jeudi 14 juillet 2016

Crochet (almost) took over!

I hope I won't bore knitters with this article, but this one is all about the magic of well designed crocheted garment pieces. But then again, maybe you just stumbled here from my Ravelry project page and all is fine...


A customer came to the store a few months ago with some cardigan she had crocheted in Julie Asselin using a Vichy Chan pattern and I was really intrigued. I asked her to send me the link and found this awesome bundle of crochet and knitting designs. 

I was amazed to find these pretty crochet patterns that seemed to look good on everyone. I purchased the Irene Cardigan first and was pleased to confirm what others said about the quality of the layout, charts and instructions. 
It was really addicting to crochet. The sequence in the pattern is easy to follow and changes quite frequently. I used Julie Asselin Piccolo in Satchel for this one and am glad that I now own a rich brown cardigan that is easy to layer. 
My only concern with this piece is that round yokes, although very beautiful, are often hard to position on my body. No idea why, and I don't think that has anything to do with this particular design (to the contrary, the cast on is right across the yoke, so that helps). But still, it's not the first time I've encountered that issue. I'll have to figure out in the future if I have to keep away from that  from of construction.

The second design I picked from Vicky Chan, is the Jordan - sleeveless pineapple top. That was also fun to crochet. Almost too quick! I tried to take my time so it wouldn't fly off, because I really enjoyed the process. 
It turned out a little long as I followed the pattern, so I took off an entire repeat from the bottom. It fits very nicely on me, but as I said on my project page, I would probably avoid the increases if I were to make this again. I'm not crazy about the flare... It's still a joy to wear though, and the straps and upper part fit like a glove. That would make the perfect start to a crochet dress.

lundi 4 juillet 2016

Imogen Tee

This is my second project of the Madder Anthology 1 : Camille, Sibella, Imogen & Beatrice. Good thing I purchased the entire ebook, since I plan on knitting many other beauties from this publication!

First one I knit was this quick and comfy Camilla Pullover
Now, with the warm weather, I had my eye on this Flaxen by Handmaiden. It is such a luxurious yarn! 65% silk 35% linen, a sport weight with 273 yards per 100 g. But it's around 40 $ (canadian) and you need about three for a tee! The same composition can be found in the Lino or the Flyss for about the same price, but at least you get to knit and entire shawl out of it. Anyway, I treated myself with this special yarn in the Apricot colourway and chose the Imogen Tee by Carrie Bostick Hoge to create this gorgeous pullover. 
As I explained here on Ravelry, I changed the proportions of the sweater to make up for the fact that I was using sport weight yarn. I pretty much reduced the number of rows everywhere to be sure I would end the lace panel at the same spot as the pattern around the neck line.
I love this little tee. The feel of it is very fresh on the skin, it drapes beautifully and the colour is amazing! Plus, that lace is so pretty! I can see myself knitting it again and again. Maybe in the cowl version
I took some time for pictures today, so I should be back to blog about two crochet projects very soon!