Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Work-in-Progress Wednesday


I've made steady progress over the last couple of days on my Morning Glory socks. Just a teaser shot today; expect the full reveal on Friday! These socks are very pretty on the blockers, but the pattern really shines when worn. Really! Just wait 'til you see them on Friday! One thing though? I'm almost sorry I picked this Top Cat MCN yarn - that little bit of cashmere may have spoiled me for any other sock yarn :)

My evening knitting time has been divided between those socks and my Meida's Mittens for my Year of Projects. Tonight I'll start the decreases for the top of the mitt and then there's just the thumb to knit to finish the first mitten. It's a very colourful cuff and it's been the perfect pattern to use up little bits of sock yarn leftovers from my stash. The hand and the thumb are unpatterned brown so that makes it easy enough. So far it looks like they're going to go very nicely with my chocolate brown winter coat!

Last but not least I've been spending my knitting time at work on a Clapotis. I know, I know, after knitting a Clapotis from silk mawatas for my Ravellenic project, and after confessing to be bored silly by the pattern, I'm as surprised as you are to find myself knitting another one. But here's how it happened. Linda agreed to model the first Clapotis and then asked if she could keep it. I agreed and she was thrilled. She wore at work. She wore it at home. She wore it at college. And then she wore it when she took her mom for chemo ... and now we need to make one for her mom. A silk shawl is warm, light and very easy on sensitive skin - the perfect thing for a chemo patient shivering in a cold waiting room, right?

This time around I'm knitting from Handmaiden Sea Silk - much faster than drafting mawatas. I took Jen's tip and am purling to mark the to-be-dropped stitches rather than using stitch markers - faster again. And finally, I'm knitting on straights rather than fighting circs - even faster still.  As a result, I'm about a quarter of the way through after a day and a half of knitting. Quick, huh? I hope so, because I'm hoping to present the finished shawl to Linda when she returns from her cottage vacation next week!

Lot's going on, huh? It's not just me busy - check out the links at Tami's Amis to see all the beautiful work being produced by so many talented crafters!


17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow those socks are super lovely! I've never knit with cashmere before so I could see how you would never want to go back to anything boring...like Superwash/Nylon

pinkundine said...

I love my clapotis, but I can't bear the thought of making another - but then your story continued and it sounds worth it for the recipient. Hope it goes super speedy for you.

Can't wait to see the socks :)

Michelle said...

Oh, my the silk you're using on your Clapotis looks radiant! I bet it's going to be gorgeous when you've finished. Also, the mittens are FANTASTIC!

Babajeza said...

Never say never again. You have every reason to make another Clapotis. How nice of you doing it again. So hopefully, you will be done soon.

Cloudberry said...

Beautiful projects!
The mittens will be very pretty.

Anonymous said...

Your projects are beautiful! You have been a very busy knitter.

I'm sure the new Clapotis will be very much appreciated.

Wanderingcatstudio said...

Sneak peak on the socks looks great. Isn't the Top Cat wonderful? One of my favourites!

I quite enjoyed knitting with Sea Silk - though I found it had a bit of an odd smell when it's wet.
It will make dropping the stitches nice and easy though!

bookworm-Mary said...

WOW! I'm loving the socks, and the Clapotis-- so pretty! The colors of the silk yarn are amazing!

Carolyn said...

Wow - I'm looking forward to Friday then, as those socks look lovely :-) .

And the silk looks just gorgeous!!

Stefanie said...

The pink of your socks is so lovely. You are making terrific progress. I love that mitt. I may have to use my Jedi mind trick to steal that away from you!

Renee said...

I love those socks and mittens - absolutely gorgeous! The colours in the yarn for your clapotis are beautiful, and for such a nice gift, too.

Frieda said...

Busy , busy knitter , I love all of the knits in progress but those mittens are just gorgeous ! The clapotis will be much appreciated I'm sure . Now can you send some of that knitterly energy my way ? I have some wips that have been neglected latey .

Anonymous said...

Best part of knitting community - the hints to make our knitting time more productive and our projects doable.

Anonymous said...

You are such a legit knitter. I'm so jealous of your colorwork skills. I suck so bad at colorwork!

paulineknit said...

Your socks are progressing well and, as you say, look good on the blockers. The mittens look good too, with all those colours in the cuff. Looks like the Clapotis will be a real labour of love.

Amy said...

Those mittens are divine. I am in awe! Really beautiful work so far - they will look great with your coat ;)

Corrie B said...

I love, love, love the socks!

I've done a Follow Friday style blog-post today, and I've featured your blog on it. I'd love it if you could recommend three blogs to me that you love to read, but if you don't have time that's no problem at all. (The blog is www.plutoniummuffins.com if you want to check it out.)

Thank you for being a source of inspiration to me!

Corrie xx