any french knitters?

[catechism]

Bonjour! A few of my friends have started having kids, and while I was poking around on Ravelry for baby patterns I liked, I discovered that the vast majority of them are made by Phildar. My French is vaguely okay, so I went ahead and ordered one of their pattern books.

...at which point I discovered that my vaguely okay French is not really good enough for knitting. It's not enough to just be able to translate the words; a lot of the way things are phrased seems different to me, and so I'm having a lot of trouble. I managed to make a blanket and a hat (sort of), but now I would like to make a jacket thing, which is far more complicated. I've spent a few days with the pattern and a French knitting dictionary, but there are still a few places I'm lost. Is there anyone who would be willing to help me out?

Comments

[hugh_mannity]

You used to be able to get Phildar patterns in English in England. I don't know where you'd start to look. Maybe on Ravelry?

[catechism]

You can get some in English off their website, but not all of them, and I'm not even sure they are the same ones. It looks like they make pattern books in English that are totally different from the regular French line, although presumably some of the individual patterns are the same. I couldn't really find the awesome kids' stuff in English when I was looking, though, and it's really hard to tell what's in any given book. :(

[sedge]

I haven't asked for help there, but there's a pattern translation help group on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/groups/excuse-me

If you don't get the help you need here, maybe they can lend a hand.

[catechism]

Oh, that's a good idea, thank you. For some reason, I always forget about the social aspect of Ravelry.

[snakeling]

If you post it here, I'll see what I can do. While my French knitting vocab is not up to par since I learnt on the internet, my mother's is :)

[catechism]

Hooray! I need to type up what I've got so far (probably I should have done that before I asked for help?) and then I will poke at you. Thanks!

[pinesandmaples]

rooibos is a knitter in a French PhD program right now. She's game for random questions, too. (I'm allowed to volunteer her for things; she's my sweetie.)

[ginny_t]

You realise this sounds like the PhD program is in knitting? I don't care if it's not true--lalala! Rooibos is now one of my Internet heroes.

[pinesandmaples]

HAHAHA! She will love waking up to this awesome comment.

[rooibos]

*giggles* I wish my PhD program had more knitting!

[catechism]

Oh, awesome. I need to type up what I've managed to decipher so far, and then I will poke at one of you. Thanks so much!

[rooibos]

I don't know if I'll be any help, though! 20th century francophone women authors (my specialization) isn't going to be much help in deciphering knitting patterns, but I can give it a shot?

[damned_colonial]

Not volunteering her for anything, but anatsuno is French and a knitter. If you're friends with her, or she's round here somewhere, perhaps she might be able to help out.