Contemplating Clapotis . . .
Okay, I have to say that whan I first saw Clapotis (clap - o - TEE) in the Fall 04 Knitty I was not too excited. It seemed like a cool idea, but I didn’t put it on my list of patterns I’d like to knit sometime. Perhaps it was the bright colorway that is sooooo not me? I don’t know.
However, over the last several months I have seen many take fruition and I am now becoming a woman obsessed! Some of them which have inspired me include Thereasa’s and Caryn’s in the recommended Lorana’s Laces, Froggy’s in Artyarn’s Supermerino, and Betsy’s in the new Noro Kujaku yarn. Then, of course who could forget Cari’s Ode to Clapotis?
I’m wavering a bit though. . .
- I do not have enough of any one yarn in my stash to make it. Okay, I take that back. I have 1000+ yds of a nice cotton boucle, but I’m thinking while a Clapotis knit in that would look nice, making the stitches drop are likely to be a bit of a PITA.
- I’m liking the additional interest of the self-striping yarns from Noro being used. However, they are a bit spendy and often littered with knots as Betsy mentioned. And, with one Noro project still on the needles I’m not sure I can handle the knots and unsmooth color transitions again so soon.
- I’m liking the overall look of the recommended yarn, but I’m not finding the colorways of most of them I’m seeing to be my style per se.
- What I’m thinking I would most like to knit this in is Textiles a Mano’s Shanghi, I have two skeins of the one in the lower left. I’m not sure what color, but that is probably okay. Because if I follow the yardage that is being discussed on the blogs as being more accurate, it would be a a nearly $90 scarf/wrap with 4 hanks for multi-color needed. Yikes! The sheen and hand of this stuff is absolutely to die for though! *sigh*
- Then there is the part of me that says while it is only the first week of February, I’ve been running around a lot during the day without a coat. Is a wool/silk blend really a smart choice? Perhaps some cotton or linen blend would be more versatile for our relatively mild Colorado winters?
- We do go weekly to a friend’s house that tends to be a tad cool for me and if I get chilled my pain levels increase, so perhaps I should think of this project as a medical expense???
Anyone have any suggestions on at least semi-economical yarns for Clapotis??
Speaking of Textiles A Mano - go check them out! The web site is fairly recently more populated and there are pictures of Laura’s scrumptuous yarns. You have to e-mail about availability, but her colors and yarns are totally worth it!
I don’t know if you consider this semi-economical or not, but Loop Yarn has Artyarns Supermerino for $8.50. I used 7 skeins of it for my Clapotis, and have to say this is the softest thing I’ve knitted so far.
Comment by Jane — 2/3/2005 @ 10:56 pm
Economical? I’d vote for one of the yarns in the Knitipicks.com housebrand. They’ve gotten a lot of my money lately, and I’ve been very pleased with the yarn. I’m still going to email them or call customer service to ask some questions. This alpaca is lovely and cheap, and I’m hoping it’s not made by infants and kitten under veal-like conditions.
Comment by Snow — 2/4/2005 @ 10:16 am
I made a Clapotis of yarn from handpaintedyarns.com (actually “Sanfelipeysantiago” from eBay, but same seller), and I’ve really enjoyed wearing it — I wear it as a poncho with a pin, but knowing that it’s not really a poncho (which makes it cooler!). Another idea — check out knitpicks.com for their new line of yarns (I’m obsessed with them right now) — they’re awesome! There’s a worsted that you can dye yourself, they sell the dyes, or you could Kool-aid dye one … like for $10.00!! Too cool to pass up. Maybe I’ll make another Clapotis (I’ve made two). Anyhow — enjoy your blog — I went to CSU for grad school about a decade ago (wow!), but have very fond memories of “Fort Fun” — and I need to visit that new yarn store up there! Take care — Jenifer
Comment by Jenifer — 2/4/2005 @ 9:33 pm