Lizard Ridge Progress

These little Lizard Ridge squares can be fast and addictive, like knitting dishcloths. I finished the old one I had started months ago, and now I am done with almost two more.

Pattern: Lizard Ridge

Yarn: Universal Yarns Poems Colorways 553, 556, & 564
Source: Yarns Forever
Needle: Size 9 Bamboo 24" circs

I estimate that I have about 1/3 to 1/4 of a skein left after one is knit. I hope to save some money by combining the remnants to make some more squares. Heck, it would even be neat to join different colorways together. It would probably pull the look of the blanket together even more, since the colorways are not quite as similar as Noro Kuryeon's.

Thank you for all of the comments on the clapotis! To answer some viewer mail in summary format:

• Yes, I find the four play to be lightweight. I think as lightweight as wool and silk blend can be. It has good stitch definition and a nice sheen. And I can wear it around the house wrapped around my neck like a scarf, and it does not bother me or weigh me down at all. Come to think of it, it might be lighter than my four other shawls....none of which are fine lace by the way.


• It took 3 skeins of four play. It is 80" by 12.5". That measurement may have it stretched a little bit, and I think my gage could have stood to be a bit tighter than it was with the yarn. In order to not show my woven in ends...I think they peeked through sometimes to the other side, since the yarn is variegated and the gage loose.


• I *would* do another one in four play. The end result is very pretty and comfortable to wear. However, I will probably do another one, but I might do it in the original or a different yarn, just to have and try something different.

I am thinking of doing a mini clap for summer. Does anyone have any recommendations for a lightweight yarn to do it in? Other than bamboo.

The Clapotis is done!

My Clappy is finished! Yay! Thanks to Dena at Brooks Farm, I had the courage to soldier on and finish! She went home and took pictures of her own Clapotis knitted in Four Play to show me where she had joined on her third skein. And since it looked as though I joined mine at about the same place, I proceeded. There were a few times last night where I looked at the shrinking ball of yarn with some doubt. But I finished it this morning and wove in the ends while watching Season 6 of the Sopranos on cable on demand. (Gotta love watching HBO series on demand. Somehow I fell way behind in my Sopranos. I think it was because of work.)

I want to thank Dena for taking the time to email back and forth with me SEVERAL times. It was really nice of her. It took awhile for her to respond to me because she thought she had already responded to my request. Trust me, I understand that. I used to work a job where I received at a minimum 50 emails a day (that does not include all the phone calls and internet chat requests too). And many were repetitive chains of replies between large groups of people. It gets overwhelming and one tends to get the kind of dementia where you swear you responded to an email, but you probably only did it in your dreams! (It is the kind of work situation where the only time you are not working, you are sleeping. Never again....)

SP10 Hostess Robyn (that is with a y, not an i, remember!) posted the latest contest:
Post a picture to your blog before the 15th showing me either your fave pattern ever knitted by you - or your most hated project that once you finished it - you absolutely wondered "Why the heck did I knit this". Want a challenge? Post both!

Honestly, can I include projects I hated so much that I NEVER finished them? I nominate my Einstein coat. I have not doubt it is a clever pattern, but I don't have the patience for miles of garter stitch. I am a true knitting crazy who craves challenge! In every project. I still have all the yarn, which I will use for some other sweater. Maybe I will turn what I have finished so far into a pillow.

I love alot of projects. But I think I will nominate the Clapotis because it was fast, interesting enough, but simple enough to breeze through it while at knitting groups or while watching TV. It is a good pattern that everyone from beginning to experienced knitters would enjoy.

I also think the Kittyville hats from SnB are fun. But I don't have any pictures of the two that I made from my brother and niece. That project teaches alot: Icords, knitting in the round on circs and dpns, and picking up stitches to attach earflaps and kitten ears.

Regarding my rant: Thanks for all the responses! I love the comments on being a "full-time mom" or "part-time XXX"...that is so true! And I have seen from my brother how much a new baby can absorb so much time! It is totally full-time, no matter whether you work or not. In fact, I had partially read a book (partially becaues it was a library book) that had researched the mommy wars. And you know what, it seems that the one conclusion I found is that we do it to ourselves. One side judges the other for working and being negligent, the other for staying home and being narrow-minded. Stereotypes are made and names called. Honestly, it is silly. I think we should just celebrate the fact that in 2007, women get to make choices either way. Or understand that others may have to work and don't have a choice. But we need to realize that OUR choice may not be the right choice for EVERYONE. And have empathy and compassion for mommies on all sides. :)

I have no doubt my neighbor did not mean to imply it directly. It just reminded me of others who do. I will say that I have noticed that she is a very proud woman...she recently had knee surgery, and her husband died last summer. I do my best to try to help her, offering to help her plant flowers and even pull weeds for her. But she refuses help. She is a very active and self-reliant woman. I guess I just have to wait on what else I can do.

And joke of all jokes: I am now on my HOA board. No one else would fill the offices. So I am secretary. For two years. I told my husband, now he really owes me because he skipped the meeting, and now I am on the board. Anyway, I am trying to look at it as a learning experience. And I am serving with two older gentlemen, who seem to be nice people so I was more willing to do it. We are a brand new community, so there is alot of work to do. Should be a laugh riot. :P

I have finished one block on Lizard Ridge finally. I will try to post pictures later.

Viewer mail

I decided to jump into the mosh pit long enough to answer some viewer mail:

YarnThrower said...
I really like the pattern on those socks! Just curious -- regarding lizard ridge - did you have to learn how to "knit backwards"? Your blanket square looks great so far, and I totally agree with not wanting to change balls of yarn every few rows! Awesome that it is softer with your yarn substitution, too! And, your heart quilt looks great!

No, I have not bothered to learn to knit backwards because I just wanted to get started on it. I am weeks behind the other KALers, but that is alright. I have many irons in the fire (as usual for me). I figure I am going to learn to knit backwards eventually, but me and the other KALers don't find it that much of a chore to turn the work. Especially in my case, since I am not dangling two balls of yarn at once since I am not changing colors. Therefore, I don't have the tangling problems one would normally have with turning the work so much.

Maybe I will post a picture of my applique square tomorrow. The applique squares we are doing are from Baltimore Basics, and are quite involved. So this square is going to take me awhile but maybe I will have enough done to show 1/4 of the square tomorrow. I am looking forward to learning how to do 3-dimensional flowers in this class.

I am off to clean my house. I am going to try to set a timer and split up my time between cleaning and applique today.

Lizard Ridge Progress

I am going to start off today by answering another question in my comments:

YarnThrower said...
Hey, I'm a quilter, too! Gotta love hobbies that require measuring and some number crunching! How are you coming on your lizard blanket? I'd love to see pics of that! Thanks for the tip about the yarn you're using. I did some research, and there is a local yarn store (which I didn't even know about - shame on me - in a neighboring town) which carries it, so a new place for me to check out. So fun! Thanks again!

Yes, quilting is number crunching. Quite a few of my instructors at my Local Quilt Store are former engineers (even an EE like you) or draftswomen. So I feel right at home there. The one thing that I don't like about quilting is that it is not as forgiving or reversible as knitting. One mistake in cutting, and you are screwed! I say this because I joined the Thimbleberries 2007 Club, and there is no extra allowance in the fabric. So I have to wait until tomorrow to go and cut some of my pieces, when the Club Coordinator is there and she can advise me...because I swear my pieces are 2 inches off the straight of grain. And I am afraid to mess up right now. :)

And because of your post, I felt that I had to show some progress on my Lizard Ridge square, so I worked on it last night. One without flash, and one with flash.

The thing that is nice about the Universal Yarn is that the color sequence changes much more frequently than Noro Kureyon. So, I am not having to stop and change the yarn every 6 rows as the pattern calls for. Yay! So it is having a little bit of a different color effect. Usually all of the bobbles are different colors/shades, where as if you used Kureyon you would mostly have the same color across all the bobbles in a row. I don't have a direct comparison to show you, so try comparing my pic to those on the original pattern on Knitty. Also, I think some others are wishing that they had selected this yarn instead of Noro because it IS softer. But because I am a slow knitter, and have so many other projects, I wonder if I will be working on this project until I am 80. :)

I have joined the Sock A Month 3 KAL, to further reinforce my sock a month resolution and the Lime N Violet Sock Marathon. But since I have so many projects going on, I am going to have to really work on meeting my goal.

I want to really thank you all who have posted comments on my blog. It is like Christmas morning every day. You are the wind beneath my wings...yes, I am a cheeseball. :) But you probably figured that out by now.