…have you any Wool? Blog

Once again Sonya inspired me to knit something!  She came into the shop talking about a slipper pattern called “Fuzzy Feet” and how she was going to knit them.  I helped her choose yarn and of course got caught up in the meantime myself.  Before I knew it I was reading the pattern and casting on!  My feet are often cold and I can tell you that I’ve solved that problem.  These slippers are toasty!  

My feet are warm but my slippers were rather plain so I asked Beth if she would consider needle felting something on them.  You can’t tell from the picture but the skull and crossbone motif on my slippers has a little sparkle.   

 I’d seen the Clapotis pattern on Knitty long ago and I added it to my endless mental list of future projects.  As the months passed I kind of forgot about the Clapotis.  Then came the fateful day when the Clapotis pattern resurfaced!  One customer in particular (who shall remain nameless but she knows who she is!) came in and showed me her Clapotis in progress.  It was all over!  For the next few months I pondered what yarn I might choose to knit my Clapotis.  The problem with this pattern is that the yarn options are endless.  I finally decided on Merino Ribbon from Mountain Colors (colorway Evergreen).  I’d been wanting to make something with that yarn because it’s lightweight, the colors are rich and the Merino Ribbon has an interesting structure.  I cast on for my Clapotis and began knitting like a woman posessed.  The pattern is adictive!  I knit more on this project than any other.  I had tunnel vision and that’s where the problem came in.  If I had looked up and had really taken a good look at what I was doing before I was three-quarters finished I would’ve realized that my Clapotis was ridiculously wide.  It measured 28 inches and it looked like I had taken the afghan off the couch and wrapped it around my neck!  Not the look I was going for.  You know what I did next.  Yes, I began again.  This time using a US#8 needle instead of a US#9.  You can change the size of the Clapotis by knitting more or less rows in the increase section so I knit less.  I’m in the straight section and I’m pleased.  It looks much better and will be something that I wear all the time when finished.  I’m much happier now!  So, the moral of the story is please take time to check your gauge, look at the pattern and see where you may make modifications and then take a moment to figure out what you’re going to do.