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-Grimes.  I 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!

Raveled here

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.