Gimme a...

Gimme a "C"

Gimme an "L"

Oh, can't be bothered with all the rest - you know what it spells:

C L A P O T I S !!!

Yippee! All done and dusted, blocked and all. I did quite like the unblocked look, but thought I'd give her a wash and block, just to see her in all her glory. And BrownPants assured me that hers sprang back into pre-blocked shape after a few wears and that sealed it for me.

Here she is in pre-blocked state - you can't really see the dropped stitches from the knit side, although they do make pleasing bubbles on the purl side (which I think is my preferred side, not sure why I didn't take a picture of the purl side instead!!

And post-blocking - but still drying - much wider, can see the dropped stitches in their loveliness!

Of course, when I put it in the wool wash to soak yesterday, it was a glorious sunny day. Almost as soon as I laid it on the deck table to dry, the clouds came in. Then the rain. Lucky the deck has a roof.

I had to bring her inside to finish drying so I could complete the photo shoot!!

Details:

Pattern: In case you are one of the only people in the world who hasn't knit it or put on their to-make list, it is Kate Gilbert's Clapotis, from Knitty. I only did 5 increase repeats (rather than 7) as I had only 3 skeins of the yarn and I also wanted it slightly narrower - worsted weight wraps are pretty much not needed in Sydney (although, with the weather lately, I'm not so sure about that!). From feeling a bit "meh" about this pattern when I first saw it, I now am a complete convert! I've worn Clappy twice at work and have had compliments both times. I loved knitting this as well - it was my "easy" knit, my break from the Traveler's Stockings, and I was quite sad when I finished this.

Yarn: 3 x 100g skeins of Claudia's Handpainted Yarns, Worsted weight, in colour "Black Walnut" (lot 009) - gorgeous mix of reds, burgundies, little bit of purple, brown and grey. Bought in New York. Love it to bits!

And it was lucky I only did 5 increase repeats, or else I would have had to end this quite short - as it was I didn't quite make it to the end, but have only had to cut off a little piece of the corner, which you can't notice at all.

Sticks: 5.5mm Knitpicks Options. These are great needles - one of my best knitting investments.

Time: 11 June - 30 June 2007 - a quick knit (for me!) How exciting is it to get to your first dropped stitch row. It made me do a little happy dance every time - and is a good incentive to keep knitting as well!

What I learnt: Thanks to Donni and Nora for their good advice about purling the stitch which will be dropped rather than using stitch markers - that made it sooo much easier. The main thing though is really that I should always keep an open mind about patterns.