A Few Good Cardis

Happy Fee-Fi(ber)-F.O. Friday, everyone! I'm so excited to be back to regular blogging, now that Fleurs et L'eau is published.

I thought I'd share some notes on the projects in the collection, and what better way to start than with the two sassy cardigans - One if By Hook and Two If By Sticks.

The knit cardi came to me first, oddly enough. I knew I wanted to also create a garment for crocheters, and the goal was to take elements from the knit cardi but still come up with something just different enough:

At this point, the knit cardi swatch was looking pretty good. However, while I liked the stitch patterns for the crochet cardi, I was still not completely sold on just one color. Going to the store to buy buttons turned out to be just the inspiration needed to go with a lime accent. I instantly saw how adding another color made the Lion Brand Cotton-ease in seaspray pop.

Tunisian 1 x 1 ribbing behaves differently than traditional knit ribbing - there's no real elasticity. This was exactly what I wanted; on the knit cardi I chose seed stitch because of the lack of stretch, as well as the textural element.

There is also loads of tex-ture along the front neck-line of Two if By Sticks which, combined with all that great seed stitch, makes for textural paradise.

Both of these are portable and great for use as temperatures change. In fact, one model wore One if By Hook for the approximately 45 minute coffee/camera battery replacement break we needed to make. It was stylish, comfy and got the job done. I was very pleased.

As I introduce the pieces of Fleurs et L'eau (and if you haven't yet seen the preview publication, you can scroll down the page here and click right on it), I'll be running a poll in my Ravelry group concerning what pattern people might like to tuck into for an upcoming join-along. Do feel free to head on over there and cast your vote. There will be yarny prizes. Yes, yes there will.

Finally, while you're heading places, definitely head on over to Andrea's blog Wisdom Begins in Wonder and share your own fibery pursuits at this, the end of May, and unofficial beginning of summer here in the northern hemisphere.

Fleurs et L'eau - The Spring/Summer Collection is Here

It's been a little quiet around here lately - I've been working furiously behind the scenes, and am pleased, pleased, pleased to reveal the new Voie de Vie collection, Fleurs et L'eau.

I must say I'm thrilled with my first warm weather collection. I am definitely more a cool weather fan, so I thought it would be difficult for me to come up with designs for warm weather. Not so, I'm happy to report. It could be the Pacific Northwest climate that is my inspiration - warm, but not so humid you want to jump out of your skin, much less wear a knit or crochet anything.

What I did want to do was create designs that would fly off the needles/hooks, yet still be fashionable and functional.

I also managed to use a range of fiber weights, a pleasant surprise given the nature and timing of the collection. While you can always counts on cotton from me in the summer months, there's also wool/silk here, as well as tencel (which was very pleasurable used in one of the crochet projects).


I'll be discussing all of the designs over the next several days. As always, I welcome your comments and thoughts. All of the designs have been added to the Ravelry database and are available for individual as well as collective purchase. Half of them include some nifty schematics (if I do say so myself). The pattern preview book can be clicked below (and you can link to the pdf version here if that's preferable) so enjoy!

Your response to my first collection was so wonderful; it's humbling and thrilling and gratifying all at once. This is an endeavor in which I willingly engage. I love the creative process - I sincerely hope you love the finished objects.

I Love This Friday's Fee-Fi(ber)-F.O.

A quick shot of the blocks during
the making of La Peinture

 I have been waiting ages to announce this latest
 project - and now I can, yippee, yippee, yippee
 (can you see me doing the happy dance?)!

 This design is a colorful blanket, and is based
 on one of my paintings:



Photo courtesy of Annie's

The La Peinture Blanket will be published in the summer issue of Crochet! Magazine, which should be available electronically sometime today, 5/10. The print magazine is scheduled to hit newsstands around June 4th.

I absolutely loved making this blanket. Choosing the yarn colorways took a little time - it was a treat, though, to be certain. (And, since it's been so long since I created the design and sample, one of original colorways has been discontinued and we've come up with a replacement. It's only one skein - a minor change that will not take anything away from the rest of the glorious color.)

I do really like how the magazine styled the blanket - a simple, neutral backdrop and little pops of color on the side to bring out the colors in the blanket. I also need to let everyone know that there's an actual article on the blanket in the magazine! I am beside myself. Really. I cannot wait to read it since I really have no idea what's written; additionally, I think there might be one or two other things up the magazine (and my) respective sleeves in connection with this design. You have no idea how excited I am.


Getting the pieces of
the blanket all together

 I hope this will be a project upon which
 crafters will put their own color stamp. I
 had a ready template - my own painting!
 But trust me, if you can single and double
 crochet, and love color, this is definitely
 the project for you.

 Now head on over to Andrea (the Wonder
 Why Gal) at Wisdom Begins in Wonder 
 and let everyone know what yarny colorful
 things you've been up to.

 And to all the moms out there - happy Mother's Day weekend (in the U.S.)!

I'm Pinning ... I Think

Voie de Vie now has an official Pinterest presence! See the button just to the right?

I've set up a few boards, all pinned with my photos. I'm still a little leery about pinning lots of images that I didn't create. It's one thing for me to put my photos out there and have them repinned, but quite another to pin someone else's images. There are some exceptions to this - retail sites mostly; definitely museum sites as well, and I'm certain I can think of more.

I'd love to hear how everyone uses their Pinterest boards (and, of course, whether or not you actually use Pinterest). What might you find interesting to see on a designer's board?