Jumping on the Clapotis band waggon! (New Question)

[ImACamel]

First off, hey craftsers! I love this community so much so I finally joined!

I have a few questions about the ever popular Clapotis.

First, on average how long does this thing take to complete? I know we all knit at different speeds but just a rough estimate would rock. I want to make this for my mom for her birthday and really don't want it to be late!

Second, I was wondering if this: http://www.knitpicks.com/yarns/yarn_display.aspx?itemid=5420128 yarn would work well for the pattern. Also, does knitpicks yarn ship fairly fast? I've never ordered from them but their prices are awesome and would love to use the yarn.

Thanks in advance to any advise y'all could give me!

[alexafree]

I am making one right now. I am starting the third section (the straight rows). So basically I have the bottom triangle part if you are looking at the pattern diagram. I started it last Saturday so it hasn't even been a week and I only pick it up when I get a chance. I've probably spend 3 hours or so so far.

The pattern calls for a worsted weight yarn and the one you linked to is lace weight which is a lot thinner. I did a search in google for clapotis "lace weight" and there has been some people who have done it. Check out yarn harlot, she discusses it a bit in this post:

http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2005/02/10/farewell_to_sharkbait.html

BTW, I am making mine in Karaoke which is soy silk. I hear that the stiches don't drop but needed to be finagled (sp?) a bit - so far so good. We'll just have to see.

[butterlite]

I had originally thought about ordering the gossamer for the Clapotis ( I too was looking for a nice sub for the Lorna's and there isn't too much selection out there for a beautiful colorway for a price like at knitpicks the thicker yarn weights) that I'm STILL knitting.he he I think It's a bit thin 'cuz the pattern calls for a worsted? weight yarn. I guess you could hold 3-4 strands together?  I ended up using the Luxury alpaca from AC Moore ( dk weight). I think that's a bit too thin for this pattern

Knit picks ships pretty quick, I'd say depending on what day you order...I think I ordered over a holiday weekend (thrus. or fri) and it arrived tues. and shipping should be faster since the holidays are over. If you are in a rush, you could always 2 day ship.

I suppose I'm a slow knitter but I started it just after Christmas thinking that I would be sending it to my stepmom for a late x-mas gift. I think I've put a total of , oh about 8- 10 hours(or more) of knitting into it already (2 hour sittings when i have time), and it's still not done.
 in section 2 I only did 6 or 8 repeats cuz I didn't think I had the tenacity to do the whole thing, so it's a bit narrower, i was getting hand cramps (ha ha), and I think I'm about half way thru the pattern, maybe a bit more.

Good luck, Hope I was of some help.

PS I should have opted to send my brother and dad's scarves separately, cuz here they sit waiting for the clapotis to finish he he.

[ImACamel]

Oh wow, I am slow... I don't know why but when I read "Lorna's Laces" I thought of fingering weight or lace weight yarn. Wow, I am so slow sometimes I scare myself...

Y'all helped a lot! I think I will order some WORSTED WEIGHT yarn soon and start on this.

butterlite-It's the thought when it comes to gifts... not the timing, right? haha

[ImACamel]

Ok guys, I just had a thought. How do you guys think Sugar 'n Cream cotton would work out for this? They have some really pretty colors in this yarn. So how 'bout it? Anyone try it yet?

[alexafree]

I was insane picking a yarn for this project. I think the beauty of this pattern is that you can see the individual strands so it works especially well for hand-dyed yarns that have a lot of character. Maybe try: www.handpaintedyarn s.com , check out other online yarn stores that have lots of bargains like www.smileysyarns.co m or something else from www.knitpicks.com.

I think you could easily use a lighter weight yarn (sport) and though your gauge would be off - it's a scarf - who cares! I gotta tell you I am loving how the Karaoke yarn is coming out. http://www.kpixie.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=942

[eja615]

I wouldn't use the Sugar n' Cream cotton.  It would be very heavy.  I used Lion Brand Microspun (sport weight) for mine on Size 7 needles and am very happy with how it turned out.  It's soft and drapey and came out to the size in the pattern.  I bought some Southwest Trading Company Bamboo (dk weight, I think) in the Preppie Colorway to make one for summer. 

I wouldn't worry too much about gauge...as alexafree pointed out it's a scarf/wrap.  And there are simple directions in the pattern to adjust the size.  Maybe go to your LYS and find some pretty yarn and knit a swatch with varying needles until you get the kind of fabric you want.  If you join the Yahoo Group Knitalong, you get access to the database where all the participants list the yarns they're using and the needle size.  It was very useful for me!

I don't know what your budget is, but I think this would make a lovely Clapotis:

http://www.patternworks.com/PWShopping/partsview.asp?action=lookup&partno=453&subject=U43.L146&catpos=17

Best of luck to you!

[ImACamel]

Hmmm, now that I think about it Sugar n' Cream would probably be too heavy. Thank you guys for the great links. eja615, that yarn would be great... if only I could afford the $58 price tag (poor college student over here.) I think I may end up ordering off the smiley yarn site... I can't get over how cheap it is. Thank y'all so so much!

alexafree- I can understand why you went crazy over yarn for this. The pattern is so beautiful, I don't want to end up picking the wrong yarn and screwing it up!

[soozeq]

Several people on the Yahoo list have made it from Knitpick's Shimmer, also a laceweight, using two strands together. It took about 3 hanks of that to make Clapotis to pattern.

sue

[zzjulia]

I used Artyarns merino, but only half sized (skinny clap) so that it didn't cost quite so much.  Plus, functionally I figured the skinny size is more practical.

Here is the link to the photo - http://valleygrrl.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/miniclapotis.JPG

There was a huge discussion on yarn subs on the knitty board so you may want to check there.

I do want to do a full size so I splurged and bought the Noro silk garden for it.