A Clapoti At Last

The Clapoti. ( I would post a photo here, but am having trouble with the image upload feature of Blogger for some reason)

This is a pattern I have meant to knit for a very long time. It is from an old Knitty (Fall 2004), so it came out right about the time I was learning to knit. I was still probably shopping for yarn in Michaels and JoAnns, and feeling guilty about spending what I thought of as the "big bucks" on Lion Brand yarn. I still remember the first time I bought Cascade 220, and thinking:

"Wow!! $8 for a skein of yarn! Should I or shouldn't I? It is Peruvian Wool....that makes it special and worth it, right?"

Then that little guilt voice inside said, " But you really can't buy yarn that costs so much. After all, you will need 2 of these! That is a whopping $16 dollars!!! And this isn't even in any sort of skein or ball! How will you knit with it all loose like that?"

I was taking the train from Tacoma to Portland the next day and wanted to knit while riding along. I had a scarf pattern I wanted to try to knit and I was determined to knit it with that "fancy" Cascade 220. So, I ignored the practical voice, the one that said,

"There is a sale on Lion Brand Wool Ease at Michaels! It's a more reasonable $2.49 a skein!"

After all...I had crocheted for years on afghans made with Red Heart yarn, simply because I didn't know that other type yarn existed! At that time the idea of paying more than $1.49 for yarn was scandelous to me.

Well, when my little argument with myself was over, I did buy that Cascade wool in a "respectable" off white, and took it the next day on the train. What I didn't know is that it would have been perfectly wonderful had I actually rolled it into a ball instead of laying the hank out on the seat beside me in a big loop and trying to knit the scarf from it that way! No one had told me anything about hanks of yarn, I guess. My beautiful yarn got all tangled up, and after having to untangle it, I finally realized that I needed to roll it into a ball.

When I think of all this now, I laugh a bit, but I just know that some new knitter out in Knitterland is thinking the same way as I did back then and wondering where this new hobby will take them. Let me tell them gently, softly and oh so sweetly that

THERE IS NO TURNING BACK NOW...YOU HAVE ENTERED THE KNIT ZONE AND CANNOT GET OUT. Nor will you ever want to...also you should know...Cascade 220 is only the beginning!!!!