Gris Handknits for Bookhou

I wanted to give you a sneek peek at a very exciting project I have been working on lately.


giboulée toddler hat and cowl


givre adult mittens


écorce adult cowl

A little while ago, Arounna from Bookhou asked me if I would be interested in knitting a few garments for her beautiful store at 798 Dundas street in Toronto.


tribord toddler hat and scarf





OF COURSE I said. What an honour to think that my little handknits would nestle next to the amazing creations in her store.


bonhomme toddler hats



I got swatching, designing and working up some very simple pieces. I wanted to stay in keeping with the pared-down Bookhou esthetic.


giboulée toddler hat and cowl




givre adult mittens




I called the collection "Gris Handknits", working with luxury yarns in a limited palette of grey, cream and navy.


poudreuse adult cowl






glacielle adult mittens





I took a few snaps before they get packaged up for Toronto.




écorce adult cowl

These items will be for sale at Bookhou shortly. Thank you Arounna & John for this exciting opportunity!

Magic mushrooms

My knitting basket is filling up. If you look closely, you'll see a little pile of things heading towards a very special destination. I can't wait to tell you more about it, but you will have to wait just a little bit longer.




The other thing I have on the go is a mushroom-coloured Aidez cardigan.


I'm knitting it in deeeeep stash yarn: Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Chunky. Perfectly flecky, perfectly fall. Speaking of fall knits, have you seen the new collection of patterns by Brooklyntweed? AMAZING!!!

I was a bit high after seeing this beautiful autumn post, and couldn't resist going on my own mushroom hunt.









I find mushrooms unbearably cute. Sadly, I didn't find any mushroom-garlanded pinecones like Margie did (I suspect she has a few wood nymph friends tipping her off on the best spots), but I did capture a few sweet fairy cups and such.















There are many magical sights to be seen in the forest. It's just a question of laying low and thinking small...

Wuthering Heights

This definitely doesn't look like your run-of-the-mill costume drama:


Beautiful. I can't wait to see it!

Coastal Knits

Continuing the seaside theme, sometime in early August I finished another sample knit for Knitbot's Hannah Fettig.


This time it was a design for her lovely new collection of patterns, Coastal Knits. This book is a collaboration between her and Alana Dakos of Never Not Knitting fame. I really love this collection and plan to knit every single design in it.



The sweater I was commissioned to knit was the Bayside Pullover, knit in Euroflax linen. Like all of Hannah's patterns, this sweater is simple and timeless with a lovely design details that makes the garment special, in this case, the cables that elegantly flow down the sides of the body. The type of sweater that never goes out of style and looks good on a wide range of body types.


It was my first time knitting a sweater out of linen. It was very slow going, and difficult to get perfectly smooth stitches, but I was happy not to be working with wool or alpaca in the scorching summer heat. And this linen has a sheen and a drape that is hard to beat.


Don't you just love that colour? Reminds me of sea glass.


It's probably a good thing that this sample was a bit too small for me, or else I would have been very tempted to keep it for myself.


(please forgive the so-so photos, they were taken pre-SLR)


More details here.

Finally!

Ouf, I didn't mean to be away for so long, but for the last 2 weeks, I frustratingly couldn't access my Flickr account. I just changed computers at work, and it has caused all sorts of mahem. But fingers crossed, things are now back on track.

So what have I been up to? Well, on the labour day weekend I drove 15 hours for a completely unexpected, unplanned trip to visit family in the Maritimes. Much beach-combing, photo-taking, lobster-eating, and domino-playing ensued.



the start of the 15 hour drive



the end of the 15 hour drive





it felt soooo good to breathe in that salty-sweet air



la dune de Bouctouche, NB
































couldn't believe all the colours in a simple bit of birch bark

















The needles have been clicking too, but I think I'll save that for another post...
Hope you all have a sweet Sunday.