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New crochet pattern: Camargue shawl

“Camargue” is a triangular area of Provence in the south of France. With the Rhone delta and salt wetlands, it’s famous for its pink flamingos, white Camargue horses and black bulls. Its wild long beaches such as l’Espiguettte offer amazing sights and long beach walks.

We spent a few days in Camargue last week and enjoyed long beach walks, cycling among salt marshes, black bulls, semi-wild horses and pink flamingos.. We visited the magnificent town of Aigues mortes and ate outside hearing the sailboats in the harbour.

All this felt like the perfect setup for my new shawl design: the Camargue shawl !

Camargue shawl is a sideways shawl with discreet lace pattern, finished a spectacular ruffled edging. Make the most of the beauty of Noro yarns (or any other self-striping or handpainted yarns) !

  

Pattern is easy to customize with different weights of yarn: start with the body of shawl, and stop whenever the length of shawl suits you. The added ruffle edging will then adapt to your chosen size of shawl !

 

TECH:

  • Dragon-tail shaped shawl, worked sideways. Ruffled edging is then added along 2 borders of the triangle.
  • Instructions includes directions for 2 sizes of shawl: size 1 showed above in burgundy, size 2 shown in turquoise.
  • Made using either Fingering weight yarn (Noro “Flower bed”) or Sports weight yarn (Noro “Silk garden sock”)
  • Designed so that you can customize the size of shawl, and/or use any yarn weight to make it.
  • This crochet pattern was thoroughly tested to ensure it’s error-free and as clear as can be. Includes step-by-step photos and a photo-tutorial for the special stitch used for body of shawl.

Available on EtsyRavelry

spring crochet patterns at 50% off by Sylvie Damey

Ready for spring? Let’s crochet short sleeve tops and summer cardigans…

Get 50 % off my BERTILLE & BLEU CORAIL crochet patterns with code “Spring”

on ETSY & RAVELRY throughout the month of April 2018

>> http://www.etsy.com/shop/SylvieDameyCrochet
>> http://www.ravelry.com/designers/sylvie-damey

Easy crochet star stitch sweater: Marin d'Odouce, crochet pattern by Sylvie Damey

This marinire style sweater has been on my mind for a long time… Cascade yarns went along with my project and sent a batch of lovely “wool 220” for me to play with.

The idea was there, but I swatched with all sorts of crochet stitches to find the perfect textured stripes: I wanted an interesting texture, which would not obscure the overall design.

 crochet star stitch stripes, by Sylvie Damey. Marin d'Odouce sweater crochet pattern

Then it struck me: that famous crochet Star stitch, which you see everywhere on Pinterest and in those pretty japanese books ! I never really tried it as it often looks too busy and compact for my taste. But hey, how about trying it only for discreetly textured stripes ?

I swatched and loved the result !

Easy crochet star stitch sweater: Marin d'Odouce, crochet pattern by Sylvie Damey

So, here it is: a classic top down sweater, with a shoulder opening closing with beautiful porcelain buttons made by french local artisan Camelir creations, and soft textured stripes which both make the sweater enjoyable to crochet and interesting to wear…

Pattern is available on ETSY (€) – RAVELRY ($)CRAFTSY ($)

TECH: 
– crocheted using worsted weight yarn (shown in Cascade yarns “wool 220”)
– explained in 5 women’s sizes from XS to XL
– crocheted seamlessly from the yoke down
– gauge: 16 sts and 8 rows = 10 cm (4 in) in star stitch striped fabric
– detailed tutorial with many step by step photos to crochet the star stitch
– 8 pages of super clear instructions, along with many progress pictures and tutorials
– pattern was tested for accuracy and clarity (many thanks to my wonderfull testers for their help !!)
– pattern is available both in english and french, in PDF format
– You may sell your finished sweater, please credit my name and pattern

Price: $6 (USD)

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Pssst – All of my NEWSLETTER subcribers have received an exclusive discount for the release of this pattern today. What are you waiting for: Sign up now !

I’ve seen it coming for a while, but I waited as long as I could:

  • Because the rate of the $ (USD) keeps going down vs the €uros,
  • because designing and selling crochet patterns, along with translation of knitting and crochet patterns, is my main job and only source of income

Crochet patterns on Ravelry, designed by Sylvie Damey

I have finally decided that on friday April 6th 2018  I’ll be changing all the prices of my patterns on RAVELRY into €uros.

They will thus be aligned with the pricing of my main ETSY store SylvieDameyCrochet.

 

For those of you who prefer to shop in US Dollars ($), you will still be able to do so on Craftsy or my 2nd Etsy store FrenchStyleCrochet.

 

PS – that means that you still have a few days to take advantage of the lower prices on Ravelry this week ;-)

Last week-end I had the opportunity at the last minute to visit the h+h trade show in Cologne, Germany, with a friend. This is a huge show reserved for professionals and retailers, who come from all corners of northern Europe to shop for new products and yarns.

 

New knit designs are shown everywhere,

  

And beautiful yarns … (+ a few balls to try out for future collaborations with my favorite brands, I’m so excited!)

I got to meet Rob and Sharon Dunbabin, owners of Cascade yarns.. and show them my newest design, the “Marin d’Odouce” sweater made with their wool 220. It was really great to be able to chat with them about their company and yarns, I loved it !

I also met Ruiko, my contact at Tulip Etimo. She let me try their newest products, and it was so nice to finally be able to put a face on her name :-)

  

I got to try a few “new” hooks too, including

  • Knitpro’s new hooks,
  • Lion’s brand’s twisted hook developped in collaboration with London Kaye (which I didn’t enjoy as much as I thought, surprisingly. Maybe because it’s such a large hook, and not the size I usually use)…
  • and 3 different kinds of PONY hooks which I already like very much, and which Pony was kind enough to give me samples to try out (look out for a review soon) and let people try in my “magic box”, along with 13 other types of ergonomic crochet hooks…

Of course, I also stopped by on Istex’s stall to discuss future collaborations and check out their yarns “for real” (I had only ever touched the lett lopi yarn, which I used both for my “Loup” jacket and “Open spaces shawl”), and cannot wait to try their Einband and Plotulopi…

Finally, of course NORO was another of my go-to places. I mean, don’t you loooove those huge 200g balls of colored yumminess ? Here again, contact was made and I hope it will indeed lead to successfull colloboration for designs, as I love the Noro yarns so much !

And I guess that’s about it.. I’ll just leave you with a taste of german breakfast goodness: cheese, wurst and vollkornbrot ! Yum :-)

New crochet pattern: Open Spaces shawl

The Open Spaces shawl is a new shawl design, where you’ll see the same “open spaces” openwork as in my “Open Spaces coat”, plus a bold lace edging derived from a vintage Victorian lace.

 

You can make this shawl in 2 sizes, using either super bulky yarn (and fewer stitches) or worsted/aran weight yarn (and a few added sts in each panel).

 

   

For the super bulky version, I used the exact same combo of several strands of yarn held together as for the matching coat.

Then for my 2nd sample I used remnants of icelandic LettLopi yarn, which is aran weight. Lots of color in this one :-)

Finally, I continued to dig through my stash and came upon enough Cascade “wool 220” to make a 3rd sample, this time in worsted weight yarn. I just love how you can arrange colors differently to make each section of the lace border pop .

 

This pattern is available on Etsy (€) – Ravelry (€) ****  Craftsy ($) – Etsy ($)

Price: $6 or 5.5 € (+ VAT on digital products for Europeans)

Pattern is in pdf format. You may sell items crocheted with this pattern, please mention my name and pattern. 

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Living in the french Alps, it can get pretty cold around here in the winter… And instead of buying my husband yet more woolen socks, I decided I could make him some, armed with my new sock making skills :-)

So here they are: the Bucheron socks (= lumberjack in french). Classic hardwearing socks, with contrasting heels and toes, and an edging of fake-ribbing I particularly like.

Those socks are explained in 4 widths, from thin women’s feet (or older kids) to large men’s feet, so you can crochet socks for the whole family. And of course, the length of the socks is fully customizable.

 

Constructed with afterthought heels, you will be able to replace the heels of those socks if they ever wear out.

This pattern is available on Etsy (€) – Ravelry (€) ****  Craftsy ($) – Etsy ($)

Price: $6 or 5.5 € (+ VAT on digital products for Europeans)

Pattern is in pdf format. You may sell items crocheted with this pattern, please mention my name and pattern. 

 

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New crochet pattern – Open Spaces coat

The Open Spaces coat is the perfect mix of style and comfort, when you want to be nice and cozy in the winter.

Crocheted with Super bulky yarn, it is amazingly quick to crochet with all these “open spaces” (chains are soooo much faster to make than full stitches). The hood is totally optional, so you can wear it in a much more classic way.

 

The pattern is available in 5 sizes from XS to XL.

This pattern is available on Etsy (€) – Ravelry (€) ****  Craftsy ($) – Etsy ($)

Price: $8 or 7 € (+ VAT on digital products for Europeans)

Pattern is in pdf format. You may sell items crocheted with this pattern, please mention my name and pattern. 

Starting something completely new (to me)… Crocheted socks !

Socks… I tried to knit them ages ago. Then tried to crochet them. But that never worked out, too fiddly to knit, too thick and not enough comfortable when crocheted… I could not picture socks crocheted in single crochet, even elongated sc…

Yet I still kept that idea in a corner of my mind. Oh and sock yarns can be so pretty !

Then suddenly last year it hit me: that very double crochet in the front loop I like to use in all my garment patterns was the solution ! Because of its specific properties it would be ideal for socks:

  • being very stretchy, it would make very comfortable socks, just about hugging my feet like a glove
  • being a tall stitch, the socks would be very quick to make
  • and last but not least, it would make much thinner socks (similar to knit socks) and use less yarn than other crocheted socks

BINGO ! So last November I started away on my very first socks. I intentionnally avoided to look at socks from other designers so I would not be influenced … I wanted to find my own ways to crochet a sock.

And Boy did I try a lot of things: Tested ideas and concepts I had come up with. Again and again. And again. Most of them failed, but I learned a lot during this process. During 6 months I tried dozens of ways to crochet the toe section and heel, made 6 different socks to try various options, crocheted about 20 different versions of heels to find the perfect method that would be both easy to crochet, easy to explain and with a beautiful and confortable outcome. Then my amazing team of 9 testers triple-checked everything and helped me made the instructions crystal clear (see below their colored socks. A million thanks to them !!)

 

Now I’m so happy to see it was all worth it: Here’s what testers said about this pattern:

  • I made a few pairs of crocheted socks before, but have not found a design I want to make more than once. This will be my go to pattern in future! As for wearing, it’s maybe too soon to say, but the biggest difference compared to knitted socks is that these don’t feel tight and still they don’t fall off my feet either.
  • this is a fantastic crocheted sock pattern. A lot of others come off more like a Christmas stocking, rather than an actual sock that you feel comfortable wearing.
  • They were just the right combo of interesting yet easy … they were fun to make. (…) I have not knitted socks but I have crocheted socks and these are my favourite!
  • I absolutely loved making these!! I definitely plan on making another pair. (…) I have tried to crochet socks before but none of them had the afterthought heel and were nowhere near as comfortable and I ended up frogging them. I was so satisfied with this experience and will definitely be making more of these in the future!
  • I’ m so happy to finally have a crochet pattern for socks. These are so much more fun to make than knitted ones! And so pretty, too! You created a lovely, much needed design!

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Now I’m super proud to release those Marguerites socks, available either as a regular PDF pattern OR as a KIT:

The PATTERN:

  • Explains how to crochet pretty socks with a flower motif and a fun heel matching the toe section
  • Socks use the “afterthought heel” technique so you can replace the heel if it ever wears out (don’t worry, this is super simple)
  • 9 pages of detailed instructions, step-by-step photos and tutorials
  • instructions in 3 widths so you can make those to fit your feet perfectly !
  • Pattern is available for instant download on EtsyRavelry – Craftsy

Price: $6 (+ VAT for European buyers)    

  

 The KIT:

  • Includes pattern + 100g of sock yarn + stitch markers
  • Sock yarn is made of 75% wool (5 different breeds, including merino, are mixed to achieve the best ratio softness/resistance to abrasion) and 25% nylon superwash.
  • THis yarn was dyed especially for these socks by indie dyer Heikemade with subtle variations of tones so as not to hide the floral motif. She made longer color repeats so they would work perfectly when crocheted in double crochets.
  • Each kit includes also 4 stitch markers (used in pattern) including one “heart-shaped” marker from Addi.
  • Kits are available in my Etsy store and at the “Lot et laine” fiber festival in July (France).

Happy crochet !

 

Every once and again, crocheters will ask me how they can crochet one of my designs.. but in another size. Let’s focus today on how to do that for kids and pre-teens.

For instance, this week, Karine S. asked: “Hi Sylvie do you sell a pattern for a dancing poppies sweater in sizes 6 years and 4 years? I’m not very good at adapting sizes..”

  

So. My first answer is No, as those cardigans are only available in women’s sizes and baby/toddler sizes

BUT the good news is that it’s super simple to adapt the baby bolero to kids sizes thanks to this little “trick” I’m about to reveal now:

Most of my sweater patterns (except for the Floralie and SaperliPOPette! at this point…) are based on the same basic numbers: I have a set of 4 kids sizes and a set of 5 women’s sizes.  Rather than redoing all the math and sizing every time, I reuse those basic numbers which I’ll tweak and adapt depening on the features of each design: hood or lower neckline, waist shaping or boxy look, long sleeves or sleeveless…

It’s a bit like the “body block” which seamstresses use as starting point to create all sorts of garments…  ;-)

SO.

 

This means that you can very easily:

  • follow the instructions of a design sized for babies such as the Dancing poppies bolero,
  • with the sizing/yarn/gauge combo of another design sized for older children such as the Ermeline hooded cardigan, explained in sizes 2 to 8 years old:

In the case of Karine’s question, simply follow the 2nd size directions of the baby bolero  (= size 4 years for Ermeline) but using a thicker Aran-type yarn at a gauge of 14 sts and 7.25 rows = 10 cm/ 4 inches…

And you will have a Dancing poppies bolero to fit a 4 year old !

 

Then of course, you can also do things the other way round… like if you’d like to make an Armel hooded cardi  or a Mini Marguerite cardigan in baby sizes taille bb… simply use a thinner yarn refering to yarn and gauge recommended for the Dancing Poppies bolero…  (note: since babies have larger heads in proportion to their body though, you might have to adapt the size of baby hoods, as I did for my Lutin Marguerite..)

Easy right ?

Then for the more adventurous, there’s also a second method which is especially usefull for some sizes I never catered for at this point: pre-teens. :-)

In this case, we’ll do a simple cross-multiplication and choose to base the sweater :

  • either on the largest size of a kids design, using thicker yarn  (but result may end up looking bulky!)
  • or the smallest of the women’s sizes (XS) using thinner yarn than recommended in pattern. I always recommend using the XS size as there’s less bust and waist shaping in this size, making it more suitable for pre-teens.

The latter option is the one “Fierdre” chose to crochet a “Lontine” hooded jacket for her daughter, since this design is only offered in women’s sizes.

In order to maximise your chances of a perfect result, here’s the simple calculation you need to  make:

(Number of sts in pattern at bust level) divided by the (bust circumference in cm)  x 10 = gauge for 10 cm
OR
(Number of sts in pattern at bust level) divided by the (bust circumference in inches)  x 4 = gauge for 4 inches

Then all you need to do is head to your LYS and choose a suitable yarn for this gauge, and follow the pattern in the size chosen (XS in this case)…

For instance, if I want to make a Lontine for my 11 yo daughter:

  • I look at the number of sts in the Lontine instrcutions at bust level (= just after separating sleeves): 118 stitches
  • I measure my daughter’s chest circumference: 69 cm (no need for added ease, crochet being very stretchy AND the final edging adding width to the front)
  • I do the calculation following the formula detailed above: (118/69) x 10 = 17,1 sts / 10 cm
  • So, I’m looking for yarn and a hook suitable to get gauge at 17 mailles per 10 cm/4 in (instead of the 15,5 sts in original instructions), and will follow XS instructions in pattern
  • Of course, as this is a top-down design I’ll also try on the jacket often on my daughter to adjust the length of sleeves and body… of alter the waist and hip shaping if needed !

 

PS – Of course, to crochet a sweater for a child in any size and using any yarn, there’s also my “SaperliPOPette ! method” … which allows you to make a boxy sweater for kids too ! Bu studing certain key points of the body morphology the sweater will end up perfectly sized for your kid: tested and approved by my mini-fashionista M. !  :-D

  

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So here goes. I hope this tutorial helped answer your questions… Otherwise feel free to ask in the comments.
And of course, do send me pictures if you try resizing one of my design in child or baby sizes  !

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