Hello friends. I’ve called you together, not to admire the mini chandeliers, but rather to prove to you that I really did finish the Clapotis I started last summer. The intended recipient has been notified of it’s completion and seemed pleased.

No, I am not going to show you the other stuff I have finished in the same post. A girl likes to spread things out. Also, I haven’t made my FO page for this year yet, and I need to do that before I post too much else, right? Right.

But there, I said I finished it and now you know it’s true.

OH! I almost forgot. It’s made from Caron Simply Soft Paints, in a colorway whose name I forget.

I have officially given up looking for Tweed. It is not in the house and it is not in the shed, and I think I will just the money I had planned to use to buy gold coins and buy another copy. It’s galling to buy a second copy of a book I got for free, but it is more galling to have a sweater I love so close and yet so far from completion.

In other news, I did finish the pink and green Clapotis, which I think I mentioned, and also the mini-clap which I talked about the last time I posted. And yesterday, I finally cast on for the Suzie Hoodie. I am using Furlana for it. I think we could say that yarn is well-aged. It’s been in the stash since I received it as a baby gift when DaBaby was born. She will be five this month. It’s a slightly thinner yarn than the pattern calls for, but the hoodie would be too large in the stated gauge. I think by knitting the smallest size in the thinner yarn, I will end up with a garment that fits. This is the first time I have tried cables, and I like it. It’s an every other row instant thrill, LOL!

Since I don’t think I will finish Suzie this month, I am also going to have a smaller February project. I have some yarn here, a ball and a half of very soft wool in variegated grey that is even more well aged than the Furlana. I have been thinking for some time that it would make a great Seaman’s scarf for a friend of mine, and so I will be casting on for that sometime today as well.

Yes, I know there should be pictures here. Sorry. I’m having a hard time finding time for words lately, let alone snapshots.

Lookie, it’s a Clapotis that’s taken weight loss pills!!! I tease, I tease. But it actually is my mini Clapotis, and so far I love it! I’m two-plus repeats into the increase rows. I have 2 balls of this yarn, totalling 400 some yards. My plan is to knit on the straight section until one ball is gone, and then use that number of rows again on the second ball before beginning the decreases. What can I say? I like to love on the knitting edge. If I misjudge, I get to rip the whole thing out! Ok, half of the whole thing. Whatever.

Yep, I finished my January project. Well, the knitting. I still have a bit of weaving and the washing and blocking to go. And this morning, I cast on yet another Clapotis. It is my third, and this one is for me! I am knitting it in sockweight yarn, in shades or purple-ish, on size 4 needles. Casting on something for myself was almost as refreshing as an Outer Banks vacation!! I don’t know if I will finish it by the end of the month, but if I don’t, you can bet your sweet bippy I will get right back to it as soon as the February project is done. I still plan to finish Carrick, provided I can find the pattern. I may finish it, even if I can’t. How hard can it be to add sleeves and a neck? The pattern would be nice, but really, it isn’t mandatory. In fact, I could, in theory, just add arm and neck bands and have a serviceable vest. Except I don’t do vests, so there.

Pics soon!

So, as you know, if you’ve been listening to me whine for any length of time here, I don’t have a lot of knitting time, but I have committed to knitting at least a little every day. Yesterday, I finished the daily quota and looked down at the Clapotis and noticed that I had somehow managed to decrease right over some of the drops on the left hand side. WTH? I was halfway through the decreases and had failed to read the instructions correctly for a piece I have already knitted once before. Really, Cass? Really?

REALLY! So I ripped it back and today I started re-knitting.

In other distressing news, because that wasn’t enough to send me crying to the bathroom sink, I have misplaced my copy of Tweed. That half finished sweater I’ve been calling Carrington, well, it’s actually called Carrick, and it is in this book. I’m looking for someone, anyone who can lay their hands on their own copy and burn me a working copy of the pattern. I own the book, it is here somewhere, and you can verify that by searching the archives. Please. I want a whole sweater, and all I lack are sleeves and the turtleneck.

Couch! As comfortable as my big, fluffy brown couch is, it is time for a replacement. I’ve been looking on Craigslist for something suitable, because my couch will also be used for sleeping, and I want a very comfortable one because of that. And I have to have one that comes from a pet-free home because of my allergies. So, even though I am looking for a freebie, or a used one in good condition, I am also looking at sites like Layla Grayce.

They have some really nice Noir Furniture. Yes, I know that page is full of bedroom furniture, but I *did* say the couch would be used for sleeping, right? So, a daybed would work, too, see. But it has to have a back on it, because it sits in from of my glass door, and I would prefer to not have my kids falling through that, ykwim? And if, while I am there, I see a piece I might like for my own room, so much the better, right?

And pillows, lots of throw pillows, because I love them, even though they get spendy. Champagne taste and a beer budget, that’s me. Enh, wine budget; I don’t much care for beer.

What we have here is not a set of home audio speakers, although I am looking for some because I need better sound from my laptop. I am sure I have 3 or four sets here, but finding them is an entirely different matter! No, this is The January Project. As you probably guess from the fancy title up there, it is indeed a Clapotis. If the title didn’t give it away, the pattern sheet certainly would have, right?

When I picked it up on the first, I was about halfway through the straight section. I’m still about halfway through the straight section, because I didn’t work on it very long. But progress is progress and I aim to be finished with this project by the end of the month. Slow but steady, the keyword being steady, because I didn’t knit at all yesterday. Shame on me! But I do plan to squeeze in a bit today, somewhere. Maybe after dinner, hmmm?

How many times have I complained in the last couple of years that I don’t knit much anymore? Probably about as many times as the have been new iphone acessories. But I have actually been thinking as this year winds down about how to recapture that knitting joy.

For 2011, I want to finish a project a month, and by project, I don’t mean hat. I mean something bigger. Not like, a house cover, by any stretch, but more substantial than a hat. For instance, the Clapotis and Carrington. And maybe, just maybe, by the end of the year, Hocks. I even have a plan to accomplish this: Each week, I plan to enjoy a movie at home and knit while I do it.

You know, I discovered something while I was doing the NaNo this November: I can indeed make time for the things I want to do. I just have to decide that the thing I want to accomplish is more important to me than hanging out on facebook and yahoo, chatting. I have to purpose to move away from the keyboard and do something productive. Productive can mean fun, you know.