Knitting the Clapotis Scarf

"Clapotis" is a French term. From Wikipedia the definition is:

clapotis (from French: "lapping of water") is a non-breaking standing wave pattern, caused for example, by the reflection of a traveling surface wave train from a near vertical shoreline like a breakwater, seawall or steep cliff. The resulting clapotic wave does not travel horizontally, but has a fixed pattern of nodes and antinodes.

The pattern for knitting the clapotis scarf is a free download available from Knitty. Author of the design, Kate Gilbert, writes:

French women are known for wearing scarves. Starting in September and until summer arrives, this is a most important accessory. The scarf may be striped or patterned, colorful, wrinkled and is much bigger than the scarves you probably have. Women just wrap the scarf around their neck in a "Je suis belle et ça ne demande aucun effort*" sort of way and off they go.

Since I have lived in Paris, I have realized that these ladies are on to something. I find I am much warmer wearing a scarf, even if I’m not wearing a jacket, so here is my knit version of the French scarf. It’s knit on the bias so the variegated yarn makes diagonal stripes and stitches are carefully dropped to make a pattern in the opposite direction. This creates a scarf which tends to be a little more of a parallelogram than a rectangle, but I promise, it’s nice that way.

This description of the scarf intrigued me, and since I was looking for a new scarf project, the free download pattern found here was the unique design which would capture me into another knitting web.

Here is a picture of the Clapotis Scarf which I started last week. The fiber is 50% silk and 50% soft, buttery wool from the website of eatsleepknit in the colorway named "Tuscany." More information about the yarn can be found here at Lornas Laces Lion and Lamb. It has a cozy, delicate hand to the fiber and is a joy to hold while knitting up the intriguing stitch pattern.

Initially, it was problematic for me in deciphering the instructions, but with a little help from my friends at Ravelry, it was sorted out in short order.

And here is the website address for designer Gilbert's finished clapotis shawl being modeled at Library Picture.