Day 4 of 8 Days of Designs: The Ripple Stitch Reimagined

Hello my crafty friends - here we are at the midway point of my Romantique: Autumne/Hiver 2013 collection, and I'd like to talk a little about the oft-maligned crochet ripple stitch. It inhabits a well-worn place in the traditional crochet stitch pantheon, which also means that it gets its fair share of knocks. We all know someone who has a ripple stitch afghan, right? On the other hand, there are those mavericks over at Missoni who leaned into it and just made the stitch pattern figuratively vibrate with color and new life.
 
Well, I wanted to put a somewhat unique spin on the ripple stitch. I see it as almost tweed-like, and in a solitary, saturated color in fibers that have drape and good stitch definition, downright fantastic. Paired with a fresh take on a crocheted skirt, and you have all the elements for my New Wave Skirt:

This design actually became a favorite at the photo shoot - much to my surprise and joy. It actually looks good on most any body type, and the length can be customized, although I admit I do tend to like most of my skirts above the knee (with exceptions, of course). This one has a zipper in the back (and yes, it really looks great!) as well as a simple twist on foundation stitches that gives a fun little effect along the hem:

I worked this up in Wonder Why Alpaca Farm's sportweight alpaca/merino/silk blend, which provided such great definition to this ripple stitch pattern. And the colorway - well, what I can say about wine on the vine? It was definitely sweet music in the skein.

The Wonder Why Farm's yarn is on the left.
Really yummy, no?

This skirt is amazingly easy to put together - just two pieces, and other than the zipper and some folds prior to working the waist, incredibly straightforward. I'm looking forward to working one up for myself. Yes, yes indeed.

 

If you'd like to see a few additional photos of the skirt, feel free to access the Romantique preview booklet here. 

 

See you tomorrow for Day 5. Which pattern will it be????

Day 3 of 8 Days of Designs: A Little Jewelry Music

Alright, we're up to day three of my 8 days of designs, and we've hit upon one of my favorite designs in the collection (even though I do love all of them) - The Channeling Gabrielle Necklaces:

These are gorgeously delicate, yet made strong with the use of LB Collection Wool Stainless Steel. The small amount of stainless steel also provides a certain "memory" which is very much appreciated when crafting jewelry. As a result, these are soft enough to wear next to the skin, yet can withstand more wear and tear that one might think from first glance.

Both necklaces take advantage of very simple motif work, but are worked up differently, and the pattern contains a schematic explaining the joining points of the shorter necklace.
 
I also thought this a good opportunity to mention how color changes in context. I photographed these necklaces against the backdrop of two different portions of one of my paintings created for this collection, and the necklace color really changes depending on the background:

 Do you see how the cerise colorway of the LB Wool Stainless Steel almost becomes neon-ified up against the blue values in the painting? Against the more neutral portion of the painting, the cerise (along with the beads) just lights up.

I love both of these, and expect I'll work up a few more in different colorways, either in the LB Wool Stainless Steel, or perhaps Habu Textile's Stainless Steel. I will need to study the colorways before I decide. I will also say that either of these would look super in Habu Textile's copper version of its stainless steel. Hmmm ... so many great materials choices, so little crafty time ...

Do stay tuned for tomorrow's design installment. And if you're hankering to see the pattern preview book for all of these designs, just scroll up to either the first or second day, and then just click on the linky.

A cone of LB Wool Stainless Steel -
there's several pieces of jewelry
to come from it!

Day 2 of the 8 Days of Designs: Hat Fun

Welcome to my second design from the latest Romantique collection, and they are 
decidedly on the fun side of romance:

 

Say hello to two slightly different versions of the Persephone Hood. Since I'm always so warm (just color me polar bear), I don't wear hats all that much. However, this one I'd probably don - and yes, they're warm, but they also sit lightly on the head yet stay in place because of the shape. It's inspired from a bob haircut - slightly shorter in the back and longer in the front. That extra little bit of weight in the front (and the pompoms on the left-hand side version also helps with weight) allows it to stay on the head.

 



And of course, there's no accounting for the pompom fun factor, as well as the fur trim on the purple version - just perfect, in my biased estimation.

These were the last projects to be photographed during this shoot and it shows, not only in the smiles and silliness of the models (we'd been at for a few hours and a few locations at the site) as well as the lengthening shadows at day's end. I like that it makes the hoods become an even more integral part of the scene - one of the hoods remained on the model during shooting of a different piece, and it just worked.

And if you haven't yet seen the pattern preview book, I provide it again here for your easy viewing:

I'll see you tomorrow for Day 3. :)