The knitting adventures of a French Canadian girl in exile

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Fluvial

Fluvial is the fifth design in my collection : It's so FLUFFY!. It is a most beautiful wrap, worked with 2 skeins of a luxurious yarn, Malabrigo sock.


Now, Malabrigo is one of the softess, most wonderful yarn I had the pleasure to knit with. And I don't say this because I am paid for, because I am not! I used the colorway 'Persia', a mix of earth and water tones that are so appealing to me.


This particular colorway was an instant appeal to me and reminded me instantly and the beautiful scenery around the Saint-Laurent river back home in Quebec, and all the joyous memory we have as a family on it's rocky shores.



Fluvial is a simple wrap, worked in one piece with the edging and flanked by 2 gorgeous lace and cable patterns. The ruffle edge is shaped with short rows and worked with the body up to the top were it is attached to the live stitches.


This wrap is both elegant and simple and will make a wardrobe staple that will become one of your classic in no time!

Fluvial can be purchased here on Ravelry:

Or as part of my ebook: It's so FLUFFY!

More pictures? Here we go!




Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Vendanges

For the fresh Fall shawls, I took my inspiration from 2 things: my need of a practical shawl to cover my shoulders and my desire to use some really beautiful yarn I had in my stash for a while.


Now, Fall in Quebec can be quite cold, especially during the evenings on the countryside where my family have their vineyard. I always need an extra layer over my shoulders after we finish the harvesting and finally take some time to relax and eat outside near the vines. So I decided I needed to create a simple and efficient shawl for this special occasion, something feminine and rustic I would wrap myself in as the sun goes down. I wanted a warm body, so squishy garter stitch was the obvious choice. I also wanted feminine and original, so I found this pretty pleated edging, adapted it a bit, added a slip stitch detail and voilĂ ! The idea behind Vendanges was born.








I do love heavier weight yarn for cold weather shawls and I had just the perfect 2 skeins of Madelinetosh Tosh DK in my stash, leftovers from a nice pullover made some length of time ago. I went ahead and worked a classic triangular shawl using the pleated border over a garter stitch body. The triangular version of Vendanges was born, using all but 6gr of the 2 skeins I had, and I had warm and very large shawl perfect for a chilly evening.

During the creation of the triangular version, as I was totally falling in love with the pleated border, I thought that I may enjoy a lighter version of the same shawl. Something less deep and in a lighter yarn, to use up as either a wrap or a scarf over my Fall coat. This is when I had the idea of making a crescent version of the same shawl, and luckily for me, I had a single skein of Madelinetosh Pashmina in 'Amber Trinklet'. So I got ahead and created the crescent shape version of Vendanges from this single skein, and I am quite happy I did.




This pattern is released on Craftsy and Ravelry, and you can buy it now!