Ode to the Clap

The Clapotis....what is it? How do you pronounce it? Is it contagious? Stay tuned for this blog entry in which I discuss this pressing subject in detail......

The Clapotis - the pronunciation. The pronunciation is like this, Clap-oh-TEE. Sort of like "cup o' tea" or even "coyote," if you say it quickly. Notice that the emphasis is on the last syllable of the word. I used to just put the old Pennsylvania accent to it, and rather gracefully (NOT) called it the Clap-OH-tiss. This pronunciation, besides being completely wrong, makes it sound like something you could catch doing something very nasty. Hmmmm....Thank heavens those French people turn the most horrific looking words into beautiful sounding gems.

The Clapotis - What does it mean? According to Wikipedia, Clapotis means, "lapping of water." Once you see the finished knitted project, you will understand its name. Trust me.

Now, the question you have been dying to know the answer to.....
The Clapotis - Is it contagious? Strictly speaking, in the world of germs and all (I live there most days at work), it is not. In the knitting world, you will find hundreds, okay, probably thousands of knitters, working on this project right now. Me included. So, is it contagious? YES! But, in a good way.

Above here, you will find a snap of the beginning of my Clap (no pun intended). At this point, it looks like it might be a bikini, or maybe a thong....but no, sadly....it's not. It's being knit on a smaller scale, and I'm using Wollmeise sock yarn to knit mine! The Wollmeise is making a nice knitted fabric. I'll keep you posted. I want this to be finished so that I can wear it in some fashion to Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival in the beginning of May. Here's hoping!

More progress photos, as I've worked on my Two-toned triangle purse. Here's a picture of the Eggplant colored triangle. The purse is knit in two of these triangles and then overlapped like origami to create the purse.
Here's a truer color picture of the two colors I've chosen for this purse....Wild Asparagus and Eggplant. The Eggplant is especially difficult to photograph and probably is best shown above, but here's a pretty close color comparison.

And lastly, to show you that I'm not wasting any yarn, here's what I have left after knitting the Asparagus half - not much to sew the thing together. I'm still debating which color I want to dominate....the Asparagus or the Eggplant....what do you think?


Oh, and say a little prayer for me tomorrow, April fool's day....it's my first night of "on-call" status. A hundred patients or more under my responsibility all night long. Did anyone say try to sleep, because I know I'm not going to.....maybe the clap will be finished faster than I think! I'm off to bed early tonight in preparation! Have a great week!

Clubbin'

The Sock Club - a wondrous invention by stores (brick and mortar or on-line) that will sell you a sometimes exclusive/sometimes not, colorway of their specifically dyed yarn. It comes in a package to your home every month or every other month. It's sorta like a magazine subscription. Often there are perks other than owning the prized yarn, that say, maybe only 200 or 2000 other people own. Sometimes you get really nice stuff with the club package - this is known as SWAG. It could be anything from lip balm, hand lotion, DPN holder, tape measures, shawl pin, sock knitting bag, etc. The swag is usually related to knitting or sometimes, it is more personal in nature (see list above). Most times, sock club shipments come to your door with a pattern, written specifically for the yarn of the month included in the package. Of course, no one holds a gun to your head and makes you knit said pattern, but sometimes it's fun to "play along." Some clubs are very exclusive and hard to "get into." Ex. I won a lottery drawing for the sock club at TLE! Amazing, as usually I'm a big 'ole loser. I've got a point here, so stick with me.....

I've joined some sock clubs, because, as a knitter, I gravitate toward the same colors all the time. Sock clubs stretch me beyond my comfort zone colors. Otherwise, I might just knit jewel tones and be done with it all.

However, this month, I received some shipments that made me a little "green," and not with envy. I like green. Green is my birthstone. It's a jewel-toned color, so I usually knit with it - see the project below - a thong? Nope, a two-toned triangle purse, knit in Wild Asparagus (green), and Eggplant colorways. Easy knitting. Nice mindless project. Horrible picture, as usual. It's a bit washed-out, and I apologize. The colors are not true at all. Moving on......


So, we've established the fact that I like green. But did I really need this much of it???? But, on the other hand, you have to check out these green skeins........WOW - I don't need to buy anything else green for a long time! I've made an excutive decision after this month's club haul. I'm cutting back on clubs next year. It'll be a hard decision to pick and choose which ones to keep. But, I've got enough in my stash to do it. And in the end....I might just want to save my money for yarn that I REALLY love (not that I don't love all this yarn, but hey, I've got enough colors OUT of my comfort zone to last me for a long time).

Emerald City - Yarn Pirate


STR - Lucky


The Loopy Ewe - Cherry Tree Hill


And just to show you that I'm not totally mad or anything about the green colors.... I'm choosing my favorite selection from this month's green flavor - here's to Chewy Spaghetti's Blue Plate Special offering. I love this color, and it speaks to how I feel a bit right now - "Ludicrious!"


And to be even more ludicrious, I'll probaby purchase green yarn from Maryland Sheep and Wool.....you so KNOW I will......:)

Happy Easter!

Another week has gone by.....without a post. Life gets in the way. Actually, some knitting has gotten in the way, which is a good thing, considering that this is a knitting blog, most of the time. I've also been reading, and sometimes, as most of you can relate, it's just hard to put down a good book. Currently, I'm reading "The Red Tent." I'm loving it! I just finished Sara Gruen's "Water for Elephants." It was another good read. I'd recommend either to those of you in need of a good book. Neither one is difficult reading, per say.

On the knitting front....Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival is quickly approaching (first full weekend in May). I'm so psyched! I know, that last statement makes it sound as though I grew up in the 80's, and I did! Ok, back to MDSW. We have our reservations for the hotel, and we are staying for Saturday and Sunday! YEAH! But now, what to wear.....what to take? I'm currently knitting a few projects that I am hoping will come with me on the trip. Check it out.....

The two-toned triangle purse

This is a quick knit, as I've modified the pattern and knit with somewhat bulky weight yarn and US# 10.5 needles. The project will be felted when I'm finished. It's a lot of stockinette stitch, and there are increases and decreases. Basically you knit a big diamond, and then you knit another one and sew them together and felt. I've read about it on Ravelry, and some people label this project as boring. I guess that's relative to the knitter. I find the easy pattern very relaxing, and I look forward to having a "quickly" finished object in the end. I'll keep you posted regarding its progress. I'm knitting with Brown Sheep Shepherd's Shades - in the Wild Asparagus and Eggplant colorways. These are quite different from the colors in the photo for the pattern. In fact, if I like this project, I could see it becoming a nice quick gift to give at Christmas time, which means that I should begin knitting them now.........
I may run short on yarn, which has caused me to knit faster, and I find that whole phenomenon a bit funny....."Oh my gosh, the yarn may be short, let's knit faster (and inevitably a bit tighter) to see what happens....." The whole thing amuses me, yet I cannot stop the cycle from happening! YIKES!



Back to MDSW, and the fact that I need to adorn my body with some knitterly item (already planning on wearing the Ravelry beta t-shirt) in early May, which could be somewhat warm here. Kate Gilbert's Clapotis (we shall discuss the pronunciation and meaning of that word in a different post) is luring me. It's fairly calling my name. When I spent some quality time on Ravelry and discovered that people were knitting the clapotis pattern with only one skein of Wollmeise sock yarn, I nearly fainted. I knew it would be my next project! So, hopefully, it will be started and finished in time for MDSW. Here's the colorway I'm planning for it.....if I like the pattern, I'll probably knit more in different colors. I had to do some research on the pattern, as I've never done the PFB stitch before, and thank heavens for Knittinghelp.com
- what a life-saver!

Next post.....well, who knows when it will be. I only hope to have some more knitting to show you. Until then.....Happy Easter! I hope you had some chocolate, eggs, family, and peace today.

Picture Post

I haven't knit much in the past couple of days. I did manage to knit some rows on the Montego Bay Scarf, but to be honest, I haven't been home. Working weekends is proving to be a difficult transition for me. I know that I did make the right decision by changing jobs (the days really do fly by now, and I'm not chained to a desk), but I still feel very "NEW" and uncomfortable yet. I haven't slept well the past three nights. Today, I was so tired, I didn't take a nap. That doesn't really make sense does it? But imagine it! I don't think I've missed my Sunday nap in months!

So this post is more about the pictures. Here are the three skeins of lace weight yarn that I purchased from the Wollmeise. For you Muggles, this is the MECCA of all yarn. It is in such high demand that 200-400 skeins of yarn (Sheri would be able to tell you the exact number) sold out in less than 5 minutes on Thursday at TLE. Unbelievable! I managed to snag some of this at Claudia's last update at the beginning of March. Don't ask me how. I'm still waiting on another bag from that shipment, which is unusual.

I'm wondering if one of these skeins of yarn should become a simple lace shawl to wear for Maryland Sheep and Wool in early May (This festival is almost equivalent to Rhinebeck for those not familiar with this fiber event)? Does anyone have any suggestions for patterns that would work well for these skeins? I'm thinking the blue one would be really nice to use for May. Please post your suggestions in the comments. I'd appreciate it ever so much!

And PS - Enjoy the view of the yarn! I know I do on a daily basis. I'm looking forward to Tuesday, which is my day off this week to compensate for the weekend work. Hallelujah! Hopefully, I can get some cleaning done, and some time to just relax and knit. Oh, and how about a nap? :) Have a great week!

Things That Make Me Weep

Things that make me weep (not all bad):

1. Ripping out the scarf pattern in the previous post for the THIRD time. You all were close in your guesses. It is the Montego Bay scarf from IK Spring 2007 issue. Amy Singer is the designer. It's supposed to be an easy pattern, but I keep losing stitches, and frogging it, because I can't pick them back up with all of the YO's. Help! This is an easy lace pattern. How will I knit more complicated lace if I keep doing this? Suggestions please? :(

2. I want to be able to knit slightly more complex lace patterns (I need some sort of progression, don't I), because I just bought three skeins of laceweight from the Wollmeise. The colors are phenomenal, and they make me want to weep (they are that beautiful). I keep fondling them and sniffing them (this might appear as abnormal behavior to muggles, but trust me, it's a perfectly sane gesture to knitters and crocheters alike).

3. I have to work this weekend. This makes me weep. I had today off, and I get Tuesday off next week, but I work Friday through Monday. This past Tuesday was enough to make me weep. I'm not liking the thought of working this weekend, but next weekend I get three days off again (but we spend the Monday after Easter at the hospital for my DD's doctor appts).



4. Lastly, to end on a great note (weeping still involved), and to include the picture of the post - this is my youngest daughter knitting! She said to me today, after we came home from the doctor for her ear (it's infected), that she wanted to learn to knit. Do you know what - she's doing really well for just turning six years old. She asked me who taught me to knit, and I said my Mom and my Nana. And then, bless her heart, she said, "Mommy, if you show me how to knit, then I can teach my children, and they'll know how to knit because you taught me."
WOW! What a legacy!

Guessing Game

Okay, who's up for a guessing game? I don't think there will be prizes this time. Sorry! :( It will just be for fun. Why? Because my big 'ole butt doesn't get time to go to the post office lately....BUT, I'll do a blog contest as soon as life calms down.

So, strictly for the fun of it.....can you guess what this will be when it grows up? A nice little yarn ball with 200 of those nice little fringes?



And then when it's knitted up, looks like this?



Any guesses? Go ahead. Blow me away. Show me how much time you spend on Ravelry, searching the patterns to load up your already overflowing list of things to knit! I love Ravelry, but sometimes I hate the knittng time that it sucks up. I find myself saying, "You're never gonna have a finished object at this rate. Get off that computer!" FPS!

Ok - off to knit some more of the mystery object. And finish cooking dinner. Have a great week! And what do you know? - it's Monday, and there's a post here. Daylight savings time ROCKS! It is still light outside at 6:00pm, and not looking to get dark anytime soon! YEAH!

Blog Lag

I haven't forgotten any of you, or this blog. I sorta feel like I have jet lag, but really, it's blog lag. It's sad indeed, that I've not posted for more than a week. I have no excuse, but to say that work is busy. I've gotten a break, and this weekend is a three-day weekend for me. I've been enjoying reading your blogs and commenting. I've seen some really nice yarn, and some really nice knitted items! You all rock!

Last weekend, on my day off, we took the kids to see a children's production of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." It was wonderful, and for a couple dollars more than the movies, they were able to experience live theatre, and eat their favorite foods (pizza, chicken nuggets, macaroni, salad-bar with only lettuce, croutons, tomatoes, cheese, and ranch dressing). At least they had chocolate chip cookies and ice-cream for dessert! It was a wonderful experience for them, and the actors and actresses came back on stage following the performance to answer questions from the audience, all dressed in the costumes. I'm glad to expose them to some culture, because we sometimes feel that we live in isolation. Isolation is good though, and I'm itching to take the canoe out on the local lake. That lake is less than 2 miles from my house. That's the isolation working in my favor! :)

Last night we had our group of friends over for our traditional Friday Night Bible Study - my hubby walked into the house with these in hand. He said, "I thought these would look nice on the table." I'm a blessed woman, indeed! Please, we just cut the ends before putting them in the vase. There is no arrangement of said flowers. I don't do that very well. I feel fortunate that I know about cutting the ends of the flowers, FPS! :) Hee Hee! Martha Stewart, I ain't. And I'm thankful for that too.

Also, take a peek at this beautiful vase/pot that my MIL and FIL gave me for Christmas! It was purchased in State College, PA at the local arts festival in July. State College is home to the PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS! The butterfly and flowers are actually part of the vase, and are painted in my favorite colors - yellow/blue. I have finally removed the snowmen from our living area (they abide in the attic during other seasons), with the hopes that Mother Spring will peek around the corner and banish the bad weather.


Don't forget to move that clock forward an hour tonight! What a welcome thing, even if it means losing an hour of sleep. The next post, I promise to show knitterly things....yarn, socks, something. I have been knitting....but it's been a slow go, and I've visited the frog pond a couple of times.....

AND (BIG AND), I've made our reservations for Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, and thankfully, managed to get the weekend off work! YEAH! Anyone else attending? It's spectular!