knitting neels

I’m afraid my posts haven’t been keeping up with the sheer volume of knitting going on… I struggled through the week. At the time I always call it an attack of the crazies, but in hindsight it was more of the horrible come down and bummed-outedness that comes after an exam. I have a bad habit of thinking about everything all at once and then getting overwhelmed. But hey! that’s what knitting is there for. So here’s what I’ve been at whilst trying to stave off the urge to blow up something!

Hot off the needles is my Clapotis. I got thoroughly over-excited and knitted it so fast that I didn’t have time to join in the knitalong over at This is Knit. I am delighted to have finished it because it is still too warm and humid to wear a jacket, but chilly enough to need a little something extra.

cry me a clapotis…

I made a Clapotis when the pattern first came out in 2004, in an aran-weight yarn and 6.5mm needles. I also made it to the recommended width. All told, the thing is a monstrosity and more of a wrap than a scarf. I don’t really wear wraps. This time around, I used two skeins of the Lion & Lamb (as much as an indulgence this was, I just couldn’t justify a third skein), and only did four repeats of increases instead of the recommended six. The width is just perfect, I was able to make it just as long as the original and even have enough L&L left over to do some matching brooches or something.

Of course, because I’d finished something I was allowed cast on for something else 😛 Here’s the humble beginnings of ole Gatsby Girl, from this winter’s issue of Interweave Knits.

This is going to take a while. To get gauge I had to drop down to 3mm needles. Thankfully, the wool (pure laine, from Phildar) isn’t making too dense a fabric. Even so, this is going to be a very warm top.

I made good progress on the last repeat of alien heads at the Knitting group yesterday afternoon. It was lots of fun and a great break from things. I’m looking forward to the next one already! I’m sad to be finished knitting my alien heads – it’s st st from here until the finish. But hopefully it will fly along a bit quicker than the lace pattern.

The knitting group was good fun. I got to meet Isobel again, Cheryl, Holly and Ger and Martha and two other girls whose names I can’t remember :} sorry! There was coffee and knitting and ‘some’ ball winding. Joy!

I’ve even been doing some dreaded sewing up. I finally found it in me to rip out the garter stitch border on Bliss and re-knit it. It was just far too pulled and tight. This time, I picked up my stitches using a crochet hook and it worked out much better. Now I just have to sew the side seams and set the sleeves. I don’t mind it, but it’s just tedious and I keep putting it off.

Lol can you see the difference in colour between the body and the neck band?! The extra wool I ordered from Phildar were not only a different dye lot, but a completely different colour. The sleeves are much lighter than the body too. You know what? I don’t care!

My Granny Smith has finally been unpinned and is also waiting to be sewn up. Bah! I need elves to do it for me in my sleep so that when I wake up tomorrow morning, I’ll have a fully sewn up cardigan waiting for me 😀

In other news, I found a great quick-knit shrug in an old magazine a few days ago… and! I highly recommend you buy Woman’s Way this week because not only is there a not-disgusting knitting pattern for a bolero-type-top, but there is a fantastic recipe for blueberry muffins and other yummy desserts. Go! Buy! It’s only e1.30!