Everything's Rosey

I've started a Clapotis of sorts.


When Lyn and I went shopping last week, I got more of the Sirdar Country Style in a rosey colourway and am using it for Clapotis no 1. It's not variegated, more of tweedy type yarn but it's looking really cool except that it needs severe blocking.

Click here for a more detailed look
I also did not make it as wide as the original but hey I'd probably be sweating buckets in this anyway.


For this Clapotis is Mine! All Mine! Well unless I find that the Cherry Tree Worsted Pot Luck yarn I won on eBay is even better.


I have another link for Clapotis


Froggy - Artyarn Supermerino (gosh it looks gorgeous)


and some more possibilities


Axelle has some of her own hand dyed yarn which looks really beautiful


Martheme has lovely colourways with great prices.


I swear every yarn I look at now has Clapotis possibilities.


Thanks for all the comments and I'll be putting a list in a file at the side bar for all these possible substitutions for Clapotis soon.


Other knitting news -
I've finished the back of the ASC Lacy Cardigan , it's on the blocking board - well half of it is. Because of the fact the sleeves are cast on from the sides and not knitted separately makes it really tedious to finish and too huge for my teensy weensy blocking board. It's going to be one heavy cardigan... BUT a quick knit.


Now to finish of the Mossy Cable scarf and send it off with others to my sis in NZ.


p.s. Don't know if I should say this but I think Lyn started a new job yesterday. Do wish her all the best.

Clapotis Calling

I haven't been knitting much last weekend as DH & I was supervising the light fittings at our new house. It's a stressful affair, I tell you. Each time we go through the house there's always some little detail still wrong with it. Deciding where to place the bathroom cabinets and towel rails for our miniscule bathroom took too much time and DH is a stickler for perfect alignment. Even after placing the correct lights under the correct wires, we came back yesterday to find that

1. One light was placed in a different socket
2. One switch controlled 3 lights and two other switches were not connected to any lights at all
3. One light in our bedroom was higher than the other.
4. The sink in one bathroom was placed too close to one door so that it could not open fully (grr! grr!)
5. Two switches controlled one light and one did not have a switch control at all.


I've never been so stressed out in my life! Must do some knitting tonight to calm down.

Clapotis is calling out its siren call again and I've looking round for an alternative to the recommended Lorna’s Laces Lion and Lamb. Somehow I can imagine spending the equivalent of 450 Malaysian Ringgit on a scarf. As a little comparison, RM 450 was enough to pay for my flight and accommodation to Bangkok. And I am sorry I don't really think I love Clapotis that much.


So with the trusty Google, I looked for all the other substitute yarns knitters around the world have used for Clapotis.


Phil Phil - Alchemy Synchronicity


Maggi -Mystical Creation Fibers


Jo - Lush - not sure what this yarn is but it looks Yummy!


Hapagirl - Lion Brand Kool aid dyed yarn which looks funky


This Blogger ( not sure what her name is) - Fleece Artist Silken


Ladybean - Koigu Kersti


Rachel - Serendipity in South America


Pure Laine - a rayon boucle that doesn't look half bad – I have a cone of rayon boucle cone still unused in my stash hmmm ....


Liz - Interlacements Merino Superwash


Karen - Cherry Tree Hill Silk Merino


Someone also recommended Peace Fleece which is a definite possibility.



From my own stash possibilities include:-



1. Continuing with the 100 % cotton Patons Bumblebee – but the gauge is too small and the colour is too pastel for my liking.
2. Rayon/cotton boucle from
3. Sirdar Fine Chenille - which I think would be nice except it's a solid colour and Clapotis cries out for a variegated or handpainted yarn.


Anyone has any other suggestions??

Cables and Moss

At our local Stitch and Bitch last night, Consomme and I both casted new projects. I'll let Consomme tell you about her project. All I'll say is that she's using that yummy Phildar Aviso yarn.

I wanted to do something a little more organic than the Irish Hiking scarf, something where the cables twine and intertwined in more than just rings. So Consomme and I poured over her "New Knitting Stitch Library" by Lesley Stanfield and settled on this pattern:-



The sad thing is that the photo does not justice to the cable pattern AND this lovely mossy type yarn of moss green with brown flecks.

All in all I am pretty happy with the result and the yarn is knitting up fast. It's surprisingly soft, some would say it's a little too soft for real aran knits. I wouldn't knit a whole Aran sweater from the yarn, as it is probably not warm enough for really cold winters. But my sister and her family live in Auckland, where the winters are generally pretty mild so this little scarfie should do the trick.

Hope he likes it. I certainly do, and I think that this one is going to be hard to part with.

Scarf-(et) Fever

I did resist the lure of the socks - for now. I do want to finish at least a couple of my projects first. With that in mind I have almost finished the back of the ASC Lacy Jacket when I ran out of yarn. Most of my stash is at my mum's place in storage until I move to my new house in December. I kept a couple of balls with the project but the ASC went so fast. I've now just finished my 4th ball. Same thing happened with my Trinity Lacy Tunic. SO what is a girl to do!

Just when I resigned myself to sitting down and figuring out a sock - I realise that I had packed my dpns in the same box as all the yarn.

This is what I did last weekend instead


Click here for a more detailed view
Yarn:- Schachenmayr Apollo 100% acrylic
Pattern:French Crinkly Scarf from Un Journal de Marie
For some reason, mine doesn't look as crinkly as hers, probably because I use repetitions of 10 and not 6.

I just realised that I do have 5 scarves to make for Christmas and here's the yarn for the next one :-

Proposed pattern : Irish Hiking scarf or a similar cabled scarf

Also in my head is a Multi directional scarf from one of those infernal sock yarns.

All scarves are going off to NZ for my sister and her family for christmas so I better get them out by the beginning of December.

To Sock or not to Sock

I received some sock yarn today. I bought it about 6 weeks ago to make Devan . I bought 3 colourways because it was cheap.




Now I am thinking I should use one pair to knit some socks. I don't wear socks, the weather here is too hot except for the teenie sportsocks for sneakers. My husband wears only the very thin fine egyption cotton / wool ones for work.


But the knitter in me just wants to try it out- it's this mesmerising itch at the back of my mind, whispering, "one day I'll try to do socks"...or ... " wonder what it's like knitting with 3 DPNS" and ..."wow those colours are intriguing, wonder how the self striping turns out" .. and just lately.. "I've finally found my 2.5 mm dpns that was lost for 2 years, maybe this is a sign!!!"


Oh what the hell, it's going to be a slow day at the office - most people have taken leave to take advantage of a very long weekend ( it's the Muslim holiday of Eidh on Sunday) and I am all alone in my section.


Let's just cast on and see how it goes.

Swatching Inky-Dinky Spider

I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew - The Inky Dinky spider stole has lace stitches on EVERY row and not just alternate rows. Still I am determined to give it a try. I was really excited on Friday night, couldn't wait to get home to wind up all the yarn into balls and then start my swatch.

Instead I got stuck in a 2 hour jam - and didn't get in until 9.30 pm. And winding 200m is a breeze compared 800+ m of lace weight yarn. Although I must say I enjoyed looking at the colours as I wound the balls.


I didn't finish winding until almost midnight, but still determined to start my swatch. I started with 3mm needles as recommended and found the swatch to be tiny - I had to go up to 4.5mm needles before the swatch is satisfactory to at least 5", about a half inch smaller the gauge stated. By this time - about 2.00 am, I was too tired to care and am pretty sure there are some major mistakes in the lace because heck, the swatch looks nothing like the picture in the pattern.
.

I am determined to give it another try tonight with bamboo needles this time. I understand now the value of bamboo needles when lace knitting - the stupid stitches kept slipping and sliding all over the place with the metal needles. I couldn't quite understand the meaning of "losing yarn overs" until I did this swatch.
If I don't get it right the second time around- I might just switch to the lacy lattice stole - which looks like a simpler pattern to work on.

Quilt books for sale

Just to add a note that I have put some Quilt books in my destash site. Yes I do have some other hobbies, although have not indulged much since I started knitting again.
I will be starting to pack for the big move soon and want to get rid of as much old stash as I can.

These books are gently used and are great references at a fraction of the price. I'll be listing some Quilt fabrics and Block of the months soon as well.

So let all your quilting friends know.

Look what the Postman brought

My Laceweight merino from lotusblossom on eBay and cashmere laceweight yarn from Nandia Cashmere. My lace adventure is about to begin.

This is what I will be using for the Inky Dinky stole for the Fiddlesticks Knit along. Just waiting on the pattern now.

I love Rowan

I've finished the back of the lacy green top.


Click here for a closer look at the lacy pattern.
I think it looks huge but I laid on of my t shirts on top of it and it seems to be the right size... sigh!

Now that I finished the back of this top, Consomme, my yarn counsellor gave permission to cast on another project. It was between the Dive Cottone Egitto in charcoal or Rowan ASC (All Season's Cotton) in Safari. This is the ASC originally bought for the Rebecca Apricot Cardigan that everyone was raving about last summer. I decided against doing the Cardi cos - well I don't think it will look very flattering on me although it looks absolutely gorgeous on Fluffa and Froggy.

Because I was dying to do something that was little more chunky than the usual DK/sportweight cotton I've been knitting on lately, the ASC won - and I have decided on this pattern

but with shorter sleeves.

and my progress - 6 inches of the back -

(does anyone know how to make those circular needles less curly?)

ASC is such a welcome change from the tough cotton yarns I've been knitting on, so soft and springy. Consomme had a look at the yarn yesterday and is now convinced she must get some. And I have to say I will probably snap up more of this whenever there is a sale.

The Noro and The Butterfly
Now I have a very big decision to make about the Noro and the Butterfly. I love the Butterfly pattern - but I have not enough Noro to do the Butterfly unless I make it a vest instead. I could get more Noro or for the same price, use a Cherry Tree Hill handpainted worsted weight lot I got from eBay to use for the Butterfly. I can save the Noro for another project.

To complicated matters, I have been waiting for more than 6 weeks and the book has yet to turn up. It's sooo frustrating but I am resigned to never receiving it . I have found another Japanese Pattern which is similar - with the chevron stitch - although not a Cardigan but a sweater. However I need to make some major adjustments in gauge as the pattern calls of DK weight and the Noro is worsted weight.

The problem is , if the Butterfly ever arrives , it will be two chevron stitch projects and I 'm a bit of an attention deficit type personality as in I don't like doing the same pattern twice.

You see my dilemma? Someone please make a decision for me . Use the Noro for the Japanese pattern now ? Wait for the Butterfly?

Help .. please..