I’ll have another cup-a-tea

Many of you will remember from this post, how my wonderful hubby thought the Clapotis was named Cup-A-Tea. So in honor of my husband, here’s my second Cup-A-Tea.

Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert
Source: Knitty.com Fall 2004 issue
Yarn: Brooks Farm Acero (2 skeins)
Needles: 4.0 mm / US 6 KnitPicks Options Nickel
Finished Dimensions: 60″ x 20″
Ravelry Info: My Page and Pattern Page

I’d originally purchased the Acero yarn to knit the Ella shawl, but for whatever reason, at some point I changed my mind and so the yarn languished in my stash. Then, a few weeks before Stitches West I joined my very first knit night group (Anaheim Hills Knitters), and figured I’d better take a fairly uncomplicated pattern to knit so that I could knit, talk, and pay close attention to all the conversation going on. Since I’d just seen Jillian’s beautiful black Clapotis, I knew I must cast on for a solid color Clapotis and went stash diving. Thankfully the Acero fit the bill and I cast-on immediately.

Since the Acero is between a Fingering and DK weight, I decided to add some extra pattern repeats to keep this more of a wrap than a scarf. Of course this added some additional knitting time to the project, but it was well worth it.

The completed shawl turned out exactly as I’d hoped and was perfect to wear in the cooler weather of Northern California. Unfortunately Clapotis has not been hardly used since, and most definitely won’t be seeing the light of day today … it’s a blasting 83 degrees. Does this mean it will be in the 100’s for summer? Perish the thought.

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What’s Old, What’s New, What’s Happening

There are quite a few things in process right now, and all are so close to being complete, that there “should” be a lot of FO’s to share with you over the next 2 weeks. Notice how I said “should”. I quite frequently “should” all over myself, so one never knows. First up ……

Look at what has finally been given a bath. It’s actually already blocked, and dried and waiting for buttons.

You don’t recognize the black blob in the sink? Well, neither would I. It’s the Tangled Yoke Cardigan that I completed in November. Since this is my first sweater, I think I’ve been afraid to block it for fear that it wouldn’t turn out. Either too big, or too long, or whatever. I decided that there was no need to worry about it until the blocking was complete, and I tried it on.

Next up is another test-knit for my girlfriend Laura of Fiber Dreams. The pattern is named Flower Faire and is written with 3 design options. You can either make the stole size, or a scarf in fingering-weight yarn or laceweight yarn (as I’m doing). Obviously it’s just a blob now, and I’m only halfway, but I suspect much gorgeousness when it’s complete and blocked. Does the color look familiar? It’s the leftover yarn from the Garden Party shawl I posted about last time. By the way, Wendy Johnson of Wendy Knits is currently knitting up that pattern as well and I can’t wait to see what hers looks like when it’s complete.

Thanks to Lynda and her blog post showing off her wonderful felted clogs, I felt inspired to finally felt mine. It also helped that Lynda was kind enough to send me an email explaining the best way to felt them. Since one of my slippers was bigger than the other, it had to felt longer and I did think it was tricky getting them both the same size, but I think I was successful. I’ll have a FO post about these as soon as they are dry.

Then we’ve got the Clapotis. When I saw that Jillian had knit one in a solid black, I just knew I wanted one in a solid colorway as well. I dug through my stash and found 2 skeins of Brooks Farm Acero sitting in my stash. I’m in the decrease section so I hope to be casting-off and blocking by the weekend so I can take it with me next week to Stitches West.

Other than that, there’s a completed pair of socks which will get it’s photo shoot tomorrow, and then they’re off in the mail to mom.

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