NotScarlett: Clapotis Odyssey, or, an Ode to Twisted

After a long delay, I finally finished my Clapotis. I can, in all honesty, say that this is by far my favorite knit. I'm pretty impressed with myself, I truly think this is the most gorgeous thing I've ever made. The combination of pattern and yarn turned into something too wonderful to adequately describe with words or photos.

I'm very proud of this knit; I remember the first time I tried to knit this pattern I was still fairly new to anything other than the knit stitch and decreasing, and I found it totally impossible. Now, after the mini-clap, the first full sized clap, and this luscious, luminous, lovely clap, I find the pattern so simple; even soothing in it's repetitiveness. The mini-clap and the other clap left me feeling a bit "meh" about the pattern, I just didn't GET what the big deal was, why everyone in the knitblog world was making one, two, or more of these things. Now though? I totally understand. Knitting this Clapotis was a joy. I feel so corny saying that, but it is the truth.

I think my yarn selection was a key factor in how much I enjoyed knitting this baby. The mini-clap was knit in this crazy Swedish yarn that I randomly found in a clearance bin at a LYS...it's a great lightweight little scarf, and the linen/cotton/wool yarn is richly textured. While knitting with that yarn, I felt like I was knitting with paper, and I really had a hard time enjoying the process since the yarn made my fingers itch. The first full-sized clapotis was made with laceweight wool (not merino, mind you) from Handpaintedyarn.com that I held doubled. I'd imagine knitting with sewing thread would feel better in your hands. (Let me tell you...that clapotis is now a lovely piece of felt. It was pretty rough yarn, and I wore it twice, never washed it, and just from hanging over an un-used chair in my office, it magically felted.)

After doing some sample and test knitting for Meg of Twisted Fiber Art, I knew I had to knit a clappy in her Netherfield colorway. I knit up a pair of Monkeys in that colorway as a sample for her so she could see how a new base yarn behaved, and it was truly love at first sight. The colorway is self-striping, and I thought it would be interesting to see how the bias of the pattern worked with the yarn. The stripes are very subtle in this colorway, going from light to dark and back again. The lighter sections, rosy gold and pale green, seem to glow. The darker sections, with bits of rich green and deep burgundy,transition in to the lighter sections without turning anything "muddy" or overpowering the more delicate colors. The contrast is glorious; the colors remind me of glimpsing a sunlit meadow through a dark forest. I HAD to make a Clapotis with this stuff, clearly, it is magical.

I used Meg's DK weight yarn, Duchess, for this project. It's a very soft, luxurious, merino that takes dye beautifully and has a twist I would define as "just right." Not too tight, but definitely not loose. (don't you love it when I use technical terms?!) I knit this on US size 9 needles, which made my Clapotis quite large and gave the whole thing a fantastic drape.

There's been a bit of a frenzy over Meg's yarn in recent months, however, she's got a lovely group over here, and will soon be opening her own online store rather than selling on etsy as she used to. If you're able to get your hands on any of her yarn, you will not regret it! Her colorways are honestly like nothing else I've seen, and her base yarns are yummy.

I dream of wrapping myself in my clappy and sitting on a beach somewhere, early in the morning when it is still nice and cool, drinking a cup of tea and watching the sun rise. For now though, I'll have to settle for sitting on my couch with B and the dogs, watching BSG and gazing longingly at the Clap, waiting for cool weather to come again.