Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Wine Country Wrenna

 
For a couple of years now I have been salivating over some of the hand knits in the book, French Girl Knits: Innovative Techniques, Romantic Details, and Feminine Designs by Kirsteen Griffin-GrimesI checked it out a couple of times from the public library and even had a couple of friends recommend it to me, so I took the hint and finally bought it!

Now I am pleased to say that I finished my first project from the book.  There are so many beautiful fashions to choose from, some are wispy, some are incredibly detailed, and some are chunky like the one I chose: Wrenna.

Photo from French Girl Knits
 Wrenna is inspired by the Dark Ages Eastern European country.  It has a gypsy like quality to it, but in my opinion is quite modern at the same time.

Being the creative person that I am (which is sometimes a blessing and sometimes a curse), I came up with my own interpretation.  Since I definitely don't have any sort of gypsy edge to me, I went with a more Anthropologie-style approach; I nixed the leather laces and instead went with a closure of chocolate hued leather and antiqued silver buttons.

This would have been the perfect sweater to wear while I was exploring the many vineyards of Napa Valley last fall. It is chunky, warm and a very beautiful design.  It would look great whilst frolicking down of row of sweetening grapes, don't you think?  And while I will not be in Napa this year, it suits a wine tasting in my own back yard just fine!


Pattern: Wrenna: Leather-laced cardigan by Kirsteen Griffin-Grimes.  French Girl Knits

Yarn: Rowan Drift.  For the 32" size it took about 2.75 balls.

Time Elapsed: A couple of weeks.  This "quick knit" would have gone quicker if I was better at deciphering the vague instructions.  I kept having to rip the sweater back and knit again in order to get the horseshoe lace on the back correct. 

Modifications/Notes:  I knit this sweater as it was written with no changes except that I did the ribbing at the bottom with a size 15 needle for a tighter hem.
This sweater (in my signature red) is perfect with a floaty dress or a pair of jeans and a t-shirt!


And finally, I had to post this photo.  I didn't include it on my Ravelry page, but did here because my daughter loved it so much that she asked for a print of it.  She told me I looked beautiful and just hearing her say that made me feel so.

7 comments:

Anna said...

You've stunned me speechless.

The utter beauty of that sweater in it's entirety against the loveliness of your own self ... captivating.

Truly.

Zil said...

That really turned out beautifully! You got it done quickly too.

Unknown said...

You are beautiful and your creations are beautiful too! So talented!

Christian - Modobject@Home said...

You are beautiful and so is the sweater. The knits and photos that you create amaze me.

heather said...

Good job Kelly! Looks amazing!

mkdeal@q.com said...

Great job! I love it with the crisp white dress!

Kelly said...

Wow! Thank you everybody ... I'm blushing. Seriously, I'm almost as red as my sweater!