Officially.

Yes, if you've seen the newsletter, you know it's officiall! We've chosen Summer Flies  as our next KAL, starting next Friday, May 6.

In case you haven't been in the shop lately, here are the two versions that inspired our choice, knit by our own Kathy S. Kathy said that when she read the pattern and saw it laid out in sections...she knew she had to use different colors of Koigu KPPPM. Inspired indeed!

For these two shawls, Kathy used three colors of KPPPM (and size 8 needles and she followed the pattern as written). Now she's working on a third (and it might be finished by now) that uses six. We've seen a lot of interest in the multi-colored idea, and Theresa wants to encourage everyone to try it. So she's put the KPPPM on sale - 10% off. Thanks, T!

Marci and I played around with some pairings yesterday. See how fun this is!

 

Of course, Summer Flies can be knit in just about anything - any weight, color, solid, variegated, etc. As long as it will show off lace, go for it! If you're not sure about the alternating color idea, how about a multicolor fingering weight? I have a skein of Kureyon Sock in my stash that I've been holding back for a lacy shawl.  And the Malabrigo and Madelinetosh Sock are always lovely choices for lace. You could make the shawl bigger if you choose the Kureyon or Malabrigo, since they have 440+ yards. This project on Ravelry has details for adding extra sections.

We'd love to have you join us - virtually in either our Ravelry forum or on Facebook, or in person at the shop on Friday afternoons.

edited to respond to Bonnie's comment - be sure to use version 8 of the pattern (that's the one that's linked above) - Kathy and Sally both used it and didn't find any errors.

Another Kind of KAL.

Maybe it was Stitches South. or maybe it was the weather. or maybe it was just luck, but at 2:30 last Friday afternoon, when I am usually knitting along at a table full of other knitters, I found myself knitting alone. OK, yes, I was in a yarn shop, surrounded by knitters - and stitchers :-) - but I was the only one knitting. I had fun chatting with folks, and got Marci to take my photo.

me and Holly (of course!) and my clapotis!

And then I thought about turning this into a blog post. Because I'm sure most of us end up knitting (or stitching) alone - KAL for purposes of this post! - at some point.

How do you keep yourself company when you find yourself KAL? Of course there's TV, and with DVRs, that's maybe all you need!  But you can watch TV with other people. What I like to do when I KAL is listen to knitting podcasts - and I've often been asked about my favorites, so I thought I'd share:

Electric Sheep - hosted by Katie, aka "Hoxton Handmade", who lives in London (yes, I love listening to her accent, too!), this is a thoughtful, well-produced, typically weekly podcast. She begins each cast with an essay and those essays might be my favorite part.  Most have made me laugh, all have taught me something, and one even made me cry (in a good way :-) She also talks about knitting and the knitting scene in Great Britain.

Doubleknit - hosted by Erin & Jessica who live in Seattle. They are avid knitters, readers and TV/movie watchers; and they talk about all those things on each show. Their casts aren't quite as frequent, maybe once every three to four weeks.

Never Not Knitting - hosted by Alana Dakos, aka "Never Not Knitting". Alana is also a designer; she has published patterns for accessories and sweaters for both adults and children. She podcasts semi-monthly, in series of ten and then takes a break. As I type this, she's on a break; I think new episodes will resume in May. She talks about her knitting and designs, reviews yarns and books and occasionally interviews designers (like Debbie Bliss, Hannah Fettig, Kate Gagnon-Osborne). Each episode also includes a story submitted by a listener; one of my favorites was a story submitted by Kirsten Kapur (who is also a favorite designer of mine).

Stash & Burn - hosted by Jenny & Nicole who live in San Francisco. This podcast started in early 2007 - pre-Ravelry! as Jenny & Nicole attempted to get their sizable stashes "under control". They talk about knitting and life and yarn and patterns and stash. Lots of stash...

You can download these (and many other!!) podcasts - for free! - on iTunes.

If you have recommendations to share, please join in - I'm going to open up a thread in our Ravelry group and of course you can also comment on Facebook.

Love.

And no, this isn't a post about yarn.

Nope, it's about a new puppy.

A very-hard-to-photograph puppy.

Named Butch ("Butchie" for short).

I had originally titled this post "Theresa's new love", but then I thought about this photo and decided it was probably just about "love".

Congratulations to Butch(ie) and Theresa - puppy love is the best!!

p.s. this is Butch's sister Annie loving on his mama Penny. apparently the "love" runs in the family!

A Brief Update on the Clapotis KAL.

Happy Rainy Monday! Hope everyone enjoyed a knitting/stitching-filled weekend, with plenty of college basketball!

I wanted to share a quick update on our latest KAL, the Clapotis. We had a lively and large number at the shop on Friday. Hope just as many of you joined us virtually for the cast on!

Sally and Theresa

Just about everyone is using the spreadsheet I linked to in the last post. And no one but me is mirroring their twisted stitches. There were a few questions about slipping the stitches at the beginning of every row. I slip purlwise every time, with the yarn in front on the purl side and with the yarn in back on the knit side. Being consistent - remembering to slip on every row and slipping the same way on every row - is more important than the specifics of how you slip.

Mary and Kathy

Knitters have selected a few different yarns for the project - I saw Araucania Ruca, Misti Alpaca Suri Handpaint, Ella Rae Lace Merino, Spud & Chloe Fine and Malabrigo Sock. Each of these yarns is working up beautifully. It's just a matter of selecting the right size needle and adjusting the pattern size (number of increase and/or straight repeats) if necessary. BTW - the spreadsheet makes it really easy to make those pattern modifications!

We also had the opportunity to support a good cause. Kathy's daughters made stitch markers ($5 for a dozen) and all the proceeds are going to Samaritan's Purse to help Japan. She sold out Friday, but promises another batch early this week.

Getting Ready for the Clapotis.

We're hearing lots of interest in our next KAL, the Clapotis - the more the merrier...and the more good input we'll have to help everyone be successful. Remember we're casting on this Friday at 2pm at the shop - this is a suggested start time... please feel free to start sooner and/or join us virtually!

Hopefully by now you've selected your yarn (if not, check out this post for suggestions, or come by the shop and we'll be happy to help!) and given some thought to which size needle works best.

You might've visited Knitty to print out the pattern. But no worries if you haven't! When I knit my second Clapotis, I didn't even use the pattern. Instead, I used the fabulous "ClapotisStitchNumbersFinal" spreadsheet linked in the How do you pronounce CLAPOTIS? group forum on Ravelry:


click the image to link directly to the forum on Ravelry (note that you need to be logged into Ravelry for this to work!) then click the name of the spreadsheet to download it

 This spreadsheet includes row by row, section by section instructions and stitch counts. I cannot recommend it highly enough! Here's a snapshot of the first bit of the spreadsheet to give you an idea:

One thing about the spreadsheet is that it's just words and numbers. The actual pattern has a schematic...you know a picture is worth a thousand words! This shows the finished dimensions (21 inches wide and 55 inches long) and illustrates the unique construction - it's knit from the lower left corner to the upper right corner, making a parallogram. wow!



from the Knitty pattern page



Ok, so you have yarn, needles and the pattern. Now what? You swatch!

Wendy found a great blog post that describes a way to swatch so you can try out the dropped stitches and make sure you like the drape of your fabric. The post also talks about resizing and/or using all your yarn.  If you're thinking about using yarn other than worsted weight and/or making a different size, I highly recommend reading it...and swatching!

The past two times I knit this, I followed the pattern and twisted the stitches on the knit side only, twisting in the same direction by knitting through the back loop. I didn't have any issue with the results. But when I swatched for this project (following the great blog post's instructions), I tried out the mirrored twist. See what you think.

swatched per instructions, starting mirror twists mid-way - Spud & Chloe Fine (colorway 7802 - clementine), on a size 5 needle

Me, I think I like it (please note that I used the mirror twist on the left side of the dropped stitch - like column 2 in her example).

I have two balls of the Spud & Chloe Fine, approx 490 yards. I am planning a scarf-sized Clapotis - narrower and longer than the pattern schematic. I'm sure I have enough yarn to do this, but I'm going to get into the pattern and work a few of the increase sections before I decide what modifications (if any) I'll make.

Questions?

Our Next KAL - Clapotis.

(typing this, I realize we've selected another pattern that is going to tempt alliterative blog titles - I promise to do my best to avoid the tempatation...but it's hard!)

The Colchi KAL is wrapping up; the finished shawls (and WIPs) we've seen are gorgeous. Please share your project with our Ravelry group so we can ooohhh and aaahhhh!

...and that means it's time to plan our next one. It's going to be Clapotis (pronounced clap-oh-tee, Ravelry link). Cast-on date is Friday, March 25.

We picked this project for three reasons:

First, it's a fun knit - I've made two and still want to make another one (or two!) - that lends itself to a group project. There are several forums on Ravelry devoted to the pattern and Excel spreadsheets to help track your progress.

Second, it's adaptable to just about any yarn - really. Any weight - the projects on Ravelry span laceweight to aran. Just about any fiber - because of the dropped stitches, we suggest something relatively "smooth and non-sticky". Think merino, silk, cotton...and shy away from mohair :-) And any color - solids, variegated, multi tonal - all lovely. see below for a few suggestions.

and Third, Theresa has promised to join us. Yes, this project has been in her mental queue since she saw one knit in Misti Alpaca Suri Handpaint (oh my, there are some gorgeous ones on Ravelry!). Hopefully this is just the motivation she needs to cast on!

We hope you'll join us, too! I'll be back next week with links to my favorite tips and tools on sizing and tracking the pattern. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments or in our Ravelry forum.

Yarn Suggestions
(these are just a few of the dozens of great possibilities. please note that suggested yardage and needles are just that. suggestions! in the next post, I'll share tips about resizing the pattern to fit the yardage you have - the pattern as written makes a shawl-like scarf and many folks have made a more scarf-life size)

Theresa's favorite Misti Alpaca Suri Handpaint. Suggest 3 skeins and a size 6 needle. Ravelry links here.

The ever-popular Koigu KPPPM. Suggest 3-4 skeins and a size 6-7 needle. Ravelry links here.

Or Noro Sock, either Kureyon or Silk Garden. Suggest one skein and a size 5-6 needle. Ravelry links here.

Still thinking fingering weight, how about Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock. One of the new 100g skeins and a size 6 needle.  Ravelry links here.

Or maybe lace weight? There's the lovely Ella Rae Lace Merino. Suggest 2 skeins on a size 3-4 needle. Ravelry links here. (and check out our very own yarngurl's FO here. I've seen this one in person and it is stunning!)

And finally, a worsted weight. None other than Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted. Suggest 3-4 skeins on a size 8 needle. Ravelry links here.

The Colchi KAL Continues.

...my apologies, I couldn't resist the alliteration!

We were a small group at the shop on Friday, but we all made forward progress.

Jessica's in the upper left, knit out of her stash...something light worsted, I think. and Sharon's is the lovely turquoise Venezia. and mine is the purple Sublime.

a close-up of Sharon's. Venezia is a great choice for this project!

A few clarifications and notes based on questions I've heard:

First, the ssp (slip slip purl) stitch that appears on the wrong-side rows beginning on row 24. Think of this like an ssk (slip slip knit) except on the wrong side. Slip the first stitch as if to knit, slip the second stitch as if to knit. Then slip both those stitches back to the left needle (keeping their "new" orientation) and purl them together through their back loops. Yes, it's a bit awkward - at first - but we get lots of practice! Here's a video that demonstrates the stitch.

Second, a reminder that the designer included a great video link in the pattern for the yarn over short rows.

Third, what happens for rows 45 and on? (the pattern gets pretty vague at this point). You want to keep working the short rows, using row 43 as the model for the right side rows and row 44 as the model for the wrong side rows. You will continue the short rows until you use up all the stitches, til row 74, I think? (I'm still on the chart... so I'm kind of speaking out of turn here!). Also, the stitch counts shown (113-13-13-19-25...) include "13" twice, but I think it's really only 13 once on row 42. Row 43 has 19 stitches, row 44 has 25 stitches, etc.

Fourth, here's a video that shows an i-cord bind-off. (it takes a long time to execute, but it makes a great looking edge!)

I'm hearing that folks are finishing. I can't wait to see pictures - please post them in our Ravelry thread.

And that means we're starting to think about our next KAL. Clapotis (ravelry link) was suggested because it's so versatile - you can pretty much use any yarn you want (as long as it's not too "sticky"...dropping stitches with sticky yarn is not fun!) and it makes a lovely wrap for summer. Stay tuned as we finalize our plans.