kimley knits

Clapotis

As of today, according to Ravelry, there are 12,722 Clapotis roaming in the knitting wilds. It is currently listed as the pattern with the most projects. So I had to see what all the fuss was about and I have to say that I get it. I knit this back in August and I’m pretty sure I’ll end up making a few more. It’s a super fun and fast pattern to knit. Who doesn’t love dropping stitches on purpose and watching them ladder down knowing that it’s actually OK. Not to mention that it’s a highly adaptable pattern. Make it smaller or bigger depending on the amount of yarn you have. Use any gauge yarn. And best of all, it’s a rare pattern that works well with the wildest variegated yarns. And I had this seriously crazy variegated yarn from Araucania (Ranco Multy-fingering weight) which I loved and scored on sale but then couldn’t figure out what to use it for. This is a win-win any way you look at it!

STATS:
Clapotis pattern free from Knitty.com
1 skein Araucania Ranco Multy (376 yards) in color 301 (used all but a few yards)
U.S. size 6 needles (KnitPicks Options)
Blocked to 9″ x 70″

Twinkle Aspen Hat – to be frogged…

Well, I’ve been knitting a lot lately and experimenting a lot as well so it’s no surprise that I’ve got a bunch of life-lesson FAILS to report. It’s all part of the learning curve. Fortunately this is another quick knit so not a lot of time lost on this “experiment”. I’ve had this Twinkle Soft Chunky yarn for quite a while now, having scored a hank on sale for half price. It’s super soft and I absolutely love the color. I’ve been wanting to make this Twinkle Aspen Hat but didn’t have any needles anywhere near the correct size – 19! I have the Knit Picks options set so I finally ordered their size 17 needle hoping that would work. Unfortunately, that’s the biggest size they have. At first it seemed as if I was getting gauge but as I worked my way to the tippy top of this hat and tried it on I could see it was way too small. No matter how much I stretched and tugged, it just didn’t want to cover my ears and if a hat doesn’t cover your ears, well then what’s the point? So I need to save up to buy some size 19 needles and do this one properly.

Veyla Mitts – to be frogged…

I have this super luxurious yarn that my friend Janel so graciously gave me a few xmases back and I’ve been trying to find just the right project. It’s beautiful lace-weight qiviuk and I was hoping it might work for these lovely fingerless mitts – Veyla from Ysolda Teague – but the pattern calls for a light fingering weight yarn and as you can see this lace weight is just a bit too thin. When I stretch the cuff, it actually looks OK but the hand just looks too threadbare. Fortunately, it’s an extremely fast knit so it was an interesting experiment. I may try doubling the yarn although I’m not quite sure that I have enough. It will be close but if it works I think it will be wonderful. This yarn is so soft and beautiful!

Yes, I do believe someone has been surreptitiously eating my yarn.

I’m running out of yarn on my Hallett’s Ledge sweater even though I’m using the yarn spec’d for the pattern and getting gauge and purchased the recommended amount and yet I’m running out! I’ve got the body and the first sleeve done and have only 80 grams of yarn left. My first sleeve used 79 grams of yarn (yep, I weighed it) so clearly I won’t have any left over for the collar band and two button bands.

Hallett’s Ledge WIP: back and front view. It looks better on. It definitely needs blocking.

What’s a girl to do?  Ahem – go yarn shopping! I originally got this yarn from Webs so I’m hoping they still have some of the same dye lot. It’s a Rowan yarn (the felted tweed aran) and I’ve had mixed experiences trying to match yarn with Rowan yarns. Sometimes, even if it’s not the same dye lot, it looks exactly the same and other times it looks really really different. We’ll see if they can match it or if it will be OK. Hopefully, even if it doesn’t match, it won’t be so different as to stand out on the collar and button bands. Sigh…

It’s been literally years since I last blogged… but not for a lack of knitting or fiber fluff in my life. I’ve just been keeping track of all my projects on Ravelry and blogging seemed a bit redundant.

But I’ve lately been knitting somewhat fanatically and feeling the need to start blogging again. I really want to step up my knitting skills and get past being an “advanced-beginner” and try to develop some enviable needle chops. So I’ve “rebranded” my blog with a new name and design and have lots to post about my latest adventures with yarn.

swatch for Hallett’s Ledge sweater

With that in mind, I’ve lately become obsessed with knitting sweaters. I’d mostly avoided sweaters for several reasons. It’s expensive to buy all that yarn. They take a long time. And making sure they fit is somewhat daunting not to mention there are a variety of sweater-knitting skills that I still don’t possess. But I’m ready to tackle those now.

I’m currently working on Hallett’s Ledge from the latest Twist Collective. I’ve run into a couple of hitches but overall, I’m really loving it. If I can manage to pull this one off, I’m pretty sure I’ll get quite a bit of wear out of it.