New patterns: Parterre Hat & Scarf

I have two new patterns to share today, a cabled hat and scarf duo in DK weight yarn. The cable pattern reminds me of a formal garden with flower beds laid out in groups of interlocking shapes, a style called a ‘parterre’. The travelling cables create geometric shapes softened by twirling verticals. The Parterre Scarf has two options for the width, a classic scarf (shown here) and a wider wrap, and the Parterre Hat includes three sizes and can be styled with the brim turned up or down.

Inspiration & design journey

I really enjoy playing around with cables and seeing what kind of shapes and patterns I can make with them, often going through many iterations of charts and swatches before I find ‘the one’! This scarf design really came together when I introduced the areas of plain reverse stockinette. Alternating with the areas of denser cables, they provide calm spots among the twists and turns. In the matching hat, the reverse stockinette areas are introduced in the decreases section to help the crown cables pop.

Yarn requirements

For both hat and scarf samples I used Tweedy from Hedgehog Fibres, which is a non superwash DK weight yarn made up of 50% Falkland merino wool and 50% thread waste and recycled wool. The recycled content includes fun little pops of many different colours, and I enjoyed seeing them appear as I knit my samples. I used the colours ‘Dreaming in Light’ (a pale yellow) and ‘Lullaby’ (a warm lavender) for the hat samples, and ‘Amethyst’ (a cool lavender) for the scarf.

Parterre Hat features:

• A beanie with intricate geometric cables

• Three sizes are included, to fit 19 (21, 23)”/48.5 (53.5, 58.5)cm head circumference

• Requires 140 (170, 207) yds/128 (156, 189)m of DK weight yarn (shown in Hedgehog Fibres Tweedy)

• Choose a wool or wool-blend yarn in a tweedy, solid, or heathered shade

• Hat dimensions, after blocking and unstretched:14.5 (16, 17.5)”/37 (40.5, 44.5)cm brim circumference, and 8 (8.5, 9)”/20.5 (21.5, 23)cm long from brim to crown. Lavender sample in Size 2 shown on my 22”/56cm head.

Parterre Scarf features:

• A scarf with intricate geometric cables and areas of negative space

• Two width options are included, and the length is easily adjustable to your preference

• Requires 994 (1325) yds/909 (1212)m of DK weight yarn (shown in Hedgehog Fibres Tweedy)

• Choose a wool or wool-blend yarn in a tweedy, solid, or heathered shade

• Scarf dimensions, after blocking: 88”/224cm length and 10.25 (13.75)”/26 (35)cm width. Sample shown in narrower width option (10.25”/26cm).

Find out more about my Parterre Hat and Parterre Scarf patterns, including Ravelry and Payhip purchase options.

New patterns: Melisma Hat & Scarf

This classic hat and scarf combo is all about the cables! They twirl across a background of 2x2 ribbing, and with only a handful of cable crosses on alternating rounds or rows the set is relatively quick to knit in worsted weight yarn. Best of all, the cable pattern is moreish and satisfying to watch unfold. The hat, with instructions for two very stretchy sizes, and the scarf, with two width options and customisable length, would make thoughtful gifts for loved ones of any gender.

Inspiration & design journey

These designs have been in the pipeline for quite some time. An initial idea for a scarf with diagonally flowing cables was charted, swatched, and fussed with several times before I hit upon this nicely balanced version. Then late last year I submitted the design to Pom Pom Quarterly for an issue which, as it later turned out, was not to be. And so I did what any self-publishing designer does with a rejected design they adore: I sourced the yarn (kindly provided by John Arbon Textiles) and started knitting.

I love the way these cables tumble over each other as they flow across their ribbed background. Being a choir nerd with a background in musicology, this sort of movement makes me think of lines of melody twirling together in a duet. Leaning into this, I’ve named the patterns melisma, after the technical term for a vocal run or a group of several notes sung to one syllable.

Yarn requirements

I knit my hat sample using a single skein of Harvest Hues Worsted from John Arbon Textiles in the colour Burdock, and four skeins for my scarf in the colour Russet. Harvest Hues is a blend of equal parts Bluefaced Leicester, Falklands Merino, and Zwartbles wool, and I really love the depth of colour which comes from blending the dyed and naturally dark brown fibres together before spinning. A 4ply version of the yarn and fibre for hand spinners are also available in the same blend and colour range.

Special techniques

The crown of the hat uses double decreases (k3tog and sssk) to mimic the cable crosses in the body of the hat. One nice benefit of this is eliminating any cables from the crown decreases section, so there’s no need to wrangle a cable needle as well as your dpns or other small circumference needles. The scarf includes an optional fringe, which I’ve written a tutorial for in case my tips might be helpful: How to add fringe to a scarf.

Melisma Hat features:

• A beanie with twirling cables and 2x2 ribbing for plenty of stretch

• A quick and satisfying knit with only a handful of cable crosses on alternating rounds

• Two sizes are included, to fit 18-20 (22-24)”/46-51 (56-61)cm head circumference

• Requires 130 (173)yds/119 (158.5)m of worsted-weight yarn (shown in John Arbon Textiles Harvest Hues Worsted)

• Choose a wool or wool-blend yarn in a solid or heathered shade

• Hat dimensions, after blocking and unstretched: 11.5 (15)”/28.5 (38)cm brim circumference, and 8.5 (9)”/21.5 (23)cm long from brim to crown. Sample shown in size 2 on my 22”/56cm circumference head. 

Melisma Scarf features:

• A scarf with twirling cables over a background of 2x2 ribbing, with optional fringe

• A quick and satisfying knit with only a handful of cable crosses on most right side rows

• Two width options are included, and the length is easily adjustable to your preference

• Requires 753 (1097)yds/688.5 (1003)m of worsted weight yarn (shown in John Arbon Textiles Harvest Hues Worsted)

• Choose a wool or wool-blend yarn in a solid or heathered shade

• Scarf dimensions, after blocking and unstretched: 72.5”/184cm length, and 10 (14.5)”/25.5 (37)cm width. Sample shown in narrower width option (10”/25.5cm).

Find out more about my Melisma Hat and Melisma Scarf patterns, including Ravelry and Payhip purchase options.

New pattern: Observatory Gate

In the mood for some cosy cables? This squishable scarf was created in collaboration with John Arbon Textiles, who are launching their new Yarnadelic Worsted yarn tomorrow (which just happens to be my birthday - I’ll be 43)! The Observatory Gate scarf is thick and cosy, with an all-over cable pattern meandering to and fro over a background of reverse stockinette.

Every now and then I see something when I’m out and about and just know it needs to be turned into knitting somehow. Inspiration struck during a walk through Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens when I laid eyes on the intricate wrought-iron Observatory Gate, so named because it marks the way to an old historic observatory. I snapped the photo below and began charting and swatching, trying to find an effective way of capturing the gate’s wavy, fluid trellis-pattern in knitting. After many false starts involving twisted-stitch mini-cables, larger cables, and even colourwork, I hit upon this cable pattern which strikes a good balance between knitability and aesthetics.

The Observatory Gate at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne Australia

To knit my sample I used 5 skeins of Yarnadelic Worsted by John Arbon Textiles, which is 100% Falklands Corriedale wool, at 235yds/215m per 100g skein. Yarn kits for this pattern will be available on their website shortly, in a range of beautifully-heathered colour options. I used the colourway ‘Black Gold of the Sun’, a complex greenish-black shade perfect for evoking old ironwork. I haven’t knit many cabled projects in a colour this dark, but now that I’ve tried it I’m obsessed. Shoutout to my new-ish pair of reading glasses, without which I would not have been able to weave in the ends no matter how good the lighting!

I love how the woolliness of the yarn helps minimise the little imperfections in my tension; my usual stretched-out cable stitches look much better after washing and blocking. I’ve previously used the sport-weight version of Yarnadelic for knitting colourwork (in my Cat’s Eye Cowl), and I thought it worked brilliantly - the woolliness once again helps smooth everything out and makes for a cohesive fabric, and there are so many inspiring colour options. I’ll definitely keep the worsted version in mind for heavier-gauge colourwork.

The scarf measures 77”/195.5cm in length, which can be adjusted by working a different number of cable-pattern repeats, and the 13”/33cm width is easily adjustable by adding or subtracting a multiple of 12 stitches to the cast on. If you’re confident with working 2-over-2 cables this should be a nice straightforward project with an impressive result.

I recommend blocking your scarf once it’s finished to tidy up any wonky stitches and help the edges uncurl. I wet-blocked mine by soaking it in warm water with a little wool wash, gently rinsing it and squeezing out the water, and carefully laying it out flat to dry. I didn’t use any pins or wires because I didn’t want to risk stretching it too much and flattening the cables. Instead I smoothed it out with my hands, and used a long wooden ruler to check the edges were straight and even.

My scarf laid out to dry on my foam blocking mats - please excuse the claw and nibble marks, my cats are a bit too keen on these mats!

Observatory Gate features:

• A scarf knit from end-to-end, with an all-over pattern of interlinked cables

• One size is included in the pattern, with suggestions for adjusting the length and width

• Requires 1,107yds/1,012m of worsted weight yarn (shown in John Arbon Textiles Yarnadelic Worsted)

• Choose a non-superwash wool yarn in a solid or heathered shade

• Scarf dimensions, relaxed after blocking: 77”/195.5cm length, and 13”/33cm width

• Charts and written instructions are both provided in full.

My little helpers love to get in on the photoshoot action.

Find out more about my Observatory Gate pattern, including Ravelry and Payhip purchase options.

Ensata Revisited

Brooklyn Tweed are launching a new yarn this month, and they’ve knit up a new sample of my Ensata Scarf to show it off! I love the fun, juicy-looking colour and the slightly softer, plump texture in this yarn. Tones Light will be available to purchase from the 17th of August, with more details and colour-reveals coming soon.

The Ensata Scarf & Cowl pattern includes directions for knitting the scarf in either fingering or laceweight yarn, plus directions for a fingering-weight cowl knit in the round. During the month of August, Brooklyn Tweed are offering a rare $1 USD discount on the pattern on their website, with no coupon code needed.

Photo: ©Brooklyn Tweed

Photo: ©Brooklyn Tweed

Photo: ©Brooklyn Tweed