Espace Tricot – New England's Narrow Road

Shawl and Scarf Patterns

I also have decided that shawls are a waste of time right now because I live in a hot, humid climate where I would never wear one. But shawls and scarves are perfect for knitting practice.

Espace Tricot has many very pretty shawls that seem to cover the spectrum from simple to more advanced.

The Eveil shawl looks quite simple with knits and purls. It’s a triangle shape so it’s easy to wear like a pointy scarf. Nearly any type or color of yarn would work.

If you feel like upping your game a bit, Fleur is a pretty triangle shawl that contains bobbles – I’ve never tried that – and is worked holding two yarns together.

What I really like is that the designers offer more difficult patterns (IMO) as well. That way you get to learn new things and expand upon your knitting abilities. The Fast Track scarf is one that looks very simple, yet because you carry a contrast stripe up the side of the scarf, which for me would be a new technique.

Some of my favorite patterns from Espace Tricot, added to my list of “things to knit” would be:

Flying Solo cowl – knit holding two fingering yarns together to create a gradient. This cowl splits at the bottom to fit on the shoulders! Would make a nice gift.

Ombre Tank – Here’s one I might be able to actually wear.

Petits Pins – baby blanket with lace. I have no babies to knit for, but I do like this blanket. There is a matching Baby Bonnet as well.

Gateway to Rustic – lined cowl with colorwork.

Have you knit any Espace Tricot patterns?

The Turtle Dove sweater pattern was at the time, a free pattern from Espace Tricot. The company has since begun to charge for their patterns.

I knit mine using bulky Brooklyn Tweed Quarry yarn because it was on hand.

Turtle Dove hand-knit sweater in Quarry yarn — The front

The Size

Even though I knit the size Medium, it came out huge! But really, that is okay because now it is my sweater / poncho. My yarn was thicker than the pattern calls for and my needle size was larger. I expected it to be big.

I used about 1,000 yards of yarn, or 5 skeins. I had to frog the Oxbow cardigan, which is why I bought this yarn to begin with.

The color used for the back ribbing is Granite. I changed the color at that part of the knitting so I could easily tell the back from the front. There are short rows near the neck cuff for the back, so even though it may not look it, there is a Back and Front to this thing. Having a different color hem in the back just makes things easy.

Turtle Dove hand-knit sweater in Quarry yarn, color Geode — I chose the split hem option

The pattern offers two types of bottom hem options. I knit the split hem version. Although I planned to have 3/4 sleeves as the pattern is written, they ended up long.

The Pattern – Good for Beginners

The Turtle Dove pattern is one of many free patterns (no longer free) offered by Espace Tricot, a Canadian yarn shop. The link here goes the pattern on Ravelry.

I also just want to mention that as I began this pattern I had a hard time figuring out where the back, front and sleeve sections were located. I’d never knit a raglan sleeve sweater. I wrote a blog post about that, just in case other’s have this problem.

Once I got past that, the pattern was very easy to follow. I would say it really would be good for any beginner knitter to try.

The Yarn

I loved working with the Quarry yarn. I had no problem with it pulling apart, and came across one knot where I cut the yarn. Because the needles were size 11 and the yarn is bulky, the sweater worked up quickly.

Brooklyn Tweed Quarry yarn in color Geode — Quarry yarn leftover

The one personal problem I had was that as the project grew, it became hot in my lap. It was summer in Florida as I knit this, and even with the AC on, it became uncomfortable to knit.

I washed the finished sweater in my kitchen sink with Eucalan wool wash that doesn’t need to be rinsed out. I wrapped it in a towel to remove excess water and put it in the spare bedroom, on a queen size bed, to dry. It could almost be a bedspread… LOL. This yarn dries fast.

Turtle Dove sweater drying — The sweater was dry in about a day’s time

I bought my yarn at Wool and Company when it was on sale. I like to order from this place because shipping (US) is free always, no matter the amount you buy, and they will wind skeins for free also. I’ve never found any other company who does that. They have a great selection of yarn as well.