Introducing Claudine

Ta-da!

Claudine Layered Top and Dress: click on image for Ravelry link

Behold my new pattern !

Bravely modeled by my son, Axel, who thankfully hasn’t yet realized that he is a boy 😉
I put together a quick barrette at the last minute because I thought he wasn’t convincing enough as a girl…

So about the pattern: it’s completely seamless and really versatile, you can make a puffed sleeve or three-quarter sleeve version, and it can be knit as a top or a dress. If you leave the collar and sleeves out altogether, you get a very cute flutter sleeve top or dress for the summer. It comes in 5 sizes, from 3 months to 24 months and is available on Ravelry for $5.

Here’s the “top” version:  

Puffed sleeves

Three-quarter sleeves

  I’m always surprised (and a bit frustrated) at how much effort and time goes into writing a pattern, though it’s true that the process is getting easier. From the idea to the release, this one took about a month and a half!

Of course I have limited amounts of time to work on my designs these days, and between tweaking the prototype, grading, getting it tech-edited and tested… It just seems like it takes forever. But I’m so happy with the result, and I hope people enjoy knitting it 🙂

Flickr scavenging

Goin' Round in Circles by Wackystuff

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J’adore faire la collec’ de vieilles illustrations, je ne sais pas trop pourquoi, c’est une vraie addiction, je passe des heures sur Flickr. Et sur les marchés aux puces quand je suis en Europe!

Quant à ces images toutes mimines, figurez-vous qu’elles proviennent de boîtes d’allumettes russes des années 1960! Un pousse au crime, non?

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One of my favorite pastimes is to search flickr for vintage illustrations.

I’m not sure why, I seem to keep collecting them,  just to look at them, really. In the same way kids collect stickers.

These are actually 1960s Russian matchbox labels (isn’t this weird?? wouldn’t kids be drawn to these matches, like instantly, and think they were playthings?).

Moving in!

I’ve been a busy bee: moving furniture, unpacking boxes, finding a home for all of our STUFF. And I thought we had done a good job streamlining things when we left L.A.!

J’ai été très occupée ces jours-ci, emménagement oblige: changements d’adresse, meubles déplacés, cartons vidés, assortiments hétéroclites de choses dans tous les coins, choses qui sont péniblement digérées (parfois régurgitées) par les placards, tiroirs et autres rangements.

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I also finally unpacked my car, which was still filled to the brim with things we hauled on our cross-country road trip 4 months ago. And look what I found under the layers of sweaters, hats, comforters etc…

Ma voiture, qui vaillamment nous a menés jusqu’à cette côte-ci au début de l’été, a été enfin vidée elle aussi, et regardez ce que j’ai trouvé sous le pêle-mêle de vêtements, chapeaux et couvertures:

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Little souvenirs we thrifted along the way, sweet vintagey goodness from the American heartland, just waiting to be plucked by us:

Plein de souvenirs vintage récoltés le long de notre Road Trip:

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Thrifted things

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Oh, and here is THE HOUSE we are renting. Sorry about the crummy photos, it’s just so WET outside (but very cozy inside, you’ll just have to take my word for it, it’s still way too messy to show.)

Et voici notre nouvelle maison! Oui, nous avons été choisis par la propriétaire après plein de tergiversations! Les photos sont moyennes, désolée, il fait très moche… Mais c’est très cozy à l’intérieur. Je vous montre dès que c’est montrable.

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Front of the house

Back of the house. The wisteria needs some serious pruning.

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I can’t believe we actually live in a house, with *three* bedrooms (yes, we now have a guest room AND a craft studio/office! How spoilt are we!) The rent is the same as what we paid in L.A. for a one bedroom apartment! I feel so very grown-up now. I can’t wait to get back to knitting and sewing. But all things in due time. First, the moving in. Then, um, a job?

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On en a, de la chance, d’habiter dans une maison, avec TROIS chambres! (ben oui, quoi, une chambre d’amis ET une chambre rien que pour la couture…) Et le loyer est le même que celui qu’on payait pour notre apartement de Los Angeles, qui n’avait MEME PAS de chambre d’amis ou de chambre à couture. Va falloir s’y mettre sérieusement, maintenant, à la couture! Bon, d’abord, il faudrait songer à trouver du boulot, rapport au compte en banque à sec.