a beast to block, I decided to invest in a blocking wire kit from Knitting Notions. Thank god for that. It was awesome in that it kept the straight edges and made it much easier to be consistant with the sizing as I blocked it. However, it was still a pain in the arse to block. It took me an hour and a half to thread the wires through the edges, lay it out and pin it. Of course, I had to move it twice as it was far too long and I was having problems finding enough space to lay it out. So, here she is in all her pinned out glory…
She’s still a little damp, so it’s probably going to be tomorrow before she’s dry and ready for fringe. I must say, I do feel an immense sense of relief knowing that the hard part is now behind me. Of course, it would have been nice if I had been on the ball and taken care of this step 2 months ago when I finished knitting her. I might have been able to have worn her a couple of times before it started getting warm.
Ah, well. I’ll wear her anyway. I’m crazy like that.
In sock knitting news, my simple socks part deux: the Noros have been completed.
I love these socks. And I’m impressed that I was able to pretty much get them to match each other with the striping. Go me. I know that a lot of people don’t really care for the Noro sock yarn, but I must say that I love it! I’ve always liked the rustic look that you can get from wool at times and this particular yarn in this particular colorway really embodied that. I’m really going to love these socks next winter.
Of course, I’ve started my next pair of socks already (I’m becoming a sock whore). Pictures of them to follow…
For now, bedtime.
