Vive les Fillets Provençaux!

So what do you think of when you hear the word Provence? Fields of lavender lazily buzzed by bees? Sun-drenched medieval hill towns baking under a blazing sun? Rubbing elbows with the glitterati along the Riviera and the Côte d'Azur? Madam Will You Talk? If you're a knitting fanatic, chances are you think of a trio of yarns by Classic Elite: Provence, Avignon, and Mistral.

Provence is still in production, a wonderful DK-weight mercerized cotton that comes in 205 yard hanks. The color range is fantastic.

I used Provence to make the tulip-bordered rose top by Norah Gaughan I blogged about the other day. In the 10 years since I made the top, I can report that it's holding its shape well.

Avignon alas is no more; it was a DK-weight silk-cotton blend that knitted like a dream; I used it here in beige:

The black is a Lion Brand microfiber yarn. The yarn is quite matte (the silk is Tussah silk) and was wonderful to knit with and to wear. I wish I had bought a ton more Avignon when I had the chance.

And Mistral: Mistral alas also is no more. A DK-weight plied blend of 85% pima cotton and 15% alpaca, it has a soft sheen.

I have 20 hanks of Mistral in this intriguing taupey-plummy color. Every so often I take out some hanks and fondle them. Yesterday, the Mistral began preying on my mind. It was telling me it would so much better for my new Pattern Times Two LS top than the Jaeger Ascot, even if it's not ivory. To get the Mistral to shut up, I wound a hank and knitted a swatch:

And got gauge right away. So I casted on the required stitches for the back to see the entire pattern:

Mistral is right. It's much better suited for this pattern than the cabled Ascot yarn. It gives the little framed leaf motif nicer, crisper definition than Ascot does. And it knits like a dream- it really glides along on my Addi Natura needles (I was afraid it would be sticky on them, but no). This will be a lovely dressy top in a color no one knows the name of.

One problem remains: Back to the drawing board for an ivory top.

You'd think I had enough

of vests this past winter to keep from making yet another. But I look at it this way: the more vests DH has to rotate, the less often I'll need to do surgery on them. Or so I hope. Here's a nifty pattern I found in a book I just bought:

The pattern is called Silures and the book is Norah Gaughan's Collection for Men. Silures were a tribe living in ancient Wales at the time Rome invaded. What's Welsh about the vest, I have no idea. The book has a nice set of sweaters, hats, scarves, and this vest. More than one design could be worn by women too. I envision this vest made of Ruby Magpie Aran:

DH will look stunning in it, simply stunning.

Buying this book reminded me how much I like Norah Gaughan's designs. I've made quite a few, going back over 20 years.


From Vogue Knitting Spring Special 1991. I wish now I hadn't given the actual sweater away for this one; I made it out of the Rowan wool called for, in a lovely rose color. It was so warm.


This little top from 1989 was designed for Classic Elite (pattern #222). I made it out of CE Willough, a silk/cotton blend. Great spring top over a cami.


From Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 2000. I made it out of CE Provence and will wear it this weekend, when the temperature will soar into the upper 70's. Classy with pearl grey.


Vest in my favorite color of all. The pattern is Classic Elite #369 from 1989, the yarn is CE Tapestry. The drape of the neckline is fantastic. I love this vest.


Made this for DD#1 when she went to college. Pattern is Classic Elite #442, yarn feels like CE Tapestry. Believe it or not, she doesn't want it any longer, now that she's a married lady. You must see the lace detail on the hem:



From Knitter's 46, Spring 1997. I made it as you see it in the magazine, using the suggested yarn, Reynolds Rio. Unfortunately, Rio pilled like crazy. Within months of making it (wearing it once a week), it looked like a pile of fuzz balls. Away it went. That was before I knew to check online reviews of yarn. I know better now. However, I miss this sweater.

So the other day I casted on to make it again. Now I'm using an ivory yarn by Jaeger (yes, replacing the two ivory sweaters that wore out over the winter), in a viscose-elastic blend.


Leafing through my old Vogue Knitting issues, I found literally dozens of great Norah Gaughan designs I would knit. Such as this one:

And this one for my hoodie-obsessed daughters:

And this one for me (do you get the feeling I like cables with ribs?):


Meanwhile, I've enough on the needles and in my Ravelry queue to keep me out of trouble. For a bit anyway.

NOOOOOO!

See the black rectangle? That's where DH r-i-p-p-e-d the vest while removing it yesterday eve. I can't bear to photograph the rip. THAT MAKES THE THIRD VEST THIS PAST FEW MONTHS HE HAS RIPPED! Soon I will be spending more time repairing than knitting. UGH! Admonishments to DH to be careful! get me some sincere repentance, followed by "But I wear them while I work" lame sort of excuses. He's a yeast geneticist! At a medical school! How does that constitute an occupation hazardous to hand-knit vests, I ask you? Some kind souls are sending me a few yards of Clematis Lamb's Pride, so one vest repair will soon be done. And I've located the Classic Elite Tapestry to repair the second vest. But this baby- I can't find or source the grey Tahki Donegal Tweed anywhere. Might serve him right if I repair it with a scarlet VR for "vest ripper." He's down to 2 clean everyday vests these days, one of Rowan Magpie Aran in Truffle and one of navy Tapestry. Guess I'll have to cave and clean his green Shetland vest sooner rather than later. I was hoping to do one big wool cleaning with Eucalan at the end of winter, but maybe that was a stupid thought, with how cold this winter's turning to be.

The third ruined vest has me planning yet another vest, in case the day comes when I absolutely cannot repair one. Over at Ravelry, the Cable Lovers group has been showing off WIPs. One knitter showed off her Plain Vanilla Aran by Janet Szabo at Big Sky Knitting. Think I may tweak it into a vest for DH. Sometime in the future. When I feel he deserves it.

I played a bit of hooky from knitting last night to see "The Young Victoria" with bride-elect D#1. We both give it hearty thumbs-up. I came home in time to manage 1 pattern repeat on Rugged: 90% to the armhole. Hope I have enough Tapestry to squeak by and finish it. For the other Rugged, 10 skeins was more than enough, but for some reason 10 skeins (same size) looks like not quite enough for this one. Pray I'm wrong.