The Anchor Design This Fee-Fi(ber)-F.O. Friday

Hello, everyone - I'm here to, among other things this jam-packed Friday, introduce you to my final design from Fleurs et L'eau - my Climbing Vines Cowl.

This anchor design of the collection is an easy-to-make, stunning (and versatile!) accessory for summer. Worked up in a cream-colored cotton blend, this was the model favorite of the shoot. I was pleased that it worked so well with both a summer dress as well as jeans.

 Both of my testers also produced lovely finished cowls using sock (fingering weight) yarn with a minimum of effort (and their photos are used  below with kind permission).

See - great with jeans!

 
 
What could be better for a summer project?

As it currently stands, Le Bateau shawl is just edging Climbing Vines in the voting for the next JAL, which voting will remain open until the end of Sunday. Definitely head on over to my Ravelry group and join us in our next hooking adventure.
 
I'm thrilled that Fleurs et L'eau will now go on une petite bloggy tour. During the rest of June, you'll have a chance to win a copy of the e-book if you visit the following blogs:

 

Week of 6/10: Underground Crafter
Week of 6/17: Our very own Wisdom Begins in Wonder
Week of 6/21: Bits and Pieces

My sincere thanks to my fellow bloggers for hosting these e-book giveaways; I expect each will have a unique perspective on the collection, so I hope everyone will check out all three blogs.

Fashionable shades optional.

Finally, Yarnbox (a new monthly yarn subscription service) was kind enough to post an interview with me! I was their May crochet designer (and provided a special deal on Voie de Vie patterns exclusively for their crochet subscribers), so they conducted a related interview. It's a little weird to be on the other side of the interview mic. :)

Now do make certain you get over to Wisdom Begins in Wonder and check out what Andrea has to say - there's always something fibery going on at the farm.

And Now for a Little Jewelry and a Bag

Next up from Fleurs et L'eau - a bag for most any occasion and a little summer bling.

I love bags. Along with shoes, I could have a different one to coordinate with every outfit of every day.  The Melina Clutch was one of the first patterns I ever wrote, and bags continue to animate my designs. For this collection, the Anyone for a Stroll? Bag has a sassy shape that's just big enough for holding the stuff necessary for well-prepared day trips, yet compact enough to easily carry while walking. I used thick 'n thin yarn which, when paired with a just-slightly-smaller-than-recommended hook size, yields a wonderfully stiff fabric. If there's some uneven handspun lying around, this is the perfect project for it.

Additionally, one could just stop once the crocheting is complete and go directly to button and handles, but I've lined my sample. There's something about great lining fabric peeking out from a bag that just makes the accessory.

I have also designed my first jewelry pieces in this collection - the Constellation Bracelet and Earrings. It could be easy for me to also become a jewelry junkie, so this blingy foray could potentially be sooooo bad. Much like the Le Bateau shawl, this design came to me in large part last summer. I had a sample all worked up ... and then started to tinker. Thank goodness for patient testers, although I am thrilled with the outcome; the delay was well worth it. I'm equally thrilled with the response to this pattern - I wasn't, quite frankly, expecting it - but I'll take it, thank you very much!

Anyone for a Summer Shawl?

The next design introduction from the Fleurs et L'eau collection is Le Bateau Shawl.

If you follow this blog regularly, you'll know I love a good shawl any time of year. Summer shawls are, however, particularly sweet - portable in the making, easy in the wearing (coordinates with most anything) and extremely functional for all those times when summer temperatures fluctuate. It just might be the perfect summer accessory.

My ver-sion this sea-son is a modified stole/crescent - the bottom gently increases on one side and then decreases on the other, not unlike the bottom of a boat. I was also after a fabric that would be light and airy, yet a nice mix of texture and lace. The easily-memorized pattern repeat in the shawl's body (worked first from side to side) creates a subtlely-textured "stripe" that takes to variegated yarns really well.

I love the balance of billowy textured body and lace edging - a perfect blend of form and function. I worked this up in two different fibers (wool and tencel, both laceweight) held together. The tencel provides lovely sheen and the wool just enough structure. I can, however, also easily see this shawl in lace- or fingerweight silk, linen, bamboo, hemp or cotton for summer (or any blend thereof), and definitely alpaca or even mohair for a winter treatment - it's very versatile.

This design, I'm happy to report, is currently leading in the voting for the next JAL (join-a-long) I'll be hosting in my Ravelry group. Do feel free to vote and then join us, won't you?

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.