C'est fini le crapotee

Pattern: Clapotis
Yarn: HPY lace pure wool triple stranded in Oceanos
Needles: 5mm (US 8) vintage plastic Boyes
Date Started: 11.09.05
Date Finished: 11.17.05

So does me finally knitting this mean this pattern is dead? Am I officially the last knitter that will work on this until it becomes retro and hip to knit it again? While knitting this I thought I would never finish it, section three became a black hole where I kept going and going and never seeing the end. It felt a lot longer than it actually took, I guess eight days isn't too bad. Not talking about it made things go faster, though I'm glad it's over!

There isn't too much left to say about this pattern right? I wish someone had warned me how monotonous this was going to get though. I've noticed that most people changed the number of increases and decreases, but, for some reason, I did the whole thing. My gauge was 5spi resulting in a long, warm stole, if not a shawl. Pre-blocking the measurements were 18"x58", but after washing it I was able to stretch it out to 20"x60-something" (my ruler doesn't go that long!). It's still drying, but I'm hoping it plumps up a little again. I'm just letting it dry flat on a towel, no pinning this time, which I think will help.

Since there's not much to say about the pattern, let's talk yarn. I was worried that using a worsted weight yarn would be too heavy and I'm glad I went with my instinct. Triple stranding the yarn helped me keep things light while still getting the size, drape, and warmth I wanted. Tripling also helped keep any true color pooling at bay. I had heard of a lot of people buying HPY lace, but I really didn't find anyone knitting it up yet (hoarders!). I'm glad to say that my yarn didn't reek of vinegar, wasn't wet, and wasn't felted. My skeins had a soft halo and the colors had a pretty sheen to them. The colors even matched what I saw on my monitor! I didn't see any color bleeding when I dunked le clap into it's bath. Actually, nothing really happened in the bath, the yarn basically came out the same (which is always a good thing).

On a side note, I switched from Eucalan to Kookaburra and can I say how much better I like it? The smell alone was better, it has a cool little measuring reservoir, and it felt like it was actually softening up the wool. Eucalan never really did anything for me and it didn't suds up enough to feel like it was really cleaning anything. Kookaburra gets my suds quota approval.

One gift done! I'll be taking a break this weekend to knit stuff up for moi until holiday knitting starts up again for mi mama. I'm sure I'll complain about how long that ones takes as well. Till then I have some socks and a boring hat to entertain me.