Late to the party.

Good news! New ear-worm.

"Good Old Reliable Nathan" Detroit, in Guys and Dolls, complains that he doesn't order Mindy's cheesecake or strudel because they're so popular.  "It makes me," he observes, "feel like I'm playing the favorite."

Did you know there are over 24,500 Clapotis shawls on Ravelry?  Playing the favorite, indeed. Which explains why it's taken me so long to make one.

Anything can happen, though, with the right inspiration. In this case, the latest Yarnathon at Eat.Sleep.Knit.

Let me back up a bit. It's a sad and sorry truth that this long-neglected blog is my only foray into social media (for some reason, in my head, Ravelry doesn't count).  Which means I've pretty much ignored past E.S.K. Yarnathons.  Things happen on Facebook and Instagram and I don't do either of them.  And Ravelry doesn't count because, while I'm a member of any number of groups, I never participate in any of the discussions, never post to any of the threads and, in point of fact, almost never update my own projects.

But this time, perhaps as an outgrowth of that knitting for myself binge I've been on, I've decided to try to do a little bit to help my team, which tends to languish in last place.  While I may wonder if my attempts to help may only guarantee my team's continued poor standing, not unlike the way I invariably slow any checkout line I choose in the grocery store, I have opted to participate in a knitalong. 

Yep. Me. Knitalong. Really.

The rules for this one are, any project by a Canadian designer published before 2010, with yarn purchased from E.S.K., and cast on no earlier than July 1.

I'm amazed at how fast this knit up.  Truly, like the wind.

It's sock/fingering yarn from that previously mentioned 7 Deadly Spins yarn club. I have absolutely no idea what pattern was sent along with this yarn.  Yes, sent.  This was before download-the-PDF days, so patterns came as hard copy with the yarn shipment.  That's how old this yarn is.

This yarn.  Right.  The also previously mentioned Unique Sheep Luxe (now discontinued) in Pride.  Specifically, going from orange-est to purple-est, Pride 1, Pride 2, Pride 3 and Pride 4.   

Somehow, it feel appropriate to have knit this old, old, Knitty pattern with yarn that is probably almost as old.

It's been a blast.  Like 30,000 Frenchmen, I guess 24,000+ Ravelers can't be wrong.

And I finished before KAL deadline. Whoohoo! Go me.