Lesson in blogging

Today's lesson will be "How to increase traffic to your blog". You have two options:

1. Write witty and/or funny and/or intelligent posts.
2. Have your blog mentionned in a very popular blog

I knew my wit wasn't enough to bring in 91 visitors a day. Wow! Sorry it happened on a day I really had nothing to say :p

***

I ended up going to today's meetup and didn't regret it at all. Because everyone is so nice. And seeing people is healthy. Plus, I was able to see Lee-Ann for more than 30 seconds.

I took a few pics. I wanted to post them but I always feel bad posting other people's pics even if they did see me taking it. So they're aware that I plan on posting them. So yeah, I decided I wouldn't post them until I saw this:



Hmmm. Could it be? (For those not in the know, Molly-Ann got her wallet stolen while we were there). Seriously, I have no idea if that person took it (I'm still hoping Molly-Ann will find it somewhere in her bag. I have this theory that some bags have this vortex that sucks objects in and spits them out at random. I know my bags do).

***

And just in case some people are worried about me (sorry about that), I got a lot of rest this weekend and I feel much better. My mood still goes up and down and up again but right now I'm feeling ok. <3

A quick update

Hello world!

There is a reason why I wouldn't be able to stop going to the knitting meeting: everyone who goes there is so nice. Thanks to everyone who replied to my last post (Montrealers as well as everyone else of course). I meant to reply to everyone individually but I barely have time to breathe right now.

I requested a day off on Sunday, which will do me good for sure. I'm not sure yet if I'll be in Montreal, but if I am, I'll see some of you at the meeting (and for once I won't have to leave at 3!).

Silence

I finished Hubert's sock:



I'm working on #2. If I keep up at this rate, I won't be giving away many knitted gifts next Christmas.

In other news, today was knitting meetup day, which happened at the Second Cup on Monkland. My tiredness and depressiveness makes it difficult for me to attend any sort of gathering or to do anything at all, really, but the last time that happened to me I isolated myself for months and I'm trying really hard not to let that happen again. But then I realize just how boring of a person I must seem. So I'm not sure what's best, really. Do I keep on going to keep me sane or do I not go so I don't subject other people to my presence, because I do realize that I'm no fun to be around these days?

I can be such a drama queen in online journals. I think I just need to take a little break. Especially since I just admitted on my blog, which some of the Montreal knitters read, that I'm really a sociophobic fruitcake. What a winner.

All that being said, seeing Veronik's blue shawl (the one that she gave to Margaret) at the meeting, as well as Molly Anne and Anny's shawls-in-progress made me want to make one too. So I'll just add that to my list of things to make sometime. Later.

All your yarn are belong to us

Someone posted this in the Knitting Livejournal community:



I thought it was funny, even though I really shouldn't be laughing at people who make English mistakes because it's not their first language. God knows my English is far from prefect (yeah I noticed the typo, I just thought it was deliciously ironic).

And I wish you all a very useful knitting time.

***

In the knitting news:

1. I gave the baby hat to my friend. She loved it. I'm happy.

2. Clapotis is definitely being frogged. I'm not sure what I'll do with the yarn. I'm in no rush to use it right now. I will, however, go out and buy yarn to make a better Clapotis. Oh yes I will.

3. Poster boy girl is going well. I think.

4. I've been so busy lately I've had no time to blog and even to knit that much. And I feel like it's going to be the same until I can finally take some vacation mid-August.

Baby!

Next week, I'm having dinner with a friend who's going to have her first baby in August. So I made her this:



Awwww. Isn't it cute? I hope she'll like it.

***

If you want to win a shawl knitted by Veronik Avery or cool yarn AND give to a good cause at the same time, I urge you to check out the Montreal Knits blog. Details are all there. Go now!

***

And now, ladies and gentlemen, here's a little praisin':

I bought a Denise needles set a couple of months ago. Unfortunately, I broke one of my cords (it was a total accident, I swear!). I had heard that you could get a replacement if you sent 1$ for postage to the company, but since I live in good ol' Canada, I figured I'd email first to ask if I need to send extra postage. Well the lady who answered my email asked me to just email her my address and tell her which cord I broke and she'd send a replacement to me. No postage to pay. Now that is good customer service. And I LOVE my Denise set. Therefore, I recommend it to everyone. Go buy it. Now.

Too hot for socks

So yesterday was Knit in public day and I met with three Ms -- Mona, Molly and Mary -- in a coffee shop. I LOVE TO KNIT WITH OTHER PEOPLE! There, I said it.

I actually got a lot of knitting done yesterday, at the meet and afterwards. I finished the socks:


(I only wore them long enough to take the picture. You can't wear wool socks when it's 30 degrees (Celsius) outside, no matter how soft and comfortable they are.

I also casted on for the Poster Boy bag from Stitch N' Bitch Nation. Except mine will be Poster Girl (or something else entirely if I can't make it work). Yay, Caro's doing Fair Isle! Of course, I'm nowhere close be making these gloves, but I'll get there... someday.

Random annoyance: I'm on a yahoo mailing list for a knit-along, and it looks like one of the members is on vacation right now. So every time someone sends a message to the list, we get an automated "I'm away on vacation" reply. Every time! Grrrr!

Look at it and weep...

...because this, my friend, is a work of art:


Feather and fan sock from Socks Socks Socks, made with love and some yummy Fleece Artist sock yarn.

Sock #2 is on the needles. The sad thing is that it's now way too hot for wool socks. But no sock in the world, no matter how pretty it is, is going to make me wish it was winter right now.

Do you KIP?

June 11 is International Knit in public day!



I'll make sure to do some public knitting on that day! If any Montrealer wants to participate, let me know and we'll meet somewhere. Hey maybe the weather will actually be warm and sunny then and we'll be able to finally meet outside!

Just one more stitch

I changed the name of my blog, because I didn't like the last one. Not sure about this one either, but it does describe me well. I can't count the number of times I went to bed wayyyy too late... "Just one more stitch", I'd say. Yeah.

I was in big need of retail therapy last night so I coupled it with sock therapy and got myself a new book:


It's Socks Socks Socks, edited by Elaine Rowley. I LOVE so many of the patterns in that book.

As you can see in the pic, I've already cast on for a pair: the feather and fan socks, inspired by a recent post in The yarn harlot's blog. I'm using the fleece artist yarn that Amanda, my not-secret pal sent me. I had never knitted with size 1 needles before. Tiny. And I realized that I must be a tight knitter, which isn't good when you're dealing with tiny little sticks like that. Oh well. You may also have noticed that my needles are aqua. I think that makes me cool or something.

Of course, while I was in Chapters yesterday, I couldn't help but look at every single book in the knitting section (is it just me or it's getting bigger every week? not that I'm complaining or anything). I had seen it numerous times before but I had never really looked at it. But last night I did. Meg Swansen's A Gathering of Lace. I LOVE IT! I WANT IT! IT'S 45$! Eeek. Ok, I want it. I'll get it. Someday. I badly want to make a shawl anyways.

Another book that I want. Except this one wasn't in the store, unfortunately. I doubt I would have resisted. Socks! If, by chance, there's a millionnaire reading this, it will be my pleasure to offer you the gift of giving by letting you buy me a few knitting books. I also accept yarn. Email me. We'll talk.

I finished the RibbonXback top from Knitty!



Analysis

1. It is not flattering. I should have made the XS.
2. You can't see it but it's sort of see-through. Ooops.
3. It should have been longer.
4. I should do more crunches.

Here's the back:



***

I still haven't decided if I'm going to join the Secret Pal 5 thing. I had so much fun in the past two SPs that I really want to do it again, but money is a bit tight... hmmmm. *ponders*

Ah well. Probably not.

***

Meeting the Montreal knitters on Sunday, weee!

Did you miss me?

Honey, I'm home!



I gotta say that it was much more work than a vacation. I worked 12+ hours every day (yes, on weekends too) and I visited Paris in the morning and on my only day off (the Sunday before I left). I got back home last night at 9:30 but it felt like middle of the night to me so I fell asleep right away. I got up at 6:30 this morning thinking it was the middle of the day of course.

I was working in Paris' Red Light district, can you believe that? The street was like this: sex shop, porn DVD store, office, peep show place, yarn store, more sex shops, french hookers...

Hmm did I mention yarn stores on my street? Yep. But unfortunately, they were always closed whenever I had some free time to actually go out. So no French yarn for me. I worked a little on the ribbon top while I was there, mostly while watching bad French TV in my hotel room at night (now i'm not saying that all French TV is bad of course, only whatever was playing between midnight and 2am. I did get to see Lost in Translation, one of my favourite movies ever, though).

Next Sunday = knitting meetup! I really can't wait. I doubt that the ribbon top will be finished, but maybe if I knit non-stop until then... ;) (Unfortunately, I have to get back to work tomorrow and Thursday so that's leaves me only a little bit of knitting time since Sunday).

Special message for Lee-Ann: I just learned the news while reading past messages from the montreal yahoo group. I'm keeping you in my thoughts and wishing you the best. I know things will be all right for you. Oh and I refuse to believe you're 38, just like I refuse to believe that any of the girls in anti-wrinkle cream ads is a day over 25.

Markers and ribbons

I finally got around to taking pics of my last Secret Pal gift:


Some yummy Lamb's pride, bamboo circular needles, beautiful stitch markers and equally beautiful earrings. There was also a notebook with cute cats on it but I forgot to add it to the picture :(

A close-up of the stitch markers:



***

Yesterday, I went to my second knitting meetup. And once again, I had lots of fun (I think I talked a little bit more this time). There were six of us, all happily knitting, talking about tattoos, piercings and the habit that old people have of talking about constipation all the time.

I had made a mistake in the fleece artist socks and frogged them. Instead of starting over, I decided to cast-on for the ribbon top from the current issue of Knitty. I am loving this project. It's going on quite fast. I think it'll come with me to Paris.

Progress:



I'm already looking forward to the next meeting!

***

So this blog is taking a two-weeks break! See ya around the 23rd!

I sock a lot

I finished the socks at the beginning of the week but I was too busy to post a pic until now. Here it goes:



Very comfy. They'll keep my feet warm in the plane on Monday.

And I began a new pair, with the Fleece Artist yarn that my Secret Pal sent.

Did I say Secret Pal? No, I mean Amanda, my not-secret-anymore Pal!

I got another great package on Thursday. Not only did I get a card which revealed her identity, I also got a bunch of cool stuff! Unfortunately, the batteries of my camera died so I don't have a pic (maybe tomorrow). I got two skeins (1 red, 1 black) of Lamb's Pride Worsted so I can make the Poster Boy bag from SNB Nation. I also got the necessary needles to make it (bamboo of course, now I'm addicted ;) ). I got a cute notebook with cats on it. AND I got some awesome stitch markers and a pair of earrings that come from Amanda's online store, Homebaked. The earrings match perfectly my favourite ring and necklace. I love everything and I'm pretty sure that I got the best Secret Pal out of all the participants. :p

I have no willpower

I know I said I wouldn't cast-on for the second sock before I had worked on some other WIPs, but... well let's just say I'm only a few inches from decreasing for the toe on sock #2.

But it's not my fault, I swear! My mom kept teasing me for wearing just one sock yesterday. But but mom! The sock WANTED to be worn!

The good thing about that is that I'll have a new pair of socks to bring with me to Paris. YES!

Sock Therapy

This week has been full of ups and downs.

But I've had some good news: I'm being sent to Paris for two weeks to help on a project there. I'm so happy, since travelling is my favourite thing in the world (yes, I do like it more than knitting, but only slightly ;) ). It's silly because I'll be working the whole time I'm there, long hours every day, so I won't even have time to visit anything much. But still. I'll be in Paris!

Now I'm trying to figure out what knitting project to bring. I'll be finished with sock #1 for sure, but my goal was not to start #2 until I have at least one of my other projects done (does a frogged project count? Because I think I'll frog my baby blanket soon). I think I'll bring sock #2 on the trip, but I need something else in case I finish it (hey, I will be there for two weeks). I don't want to bring my current WIPs. So what else? More socks, maybe? A shawl? I'd like to do a shawl. Or maybe a top. I like the ribbon top from the current Knitty. *ponders*

***

In other news, I've been depressed lately (what's new?). Suffering from big self-esteem/body image issues. I'm not gonna go into it here, as I'm trying to keep this mostly knitting-oriented (I use my Livejournal for the annoying whiny posts). But I realized that there is such a thing as knitting therapy. You can't be depressed while you're knitting purple socks. Try it, I dare you.



It works.

(I know there is more blue than purple in the sock, but I tend to notice the purple more than any other colour).

***

Finally, in other news, the fabulous Lee Ann has a brand new blog. It's funny, it's witty, it's perfect... the only thing missing is a link to my blog really ;)

Speaking of links, I need to post my favourites in the menu of my own blog. Someday, I promise. For now, back to the sock therapy.

One round of applause for Montreal knitters

I had a fantastic time at the meetup today. I don't think I had ever been in a room with so many knitters before. Now that I think of it, I don't know any knitters (other than those of you I met today of course) so I never see any unless I'm yarn shopping.

It was just great to meet so many women who are passionate about my favourite hobby. It was fantastic to see other people's work (and to touch their yarn, I really couldn't resist).

I had been in a knitting slump lately and going there made me want to get back into it in full force (hopefully I'll have a whole sock to show at the next meeting).

Things I learned today:

1. Gauge is not pronounced how I thought it was.
2. Knitters make cute kids
3. Jo's husband knows I exist
4. Pink is a great colour for socks
5. I actually enjoy the "who are those freaks?" looks that people give to a group of knitters in a public place

Oh and there was also a discussion on shrugs. I think the consensus is that they are not liked, but I'm still undecided on the subject.

Traditions

Keeping up with the tradition*, here's my mini-review of IK's summer issue.

I thought there were a lot of cute things in this issue, but not that many things I want to make. I'm more of a fall-winter girl when it comes to knitting anyways.

Did you guys see the lace baby gown on page seven? If that thing won third prize, I want to see the second and first place! Wow!

Ok now the patterns:

One-button cardigan: I really like the way it looks on the picture on page 17 (when the model is sitting down). But it's terribly unflattering on the other pics. I definitely don't need a cardigan that will make me look bigger, unfortunately.

Isis wrap: I'm still not sure what I think about wraps, shrugs, boleros and all these things that I can tell apart one from another. Sometimes I think I really need one to go over summer dresses, other times I don't like the way they look. I think the Isis wrap is pretty, but I don't like the way it ties up.

Summer Sundress: I love it. It's very pretty. I wouldn't make it though.

(I'm going to make a little pause here to say how much I dislike the bathing suits on page 27)

Bed and bath duo: I LOVE THIS! I think it's my favourite thing from the magazine!!! But it would take me a lifetime to make, so I'll just look at the pretty picture.

Two-tie striped cardigan: I think I would consider knitting this, but maybe in different colours.

Viennese Shrug: It doesn't do anything for me.

Padded footlet: I prefer real (longer) socks. They're cute though.

Sketchbook cover: Very pretty and original. I don't think I'll be making it but it would be a good way to use leftover yarn I think.

Polka-dot bag There are about one million bags I want to make and I don't like this one enough to add it to the list.

Lacy Kerchief Scarf: Nothing to say about it, really. It's ok I guess.

Triada Scarf: I really disliked it when I first saw it worn as a cowl on the picture, but I love the way it looks as a little caplet thing.

Acorn Camisole: I don't really like it but maybe if I saw it in another colour, I'd change my mind.

Fiery Bolero: I can't decide what I think of it.

Premiere Pullover: I like it, but it really doesn't look summery to me. It's cute though.

Buffalo Girl: I've never seen anyone wearing something like that in the summer. I know it can get cold in the evening, but I don't think I'd wear that.

Lace Lead Pullover: Definitely not a summer item! But I LOVE it!

Fan Clutch and Fun Fur Collar: So not my style

Sleek Ribs Tank: No opinion.

Dylan Goes Electric: I LOVE that sweater! Too bad I don't knit for men.

Shoulder Shrugs: I think I like the one by Mary Jane Mucklestone the best, but I can't say any of them screamed "Make me!" to me.

Go with the flow socks: IK has such lovely sock patterns! I really like them.

Baby Gifts: Cute but I don't knit for babies much.

Do you guys think that the shirt in the Elsebeth Lavold ad (p. 53) looks like a Clapotis shirt? I think it does!

Oh and where's the token IK model? She's not in this issue at all (save for the Crochet issue ad). I like her, I want her back! :p The red-head is absolutely gorgeous too though.

*When does something becomes a tradition? I guess doing something twice doesn't qualify as tradition, right? Oh well, let's say it's a tradition-to-be.

***

So, tomorrow's the Montreal knitting meetup. I'm so excited! I'm super shy in groups and it looks like many people know each other already and are experienced knitters. I hope I can fit it. And I have no idea what WIP to bring. Most of them are too big and I need to carry my gym clothes and stuff for work... hmmm. I'll probably end up bringing a sock that I just started.

I'm really looking forward to it.

Montreal Knits!

Yay, there's now a Montreal Knits community! Thanks to Jo for sharing the link. Of course I had to join right away and then I had a silly thought for a button:



Since the Expos are gone, we might as well use the stadium for something ;)

Oh and if you check out the Montreal blog page, you'll see pics of the inside of my favourite LYS.

***

In other knitting news, I casted on a pair of socks, using the pattern on the fleece artist yarn that my Secret Pal sent. But I didn't use the gorgeous yarn, because I want to practice on another pair first.

I did, however, use the bamboo needles. My Secret Pal warned me that I could develop a bamboo addiction. And I gotta say that I really like to hold them in my hands. Hmmm...

Yummy

I have been on a knitting hiatus lately. It's not that I'm bored with knitting, I think I'm just bored with my current projects.

Clapotis is a lot of fun. But it does get repetitive when you're in section three. It is still my favourite current project though, and I'm hoping I can find better yarn for it for the next time (yes, there will definitely be a next time).

Then, there's Kyoto. The lovely Yarn Harlot put it best in her bookbookbook.
Everyone has one -- a knitting monstrosity.(...) What is a surprise is how long the knitter must have ignored the writing on the wall. To get a finished monstrosity, hours and hours of patient denial must be put in.
See, I know that Kyoto is going to be too big. I've known it for a long time. Did it stop me from going on? Noooo. Why? I don't know. I think the idea of frogging it was disgusting me more than the idea of having a much too big finished object. I'm still hoping it will fit my sister. But it's getting more and more difficult to finish it.

Last, there's a baby blanket that I'm making for my friend. Is there anything more boring to make than a baby blanket? I didn't think so.

Now there are a lot of projects that are appealing right now, but
a)Starting a new project means that it will take me even longer to finish the WIPs above.
b)Many of these future projects ask for yarn that I don't have. I just invested in a kick-ass new gym membership so I'm a bit low on funds. So no new yarn. At least I'll try :p

I do, however, have yarn for a few new projects that are really tempting. But my goal is to finish at least one of the current WIPs before I start a new one. We'll see how it goes.

***

Montrealers: If you're looking for the Yarn Harlot's book, there were 8 copies left when I bought mine at Indigo (on Ste-Catherine W) last Thursday. It's a very fun book, and Stephanie rocks (I'm addicted to her blog) so go get it! Of couse, you can also buy it here.

(And for the record, she didn't pay me to write this ;). We don't know each other.)

***

I kept the best part of this post for the end. I got a gift from my Secret Pal! Now I was looking at the Secret Pal homepage, and there are A LOT of participants. What were the chances of me getting the best Secret Pal ever? But I did! HA! Lucky me!


So what do we have here? Let's see: A cute stuffed lamb, a cool little box of mints, a sheep pin, Clover bamboo DPNs (I've never had bamboo needles before!) and the most gorgeous sock yarn ever (with a sock pattern, woo!).

See what I meant when I said that I had other patterns that were appealing to me? I so want to knit socks right now. But I've only knitted one pair so far (not counting the millions of fuzzy feet I made last Christmas) so I think I'll use the pattern with another skein of (less gorgeous but nice nonetheless) sock yarn first, as practice, and then I'll knit with the new gorgeous yarn and enjoy every second of it. In the meantime, I think I'll spend every second of free time petting it.

Les réponses!

Here are the answers to the questions I was asked in this post.

First, Leah's questions:

1. If you were to listen to music while you knit, what kind of music would it be?

I usually listen to my mp3 player when I knit in the bus (at home I usually do it in front of a movie or a TV show or while listening to a radio show). These days my player is filled with Tori Amos mp3s.

2. How do you exercise such restraint walking into a gourmet yarn store?
Well the fact that I'm saving my money for my other passion -- travelling -- really helps. :p That and I have a small appartment. I don't know where I could fit something like 20 huge boxes of yarn. And I feel guilty to have yarn and not use it. I usually always buy yarn with a project in mind, but the problem is that by the time I finish a project, I have thought (and bought yarn for) 5-6 new ones :p

3. can't think of a third one, but you rock nonetheless.
Awww thank you!! You rock too! And don't worry about asking only two questions, Jo and Lee Ann made up for it by asking four ;)

Now, Jo's questions:

1- What did you eat today? No cheating on this one. lol! ;)

Hehe. I don't like to talk about food much (I have lots of food issues). If I remember correctly, today I had a lot of cereals (Special K with Almonds, it's delicious), four rice cakes with peanut butter, two rice cakes with sugar free jelly, a small bag of mixed nuts and dried fruits and a bowl of cottage cheese.

2- What are the books on your knitting table?

Hmmm knitting books! I love them. I have the two Stitch N' Bitch books, Knit Wit, Knitting on the Edge (given to me as a RAOK!), Zen and the art of knitting (given to me by my Secret Pal), Chaleur du tricot (an afghan booklet in French), about 8-10 knitting magazines (mostly IK but some Vogue and Family Circle EK too), "I taught myself how to knit" and "I taught myself how to crochet" (both came with a kit).

3- What's your next story for work?
Well if everything goes according to plan, I should be interviewing P. Diddy tomorrow! It's been confirmed and everything but they can always cancel at the last minute so I can't be sure I'll do it until I'm actually face to him. If not that, I have a press screening on Tuesday and an interview with one of the actors in the afternoon.

4- ok I'm too curious and can't listen to rules! :-P Why did you start knitting?
I'm not sure. I've always liked craft and I figured knitting would give me something to do when I'm bored. At first I thought I'd make scarves and that would be it. No one I knew could teach me how to knit so I gave up on the idea for a few years. Then last year (Christmas 2003), I bought a knitting kit at Wal-Mart and taught myself how to cast-on and knit (no purls). It took me forever to make a garter stitch scarf. Then I found the Stitch N' Bitch book, the knitting community on Livejournal and Knitty and I discovered that there were many things other than scarves that you could make. I've been hooked ever since.

Last set of questions, from Lee Ann:

1. Do you write for pleasure too, in addition to doing it for work? if so, what do you write?

Yes, I do write for pleasure! I mostly write bad poetry (in English). I've also participated in NaNoWriMo these past two years so I wrote two novels (both in French). The first one was sort of Chick Lit and the second one was a Fantasy novel. I'm currently noting a lot of ideas for a third one that I'd like to do outside of NaNo. I also used to be a part of a writing club at work. We'd have a theme every two months and we would write short stories and meet to read them. We all got too busy though so we stopped doing it.

2. What's your fantasy "I want to knit that for me" pattern (or just the type of garment if you don't have a specific pattern in mind)?

I fell in love with Rogue the first time I saw it. I've never done any cables yet but it's a skill I want to learn soon. I know I will make it someday, but I want to make a few sweaters before I try this one.

3. When am I taking you and Jo on a field trip to Bergere de France? :-)

Anytime! :p Seriously, I'd love to go yarn shopping with other knitters and I'ven ever been to Bergere so...

4. What's your favourite food-and-wine combination? (ask Jo...I can't help asking people this question PLUS I follow rules as well as she does ;-)))

I really don't know! I like to drink wine but I'm not a connoisseur. The best, for me, is simply a good meal and a good bottle with a few friends.

***

Feel free to ask more questions, people! :)

***

Andrea posted the following comment in my last entry:

You are a good knitter! Heck, even if all you do is garter stitch and cast on and cast off, that's talent. People don't believe me when I tell them that knitting is just a combination of two stitches. If you can purl and knit, you can do anything.

And I totally agree with her! Everytime people tell me they wish they knew how to knit I try to tell them how easy it is but they don't believe me. And when I post FO in my livejournal, people who know how to knit but who have only done scarves so far tell me they wish they could make things like that. And they can! If they can make scarves, they can make other things too.

I guess I didn't express myself correctly when I said I wished I was a good knitter. I mean that I can't wait until I'm a better knitter. And I wish I was better at some things. Like yarn substitution. Most of the time, I can't get the yarn that a pattern asks for, at least not locally. And I never know which yarn to use instead. For instance, right now I really want to make the Juliet Pullover from last summer's IK. But I don't know what yarn to use. It's the part of knitting that my brain just don't get.

I also wish I could see myself more accurately so I could choose a pattern size that would fit me ok.

***

I will end this already super long post with a WIP picture: Clapotis! (I'm halfway through section 3):