Pattern update: The Beeswax Set

My Beeswax Hat, Cowl, and Mitts have been some of my most popular patterns since I first published them nearly a decade ago. My pattern writing has evolved a lot since 2014 when I first published them, and even more since 2018 when I last updated their charts and layout. And because I want them to continue to reflect my best work as a designer, I’ve been working on a big update to polish them up.

The Beeswax Hat, Cowl, and Mitts knit in Pakihi DK from Ruataniwha Dye Studio.

The changes

My main intention was to update the ribbing instructions, which I’ve had the occasional question about over the years. But after making that change and looking more closely, I found more and more tweaks I wanted to make. One of the new changes I’ve made is updating the cables to include purl stitches, where they originally included only knit stitches for the sake of simplicity. I decided the slightly more polished look of the purl cables was worth making the switch. It doesn’t make a huge difference to the appearance of the cables, but I personally find it more satisfying!

Additional changes include a new smaller size for the Beeswax Hat (for kids!), a taller option for the Beeswax Cowl, a larger gauge option for the Beeswax Mitts, stitch counts added throughout to reflect the variable stitch pattern repeat, new schematics, and additional small tweaks to bring the patterns in line with my current style.

I blocked this Beeswax Hat over a balloon to show off the pretty crown decreases. The Beeswax Cowl in the background is the new taller size.

New samples

As part of this process I knit up some new samples to show off the new sizes. As a designer I find knitting my way through a pattern super helpful, because I can refine it as I go and catch any errors. For most of the new samples I used Pakihi DK from Ruataniwha Dye Studio, a woollen-spun blend of NZ polwarth and arapawa wool. The cables are beautifully crisp in this yarn! And for the smaller Beeswax Hat, I used Possmerino DK from Trichromat Yarns, which has a lovely soft halo and luxurious softness.

The new smaller Beeswax Hat, knit in Possmerino DK from Trichromat Yarns.

Finally, I had the updated patterns professionally tech edited to make sure they’re as clear and error-free as possible. I hope you love the refreshed patterns, which are now available on Ravelry and Payhip.

New patterns: Herb Garden Hat & Cowl

I’m continuing my obsession with botanical shapes in knitting with a colourwork hat and cowl duo, featuring lush leaves framed by delicate linework. The Herb Garden Hat and Herb Garden Cowl are named for the sensory delight of a garden overflowing with herbs, humming with bees, and bursting with culinary possibilities. I have a little pot of herbs on my balcony which provides rosemary for roast potatoes, thyme for sauces and pizzas, and flowers for visiting bees. I’m planning to add some basil and mint to my collection this summer!

Inspiration & design journey

Like my Cat’s Eye Cowl, this design started off with me messing around with geometric patterns, shuffling elements around and rounding the shapes until I had something satisfying-looking. I noticed it had a leafy feel to it, and I tried to bring that out further as I kept playing around. Once I was happy with the leaf elements, I added geometric lines to frame them and bring the ribbing into the design. This framing also has the benefit of reducing the need for long colourwork floats while knitting.

While I was working on the hat, I took a couple of attempts (as usual) to get the crown decreases right. I wanted them to look nicely balanced with the ring of colourwork leaves while giving me the fit I wanted - not too slouchy, and not too close-fitting. I used a lifeline while knitting my second sample so I could make any final tweaks to the design without ripping back further than I needed to. It’s definitely possible to rip back without using a lifeline, but colourwork makes it tricky!

In this one I’m doing my best to look like a Dutch painting.

Yarn requirements

I knit each of my samples using 2 skeins of Vintage Purls Superstar, a blend of 70% New Zealand polwarth, 20% tussah silk, and 10% black New Zealand merino at 415yds/380m per 100g skein. I chose the undyed ‘Natural Talent’ shade for the contrast colour for both hat and cowl, and the main colour ‘Zosma’ for the hat and ‘Carina’ for the cowl. The new Vintage Purls Tannahill yarn would also be ideal for these designs, as it’s a woollen-spun merino especially recommended for colourwork.

Special techniques

The Alternate Cable Cast On suggested in the patterns gives a nice tidy edge, but feel free to use your favourite cast on for 1x1 ribbing. The Long Tail Cast On and Tubular Cast On would also look great. Both patterns include a few of my favourite tips for knitting beautiful colourwork, including on colour dominance, swatching, and managing tension.

Sasha wanted to be involved in the photoshoot - who could say no to that face?

Herb Garden Hat features:

• A beanie-style hat featuring an all-over stranded colourwork pattern of foliage and geometric linework

• Three sizes are included, to fit 20 (22, 24)” / 51 (56, 61) head circumference

• Requires 75-94yds / 69-86m (MC) and 99-145yds / 91-133m (CC) in fingering-weight yarn (shown in Vintage Purls Superstar 4ply)

• Choose a wool or wool-blend yarn suitable for colourwork, in colours with sufficient contrast

• Hat dimensions, relaxed after blocking and unstretched: 16 (18, 20)” / 40.5 (46, 51)cm brim circumference, and 8.25 (8.75, 9.25)” / 21 (22.5, 23.5)cm length from cast-on to crown. Sample shown in medium size on my 22” / 56cm head.

Herb Garden Cowl features:

• A cowl knit in the round featuring an all-over stranded colourwork pattern of foliage and geometric linework

• Two height options are included, and the circumference is easily adjustable to your preference

• Requires 136 (256)yds / 124.5 (234)m (MC) and 212 (335)yds / 194 (306.5)m (CC) in fingering-weight yarn (shown in Vintage Purls Superstar 4ply)

• Choose a wool or wool-blend yarn suitable for colourwork, in colours with sufficient contrast

• Cowl dimensions, relaxed after blocking and unstretched: 24” / 61cm circumference, and 9.75 (16.25)” / 25 (41.5)cm height from cast-on to bind-off. Sample shown in taller 16.25” / 41.5cm height.

Find out more about my Herb Garden Hat and Herb Garden Cowl 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

New pattern: Beanstalk Cowl

The Beanstalk Cowl is a one-skein fingering-weight cowl featuring the same columns of lacy leaves and twisted ribbing as my Beanstalk Hat and Beanstalk Shawl patterns. This is my first cowl design with a tapered shape, which is created by working occasional increase rounds to add extra twisted-rib columns between the ‘beanstalks’. The wavy edges are created by the lace pattern, and add to the cowl’s general prettiness.

The pattern includes instructions for one size: 11”/28cm high, 22”/56cm circumference at the top, and 32”/81cm circumference at the bottom.

A few notes on potential modifications:

• Adding a 24-stitch repeat will increase the circumference at both top and bottom (remember to allow for the extra yardage)

• The height can be altered by working a different number of 6-round repeats between the increase rounds

• If you’d prefer a slightly chunkier look and a stiffer fabric, you could substitute 200g of DK or worsted-weight yarn and cast on fewer 24-stitch repeats on larger needles (I would try US 6 / 4mm or larger). You might also wish to work fewer repeats between increase rounds.

The Beanstalk Cowl + two of my Beanstalk Hats

I had a bit of a journey settling on the right yarn for this design! At first I had my heart set on using my gorgeous skein of Farmhaus Fibres Grounded Twist (a BFL/nylon blend) in the Copper Red colourway. Unfortunately, as you can see from the swatch photo below, the stitch pattern just isn't shining like it should, and for a design sample I really need to showcase the stitch pattern. So I switched to the gentle grey colourway Perfect Day on Farmhaus Fibres’ non-superwash base Homestead Merino, and it was indeed perfect.

Unfortunately this yarn is currently unavailable (its creator is on a dyeing hiatus), but hopefully I’ll be able to give you enough detail on its special properties to give you confidence in substituting a different yarn.

First of all, it’s a fingering-weight yarn with two twisted plies, composed of non-superwash fine merino, with 437yds/400m per 100g skein. My Beanstalk Hat and Shawl samples were also knit in non-superwash yarn, which I find helps to highlight the texture of the lace and ribbing in these designs. Colourway choice is also important for this pattern, as I discovered when swatching - the stitch pattern stands out the best in a solid or very-nearly-solid colourway. A number of my preview knitters also made beautiful cowls using subtly-variegated yarn. I think the problem with my Copper Red swatch lies with the tiny golden flashes which are much lighter than the base colour. If you do choose a semi-solid or variegated yarn, go for one that is low-contrast.

Comparing two yarn options - the stitch pattern is much clearer in the near-solid Perfect Day than the Copper Red

I blocked my cowl very simply by soaking it in warm water with a little wool-wash, rinsing and gently squeezing, and spreading it out flat on a blocking mat. I decided not to use pins or wires to avoid flattening the texture too much (and because skipping them makes for a much quicker blocking session). This method also preserves the naturally wavy edges - I decided to embrace them this time, rather than flattening them out as I did when I blocked my Beanstalk Shawl using wires.

Carefully spread out to dry on a blocking mat

Admiring the pretty edges

Beanstalk Cowl features:

• A tapered cowl knit in the round from the top down, with alternating columns of lacy leaves and half-twisted ribbing

• One size is included in the pattern, which uses only a single 100g skein

• Requires 417yds/381.5m of fingering-weight yarn (shown in Farmhaus Fibres Homestead Merino)

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

• Cowl dimensions, relaxed after blocking: 22”/56cm narrowest circumference, 32”/81cm widest circumference, and 11”/28cm height

• Charts and written instructions are both provided in full.

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