finish line

Well...I finished my monsterous Clapotis last night. Pictures of the final product are coming...but let me just say...it's enormous. The pattern calls for worsted weight yarn, and that's what I knit it in. I kept thinking as I was knitting along that it was going to be quite a head-swallowing scarf, but I was too far in and had gone through too much trouble securing more of the yarn I picked to back out at that point. When I finished it, I shook it out and wrapped it around my neck. No way. I have what I think are average-to-wide shoulders and a normal-length neck, and the thing seriously wanted to swallow my whole head. It looks absolutely lovely worn as a shawl / stole, though...so all is definitely not lost. I definitely enjoyed the pattern, even though it was starting to seem really endless about 3/4 of the way through. I want to try another one eventually in a fingering-weight yarn...I think it would make the width and weight of the finished product much more scarf-like. I think even sport-weight would really make it too huge for scarfiness...but that's just me. Anyway...the Gedifra Fashion Trend Stripe yarn (wool / acrylic blend) is very soft and cuddly, and the self-striping looks fantastic. There were no knots in any of the balls I had, and it's pretty easy on the hands to knit with. The only thing that I didn't like is that it didn't have a whole lot of twist to it, so when I went to unravel a ladder from a purposely-dropped stitch, it tended to get kind of tangled up in itself and was fussy to un-do. The softness of the finished product is worth the extra work though, I think.




Also - I now feel it's safe to post pictures of the SSP (Super Secret Project). As you will recall, this is a scarf that Mark asked me to make for his friend Neil to commemorate the last match of a card game that they play (Raw Deal - it's a CCG, if that means anything to you).







I went through a big process with designing the One Last Match logo. I tried it 4-5 different ways before I hit on the final product, which I really like a lot.

The other logo, I did free-hand from a T-shirt that Mark had with the logo printed on it. It's Neil's logo from his website, so don't worry...I shouldn't get sued.






I charted both logos out by hand on graph paper because I couldn't find a free version of charting software that I could be arsed to figure out...*laughs* Plus, I like scribbling and sketching things out...it shows the evolution of how something comes to be. The scarf is knit out of black Lion Brand Wool-Ease and white Vanna's Choice. I HATE VANNA'S CHOICE!! It's the most plasticy-feeling excuse for a yarn I've ever used and I'll never use it again. Sorry, Vanna. Maybe it works better for you than it did for me.




Also, is this technically intarsia? I didn't break the yarn...I just followed the chart forward on the knit rows and backwards on the purl ones (that wasn't exactly what I'd call fun...but what can ya do, right?), and when each logo was done I weaved in the ends. The back of the piece was a little messy. I neatened it up as best I could, but if I had it to do over again I'd design it so that the ends doubled back and covered up the back sides of the color work parts.