Clap-O-t, Clapotis!

My first FO of 2007!

My Clapotis is done! I wore it to Toastmasters last night and got tons of compliments from people who remembered my speech about knitting and thought, "that scarf is so beautiful she must have knit it herself." The first compliment of the night even came from a new member who's also a knitter; she asked specifically whether the scarf was Clapotis! I was so surprised!

The specs:
Pattern: Clapotis from Knitty
Yarn: Claudia Hand Painted in sport weight, color "Blue Sky," dyelot 002. I used 2.5 skeins
Needles: Knitpicks Options size 4 on a 24" cord
Time: December 27-January 16, a very quick knit (for me, for something so large)
Thoughts: What a fun, fast knit! It was so easy to do and the yarn returns stunning results (thank you, coffeeboy!). I was quite surprised at how easy it was after seeing so much internet blather about this scarf a few years back. I blocked my Clapster pretty vigorously, and now I wish I hadn't done so; it's about a foot longer than I'd like and has lost some of its nice twisty curl. Oops! Now I will know for next time (yes, I have the yarn for it... there probably will be a "next time," possibly sooner than makes rational sense). Despite being the same dyelot, the third ball of yarn was significantly lighter than the other two, resulting in something that's fairly obvious if you're looking for it (though Coffeeboy didn't notice). It would have been fine had I introduced the new skein by alternating it in... but I didn't. Oh well.

Now that the Clapster is done, what have I been working on? No fancy cabled sweaters yet - though the votes are in and it appears that one day, I might try Nantucket! For now, though, I'm making hats! Winter weather has arrived in New Jersey, and with it the need to keep one's head warm.

I'll be making a tam to match the Clapster, with the remaining 1/2 skein of yarn plus a strand of smoky blue mohair plus a strand of light blue Koigu. The result will be quite pretty. I know this because I already knit the hat once, and it was too small by a long shot, so I ripped it out without photographing it. But the yarns wound together look quite nice, don't you think?

I've also started a colorwork hat for the Coffeeboy, the Lusekofte hat from Hats On!. It's a lot of fun but requires concentration. The lining is knit out of some Kidsilk Haze and some sort of fine, soft wool, both of which I had in my stash. So soft!

I'll leave you with an image of this strange winter we're having: Daffodils in January!

Have a wonderful weekend, and if it's wintery, may you have a cozy place to curl up and knit!