My Clapotis is Finished :)

Project Specs
Pattern:Clapotis
Pattern Source: Designed by Kate Gilbert for Knitty
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden #208, 7 skeins
Needles: US8 Denise needles
Date Started: 5/25/07
Date Finished: 6/02/07
Modifications: Omitted stitch markers by purling stitch to be dropped, twisted stitches on each side of dropped stitch on both knit and purl sides.

Well, you can probably guess what I chose to do… I decided to stick with the number of pattern repeats as written so I wouldn’t have to buy any more yarn. I think I made a good choice—I really love how it turned out! I think eventually I will make a longer version, but for now I am quite happy with how it fits around my neck as a scarf, and hugs my shoulders as a shawl. Once I figured out what I was going to do, the decrease sections really sped by. I finished up the knitting yesterday morning, and then it took quite a bit of time to maneuver all those drop stitches all the way down! I gave it a soak in Eucalan to hopefully soften it up. I also wanted to give it a good wash too as my Chihuahua, Rufus, really liked to curl up on the tail end of it while I was working on it!

I really love how the fabric drapes with the help of the dropped stitches. I also loved how the ripples the pattern creates, though I know I am going to—at least somewhat—lose this effect with the wash. I chose not to do a rigid pinned out blocking as I normally do so hopefully it will retain some of the original characteristics. I knew there was no way I could let this yarn go without a wash, as it was a little rough around my neck when I first tried it on, but I have faith in my wool wash to soften it up!

This is my first time working with a Noro yarn, and I am no doubt still enamored with the color I chose though some other aspects of the yarn I’m not too fond of. I encountered knots, twigs, and random colors spliced together out of sequence. This yarn can vary from bulky in weight to almost fingering it seems, which slowed down my knitting speed at times. What bugged me the most was that I was short on yardage like I said before (my seven 50 gram balls only added up to 327g). Still, there are so many more Noro colorways that I surely won’t be able to resist, so I will definitely be working with this yarn again, despite the drawbacks. In fact, I already had Grace pick me up some Silk Garden she found on sale for a Noro Striped Scarf like this one.

Although it’s WAY too warm out now to wear my Clapotis, there may be a cool desert night when I’ll put it to good use. I’m also going to pack it in my carry on for our flight to Boston incase it gets chilly on the plane, so we’ll see, Clapotis may get some wear time before October!

When I was setting it out to take pictures, Camdyn decided she loved it and wanted to be wrapped up in it. She wasn’t happy until every part of her was totally covered! I am amazed she could stand it because even with the AC on it still gets hot with a big ol’ knit on top of you! I think it works pretty well as a Camdyn cozy, don’t you think? ;) I am going to have to make her a kiddie sized version out of something super soft and washable so she can be just like mommy!

P.S. --This morning we also started a contest to win some free yarn, so scroll down and don't forget to enter!