Rowan Tapestry Clapotis

Exactly a year since I finished the first one, here’s my second Clapotis!

The yarn, Rowan Tapestry (now discontinued) was a Christmas gift (thanks Jenny!), and I started knitting the day after Boxing Day. Here it is completed, just in time for Easter.

I only made one amendment to the original pattern, and that was to repeat the increase rows five times instead of six. I didn’t count how many times I repeated the straight rows. I simply made a note of how much yarn it took to knit the set-up rows and the increase sections (one ball, as it happened!), and then knitted on (and on…) the straight sections until I had just enough yarn left over to complete the other end. Simple!

The Tapestry looks absolutely beautiful now that it’s finished and blocked. It’s ever so soft, and it catches the light just slightly. It’s 70% Wool and 30% Soybean Protein Fibre, which feels a lot like silk. Unravelling the dropped stitches was a bit of a challenge though, as the 70% wool part of the yarn is quite hairy, and has a tendency to stick to itself. It’s much more satisfying to drop those great big ladders when you have a nice slippery yarn – although it’s a bit more hair-raising to knit, in case you drop a stitch by mistake!

I complained like mad about this while I was actually knitting it. At six feet long it seemed to take forever to knit the straight middle section, and I would be looking at the amount of yarn still left in despair. But despite the mind-crushing, wrist-wrenching boredom, I would definitely knit this pattern again. There is a small part of me that wants to follow Emmylou Valentine’s lead and knit an absolutely ENORMOUS Clapotis… I know it would look amazing, but I’m not completely certain that my poor wrists could handle it. We’ll see.