My sister got married this past January, and I wanted to make her something special for her wedding day, or as a wedding present. I toyed with the idea of knitting a veil, but she wanted a chapel-length veil, and it would have been fairly pointless for me to have knitted miles of cobwebby stockinette when she’d already found a veil she liked. Then she suggested a wrap or shawl, to wear at the reception over her strapless wedding dress.

Naturally, I wanted to make something complex and intricate, because she’s my sister and I’d like to shower her with the best knitting I could, but it soon became obvious that a complex pattern wouldn’t suit her simple dress, and she kept pointing at seed stitch and stockinette and saying “something like that.” Then, one afternoon, I was staring at a mini-Clapotis and it suddenly occured to me that a Clapotis would be a good pattern. It would be interesting enough that I wouldn’t want to gouge out my eyes after six inches, and simple enough to compliment her dress. Also, I’d never made one, and I was curious.

The Mystik was shiny and wedding-like, and ended up making a lovely, simple, and extra-drapey Claptotis. I added several repeats because my gauge was smaller than called for, and I still wanted a good-sized shawl. The Mystik was pretty, but it was a huge pain to knit with, and for the first time ever I found that my Addi Turbo needles were, in fact, too slick for the yarn. I switched to bamboo, but I still severely aggravated my carpal tunnel on the slippery yarn and wasn’t able to knit for three months afterwards. Still, it was worth it.