New pattern: Litha Socks

I’m immensely proud to share with you my new pattern, the Litha Socks, published in Laine Magazine #11. (Actually, the magazine came in today’s post and after jumping all around with joy, I shed a little tear of joy + pride. Yep, I’m that happy about this!)

To me the scent of ripe wheat ready for harvesting will always be the scent of summer. My parents’ home is surrounded by wheatfields, and long summer evenings in the Normandy countryside were also the inspiration for my Litha socks. The wheat ear pattern is part lace part texture. Easy to memorize, it climbs up the feet and leg and is repeated once at the back of the leg.

To me, attention to details is very important. The short row heel is a special technique I invented, which has two lines of slipped stitches elegantely travel up each side of the heel. I called this technique the “Talon Souligné'“. Both lines then continue to travel up the leg and meet for a final repeat of the wheat ear pattern.

To knit my Litha socks, I created a special colorway I called “Sunrise Lounge”, that you can find in my Etsy shop today. It’s a pale semi-solid yellow with just a slight dusting of lovely speckles.

Sunrise Lounge on Extrafine Fingering

Using the same dye technique as “Sunrise Lounge”, I developed a palette of colours to knit the Litha Socks in a selection of semi-solid, slighly muted colours with just a dusting of speckles. All are available in the shop today.

You can order your copy of Laine Magazine here. Issue 11 will be out this Friday. You can shop the yarn in my Etsy shop from today, you will find the Litha colorways in the “Litha” section of the shop!

New pattern: Cozy Socks

I’m very happy to share that I published a new pattern: the Cozy Socks! Created in collaboration with Céline from the Sur Un Fil LYS in Orsay, this pattern celebrates everything cozy and the joy of living in the moment, surrounded by your loved ones and your most precious treasures.

The pattern will be released in English beginning of January 2021. I am currently looking for testers for the English version. If you’d like to participate in the test, please email me!

Brioche Queen - Colors and bases

Brioche Queen is my lastest pattern, a lovely brioche col, squishy and reversible, which will be published in two sizes on May 21st. Read on to discover the kits I put together to knit your own, as well as advice on how to choose alternative color combinations or substitute yarn bases.

Brioche Queen calls for three different yarn bases:

• Slub fingering and Mohair & Silk laceweight held together for the dark color

• Fingering yarn for the light color

I put together 10 different color kits to knit Brioche Queen, in two formats: a kit with three balls of yarn to knit one cowl (50g of slub, 50g of fingering and 25g of mohair & silk) and a kit with 3 skeins of yarn to knit two cowls (100g of slub, 100g of fingering and 50g of mohair & silk). Options for the kits are a coordinated marker and the pattern at the special price of 5€ instead of approx. 8€ on Ravelry (depending on the country you live in).

There was a first batch of kits for sale on May 7th, 2020 and I will add more to the shop in the coming weeks. Here are the colorways available:

How to choose your own colors?

In Brioche you want to have enough contrast between your dark and light side to maximize the wow effect. That said, there’s nothing keeping you from experimenting! My favorite method of color association is to start with a variegated colorway and' “deconstruct” it, i.e. associate semi-solids in the same palette. That way you can have both contrast and visual harmony.

If you’re looking for inspiration, here are a few alternative combos which did not make it as kits but still, were very pretty - I had such a hard time choosing!

Important note: Customized Brioche Queen kits are available in full skein size only (2 cowls)

How to substitute yarns?

The association of three different yarn bases gives Brioche Queen its unique personnality. Slub and mohair are a match made in heaven! Together they create the squishiest texture, with a lovely halo that slightly dilutes the colors, like in a watercolor painting. The fingering on the light side creates a sharp pattern, contrasting in color and texture with the dark side. Knitting Brioche Queen is a treat, it is also highly addictive! I have completed four, have a fifth on the needles and several others in my near future!

If you wish to substitute yarns for this pattern, here is what I think you can do, although I have not tested it myself:

• You can replace the slub yarn by any fingering weight yarn. The cowl will look different, less textured but it will still have a lovely halo and gauge should not change much.

• You can replace Mohair by Suri or by any laceweight yarn. If you choose a less “hairy” yarn, the cowl will loose the halo effect. If you wish to drop the laceweight altogether, please carefully check gauge as this might sensibly affect the size of your finished cowl.

• Please always take time to check your gauge, to make sure you like the way the yarns you chose play together. Blocking your swatch will also enable you to check if you like the texture, the drape and if you’re on track in terms of size.