My fancy-lacy-fun socks were started ages ago... and I found them in a forgotten project bag last month. As it happens so often, I fell in love with the stitch pattern all over again and finished them in no time... and even worked a second pair since.
I thought that you might like them too, so I wanted to share this little sock with you.
Mind you, it's not a complete pattern with multiple sizes. It's a recipe style thing - where you get the numbers for a European size 38 foot and some pointers on how to adapt the pattern for another size.
I hope that you like it!

You can find the ShellSocks recipe/pattern for online viewing by clicking here 
(I am sorry that there is no option to download the PDF at this time, just the possibility to read it via the blog. Free patterns get pirated and sold quite often it seems and I wouldn't like this to happen).
​Make sure to check on the tips below before you start:

The STITCH PATTERN featured in this sock design is having yarn-overs before a purl stitch and before a knit stitch. Often you find that the yarn overs that are worked before the purl stitch end up to be much bigger in size than their sisters before the knit st and that results in an uneven lace fabric.
There are two ways to remedy that, depending on the look you like:

1. if you like small yo holes on both sides, then work the yo before the knit stitch as usual (from front to back) and the yo before the purl stitch from back to front. This will result in a twisted yo, that needs to be worked tbl in the next rnd.
2. if you like larger yo holes on both sides of the decreases (something I prefer for my socks, to make the lace design pop out more), then work both yo’s normally (from front to back), only give some extra slack to the ones before the knit stitch. You can achieve this by pulling the already worked yo a little bit forward with your index finger, while working the knit stitch.

Choose the best option depending on your own knitting style (if you are a tight or loose knitter) - or try both out to see what suits you best.

As you probably know already, I always like to design simple stitch patterns that are easy to memorise and where one can quickly find back into the repeat, even after having left the project quite urgently in the middle of the row, repeat or stitch pattern.

In this pattern I use my favourite HEEL CONSTRUCTION that I like best in terms of fit and which is fairly quick to do: A gusseted short row heel, worked with german short rows.

The Shell stitch pattern has double decreases that tend to pull upwards and that can warp the stocking stitch stripes at the heel. This is why we end on the patterned row, just before working the heel. That way, when resuming working all around in pattern at the leg again, we continue with knit rows over the heel section in the next rnds, to avoid distortion on the striped heel.
This tip can be handy in all sock patterns with similar lace pattern repeats: You might want to make sure that the knit rnds of a stitch pattern (one that has stocking stitch rows in between decrease/yarn over rows) will be positioned right above the heel section.

Finally if you need more tips on AUGMENTING SIZE for this recipe, you can check out the notes on the second pair I knitted for my mum in size 39 here on my ravelry project notes here.

It's been a year now that my cardigan pattern MarlOn was released in the wonderful amirisu winter 2015 issue! The gorgeous Japanese knitting magazine gave me back the rights to the pattern just recently and so it was able to join it's sisters here on my blog. 
It is still available through ravelry of course - I just changed the layout of the English PDF pattern to the "rililie-approved-version" you all know (with yoke charts and so on).
The Japanese translation remains in the original amirisu layout though, since I wouldn't dare to touch it. Yes, my Japanese is non-existant... and sadly will remain so for quite some time!

The first couple, narrower stripes are quite at home on the delicate collarbone-area while they progressively get "fatter" towards  the larger neck backside, as you can see above.

And then there is all this play with using denser and spaced out, fine and larger stripes to enhance the feminine body of an otherwise classic cardigan shape. This is all achieved by following a specific marled sequence and the use of 2 strands of yarn throughout.
"MarlOn" is all about having fun in choosing one's very own, unique colouring!

(and no, I haven't cut my hair - these are all pictures from when I finished the cardigan 2 years ago... just before sending it away from home, to far away Japan!)

An immense thank you to the lovely girls at amirisu for the excellent collaboration!
Starting today, you can find the pattern PDF in English and Japanese for direct download, either here on this site, or as before on ravelry.

I am sure that you all have experienced similar indecisiveness when knitting your own garment:
Do I want a pullover or a cardigan?
Will I go for long or cropped?
Boxy fit or siren-style waist shaping?
Long or short sleeves???

I just wasn't able to choose which length I preferred, since the sleeves do change the whole look of a garment so much. I couldn't decide if I wanted to counterbalance the wider bands of the body with playful short sleeve-cuffs in the same colour - or if I wanted to enhance the texture of the shoulder stitch pattern by adding a longer sleeve. One that would end with a new take on the body stripes without really copying them...

The result is a pattern that proposes both versions - longer, ¾ sleeves or short ones - so that I am leaving you guys to answer this (oh, so very hard) question for me!
Choose what you like best (or what your climate is suggesting to you) and go for either the fun short or the sophisticated ¾ length.

The detail I love most in this design though, is the textured slip-stitch pattern on the shoulders and sleeves. It really is a very simple stitch and easy to memorize, but with such an interesting result when paired with classic (or not so classic) stripes!

I am totally late for this post - but I wanted to share with you the lovely amirisu winter 2015 issue that arrived early January in my mail. 
I had the incredible honour to participate with a cardigan pattern of mine, called MarlOn. 

In this lovely issue 6 you can find six other beautiful patterns, from talented designers like Hiroko Fukatsu, Bristol Ivy, Thea Colman, Amy Christoffers, Rie and Claudia Eisenkolb.
And there are great articles to read too: like a very interesting interview with Madeline Tosh's Amy Hendrix, an other one about a technique called "Weaving with Nature", a "Report" of Germany and an ongoing series explaining Japanese Patterns!

For my own cardigan I had fun playing around with the combination of two strands in sligthly different hues, to achieve something like a hand-dyed effect and to be able to gradually change the colours of the stripes, so as to enhance the different sized striping in some sections.
What interested me most while designing this piece was to try to emulate the female body shape with the use of horizontal striping and slight colour-changes.
It’s a top down seamless knit (as I like them most) and I am especially happy with how the short rows at the very top of the yoke produce larger stripes at the back while keeping them small and delicate at the front of the shoulder.

You can find the magazine here on ravelry to download digitally - or here on the amirisu shop for a “real” physical copy of the magazine (and together with this magazine version you even get a coupon for the digital one, too).
And there is a KAL just starting in the amirisu-ravelry group here! So, if you would like to have some company while knitting this pattern you can post there. I will pop in from time to time myself to answer questions and to see what everybody is knitting up.

I also have gotten quite a lot of yarn in the last month! So I would like to share some pictures of my goodies: Take a look at the beautiful hand-dyed 100% merino wool I got from Nice & Knit!!!
The small family business is producing high quality yarn for some years now and the two sisters, Kara and Katie are really passionate about everything that has to do with fibre and colour. 
Something that is immediately visible upon opening the parcel...

The yarn is incredibly soft and bouncy (just like one would expect from a perfect pure merino) and the sport weight that I have chosen, is really showing the stitches wonderfully when knitted up. Even before blocking they looked even and firm.
What I like most with this yarn is the range of hues it has: from very light and faded to extremely saturated… it’s all there in the same skein! Especially the blue colourway (Nantucket) reminds me of a loved pair of denim, that you just don’t want to take off - ever! 
The brown (Nutmeg) on the other hand is it's perfect partner, since it strengthens the blue/purple nuances and makes them even more vivid.

There is a new cardigan pattern out and about - The BeauB, an ample piece which showcases subtle and understated features with it’s textured striping where the material itself becomes the focus, a simple stitch pattern on neckband, hem and pockets and lots of small decorative finishing details.

Although he is more of a men's wear fashion icon, he still fascinates me in regards to attitude and design-philosophy (and also because of his wit, but that's a totally different subject), so that I wanted to make him "my" hero for one of my own designs.

In my cardigan, the sloped raglan shoulder was meant to give a natural looking and well fitting shape to the yoke, while a neckband with a fuller volume at the top allows for generous draping at the patterned, reversible neckline and thus following Beau's spirit of enhancing this area. The subtle stitch pattern is repeated at hem, pockets and cuffs, which feature a twisted i-cord edging that is easy to make but with more visual interest than a simple edging.

The extra long sleeves gradually become transparent and flow into a delicate repetition of the stitch pattern in their lower part. As the neckband, they can be worn folded up too, to show the reverse side of the simple knit/purl stitch pattern.
The whole cardigan is worked seamlessly from the top down in subtle striping, by knitting with two strands of yarn (held together or alone) in sequence to form the stripes, so that we get more of a discreet textured striping than a coloured one. This can of course be worked with a bigger visual impact, if the thinner yarn is knitted in a contrasting colour and not in the same as in my own project shown here.

This simple cowl has an elongated front piece to keep the décolleté warm and cozy without adding bulk to the back side of the neck. It is a perfect accessory for collarless jackets and open front cardigans: like a turtle neck that can be taken off indoors.

You can buy both the BeauB and MissBrummell here on this site, or go over to ravelry to check them out and take a look at the lovely projects of other knitters.

I hope you like them and I wish you all a wonderful and inspiring New Year!!!

Today, the 13th of October I will be officially older (and hopefully wiser)! 
To celebrate, every La Maison Rililie pattern will be sold at a 20% discount! 
No coupon needed... 
(The sale starts the 13th at 00:01 CEST and ends October, 14th at midnight CEST.)

...is finally published!!!

I have been working on this baby since April! But with the workshop and my stay in Berlin for the whole of May and some other things that kept popping up, this pattern really took a long time to get finally out there!

I have to admit that I am very pleased with the SpliTTop! It has so many elements that make it quite unique (at least in my book). A lot of new stuff in terms of seamless techniques, that I discovered while experimenting with yarn & needles in my living-room (all of which are shown step by step in photo-tutorials as usual) and an unusual construction that allows for a (hopefully) very fun project and beautiful finished garment!

Here it is: A new shawl pattern! Reminiscent of a vintage, granny-style mixed with a contemporary colour-work and a simple border with a little twist.

It's a long time I wanted to make a shawl, one that is big enough to actually wear over the shoulders on a chilly summer evening. But it had to be in a retro half-circle shape with a little bit of texture in it (just enough to keep things interesting without getting too much in the way of some effortless beach knitting) and it had to have stripes of course - it wouldn't be me if it wouldn't feature at least some stripes! To cut up the horizontal bands of the stripes and colour-work I also added some dramatic vertical lines of eyelets.... 
...and voilà, my new shawl was born!

How about meeting up - you and me and other friends - and having a long and nice chat, while knitting together in a cozy shop full of wool......?????

Sounds nice, doesn't it?
Well... if you are in Berlin this month - we can definitely do something about that!

On two Saturdays (the 17th and the 24th of May) we will have 4 hours to meet, discuss, learn, chat and knit together! You will get my e-book "Shaken, Not Stirred!" and we can work through the pattern, start the project and mix and match our own cocktail side by side and needle by needle...

There will be new, detailed material and tutorials on the different techniques used in the pattern and we will work everything out together in German (or English or both... whatever you guys prefer).

The whole event will take place in lovely Berlin (at the bouclé shop) in the Nassauische Strasse 11-12, 10717. You can call Gabriele to book a space or to get more information about the whole workshop (Phone: 030-81853014) or you can write to info@boucle-wolle.de.

I am so excited to actually meet (like really physically meet) you guys.... there are so many ravelry connections and cyber-friends that I have made over the last couple of years - and now I will be able to see and talk with some of you!
This fact alone makes me EXTREMELY happy... 
but anxious, too.... I am feeling a little bit like an adolescent on a first date with a pen-pal!
haha...

..."Draw me a sheep!", these were the first words uttered by the little prince to the narrator in Saint-Exupéry's magnificent book!

I was listening to the audiobook when I was knitting up my design and was totally carried away to the fragile universe of this lovely character, when I noticed that the colours I chose for my project bore an uncanny resemblance to the colours of the beautiful illustrations that the author had sketched up himself! Even without having seen any of them for a long time (since audiobooks don't come with illustrations... yet!), I subconsciously adapted my choice to the little prince's taste - thus I just had to give my new pattern a name that was borrowed from a quote of the little highness himself!

The fine and sensitive book must have further inspired me to make a delicate little garment, worked out of fingering weight (and therefore being extra light) and with a simple texture that breaks up the striping with a playful repetition.

The boxy form of the pullover keeps it comfortable while a very slight waist-shaping allows for a flowing, feminine drape. To balance the larger body out the neckline is wide and rounded and more reminiscent of a ballet-neck, while fitted sleeves make the whole look more refined.

I had fun experimenting with the lower part of the sleeves: they are supposed to be a new take on the fancy renaissance cuffs. Less floppy and much more discreet, they add a nice feature and keep the whole jumper in accordance with the little prince's sensitive attention to detail.

This project also makes quite good use of rests in fingering weight yarn (that everybody of us seems to have lying around in abundance)! These can be used for the 7 different contrast-colours. 
The main concept that was followed in my own sample for combining cool and warm hues, as also low and high contrast colours, are explained in the pattern itself.

You can buy the pattern on my website here, or directly at ravelry
Dessine-moi un mouton - Le monde est triste sans imagination