French Girl Knits: Innovative Techniques, Romantic Details, and Feminine Designs

Kristeen Griffin-Grimes, known in the knit and crochet community for her pattern company, French Girl, utilizes inventive combinations of texture, color, and stitch patterns in her fashion-forward, seamless design work featured in her new book, French Girl Knits.

French Girl Knits includes:

• Classy, feminine designs fashioned in luxurious yarns that achieve suberb figure-flattering fit with seamless construction-the need for sewing has been eliminated with Kristeen's one-piece designs.
  

• Four thematic vignettes inspired by French daily life, film, and history: Enfant Sauvage (Wild Child), la Boutique Parisienne (A Vintage Dress Shop in Paris), Dans La Rue (Street Wear), and Creatrice (Creative Woman).

• A design workshop featuring in-depth tutorials that teach seamless construction methods featured in French Girl Knits, providing valuable technical information for both beginning and seasoned knitters. You"ll learn how to design in a more organic way, either from the top down, from the hem up, from the back out, and by picking up live stitches when possible.

All of the designs featured in French Girl Knits are body conscious and figure flattering. Many designs include curve-friendly waist shaping, empire-waist detailing, and stitch details that emphasize the feminine form. Inspired by historical costume, Kristeen uses unique detailing such as lacing, openwork, lace edgings, and bell sleeves to further highlight the woman's silhouette.

French Girl Knits invites you to be immersed in a world filled with imagination and creativity, using knitting as a vehicle for self-express and encouraging experimentation through your medium.

'A  lovely book full of great patterns for women who love romantic knits as well as those who like more of an edge. The book is a great way to learn seamless techniques.' --About.com Guide to Knitting 

La Boutique Parisienne: Romantic and Vintage Inspired

• Satine- This floaty tunic tank takes its shape from a vintage chemise found on market day in a tiny village in the South of France. The silky tunic is constructed in one piece, worked from the bottom up, and the length can be altered to be more dresslike simply by adding rounds.


• Sophia- This cable-edged cardigan is uniquely designed with a revised classic stitch pattern called Roman Stripe in a body-enhancing manner, yet also keeps a sense of a single piece throughout the garment.
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• Overview: Side-to-side Seamless Construction


• Anjou-This lacy tie-hem tunic was inspired by the fabulous Coco Chanel and her early work of a soft pear-green lace design gown. The magical yarn that makes this tunic work is linen and merino, perfect for such tonality and drape needed to achieve the vintage chic look.


• Paloma-This dove-gray linen and merino cap-sleeve blouse is a wonderful mix of stylish Parisian and freewheeling bohemian. The circularly knitted lace upper bodice leads into a fun reinterpretation of the feather-and-fan pattern lower section.

Enfant Sauvage: Rustic with a Gypsy Edge

• Nadine- Using a soft cotton and bamboo blend of yarn adds dimension to this tunic tank. Throw in a leafy Japanese stitch pattern for the lace panels, and the result is a nonfussy tunic with serious feminine appeal.


• Wrenna- The Wrenna design looks as if it could have sprung from the Seattle skies in which Kristeen was inspired by. Top-down construction and leather lacings make for ease of construction and flexible fit.


• Overview: Top-Down Seamless Raglan Construction


• Stella-Starting with the sleeves of this cable and lace jacket you will quickly get the hang of the mechanics of the four-round repeat. On to the side/back panels then before you know it you're finishing the mandarin collar-and surprise, no seams to sew!


• Cybéle- In this French-Alps-inspired lace-up tank you will feel like conquering any adventure. Asymmetrical styling, easy-to-work cables, and luscious organic yarn make this garment a fabulous quick knit.


• Ondine-For Kristeen, a knitted skirt involves equal parts desire and dismay. But when she incorporated fulling- a meeting of wool, hot water, and friction- a fabric is transformed. The leaf appliqués and rough stitches around the edges finish off this untamed skirt.

La Créatrice: Innovative and Unconventional

• Delphine- This dreamy creation was a near miss with Kristeen, but after a few tweaks something new and better emerged for this lacy cap-sleeve top. You will love to create this modern lace corset fashioned from hem to neckline in soft alpaca silk.


• Niobe- An enigmatic blend of yarns adds to a figure enhancing hourglass shape for this lacey bell-sleeve pullover and the spidery lace pattern at the hem and sleeves makes this a fun knit.


• Overview: Bottom-Up Seamless Raglan Construction


• Celeste- It's hard not to feel beautiful in this silky longer-length mohair lingerie wrap.


• Simone- This top gives off the image of sophistication with a snuggle-worthy cowl and flaring sleeves to provide a poetic edge. The baby camel yarn makes knitting this top-down raglan a sensual pleasure.

• Overview: Top-Down Seamless Set-In Sleeve Construction

Dans La Rue: Streetwear with Style

• Viola-This short-sleeved cardigan was inspired by the stringed instrument whose curvaceous shape encouraged its silhouette and whose rich wood called for the wine-deep tint of the yarn. Add feminine ruffles to finish it off, or keep it clean and simple.


• Martine- This comfy yet stylish hoodie spotlights the colorwork of the edges, easily worked in slip-stitch bands that will give your confidence a boost. Subtle ribbing hugs the lower torso to give Martine that fitted look.


• Louisa- There's nothing fussy about this design from the continuous use of lace stitch in an A-line configuration, right down to the fluffy yarn, tiny sleeves and ribbon-gathered neckline.


• Overview: Bottom-Up Seamless Set-In Sleeve Construction


• Véronique- A perfect airy shrug that is constructed at a gauge to encourage maximum fluidity and a tiny bit of lace touches the bind-off.


• Bijou- This cropped cotton cardigan is the essence of French Girl style. After knitting this adorable top, wear it over a flirty summer dress or pair it with your favorite jeans to show off your Parisian side.

Seattle designer Kristeen Griffin-Grimes launched her French Girl pattern line in early 2005. Her patterns are currently carried in 125 yarn stores in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom and on websites such as Jimmy Beans Wool, The Knitting Garden, and Dream Weaver Yarns. The French Girl label was inspired by Kristeen’s mother, a jazz vocalist of New Orleans Cajun descent (the original “French Girl”) and a ten-year love affair with France. She leads annual knitting workshops and cuisine and wine tours in France every spring and fall. www.frenchgirlknits.com.