Feuille-morte by Sarah Ellis

Feuille-morte

Knitting
September 2019
Sport (12 wpi) ?
16 stitches and 24 rows = 4 inches
in stockinette
US 8 - 5.0 mm
US 9 - 5.5 mm
730 - 750 yards (668 - 686 m)
one size
English
This pattern is available for free.

The yoke patterns in the second volume of Hitomi Shida’s stitch dictionaries have been a particular inspiration to me… I love coming up with applications that aren’t sweater yokes for those stitch arrangements. Shortened versions for crescent wrap borders (like this one) are the most obvious application, but there are other intriguing possibilities like making batwing sleeves, or using a single panel to add decorative shaping to a garment.

And this pattern also includes one of my favorite novelty stitches, which I’ve been calling a ‘tuck bobble’, but I’ve seen referred to in other sources (like the Cartouche shawl) as a ‘flower bud’. The five-stitch variant is my favorite, because it has a pleasant squishiness to it.

However, a part of me loves the fill for the short-rowed upper section of this wrap even more than the lower lacy section. The contrast of the ridges with the mini cables is so satisfying, and it balances out this piece better than a plain stockinette fill would have.

The literal translation of ‘feuille-morte’ from French is ‘dead leaves’, but is used in English to refer to the color of withered leaves, specifically of the russet variety. A fancy fall-related word for a fancy leafy wrap.


Note: A matching hat pattern is coming soon. If using the suggested yarn, there will be enough left over to make the hat.