Clapotis--Fini!

I finished Clapotis, and she is more gorgeous than I could have imagined. The KnitPicks Shimmer I used is unbelievably soft and luxurious. And oh-so-affordable!

I did notice from my last post that no one likes a post without pictures. And, really, I should have known. I'm the same way--if I stumble upon a blog with no photos, I just keep moving.

So, to make up for my lack of pictures last time, I've got lots of them this time. Not to mention a freshly made blog button for those of you who might like to link me.

To the left is Clapotis, glistening in the sun. I think the bright light really brightens the colors. In person, they're more subdued.

But only slightly. This is certainly not a quiet, retiring Clapotis!

Obligatory close-up:

Here she is after her bath, stretched out across my dining room table, which is not big enough to accomodate. So not the best blocking job in the world, but it certainly did help smooth it out and straighten the lines.

And, yes, those are leopard spots on my dining room wall. And, no, I did not put them there.

So....what to knit next? This is really a dilemma for me because I am leaving for vacation July 8th, and I will need something to take along with me. I am still working on Cozy...

...which is a fabulous knit, and I love the soft puffiness of the KnitPicks Andean Silk, but I'm not sure it's quite the right thing to work on at the beach.

There's always the long-neglected Pomatomus. Perfect theme for a beach vacation, too. I feel guily for having abandoned this project, but I got frustrated when I had to rip it out and start over, then I just got sidetracked by other stuff. But it's still hanging around, and a definite contender for vacation knitting.

Or I could just take it nice and easy and make the Jaywalkers I have been wanting to make for myself out of this lovely, lovely Koigu:

I do plan to start these soon since the only thing I have on the needles (besides the dreaded Poms) is Cozy. And, since I have already done two pairs of Jaywalkers, the third should be a snap!

The last two photos don't have anything to do with knitting, but I was so thrilled when I saw the following in our backyard:

We planted four grapevines in our backyard when we moved in four years ago. Three of them, our rambunctious dog Annie ripped out of the ground. This one is the only one to survive the rampage, and I have never seen grapes actually on it. So that's exciting.

And I leave you with the miniature rose my husband has finally managed to coax out of the dirt. He's so proud.

Aww---No Photos?!?

Nope, this is my first ever post with no photos. Boo!

I'm just too lazy, and also, I want to save photos of Clapotis until I am done, because it is really coming along nicely.

I have been contemplating some new projects. I think I want to make a really intricate lace shawl, not because I would ever wear it, but because it looks fun. And it would make a great present for someone. I'm thinking maybe the Icarus shawl from the current Interweave Knits. That one's in the front-running, although I'm considering others as well.

I did look up the yarn used for Icarus, the Alpaca Yarn Company's Suri Elegance, and it's $30 a skein! I guess it's not too bad, considering you only need one, but still! Yikes! They do have some beautiful colors though, and I was very attracted to the greens, even though I'm not really a green person. I need to do some more looking and see what kinds of substitutions others have made for this pattern.

Also, I'm thinking about starting my first actual piece of clothing. I have a pretty good idea of what I want to make, but I'm going to remain silent for now!

We played Shadows Over Camelot today with our friends (twice, actually, and once more at my husband's parents' house), and while the game has lots of moving parts and lots of decisions to make, it's not really that difficult. We had fun playing it.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Now, back to work.

Ingredients

So I decided what one-skein gift I want to make for my One Skein Secret Pal. It's this, from here And here are my ingredients: just some simple black wool, a kicky fabric for the liner, and some needles and thread.

I still need to find a handle for the purse though, but I have time. From what I have read, this is not only an adorable knit, but a fast one.

I also want to procure the ingredients to make this:

The chicken and peaches platter from Real Simple magazine. Mmmm, it just looks so good! I was going to throw it together for supper tonight, but we ended up going with my husband's sister and her husband, my father-in-law, and my niece to a Chinese buffet. Ugh--bloated! My youngest niece didn't go because, get this, she went with my mother-in-law to her knitting club meeting. She's only 8 (my niece, not my mother-in-law)!

My nieces Brittany and Caleigh are down from Michigan to visit this week and next, so I took the afternoon off and spent it with them swimming in the pool at my parents'-in-law. We had a good time, but I got a wee bit too much sun, and now I'm radiating heat. Luckily, I tend to turn tan within a day or two, so it's not too bad.

I know lots of people hate constant pictures-in-progress, so I won't post photos of Clapotis and Cozy right now. I will say I have dropped 8 stitches so far on Clapotis, and man, this is a tedious knit! But it's gonna be fabulous.

I wanted to mention that I went and saw An Inconvenient Truth this weekend, and I loved it. It was absolutely riveting from beginning to end. Everyone should go check it out.

So, we have some friends who love German strategy games like The Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, and Pirate's Cove. My husband bought Shadows Over Camelot recently, and we were trying to figure it out tonight. Oh. My. God. It's so complicated (see below).

After about an hour, we gave up and decided we'd have to have some help figuring it out. We're going over to our friends' house on Sunday for lunch and to play.

Really, I swear we're not nerds.

Not Much

I don't have a whole lot to report right now. It's been kind of a stressful few days, what with getting home from my trip and a pretty tense court appearance. Hopefully things will relax a bit more as we progress towards the weekend.

I really need to get some socks on the needles, I think. I do have a hard time working on more than one project at a time, although I have been doing it it. It makes me feel kind of anxious though. No one wants wool socks in the summertime though, so I guess it won't hurt to wait on that.

I have been working on Clapotis:

And Cozy:

I think they're both expanding nicely!

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Koigu!--UPDATED!!

I'm going to a wedding this weekend, in Glasgow, Kentucky, which is where I grew up. My friend Amy is getting married--we've been friends since we were in 4th grade, although I haven't seen her since my wedding almost six years ago.

I decided it would be cool to knit her and her husband-to-be Koigu socks. I'm not quite done, but I wanted to go ahead and post, partially because I'm leaving town, but mainly because I got in trouble with my SP8 hostess for not updating frequently enough. This one's for you, Cecily! So without further ado, here are the Koigu Wedding Socks.

Hers are Jaywalkers, of course, with a picot edge. I think they're darling.

His are modified from Gentleman's Fancy Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks.

I hope they like them!

And my SP8 made his or her prescence known. I received a box from Amazon, and it made me kind of mad because I ordered a birthday present for my niece last week and instructed Amazon to send it to her in Michigan. So I was just sure they had screwed it up.

But no! It was a book from my SP, and it was one from my wishlist, and he or she said to be expecting a box from an etsy seller shortly too! Can''t wait. Thank you so much, SP! I can't wait to get into the book and find some new patterns. I've heard great things about this book, and I appreciate it so much.

Here's a photo of the book all ready for my trip, along with a gorgeous bag I bought from etsy seller charmdesign.

And now, from the WIP file, I give you the wee beginning of the Clapotis I am making for me out of KnitPicks Shimmer in Happy Dance (doublestranded). I have to say, the colors in this stuff are just luscious, and infintely entertaining to watch. I still have a long way to go on this, I do realize, but I can visualize the finished product in my head, and it's going to be amazing.

Also currently in progress is a Cozy for my mom, using KnitPicks Andean Silk.

I've really enjoyed the little I've done on both of these projects, maybe partially because they're not Koigu socks. But progress has been slow to say the least as I've been dedicated to the wedding socks for the last month. Hopefully both will progress substantially soon!

Ah, my dear readers, this has been an action-packed, thrilling installment. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

UPDATE

Well, my bags are all packed and ready to go.....

And so are the wedding socks!

And, SP, my stitch markers arrived. Cutest things EVAH! Thanks so much.

Ok, I'm done.