davejenbarnes
Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert
Source: knitty.com
Size: followed pattern
Materials: Bonsai by Berocco (97% bamboo, 3% nylon), beads, 1 spool matching sewing thread
Needles: size 7 Denise circulars
Amount: 7.5 balls of yarn for clapotis, ~1 ball for crochet border
Start Date: Match 29, 2008
Finish Date: June 3, 2008
You might think, “Clap-O-tis” like I did, but no, it’s more “cla-po-TEE” from what I have read online. This is one of the more higly discussed knitting projects and while some love it, some hate it. I am right smack in the middle. It wasn’t the most interesting knit, and it wasn’t boring either. Dropping stitches every little bit was enough to keep me plugging along on it, enough so to finish it.
This was a great grab-n-go project. I worked a lot of it in the car (whilst David drove, duh, I wouldn’t drive while knitting!) or while playing/watching James and Lowell in the mornings, or while having an afternoon and my mom’s house, or while watchiing a TV show or movie with David, or while waiting at Time Warner to turn in our old modem… It did not require a lot of attention. Needless to say, it is an easily memorized pattern and you just go with it.
Bamboo yarn has a lovely drape. In fact, this yarn started off as another project entirely. I had decided to knit a tunic (I know, sounds like something military) with my friend, Amy, and while she finished hers, mine sat half done collecting dust. Well, it’s ziploc collected dust. When I realized I had a substantial enough stash of this yarn for this project, I decided that the heavy drape would be perfect for knitting up a shawl.
Once done, it needed a little something. I came across another clapotis with a beaded border via ravelry (gotta love ravelry!), discussed options with my knitting guru friend Ana at knit-night on Tuesday, and whipped out the beaded border in just 2 days. It’s crocheted on and keeps the shawl from stretching out in all sorts of funny ways. I love how it added just the right touch and stabilized the edges at the same time.
I don’t think I will ever knit another one, but I am glad to have a completed clapotis in my projects over on Ravelry, and, uh, here in my house, too.
