New pattern: Beanstalk Shawl

August 8, 2019

Introducing my latest adventure in textured lace! The Beanstalk Shawl is a botanically-inspired triangular shawl in fingering-weight yarn. Its all-over lace pattern includes twisted stitches for crisp texture, and increases & decreases are worked on every row to create the gracefully-curving pairs of leaves.

The shawl’s stitch pattern grew out of the leaf-lace motif in my Ensata Scarf & Cowl and Hat designs (Ravelry links), which I couldn’t stop playing with further! I added more twisted stitches and stacked the leaves in unbroken columns, and through a lot of trial and error, found an elegant way of fitting the repeats into a triangular shawl shape.

The final effect is an abstract interpretation of growing vines or leafy plants, and makes me think of my Mum & Dad’s vegetable garden, which for its small size produces an awful lot of food. Their tomatoes are a particular point of pride, and I admit I actually enjoy their brussels sprouts (gasp)!

Do you ever find yourself enchanted with a certain type of stitch pattern? The combination of leafy lace and twisted stitches has been haunting me for a while now, and I don’t think I’m quite done yet - I still have a few more ideas charted out and ready to swatch…

The yarn I used to knit up my sample is Maniototo Wool’s Rough Ridge 4ply (90% Merino cross wool, 10% coloured Polwarth wool; 394yds/360m per 100g skein). This is an airy woollen-spun yarn with gentle heathering as a result of the inclusion of naturally coloured wool in the mix. I used two skeins of the undyed yarn for my shawl, but if you’re a colour-lover Mary has overdyed a few special shades to coincide with the launch of the Beanstalk Shawl pattern.

Techniques involved in the pattern include working lace increases and decreases on RS and WS rows (I have a tutorial coming soon for the WS decreases), and knitting and purling through the back loop to form the twisted stitches. I strongly recommend using stitch markers between repeats of the leaf-lace pattern, to help you keep track of the increases and decreases in the WS rows. Marking out the repeats also helped me get fully into the rhythm of the stitch pattern, which is worked over 6 rows.

Beanstalk Shawl features:

triangular shape, worked from one point to the triangle’s opposite side
all-over textured lace pattern including increases and decreases on every row
twisted stitches add crisp definition to the leafy texture
requires two skeins of fingering-weight yarn (shown in Maniototo Wool’s Rough Ridge 4ply), and 10 stitch markers
suitable for solid, semi-solid, or gently-speckled fingering-weight yarn
one size, easy to alter by changing the number of repeats
pattern includes full written instructions as well as charts.

Find out more about my Beanstalk Shawl pattern, including Ravelry and Payhip purchase options.

New patterns: Ensata Scarf & Cowl and Ensata Hat

June 14, 2019

I hope you’re in the mood for some texture and lace, because my Ensata Scarf & Cowl and Ensata Hat have just been published as part of Brooklyn Tweed’s Wool People 13! This is my fourth time contributing to Wool People, which is BT’s annual collection in collaboration with guest designers.

The stitch patterns in my Ensata designs are inspired by the gently curving pairs of leaves on my moth orchids. The working title at the time of submitting my ideas was the slightly clumsy ‘Orchid Leaves’, but we switched to ‘Ensata’ after the elegantly curved petals of the Japanese Iris, Iris ensata. The twisted ribbing, which flows into and out of the lace, provides a textural contrast and echoes the structure of a grand domed greenhouse.

The scarf is knit flat from end to end, and the cowl, which is included as a variation together with the scarf pattern, is worked in the round from the bottom up. The hat, available as a separate pattern, is also worked in the round from the bottom up. If you’re not a fan of knitting lace on both right-side and wrong-side rows, the cowl or hat might suit you better than the scarf. I know I found these stitches much more straightforward to work in the round!

The Ensata Scarf has been designed for either laceweight or fingering-weight yarn, and is shown here in Brooklyn Tweed Vale in the colourway Klimt. You will need 3 skeins of Vale or 6 skeins of Peerie to knit the scarf. The cowl and hat are both designed for fingering-weight yarn, and are shown in Brooklyn Tweed Peerie in Patina and Fleet (respectively). You will need 2 skeins for the cowl and 1 for the hat.

Both Vale and Peerie have wonderful springiness and stitch definition, which make them ideal for showing off knitted texture. I love the way the twisted ribbing almost looks like it’s been carved into the surface of these knits.

Ensata Scarf & Cowl features:

a delicate scarf knit flat from end to end, and a short cowl knit in the round from the bottom up
alternating bands of lace and twisted ribbing, with organic transitions between the two
scarf dimensions: 68” [172.5cm] in length and 15½“ [39.5cm] width
cowl dimensions: 26¾“ [68 cm] circumference and 12” [30.5 cm] height
scarf requires 1070 yards of laceweight or 1065 yards of fingering-weight yarn
cowl requires 375 yards of fingering-weight yarn
pattern includes charted stitch patterns only
pattern includes both scarf and cowl versions.

Ensata Hat features:

a stretchy beanie knit in the round from the bottom up
a ring of lace contrasts with the all-over texture of twisted ribbing and clean lines of the crown shaping
hat dimensions: 17¾“ [45 cm] in circumference and 8½” [21.5 cm] length, to fit adult head sizes ranging from 19-23” [48-58.5 cm] circumference
requires 163 yards of fingering-weight yarn
pattern includes charted stitch patterns only.

You can purchase the patterns on Ravelry, or from Brooklyn Tweed’s website (Ensata Scarf & Cowl, Ensata Hat). A kit including the Scarf & Cowl pattern and three pre-wound skeins of Vale is also available. And be sure to check out the always-beautiful Lookbook for the collection!

New pattern: Xerophyte

April 30, 2019

My Xerophyte shawl has just been published in Making's DESERT issue!

Xerophyte is a generously-sized crescent shawl with contrasting textures inspired by desert plants. The name comes from the botanical term for plants which have the ability to conserve or store water, for example cacti and succulents.

The shawl is knit from the top down, beginning with a garter tab cast on. The first part of the shawl is scattered with mini-bobbles, which are simple to work and don’t require any turning, and echo the prickle-studded lobes of prickly pear cacti. The shawl’s border begins with rows of shaping to create gentle scallops, whose softly rounded shapes contrast with the crisp geometry of the twisted-ribbing.

I knit my sample using two skeins of beautiful botanically-dyed yarn by A Verb For Keeping Warm. Floating is a dreamy, drapey blend of 70% superfine alpaca, 20% silk, and 10% cashmere. The shade I used is called Lamb’s Ear, a very subtle sage colour which changes with the light.

Xerophyte shawl features:

a crescent-shaped shawl, knit from the top down
dotted with simple one-row mini-bobbles edged with a scalloped border in twisted ribbing
one size, with 85½" [217 cm] wingspan and 16½" [42 cm] depth at centre
requires two skeins of fingering-weight yarn (shown in A Verb For Keeping Warm's Floating), and 12 stitch markers for the border
pattern includes written instructions only, no charts.

Find out more about my Xerophyte shawl pattern, including Ravelry and Payhip purchase options. You can also pick up a copy of the magazine from a local yarn shop, or order one here from Making's website.

New pattern: Windcatcher

April 2, 2019

The Windcatcher shawl began as a collaboration with Nikki of Dark Harbour Yarn for last year’s Indie Untangled yarn club. The club’s theme was ‘Where We Knit’, and because Nikki and I both have a strong connection to Wellington NZ (it’s her home, and my former home), we decided on Wellington harbour as our inspiration. For a few years, I lived high on one of Wellington’s hills with a view of the water, and I spent a lot of time watching the birds, boats, and changing reflections while working on some of my very first knitting patterns.

Wellington is known for its wind - it’s not uncommon for passengers to applaud when their plane lands safely! - so I designed a shawl with the shape of a sail, and a stitch pattern that echoes the rippling water. The harbour’s edge is a lovely place to go for a walk in the city - you can see more photos in my older posts tagged Wellington. The photo below, which I took a couple of years ago, was the inspiration for both my shawl and Nikki’s colourway, which she called In swings the tide.

The shawl’s shape and lacy stitch pattern make it possible to knit using only one skein of precious yarn - I used Dark Harbour Yarn’s Starboard Fingering, a blend of 70% merino and 30% silk, which gives it a wonderful sheen and drape. I really like using single-ply yarn for lace, because it holds blocking well, and it’s so soft and delicate.

Because the pattern was originally created for a yarn club (and would be a surprise to the subscribers), I tried to keep the stitch pattern relatively straightforward. You will only need a few different stitches - knits & purls, yarn-overs, and k2tog & ssk decreases.

Windcatcher features:

asymmetrical triangular shape, worked from one point to the triangle’s opposite side
all-over textured lace pattern made up of simple stitches (k, p, yo, k2tog, ssk)
WS rows use only knits and purls
suitable for solid, semi-solid, or gently-speckled fingering-weight yarn
one size, easy to alter by changing the number of repeats
pattern includes full written instructions as well as charts.

Find out more about my Windcatcher shawl pattern, including Ravelry and Payhip purchase options.

New pattern: Oil Paint Cowl

October 11, 2018

The Oil Paint Cowl is a cosy cowl with textured colour-play inspired by the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh. The all-over colourwork pattern uses the brilliant ‘marlisle’ technique pioneered by Anna Maltz, which adds textural contrast and colour-mixing to stranded colourwork. The foreground pattern of brushstrokes is stranded using one colour only, and the background is worked in garter stitch with both colours held together.

I was lucky enough to visit an amazing Van Gogh exhibition last year at the National Gallery of Victoria, and I snapped a few photos of details I liked - you can see some of my favourites below. The colours, textures, and movement of the paint ended up inspiring this cowl design. I suggest picking one of your own favourite paintings to help choose your yarn colours!

I knit my cowl using two skeins of Malabrigo Mechita (100% merino; 420yds/384m per 100g skein). To keep the brushstroke pattern well defined I chose the semi-solid colourway ‘Frank Ochre’ for the stranded stitches, which also shimmers beautifully in the marled garter stitch background. And to really bring out the impressionist painting effect, I chose the variegated colourway ‘Sheri’ for the background, to add extra richness and depth.

I also tested out the combination of Frank Ochre and Glitter, and the swatch reminds me of Van Gogh’s paintings of fading sunflowers. But in the end I went with Sheri for the background, because the cool tones give a livelier contrast with Frank Ochre.

Oil Paint Cowl features:

a cosy short cowl knit in the round from the bottom up
all-over marlisle colourwork pattern of stylised brushstrokes
techniques include stranded colourwork, and knitting in the round
suitable for solid or semi-solid fingering-weight yarn with contrast between the two colours
the background/MC also suits variegated yarn or colour gradients
one size, easy to alter by changing the number of repeats
pattern includes full written instructions as well as charts (made possible by the small 8-stitch repeat).