Almost everybody who knits in today’s world knows what this is:
This is, of course, the famous Clapotis. Come on, I know you’ve made one. Haven’t we all? All, except… me. You see, this is my attempt at Clapotis. Probably my second attempt, at that.
No, it is not hard to do. In fact, once you get it down, which happens pretty quickly, it is reasonably mindless knitting. Which, you’d think, would be a good thing. But, I guess not! That is, if you happen to be… well, me.
I am so bad at finishing anything! I’ve been knitting for 6 solid years, and it’s becoming painfully obvious that my UFO (UnFinished Object) pile is at least 10 times larger than the pile of things I have finished. Sure there have been some lovely hats along the way, but truthfully, not much else. Not even this, my Clapotis.
I even have such fond memories of knitting her!
In this particular instance I spent an afternoon knitting with a friend at what was my favorite local yarn shop at the time. It is long gone but the memory isn’t. It was my first time sitting and knitting with a friend, rather than just my computer for company. The yarn was a really cool kettle dyed colorway from Rio de la Plata, which at the time reminded me of some sort of funky tie dye that appealed to the hippie in me. I got SO close to being done with this, but then I realized two things:
- One, the yarn was so thick, there was NO WAY I could ever really wear this as a shawl, and even though it would have been a good sized shawl, it would be way too small for a blanket; and
- Two, the last two balls didn’t look ANYTHING like all the other balls in the lot. That’s what you get with kettle dyed, little did I know. I’d probably be fine with it now, but then, I just couldn’t live with it not matching.
I still have this project, what’s knitted and what’s left of the yarn. I still love the yarn, and have spent the last five years trying to decide whether to take the thing apart and make something else with the yarn, since I love it so much, or to just soldier on, and finish the thing. You never know, I might like it after all.
The thing is? Once a UFO becomes a UFO for me, it’s pretty much over. I don’t think I’ve ever gone back and finished ANYTHING in my enormous pile of yarny misfits and undone things. It’s not that I don’t love them; I do. I really do. Each project has some cool memories attached to it. I just have an apparent aversion to finishing almost anything. What is it about being done that’s so hard, anyway? At this stage of the game, I doubt I’ll ever figure it out.
I even joked with a friend the other day that maybe I should frame some of my UFOs, just as they are, needles and all. Perhaps that in itself makes some sort of artistic statement that I have yet to realize. I suppose, if I ever do frame any of my unfinished lovelies, Clapotis will probably be first. I love her the most. Just look at the header graphic of my blog. There it is, every day. Finished or not, it will always be a favorite.
