clap, clap, clap

Why oh why did I knit another Clapotis? This is my third. Do I need three shawl/scarves that don't work perfectly as either.

After much soul searching I find two major reason why I knit my third:

1) I was seduced by the yarn
2) I like a simple knit

#1, I tested a sample of Malabrigo Silky Merino and fell in love. Ever since I made my first Clapotis, using the decent but not wonderful Paton's Classic Wool, I've wanted a slinkier Clap. I thought it would be more scarf-like. It turns out that the slinky DK version is about as shawl-like as the worsted weight versions, but it does have a lighter, silkier feel. And the colorway, Stonechat, while it doesn't make you drool, is subtly beautiful and looks great with grey.

I made this one just as wide but shorter than the pattern suggests. I used 3 skeins of Silky Merino or 450 yards, about as much as a typical scarf. I bought 5 skeins and now have 2 left over to include in a future log cabin blanket or something.

#2 is a slightly embarrassing reason. After working straight out on a log cabin blanket, this Clapotis, and, currently, a Pinwheel Baby Blanket, to the neglect of other projects, I realize that I like to do plain garter stitch or stockinette best. I love a project that goes fast and requires little thought or attention. That goes for socks too, where the pattern isn't too complicated. Socks meet the goes fast requirement and most of the time, the little attention requirement.

I don't know if this is a phase or if I should forget about lace and cable knitting forever. I am well underway with a sweater I have long admired, the Apres Surf Hoodie by my latest design guru, Connie Chang Chinchio. Here is its Ravelry page. Now this isn't a difficult knit by any means, but you do have to keep track of which row you're on, and it doesn't go fast. So I have been neglecting this project shamefully, although I have no plan to abandon it. First I just have to knit dozens of garter stitch blankets or something.

The Clapotis, Log Cabin Blanket, and Pinwheel all share a special attribute. They are easy, simple, but very clever designs that produce striking and unusual objects. I would like to know about more like these. If you have any favorites along these lines, let me know.

klaralund rationalized through space dyeing

Why oh why did I decide to knit the Klaralund, a design that will probably look horrible on me? And uses variegated yarn, which I generally don't like much? And uses variegated yarn in a color that looks like bird doo? (See previous post for more details.)

• I thought the Klaralund would be a more interesting use of lace weight yarn than the Clapotis for which it was originally intended.
• The Klaralund is a clever design and shape, reminiscent of the Einstein Coat. The vee neck, back and front, might be flattering.
• I would rather have another Clap in shades of brown than the Grape Hyacynth colorway of the Knit Picks Shimmer. Even though purple and green is my favorite color combo, the shades of this grouping look like, I repeat, bird doo. So who cares what I do with it?
• The yarn is wonderful to the touch. I want to have it wrapped around my body.

What stands out the most about this knitting venture however, are the words Space Dyed. I love retro looks, and I remember that in the 1970s space dyed sweaters were in fashion. This photo is of a current design (from a company called Stacia), but it has the look of the 70s style of sweater surface design. Using 2 strands of the lace weight Shimmer together breaks up the stripes into a similarly speckly space dyed look. As shown in the photo at the top of this post, it looks even more that way on the reverse stockinette (or wrong) side.

So this is essentially a design venture to see if the fabric recreates the space dyed look of sweaters from the seventies. It might lead to another sweater design, more retro in shape, using this type of yarn again. By the way, space dyed is still an operative term. Here is one definition; and here is another. It seems to mean yarn dyed in specified lengths of one color and then another and another, etc., repeating along the length of the skein.

There is another reason, unrelated to clothing or design, why I wanted to use this particular yarn at this particular time. Because I wanted to use this:

And this, my Christmas presents:
to make this:

process or product?

Like many knitters, I usually say that for me knitting is about the process rather than the product. But is that true? Lately I have come to think that this statement about the process being more important than the product is not entirely true for me, but really a way of apologizing in advance if the product of all those hours spent knitting should turn out badly. And many times it has turned out that way in spite of my effort to pick out the right yarn and pattern and knit it correctly.

Process does enter into it. Knitting is thought to be a meditative act because it centers you on the work in front of you enabling you to clear your mind of everything else. I have experienced that at times, but for me gardening works better as meditation. Although I do like to knit, I like to read more, so I combine reading with knitting by listening to audiobooks as I knit. That is why I knit so much - because I read so much. It is still a relaxing process though, knitting and reading away.

Almost as much as I like reading, I like clothes and fashion. And there lies the true excitement and glamour of knitting: hoping to make something wonderful that will look great and be an asset to the wardrobe. All of this is a way of apologizing in advance, because I have reason to fear that the project I cast on over the weekend will turn out badly.

It all started when I was browsing Ravelry to see how other knitters had used Knit Picks Shimmer, a variegated lace weight alpaca/silk blend. I had ordered some, and my idea was to use it for a lighter weight Clapotis that would not be so chunky as the worsted weight versions I had made and would lay better on the neck as a scarf. As I mentioned in my Clapotis post (linked above), I am not crazy about variegated yarn, mainly because of the chunky stripes it produces. The Clap is perfect for variegation because it breaks up the stripes diagonally. Somehow that looks more graceful to me.

I was looking at Shimmer products in Ravelry hoping to glean information about how knitters had used lace weight yarns for Clapotis. I came across an interesting project by a knitter using the name Flyingneedle who made Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton's Klaralund in Shimmer.

Here is Klaralund as she appears in Hamilton's Noro book Number Two using the yarn she specified: Noro Silk Garden, a worsted weight. See the chunky stripes. Flying needle's version, (linked above) which I can't seem to grab for this post, has daintier speckly stripes. In fact, the variegated pattern of Shimmer, as used for Klaralund reminds me of sweaters from my youth - more about that in the next post.

For now, suffice it to say that it is doubtful that Klarlund will look good on me. Notice how the model in the photo here seems to lack breasts. I have humonguous ones. As for Flying Needle, she seems to have breasts, but she is thin and elegant in shape to the extent that she should be a model. I am short and chunky, and while some clothes look passable on me because I am well-proportioned, I will never be anyone's clothes horse.

You might ask, if I am dubious about the material and nearly sure that the shape will not suit me, why am I making this sweater. I am not entirely sure, but I have some ideas, which I will explore in the next post.