I’ve finished Clapotis! This picture shows it draped across my honeysuckle. (Good grief, it is hot out there today!)

Knit on US #7 Addi Natura needles of Blue Heron Yarns’ Rayon/Metallic in the “Parrot” colorway.

I finished it last night. It would have been finished Friday, but… well… The yarn comes in a 550-yard skein. Clapotis requires 600 yards. I thought that skipping one of the straight-section repeats would do the trick. It didn’t. I ran out of yarn when I still had 4 decrease repeats left to go. I ended up having to frog back past the last repeat to start the decreasing. The cost of the yarn is what kept me from just buying another skein.

Leaving the 12th repeat out of the straight section gained almost enough yarn. Almost. When I was down to the last couple of decrease repeats I realized that there still wasn’t quite enough. To compensate I threw in a few extra decreases and finished the corner with fewer rows. It doesn’t show at all, as the fabric drapes so nicely and without blocking it tends to curl a little on the edges anyway. (A good reason not to bother to block it.)

This picture shows the tail I had left after weaving in the end. This was it. Six whole inches of yarn.

Not quite enough to start another project. 😆

I am working away at E’s socks. I am almost finished with the gusset increases and hope to turn the heels today or tomorrow. Then it’s just lace all the way up to the top.

Yesterday at Molehill Farm in Lake Oswego I found some really cool sock blockers made by Fiber Trends. Usually I don’t bother to block socks, but I’d like to see E’s lace socks blocked so the lace pattern is more apparent.

And not all that great S.E.X.* at that.

I arrived at Fiber Arts Northwest at around 11:30 on Thursday. Already the place was packed with people looking for good deals. Since there was a closeout sale on July 4th, everything was pretty well picked over. I did managed to snag 3 skeins of Madil Kid Seta in color 488, which is a yummy mauvish rosy kinda color. I’m not sure exactly what it’s going to turn into. Maybe Kiri, or maybe something else. There’s not a huge amount of yardage to work with, but I should be able to find a pattern that strikes my fancy.

My needle collection was expanded by 4 Addi Turbos and 3 Clover Takumi in various sizes. And I picked up two books: One on slip-stitch knitting and another on knit and crochet with beads.

There was a long line for the cash register. The LYSO was ringing up the sales while an assistant worked the line writing up sales slips in advance. I had put my purchases in a small plastic bag. When writing them up, the assistant noticed that the books were splitting the plastic. She found a paper bag for me to use instead and put the plastic bag inside the paper one. The paper bag was large, but I had a lunch still to eat and a ways to walk and I didn’t want my purchases escaping.

When I got up to the cash register, the LYSO said, “That bags too big for you.” I gently explained that the books split the plastic bag and that was why I needed paper. She put the old plastic bag inside a second plastic bag and said, “That should work for you.” I again explained, nicely, that I had a ways to go and (despite the “helpful” offer of the person behind me to follow along and pick up any lost items), I really didn’t want to be losing things along the way because the bag split. “Fine.” The LYSO said, and with that she threw — and I mean threw — my purchases into the paper bag that was resting on the floor. “Is that good enough for you?” I was a little startled, but I said, “Yes. Thank you. That will be great.” And I took my bag and my purchases, checked to make sure nothing was broken, and left.

I’m sorry her shop is closing, and I sympathize with what must seem like a terrible loss. But I was not trying to capitalize on that. I really wish her the best in the future and hope she is successful at whatever her next venture is. I just wanted to get my stuff home safely. Is using a paper bag such a terrible thing? (Note to reading public… if you go to the sale today or tomorrow, bring your own bag.)

On the good new front, the TSA didn’t bat an eye at my colleague’s new knitting needles, now covered in a couple of rows of knitting. (Shout out to MK! You are too doing great at picking this up and stop arguing with me about it. That bag you think is so cute will be within your grasp before you know it!)

* That’s “Stash Enhancing Experience” for all you lascivious types out there who thought you’d find more prurient content here. This is a fairly family-friendly blog, after all!

I’ve been spending some quality time the last couple of days on a blog I just recently ran into. You Knit What?? exposes weird, ugly and questionable knit designs from national publications, yarn company patterns and online knitzines. The pithy commentary from knittykitty and punk rock knitter has kept me in… OK, I’m going to say it… stitches. I’m sure that those around me think I’ve gone insane because of the hysterical laughter emanating from my little corner.

Mom’s take on You Knit What??:

One of my work colleagues lives in another part of the country and travels here for part of the week. When here, we often “do lunch.” She’s been watch in fascination while I knit on a project or two, so I offered to teach her how to knit.

Last weekend she went to a LYS in her home town and picked up some lovely blue worsted-weight yarn and a pair of plastic needles.

Plastic needles that, she tells me, were so flexible that they could easily bend and then spring right back.

I never got to actually see these needles because they were confiscated by airport security. Despite the listing of knitting needles TSA list of permitted items as OK in both carry on and checked luggage. Despite her helpful demonstration of the flexibility of the needles that rendered them almost completely unsuitable as stabbing weapons.

Knitting lessons have been postponed until replacements can be obtained. I’m thinking bamboo and plastic circs, which won’t show up on xray.

I feel so safe now, knowing that some over-zealous TSA employee has kept the skies safe from attack by a needle-wielding knitting neophyte.

I think the TSA should encourage knitters to travel often with large pointy sharp needles in hand. We’d make a terrific backup security team, donchathink? Even though most knitters are actually quite peaceful people. Heck… they should pay us to fly with needles!

It was a nice weekend. Beautiful weather, although a little hot for my taste. Had fun with friends, did a little yard work, and #1 Son dropped by for a visit (most of which he spent sleeping in my rocking chair).

On the knitting front, I’ve dropped 8 stitches now on Clapotis, so I’m past the 1/2-way mark and on the home stretch. I’m very pleased with how it looks and its progress.

I’ve knit about 1/2 of a new tote bag. I know I said I’d wait until other projects were complete, but I just couldn’t resist. I wanted to start at the bottom and work up, and I wanted it to be in a basket-weave pattern (k 1 rnd, k3,p5 for 4 rnds, k 1 rnd, p5,k3 for 4 rnds, more or less). The interesting problem, of course, was how to do the increases for the bottom while keeping the basket-weave look going. I ended up doing the bottom rather like a pinwheel, and doing the increases so they worked into the pattern. I think it came out pretty cool looking. I’ve gone a little way up the side of the tote, and I’m pleased with the look. It will need to be lined, but I have some of the Lycra left that I used to line the Red Tote Bag and it will do nicely.

To assuage my guilt, I worked about 2″ on E’s lace socks. I’m almost ready to start the gusset increases. They’re going to be really pretty socks, and #1 Son says that they are “her” and she will love them. I just need to get them finished. Yeah… I know.

Do you have projects going that you just can’t seem to push yourself to complete? How do you get over the reluctance hump and get those puppies done?

Wednesday Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, the self-proclaimed Yarn Harlot and author of the hysterically funny At Knit’s End: Meditations For Women Who Knit Too Much visited Powell’s in Portland for a book signing.

The gracious Ms. Pearl-McPhee has some nice things to say about our fair city. I’m glad she enjoyed her visit. I wish I’d been able to make it to Powell’s, but, alas, other semi-emergencies intervened.

At Knit’s End contains around 300 short “meditations” on knitting that consist of advice, anecdotes and humorous musings on knitting. It belongs on the bookshelf of everyone who knits, knows someone who knits, wears knitted items, or… has ever seen a couple of sticks and some string. 😉 One needn’t know anything about knitting in order to enjoy it. One morning I came out to the kitchen and found #1 Son, coffee cup in one hand, At Knit’s End in the other hand, big grin on face. “This is really funny!” He said.

Mom’s take on At Knit’s End: