Total Happiness on My Shirt!

Pattern: "Clapotis" by Kate Gilbert, available free here
Yarn: Fiesta Ballet (Cosmopolitan)
Needles: US 7 Circular (worked flat)

Plus: This is really lovely and versatile! I think I will have to purchase a shawl pin to accentuate its awesomeness and further enable me to wear it at all times. It is the sort of design that looks equally fitting worn open and drapey as a shawl, or bunched and tossed around the neck like a scarf. The pattern is nothing short of elegant and was a pleasure to knit (even if it was not always riveting). If you take a look at the pattern and think it's too hard for you, think again. She goes overboard in the explanations just to be safe, but the pattern is very intuitive and easy to memorize once you get started. This is NOT like working lace.
Delta: I wish it were a bit bigger. I know that a lot of people block the living daylights out of this thing, but I prefer it curvy au naturale. "Clapotis" in French means something akin to a lapping or ripple of water. If you stretch it flat, no ripples. However, being a giant, I have a wingspan greater than most, and probably would prefer one with a little more surface area. Maybe this is one I'll do again.


Pattern: "Baby Surprise Jacket," by Elizabeth Zimmerman, available many places, nowhere free. I got mine from The Opinionated Knitter.
Yarn: Rowan Calmer (Vintage, Freesia, and Drift)
Needles: US 9 Circular (worked flat)
Mods: 3 buttons instead of 5

Plus: So fascinating! You have to knit it to believe it. You just trust Elizabeth and keep going. Reading ahead in the pattern to try to figure it out just won't work. She's so much smarter than you. Furthermore, GOLLY GEE, Rowan Calmer is so dreamy to work with. Sure, it splits every now and then, but for the most part, it's soft and smooshy and stretchy and so cuddly. I found myself constantly pinching and mashing this tiny jacket absent-mindedly between my fingers because it feels so yummy. It's sad Woolie Ewe won't carry it now.
Delta: There's an awful lot of stitch counting in this pattern, which makes it both addictive (since you know where you are NOW and are afraid you won't when you pick it back up) and a tad tedious. Also, I went ahead and practiced my backward loop M1, and I still don't like it as well as a k1fb as an increase. It makes tiny holes! Sure, the holes are decorative when punctuating the angle of a mitred square, but across the back for subtle ease? No way.