When Gabrielle Vézina quit smoking several years ago, she picked up knitting to keep her hands busy. She describes it as replacing one addiction with another that is far more rewarding – for her and for everyone who now gets to knit her patterns!
Gabrielle’s Grain of Sand Sweater came from an impulse yarn purchase. She saw Berroco Flicker at her LYS and bought every last skein in the “Svetlana” shade. She didn’t think she’d have enough for a sweater, but she started knitting anyway, working on oversized needles and allowing the design to develop on the fly. The finished piece is lightweight, yet warm, with beautiful lines created by cables.
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Tell us more about your design.
I wanted a light sweater to bring with me on vacation. I wanted it to be airy, with 3/4 sleeves and raglan shaping. I added cables in the raglan shaping to make it more visually interesting, and while knitting, I decided I wanted more. I added more and more until the bottom of the sweater was covered in cables.
What attracted you to this yarn?
I found the yarn at my LYS and I couldn’t leave without it. It was not in my “yarn comfort zone” as I had never knit with chain yarn before, and I barely ever chose yellow yarns, but it caught my eye with its sparkliness, wheat color and incredible softness.
Is there any story behind the name?
The name was chosen as soon as I saw the yarn. The sparkles and color reminded me of a beach.
Any interesting stories about your design work?
My mother used to be a fashion design teacher. I grew up in a world full of yarn, fabric, gradation books and huge sewing scissors. I’ve been creating my own clothes since I was 12 – most of them were awful, though! I loved the creation process but I never really caught the sewing bug. When I understood all that I had learned from my mother could apply to knitting too, I was so happy!
Any funny stories?
My favorite knitting place is the dog park, where I get hundreds of funny comments and sometimes, a bit of dog drool on my knitting. One time, a dog took my knitting and started running all around the park with it on his mouth. It was a vision of horror, but luckily the knitting was intact when I got it back.
Do you have a cool design you want to share? Or did you recently finish a project with Berroco yarn? You can email Ashley: apalumbo@berroco.com or post it to the Berroco Lovers forum in Ravelry.