Girl Who Knits - clapotis

Greetings from our nation's capitol...

noreply@blogspirit.com (Erin) — Fri, 4 Nov 2005 13:55:00 -0700

Clapotis is finished!!! Just in time for my trip to DC.

Here is me wearing Clapotis as a scarf:

It is really lovely and I am so glad I used my Koigu for this project. It came out much thinner then the designed one would have and since I blocked it, it doesn't have the natural curl that I liked so much from the picture but I still really like the way it turned out. Technically, I could wear it as a wrap.

Here is proof:

So there it is. Clapotis finished before Paula. Paula is next though...well, I guess it is not really next. Definitely next post-vacation project. On the airplane I made one of these little guys:

This is one of the Angora Baby Booties from Last Minute Knitted Gifts for my very soon to be born nephew. It is in the "Less-than-two-hour Gifts" section. Less then two hours my foot. I made these booties for a friend's baby earlier this year thinking it would take me a couple hours...7 hours later I had a pair of booties. I am more experienced now and a bit faster but an hour per bootie is stretching it. Still, I love these booties and I love the green angora. So cute and so soft.

I have been in DC three days and I have been to two knitting stores. Knit Happens was great. The people there are so nice and there is this wonderful little community of knitters that work and gather there. I really enjoyed the few hours I was there. I picked up a great pattern for a lace scarf and some beautiful green Koigu.

Yesterday I went to Stitch DC. They have a lovely store with a beautiful set up and lots of yarn. I also met some fun knitters there. Makes me want to move back to DC. I might try and make it back to the store on Saturday for a sweater design class. I bought some great Lorna's Laces Sock yarn for some knee-length lace socks I want to make:

Should be fun. I was looking for some deep red yarn but then I saw this color and thought it would look great too. But I promise—and this time I mean it—I am working on Paula first thing when I get home. Really.

Clapotis taking over

noreply@blogspirit.com (Erin) — Sat, 15 Oct 2005 09:58:05 -0600

Clapotis begins...

I know, I wasn't supposed to start on anything new as I had a due date and everything but hey, I do what I want. I did finish the frill of my second butterfly panel a week ago. I want to start on the body but for the life of me I can't find the small needles I bought to thread the beads on so...I can't start yet. I refuse to buy new needles as I know I have them somewhere. I just need to buckle down and find them. So, wanting to knit and sick of looking for the pesky thin needles and not ready to knit Paula sleeves, I decided to swatch my Koigu PPPM for Clapotis. Problem is, my swatching turned into real knitting and I just haven't stopped. I think I love it. Here is a close up:

I love this yarn so much. I know the Clapotis won't be as thick as if I used the recommended worsted weight yarn but I still think it works. The pattern is easy and is very fun once you start dropping those stitches. I am using US 7 needles and think it will be done in a week or so. I guess that depends on if I find those bead needles. Where could they be?

New obsessions...

noreply@blogspirit.com (Erin) — Fri, 7 Oct 2005 18:40:00 -0600

I did it! I finished the first panel of Butterfly:

Isn't it beautiful? I can't wait to see it all blocked out. As promised, I cast on for the frill of the other side and completed about 3 repeats. Not a huge dent but at least it's a start.

I also purchased this book from my LYS yesterday:

I needed a baby pattern book for my soon to be born nephew and found plenty of great patterns here. My only problem is the patterns I am most drawn to are the girl ones. How much do I want to make this for my 3 year old niece?

A lot. I want to make it a lot. She would be so cute. But really I need to focus on the baby. Problem is, the boy pattern I want to do is for a toddler and NOT a baby:

See...how cute is that??!? I am hopeless. I will just have to get it figured out. Baby comes in November so I need to get thinking. Also, my new obsession...the Clapotis. I know. EVERYONE and their dog has knit this and it is very unoriginal of me but I can't stop thinking about it. What I can't decide is what yarn to use. I have researched and I think I have looked at almost every Clapotis (pronounced Clap-o-tee--REALLY glad I learned that as it sounds dirty otherwise) in knitting blog land. My sister put a bug in my ear and I think I might try to do it in the Koigu PPPM that I am currently using to make opera gloves. I decided that I love the idea of Opera Gloves but I love this yarn and color palette so much that I don't think I should use it on something that is so not practical and could very well look comical and not be used as much. So why not try it for the Clapotis. I only have 3 skeins so I may need more but first I am going to swatch this weekend and see what I think. I am not sure it will drape as I want it too so I need to do more thinking. Either way, the opera gloves are frogged and off the list.

Remember how I wasn't going to obsess over new projects until my current ones are finished? I need help. But I haven't forgotten about Paula and Butterfly. In fact, tonight is dedicated solely to Butterfly. I want to finish this weekend but I think that may be too lofty of a goal...especially with so many new projects turning my head. Tonight, my sister and I are staying up late, watching season 4 of Gilmore Girls, and knitting until we can't knit any more. Sounds fun doesn't it? I think there may be Baskin Robbins Peanut Butter and Chocolate ice cream involved too which sounds even more fun. Yum.