A cosy brown jersey

I finished another jersey about a month ago, and I have photos at last! It's a Stasis Pullover, designed by Leila Raabe. My Ravelry project page is here, if anyone wants to see the nitty-gritty details.



I used yarn from Anna Gratton's Little Wool Co. once again, this time the machine-washable 4ply wool. The main colour is 'Walnut', and the contrast colour is 'Terracotta'. They're both lovely rich, heathered colours:


The only issue is that the sleeves are a bit long (oops), but I don't mind - it means I can pull the cuffs over my hands when it's cold. And I can always do a bit of sleeve-surgery later if I want to shorten them!



And do you know what? It's actually cold enough to wear a jersey at last!
June is the best. <3

One decade in

Happy anniversary, Willie! As the cliché goes, we've been through lots of ups and lots of downs together. Here's to the decades to come, and may they be filled with many more ups than downs! <3

A few of my favourite photos of us...

Oriental Bay, 2011

Melbourne, 2011

Melbourne, 2011

The Feast of Fools, 2009

Ohope beach, 2008/9

And something knitty... ;)

Heart, 2009

Love you lots, best friend! XX

New pattern: Seaswell

I've had this shawl finished for a wee while, but was waiting to get the pattern just right before showing it off!

My newest design, Seaswell, is a triangular shawl with textured stripes.
The rippling edge is inspired by the sea, with rows of waves unfolding...


The wave-patterned border is an adaptation of a nineteenth-century stitch pattern. In Cornelia Mee's Exercises in Knitting (1846), it appears as 'Fan Pattern', and in Jane Gaugain's Lady's Assistant (1840), it's called 'Shell Pattern'. I replaced the yarn-overs in the original with simple kfb increases to make it a textured rather than lacy pattern, and I sharpened the crests of the waves with double-decreases. I also reduced the number of rows per pattern repeat, to suit narrow stripes.

I tried a new kind of yarn with this shawl - a sport-weight cotton yarn called 'Riveting Sport' from Kollage Yarns. It's made from recycled jeans, and comes in lovely subtle colours with a tweedy appearance. I used 'Pebble Denim' and 'Night Denim', very beachy colours!



Features:
  • textured 'garter ridge' centre, flowing into a wave-patterned edge
  • reversible stripes that look great on both sides 
  • top-down construction with a simple cast-on
  • easy to re-size by knitting more/fewer pattern repeats 
  • both charted and written instructions
  • requires only two skeins of recycled, eco-friendly yarn

The pattern download for Seaswell is available on Ravelry.

The photos below were taken in the Taranaki countryside, on my most recent trip to New Zealand (my posts 'Country matters' and 'Apples and hazelnuts' have lots more photos of the scenery).



I love the 'wrong' side too :)


Country matters

As promised, here are my photos from last week's stay at Willie's parents' place in Taranaki. Willie was working 'from home' while we were there, which gave me lots of time to knit, read, and wander around with a camera. :)

Willie's parents run a tree nursery, called Te Kahuri Nurseries. Here's a map showing where in Taranaki I'm talking about...


They often have a few animals on their mini farm, but there were no cows this time. It certainly made it easier to wander around, as I didn't need to worry about securing the gates. Cows make me kinda nervous too - they're often taller than me, and I'm not exactly a country girl... :p

Looking across the paddocks, there are some classic countryside views!

The mountain was hiding behind clouds...




The nursery is a lovely place to wander around, especially in the evening when it's all quiet...


The long driveway


The office

Brian with Leo, rodent-catcher extraordinaire



 

 

A pear hollowed out by wasps



I did find some cows, safely over the fence in the neighbour's paddocks!


Mooooo to you too!

Apples and hazelnuts

The nursery specialises in native plants and trees, but they also have a lot of fruit trees, including lots of different varieties of apples. They also grow some full-sized trees so people can see what they're like when they're all grown up.

Happily, our trip coincided with apple season...


A fairy-tale tangle of apple trees

The witch's cottage must be around here somewhere...


Nom!

One out-of-the-way paddock is full of hazel and chestnut trees. It's shady and mysterious amongst the trees, and Willie and I have nicknamed it "The Witch's Paddock".


There were plenty of hazelnuts on the ground!

We gathered a few pocketfuls :)