Clapotis Complete!

I had been wanting to make the Clapotis for the longest time; I started this one with the intent of giving it to my friend who is going through chemo. However, the Noro Silk Garden that I had added to after making my Lizzy cardigan is both a little rough and a little too dark in coloring for the effect I want my prayer shawl to have. So....I bought some cheerfully colored Homespun and will probably make a cuddly shawl for my friend out of that.

Meanwhile, I LOVE the finished Clapotis as something I will keep in my office for those chilly days (of which there are many, all year round!) The colors are deep and neutral so it will look good thrown over almost anything I'll be wearing at work. The Clapotis blocked out bigger than I had been anticipating--I just laid it down gently on the blocking board after softening it in a bath of Eucalan and hair conditioner--so it is about 23 inches wide by about 70 inches long. I think it will actually be fine--I'd rather have it be a bit big than a bit small.

I really think I'd like to make another of these in a different yarn. There are so many wonderful examples on Ravelry and in the Clapotis groups, with so much information about amount of yarn needed, needle size, etc. The spreadsheet form soulknitting.com was also invaluable in helping me keep my place in this pattern--it was great "mindless" knitting as the pattern was easily memorized.

I couldn't recommend the Clapotis enough--don't wait years to make it like I did!

Now, with my 1.5 leftover skeins of Noro, I've decided to make some children's mittens for the current Afghans for Afghans Youth Campaign. I always want to contribute to this very worthy organization and have only done so once before. Having this small amount of good wool left just as the Youth Campaign is in full swing is a sign that this is meant to be. I'm using the basic mitten pattern from Ann Budd's Handy Book of Patterns. The first mitten looks a bit big (I'm making the 8-year-old size), but I think it will be OK--they are looking for things for ages 7-14,, and my own 14-year old is pretty much adult size. We'll see.