New pattern: Fretboard

This one's been a while in the making! Fretboard is a cabled and textured scarf which I designed last winter, as a present for Willie's brother Julian. He's an amazing bass guitar player, so I decided to knit him a scarf which looks like the fretboard of a bass. It has cabled 'strings', garter stitch 'frets', and a simple ribbed background. The frets start out widely spaced, and shift closer together as the scarf grows.

Features:

• simple cables and a knit-and-purl texture 
• fully reversible - identical on both sides
• two versions: for DK-weight and fingering-weight yarn
• adjustable length, to suit the wearer's height
• optional tubular cast-on and bind-off for beautifully-finished ends
• both charted and written instructions, so you can follow your preferred type.

The pattern includes two versions of the scarf: one in DK-weight yarn with four cables/strings (for bass guitar and ukulele lovers), and one in fingering-weight yarn with six cables/strings (for guitar and viola da gamba lovers).

Julian's scarf is the DK-weight version, knit in WOOLganic 8ply, a certified organic Australian merino (6 balls of the colour 'Charbon'). My scarf is the fingering-weight version, in Malabrigo Sock (2 skeins of 'Botticelli Red'):

A line-up of fretted string instruments (no prizes for guessing my favourite!)

 

Julian and Chloe's band Booty Pageant released an EP (mini album) last week. If you're interested in checking them out, you can listen and download here.

New pattern: Ascent

I have a new hat pattern available on Ravelry - a unisex, textured beanie called Ascent. It looks great with stripes, gradients, or colourblocking, so it's a fun knit and a great project for using up leftover yarn.

Features:

• a simple knit-and-purl texture 
• ideal for random stripes and colourblocking
• crown decreases add a gentle swirl to the texture
• one size fits most adults, with simple instructions for re-sizing if desired
• a one-skein project: you will need 160 yards of DK-weight yarn
• full charted and written instructions, so you can follow your preferred type.

This design started with the yarn - a 'Tiny Twists Kit' from Madelinetosh, which I was enchanted with and wanted to make the most of.
The little 50-yard skeins are so cute!

After using the lightest 4 colours for Willie's hat, I had some scraps left over. I combined them with half a skein of blue-green Vintage Purls Max (also leftovers from another project), and knit a striped hat for myself. I knit the ribbing using the darkest Madelinetosh skein, and striped the rest of the hat randomly, using up every bit of the scraps.

The photos of Willie and I were taken partway up Mount Taranaki, one of the most beautiful places I've been in a long time. :)

In the Goblin Forest

One of the best parts of our Taranaki trip was towards the end, when all of us 'kids' headed part of the way up Mt Taranaki to visit what Brian calls the 'Goblin Forest'. It's a very dense, damp area of bush with mosses and lichens covering absolutely everything, unlike anything I've seen before...

(click the photos to enlarge)

Lots of different species crowded together, beside the path