Clapotis Mk II is under way.
Clapotis Mk I, if we recall, was a doomed project. I sent for some Hipknits Silk Aran, in Vibrant. The parcel went missing and there was no more Vibrant in stick, so Kerrie replaced my yarn with Knox. I cast on, and found I had many breaks in the yarn. I loved the weight and the body of the yarn, but was very uncertain about the way that the colours were knitting up. When I reached the end of the first of two large skeins, I realised that I was not only well short of yarn, but that the second skein was rather differently dyed, having far more white in it than the first skein. The options, as I saw them, were to frog it and re-knit it from alternate strands, and to either send for more yarn or make the Clapotis narrower, OR frog it and forget it and knit something else.
It languished, while I thought about it.
In the meantime, the original order arrived and after discussing with Kerrie, who assured me that the Knox must have been a rogue skein, I paid for the original parcel (at half price) and kept it for a second Clapotis.
I also cast on one new project after another. Avoidance. I know.
Months later…
…the Clapotis still languished at the halfway stage.
So, recently I decided that I needed to attack my stash and get some projects completed. I looked at the damn Clapotis, realised that I would probably never wear it, because I really didn’t like the way that the colours had knitted up… and I mentally frogged it. The second, unused, skein became my Sunset Strip version of the My So Called Scarf pattern. The colours knitted up far more agreeably in this project, but the skein turned out to be only slightly less of a problem than the other one had. Perhaps the Knox had just been a poor batch…
Last night I de-skeined my Vibrant, because I wanted to cast on the new Clapotis for Craft Club tonight.
The first skein that we wound was really poor. I mean, really poor. White undyed patches, and tangles where the yarn appeared to be damaged [photo coming] and when I got to the fourth break in it, I gave up. I decided to try another skein and see if it was the same.
Of the remaining three skeins, none were in the same completely useless condition, though none were as nice and silky as the Knox. One of the skeins had a white patch, though smaller than that in the first skein. I decided to send photos of the really bad one to Kerrie to see if she might replace it and I elected to soldier on with the remainder.
Casting on today, I knitted the increase rows (deliberately making it two patterns smaller this time.) I am very struck by the lack of weight in this piece. It doesn’t have half the body that the original Clapotis had. On the other hand, the yarn is going further. Much, much further, by the looks of it. This explains, to me at least, why I was so puzzled by some people saying that they got their full size Clapotis out of three skeins of the Silk Aran when I was not going to get one out of four skeins equivalent. Clearly, the skeins vary wildly in their yardage.
The verdict thus far is that I much prefer the colours in this second attempt, though I could live without the blue… but the gloss and the weight of the Knox was far more appealing and satisfying. I suspect that, with the lack of body in this yarn, I would certainly get a full size Clapotis from it, but I still intend to make this one narrower as I think that will be more useful to me. Overall, I wish this Vibrant were similar in weight to the Knox. Ultimately, I shall buy no more of this yarn, as it seems that I have less than my fair share of luck where “rogue” skeins are involved.
I shall be knitting the middle section tonight, or some of it at least. If there is suitable light tomorrow, I’ll do WIP photos.