The 6-day clapotis

About two weeks ago...I started my clapotis. I made it in fingering weight yarn...imagination from knit picks--evil stepmother

Better picture of this yarn is here.

It's an alpaca, wool, nylon blend...and i love alpaca.

So it took me four days to do it. It's so nice. My friend JK wanted to make a clapotis herself...she got the most gorgeous yarn, wool, silk, linen blend...I just tried for like 10 minutes to find the yarn. But it's gorgeous. Of course, having her working on hers, she needed support...say me casting on with the gorgeous malabrigo my friend BL gave me (THANK YOU B)

I also bought some of this ---

I'm making andrew a hat. Actually a very awesome hat. The Koolhaas hat...

And yes it is actually a boy pattern...

In other news, I'm about 1/2 way through a baby blanket i'm working on, and about 1/4 though another. I'm desperately trying to finish things so I can work on some lace...that would be lovely.

Now off to plan menus for the week.

Yarn

Yes...walk away from this yarn...

I DARE YOU

go ahead. It's 450 yards of alpacky goodness.

I couldn't walk away...well I did walk away at $20...but I fell for it at $15.

glee..

so now I need to think...pattern.

Oh the joy of finishing

I finished something.

I know. you're spit-taking...it's okay...I'll wait.

Okay, screen wiped off?

Actually I've finished 2 things. I made gwen socks. I love gwen...and as long as you don't sleep with them, i love socks.

Socks and sleeping...just wrong. Just the idea of something on my feet while I'm asleep gives me the jibbleys. Like right now, I'm a-jibblin'.

Anyway, so I finished that. And a sweater for a baby. I was really delayed on this, which is why I've told friends that are preggers that I'll make them a 12 mos sweater. Because then I MIGHT have time/impetus to finish it. This assuming that they call me with pattern/yarn choices at the moment of conception... (insert kinda creepy visual here). If I'll get any further behind, I'll be going "you're knocked up...great, let me know what your child would like if he goes to a cold university...and what university...i'll make him a scarf."

So what does yours truly have going on...now that I've got those two done.

Knitting:
a baby sweater with embroidery...woooon (not cast on)
sweater for the monkey (not cast on)
sweater for cute toddler (on the knitpick line...)

Crochet
blanket for mom-in-law (uh...kinda christmas...more like fourth of july)
blanket for friend (oh the joys of making motifs...plus i subbed in DK yarn and then changed needle sizes. 5 down, 47 more to go...then the sewing...oh i hate the sewing)
blanket for friend -- hate the pattern, need a complete do over

Things I cast on because the yarn made me and told me I had to:
socks for me out of malabrigo
socks for me out of lorna laces

I need six more hands and some new audio books.

Bayfield apple dreaming...on such a winter's day

So BL pointed out that she usually asks what I'm going to do with said yarn before she encourages said yarn. This is very very true.

I had to validate shimmer in ivy. of course i did it by finding a lace pattern and sending it to her with "oh, i'll do this"

I don't even know what I said I'd do.

I didn't get that far with bayfield apple. I have NO idea what i'm going to do with it. It's a sock yarn--so the obvious answer is socks.

and i just did buy a nickel sock set...

oh, i don't know...

I should listen to BL more.

Thank you BL

My friend BL rocks.

She does.

Really.

You know, so few addicts have a really helpful pusher. Someone that goes..."oh, yeah, you totally need that yarn...in fact, I'm placing an order myself...so you want me to add it to the cart."

I love that I can send her links and go "do I need this?"

and BL replies. "oh, gosh, yes..."

See if I did that with A, I would get back..."you have a lot of yarn"

Little rule: Commenting on the size of a woman's stash is the equiv of coming up and saying "my gosh your butt is HUGE"...we know it's big, we don't need your help in estimating size. GEESH.

BL just says "oh, you so need that yarn...in fact I'm surprised you don't have it, let's order it right now" and then she does. So my 10.75 needle is on it's way (along with shimmer in ivy) and so is Bayfield Apple. GLEEEEEE.

Just think where Keith Richards would be if he had this sort of relationship with his pusher?

I'm in love

Oh, I'm in love...with another yarn...

My life was fine...yes it was...until it blew my mind.

I think that's Ray Parker Jr. ...but I get him and Lando Calrissian kinda confused in my head...

Anyway...I'm in love with a yarn.

Meet the colorway "Bayfield Apple" by Yarn love. Oh, because I had to explain to Andrew...a colorway is what knerds call a multicolored yarn...it's not a color like "red" or "blue" it's a colorway like....*drool* Bayfield Apple.

hold on a minute.

need to collect myself.

...

okay I'm back. Yarn love makes a yarn called Elizabeth Bennett...thus uniting my love of yarn with my love of Pride & Prejudice. It's like finding out your hot boyfriend really loves it when you eat chocolate frosting from the plastic tub...it's a keeper.

It's merino...silk...and bamboo... I love bamboo. I'm kinda bummed it's ecologically friendly as it completely makes my love guilt free. I like my love guilty--and with chocolate frosting.

I need this yarn.

NEED IT...

Need it like the air. Like the water. Like the blood rushing through my veins giving life to the neuro wires that scream this yarn's name in the night, pleading for it as the completion of my wounded soul.

or...i just really really really want it.

sigh.

Hello. My name is Jen...and I'm a yarnaholic.

Jen--worst blogger EVER

Yes, it's true.

I haven't blogged in two weeks.

I also haven't:

• mailed out all my x-mas cards (yes I know it's 2009)
• finished all my x-mas gifts
• written any thank you notes
• gotten rid of this massive sinus infection

That last was put there in hopes of absolution.

I realized a couple days ago that a knitting project I was doing out of watermelon shine from knitpicks...was prolly going to take a bit more yarn..Which if you clicked through, you see it's...CLEARANCE. This is knitpicks "nice" way of saying "no one else likes this color except you, so we are tossing it unless you buy it RIGHT NOW" So of course I needed to ordered a few more skeins...yes I know the dyelot will be off, better that than an unfinished sweater.

But knitpicks does free shipping if you order 50 bucks. So of course I have to order 50 bucks, but I ordered stuff just 10 days ago (no seriously I did. It was a gift card...doesn't count as stash) (one of the thank you notes I haven't written). So I polled friends "hey ya need anything" because obviously spending a few bucks for shipping rather than buying more yarn, needles, and what not is anathema in the eyes of God. It is. Really.

So that got me like $10 bucks of stuff (turns out BL just doesn't need anything that doesn't start with mal--and end with --abrigo). Lucky...NW figured out what sex she was having...woo hoo. and so I ordered yarn for her child. Here's the pattern...revel in it's cuteness...plus I can break out my embroidery books! Yeah that got me up to like $30.

So I ordered the entire nickel sock set. It was shiny. It blinded me. I swear. And I figure I need to learn to do socks. Right? Look, I'm rationalizing here, you could at least play along. Let me say I love knit pick needles. They are slick and pointy. In some alternate universe, I am romping with them on a luscious field of strawberries with a river of chocolate fondu...it just got weird didn't it. Dang.

Up to 50. Placed order. Woo hoo.

NOT 24-HOURS LATER...I realize that they added a size to the options needle set. Yes that set that just last night A goes "so you have a complete set, huh?" and I gleefully went "yes...yes I do."

THEY ADDED A SIZE.

Seems those pesky europeans need a 7mm. WHANKERS. See. there's Euro sizes and US sizes, because US people can't be bothered to learn the metric system. So you're going along, size US 8 is 5 mm, US9 is 5.5mm, US 10 is 6mm, but wait...US 11 is 8mm. That there is a jump. So they made US10 1/2 which is 6.5mm. You can get most of the sizes in most stores.

But Knit Picks is international, so they added US10 3/4 which is 7mm.

Which means...I no longer have a complete set. This bothers me immensely.

(As a side note: Latern Moon-lovely needles that they are-is offering US 10 7/8 which is 7.5mm because US people still can't be bothered to learn, embrace, and declare dang superior the idea of measuring your needles by diameter and not assigning arbitrary and meaningless numbers to them that have to retrofitted to accomodate the full range of sizes...not that I have an opinon)

This brings us back to the problem that I DO NOT HAVE A COMPLETE SET OF NEEDLES. There is a 7mm needle tips out there...and I want it.

So it's $6.99.

Anyone out there need $43.01 amount of yarn from knitpicks. I can place the order for you.