A Second Dummy Clap Finished

I finished the second Dummy Clap last evening and blocked it early this morning. Apparently either the wool is very light weight or the air in the condo is not humid or both, because within hours it was completely dry. But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.

This Dummy Clap Shawl by Anna Maliszewski can be found on Ravelry. As I mentioned the first time I made it, this shawl was inspired by the much more complicated Clapotis. Personally, I find it packs as much punch as the Clapotis only it is so much easier to knit. My second version uses Isager Hojlandsgarn fingerling weight yarn in the color of Thistle (although it looks like a light-coloured gray, there are also the tiniest flecks of blue, yellow, and red in it as well). It took two 50 gram skeins or 560 meter or about 613 yards to complete. Since this was a finer yarn than my first version I cast on 80 stitches and used a U.S. #4 or 3.5 mm needles.

I have to say using a true wool, which has its own stickiness to itself, wasn't as much fun when it came to dropping stitches. Just in case you forgot, the first Dummy Clap was made of a blend of very smooth fibers, linen, bamboo and acrylics. It almost dropped all the stitches for me. However, a fabric made of 100% wool required a lot more effort to drop stitches. After a few rows it would catch on itself and needed some tugging to drop on. The tips of my fingers were almost sore last night as I completed that part of construction. The final dimensions are 72 inches X 18 inches (1.8 m X .45 m), which IMHO, makes it a perfect size to use as a shawl or as a scarf.

Here's a few pics of it.

This captures how light it is, the slightest of breezes moved it.

Here it is doubled up, yet so translucent.

Hanging around the deck chair

On the new owner, Brenda, as a shawl

And casually flung over her shoulders as a scarf

Comments

Anatomy of a Sock

I've been knitting socks for a relatively short time. One of the disconcerting things for me as I started following patterns for socks is the pattern designer assumes the knitter (in this case that would be me) knows all the parts of a sock. So I thought I'd devote a post to improve my own knowledge about the anatomy of a sock and maybe some of you will learn something about the humble yet necessary sock as well. Here's the names of the parts of the foot as I know them. #49 ankle, #50 heel, #51, instep, #52 ball, #53 big toe, #54 toe, #55 little toe, #56 toenail. There are some parts more important for this discussion; first the heel of a foot is generally used to refer to the entire C-shape from the ankle to the instep. Speaking of the instep, it refers to that curve near the bottom of the foot. And what seems to be missing in the design above is the sole which generally refers to the bottom of the foot in total or plantar aspect in more technical terms. (BTW

Ode to the Cat

It has been six months since Mike, the cat's, passing. I think of him every day and miss him especially when Paul is away. Mike was a being in the house with me and we were close. Grieving his death has been muddled with my Dad's passing and sometimes I feel guilty about that happening. As time passes the ache becomes less hurtful for both and I am starting to get mostly good memories in its place. Recently I helped celebrate Pablo Neruda's birthday with Jami, my poet and overall very creative friend. Guests were asked to select one poem written by Neruda to read to the small group who gathered for the celebration. I picked this one: Ode To The Cat -- Pablo Neruda There was something wrong with the animals: their tails were too long, and they had unfortunate heads. Then they started coming together, little by little fitting together to make a landscape, developing birthmarks, grace, flight. But the cat, only the cat turned out finished, and

Knitting-Related Guinness World Records

I had to share some of the Guinness World Records connected with knitting. It is amazing to me the type of skill, stamina and unique characteristics these record holders have in common. How about trying to knit with these SPNs?? Ingrid Wagner and her large needles and knitted swatch The largest knitting needles measured 3.5 m (11 ft 5.8 in) long and had a diameter of 8 cm (3.15 in). Ingrid Wagner, a rug and art creation artist, from the UK used the needles to knit a tension square of ten stitches by ten rows at the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, on March, 10 2008. (And I complained about getting certain SPNs stuck in my clothes.) See how this swatch was done with merely 5 people managing the needles. And what about the yarn? It is truly ex-bulky. It looks like they're knitting in a warehouse, but with a wingspan of almost 24 feet or 7 m, you'd need all that space. Or how about the longest piece of finger knitting that measured 4,321.4 m

Flagel Knitting Files

Search This Blog