New pattern: Beeswax Scarf

I've combined my love of bees and textured knits once again, and the result is the Beeswax Scarf! Its large-scale honeycomb pattern echoes the cables on my Beeswax Hat, but this is much easier to knit - and most importantly for a scarf, it's easy to knit flat. No cables here, just simple lace and garter stitch. It's so incredibly cosy, I can't wait for winter... ;)

The stitch pattern really is simple to knit, and watching the honeycomb grow is quite addictive. The only skills you'll need are working basic lace stitches (knit, purl, yarn-over, k2tog, and ssk), slipped stitches at the edges, and the Long Tail Cast On (which is optional). Charts are included as well as full written instructions.

Bohemia Worsted by Outlaw Yarn is a snuggly, luxurious blend of polwarth wool, alpaca, and possum fibre. This amazing rich golden colour is called 'Troy', and I used three balls for my scarf with plenty left over for swatching.

The Beeswax Scarf pattern includes three size options - a standard scarf (which is the one I knit), a wider scarf, and a wrap. All are a generous length for maximum cosiness.

Features:

• an all-over textured honeycomb pattern
• knit flat from end to end
• three width options (scarf, wide scarf, and wrap)
• easy to enlarge by adding extra repeats to the length and/or width
• requires 3, 4, or 5 balls of Outlaw Yarn's Bohemia Worsted (depending on size) or 611-1018 yards of worsted-weight yarn
• solid, semi-solid, or heathered yarn is ideal
• pattern includes full written instructions as well as charts.

You can see all the details and download the Beeswax Scarf pattern via Ravelry, Loveknitting, Etsy, or Craftsy.

Bees on the brain

I'm a week and a bit into my holiday at Mum & Dad's in Whakatane, and so far I've knit half a scarf and taken a ridiculous number of photos. I've borrowed Julian's DSLR camera for the trip, so I can get to grips with its manual controls with Dad's help. It's a lot of fun taking practice photos of whatever I fancy!

But before I get into photo-talk, I'll show you the scarf. It uses a stitch pattern I drafted up about six months ago, which is a lace-and-texture version of my Beeswax cable pattern. It traces the same shapes, with decreases forming the surface layer of honeycomb and yarn-overs forming the layer behind. The benefit of this version is that it's easy to knit flat, whereas the cabled Beeswax pattern is only really suitable for knitting in the round.

The yarn is a rich golden shade of Outlaw Yarn's Bohemia Worsted called 'Troy'. I hope to have the pattern available in about a month's time. :)

One really cool thing about playing with a DSLR camera (and having a photographer and his gear on hand) is trying out different lenses. My favourites at the moment are macro tubes, which can be stacked behind the lens to get varying levels of close-up-ness.

You can really see the darker possum fibres and lighter alpaca hairs in this yarn with a macro shot:

I've also been taking lots of photos around the garden, of flowers and insects and birds. I'm most proud of these bee photos, taken with a macro tube extension. The bee was foraging in a big patch of flowering pizza thyme, one of my family's favourite all-purpose herbs.

As part of my new photography learning curve, I've signed up for the free course A Year With My Camera, which involves weekly email lessons and homework assignments to share in the Facebook group (or on Instagram). We're only two weeks in, so you can still join in if you'd like!

New pattern: Liquid Honey

So happy I can finally share this with all of you! Liquid Honey is my second pattern to be published in Knitty, and it's one I'm super proud of.
And that's not all... my face is on the cover of the Spring + Summer issue! I've been making 'cover girl' jokes all day, it's been quite surreal... :)

I love yellow, and I love knitting lace, and I'm totally fascinated by bees. Put it all together, and you get a sunny yellow shawl inspired by honeycomb dripping with honey. I thought its cheeriness would make it a great fit for Knitty, and a nice gift for my fellow knitters.

Features:

• honeycomb lace with a zigzagging lace border
• top-down triangular construction with garter-tab cast on
• no special stitches: just knit, purl, single and double yarn-overs, k2tog, ssk 
• a decorative picot bind off
• requires 1.5 skeins of Malabrigo Lace (700yds of laceweight yarn)
• suitable for solid or semi-solid colourways
• one size: 63" wingspan, 29" along spine
• both charted and written instructions. 

The main part of the shawl is very repetitive and intuitive to knit, perfect for an on-the-go or tv-knitting project. The edging requires a little more attention, and I do recommend using needles with nice sharp points, for example Addi Lace needles. They kept me sane!

Shout out to my best photographer Dad for doing the photoshoot with me, and finding all the summery-looking flowers in the garden and around the town. And another shout out to Mum & Dad's 'Fortune' plum tree for co-starring in the photos! Since then, the plums have ripened and been turned into a couple of dozen jars of sauces and jams. Go tree.

The pattern is available for free here at Knitty.com. Its Ravelry page is here.
You can also read my post from last September on the story of Knitty and me.

The Taranaki Trip

This post is a little belated (I've been back for a week!), but in my defense, I have been under the weather. I came down with a cold the day I left for NZ, and it's finally winding down now.

The trip was pretty eventful! The drive down from Auckland to Taranaki was very scenic - we passed through some amazing gorges covered in native bush (the combo of pongas with nikaus was unusual to my eyes), and through lots of pretty countryside.

Once we arrived, party preparation was all on with band rehearsals, errands to fetch food and people, and wrangling giant to-do lists. Just as well we had highly-organised people on board... especially as I was properly sick by then, and kept needing to disappear for naps. In the end, the party was a huge success, and I enjoyed hanging out with Rowan and playing a game of pool while the band played.

Willie, Julian, Chloe, and Julian playing at Sue's birthday

After that, the pace of our holiday became much more holiday-like!
We relaxed in the garden, wandered around the nursery, and even went on a short bushwalk up the mountain.

Knitting on the porch, enjoying the sunshine

A wonderful mass of cosmos flowers!

Bees doing their thing <3

The apple trees in the nursery were covered in apples, as they were on our last visit. I always eat masses of apples when I'm in New Zealand, as I find Australian ones just can't compare. We also gathered a big box of feijoas, my favourite fruit! If you haven't heard of them, they're very much a Kiwi thing, a seasonal fruit that lots of people grow in their gardens.

Brian and Willie strolling in the nursery

Apples!

Under the trees

Feijoas on the bush...

...and feijoas in the hand

All too soon we were off to Auckland again, where Willie and I visited our old friend Karen, and then back to Melbourne.

I've been taking it easy this past week while I recover (from the trip and from my cold), and doing a lot of knitting, which means I'll have some new things to show you soon! :)

Napier I: Family and fauna

Mum and Dad and I spent the weekend in Napier, visiting my brother Jeff and his crew. The last time I visited Napier I was two years old, so it was an interesting trip! There are lots of cool old Art Deco buildings to admire, some great cafés and restaurants, interesting shops, and an excellent museum & gallery. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

On the way there, we found a waterfall. It was ridiculously windy!

After settling in at our motel, our first stop was Jeff & Co's place just out of town. I got to meet their three cute goats, who were surprisingly soft to stroke, and peer at the beehives they're hosting for a local bee-keeper.

Me and my bro (and Mandy the goat)

I met Jeff's partner's parents for the first time, and we all went out for dinner at a cool place called the Emporium. On Jeff's recommendation, I had pulled-pork tacos which were delicious (and rather drippy).

The next day, we went to the museum/gallery, and then to the Mission vineyard to have a look around. It used to be a Catholic seminary, where my uncles studied, so it was interesting looking around the building and all its old photos. A certain family wedding will be taking place there next year, so Dad was scoping out all the good spots for photos.

To be continued...

New pattern: Beeswax mitts

The final pattern in my Beeswax set is now available - a pair of fingerless gloves covered in honeycomb, called the Beeswax mitts. :)

 

Features:

• a double-layered honeycomb texture made up of mini-cables
• thumb-shaping which blends into the surrounding honeycomb
• instructions for knitting mini-cables without a cable needle
  (see also: the links in my post on the Beeswax hat)
• stretchy stitch patterns which help ensure a snug fit
• knit at a tighter gauge for durability
• one size, can be re-sized by altering gauge
• both charted and written instructions 
• requires less than one 100g skein of DK-weight yarn 

The Beeswax mitts pattern is available as a pdf download from Ravelry.
The set of hat, cowl, and mitts is also available as an ebook: The Beeswax Set.

I had fun drawing some more little bees to include in my photos - these ones are in charcoal and yellow pastel:

The lovely golden yarn is Vintage Purls Max once again - I used some of the second skein of 'Toffee Deluxe' leftover from my cowl.

I was pleased (and relieved) to discover that Max holds up well when subjected to repeated 'frogging'/unravelling. It took a few tries to come up with a really good way of doing the thumb increases! I wanted them to really blend into the pattern seamlessly, and happily, I found a solution after a bit of trial-and-error:

The 'gusset' at the base of the thumb looks like one more honeycomb. :)

Hat, cowl, and mitts!

New pattern: Beeswax cowl

And here it is, as promised! The Beeswax cowl is a slouchy, comfy neckwarmer with the same mini-cabled honeycomb texture as my Beeswax hat.

It requires 280 yards of Vintage Purls Max (a little more than one skein), or another plump, bouncy DK or worsted-weight yarn.

I used a different shade of VP Max for the cowl (this one's called 'Toffee Deluxe'), because I like the way the colours complement each other without matching precisely. If you do fancy a matching set, two skeins of Max will be enough to knit both the hat and cowl.

I love this close-up of the texture!

Features:

• a double-layered honeycomb texture, which flows into and out of the ribbing
• instructions for knitting mini-cables without a cable needle 
• one size, with simple instructions for re-sizing both height and circumference
• both charted and written instructions 

For tips on knitting mini-cables/twisted stitches without a cable needle, check out the links in my post on the Beeswax hat.

New pattern: Beeswax hat

I have a new hat design out, and I'm extra-super-proud of this one!
The Beeswax hat is a knitted expression of my honeybee obsession...

I wanted to create a knitted honeycomb texture that showed the back-to-back double layer of natural honeycomb, and I made a few sketches to help me understand its structure. I found inspiration in photos taken by beekeepers, including this gallery by an Australian couple. I also sketched some simple bees, based on my own bee photos (you can find a few on my blog here).

The yarn I chose is from Vintage Purls, one of my very favourite indie yarn-dyers. Vintage Purls 'Max' is a DK-weight merino/nylon sock yarn - it's very soft and bouncy, and comes in wonderful rich colours. I used two-thirds of a skein for this hat, in the colourway 'Easy Rider'.

The Beeswax hat features:

• a double-layered honeycomb texture, which emerges naturally from the ribbing
• instructions for knitting mini-cables without a cable needle 
• crown decreases integrated into the honeycomb pattern
• one (very stretchy) size, with tips for re-sizing
• both charted and written instructions 
• requires less than one skein of smooshy DK-weight yarn

While swatching and test-knitting this hat, I learned a new method for doing cables without a cable needle. I greatly prefer it to my old method of holding onto the stitch with my thumb and forefinger, which was pretty awkward with my yarn-in-right hand knitting style.

My new favourite method is called the 'slip and switch' method in the Knitty.com article, 4 ways to mini-cable. I found Lee Meredith's twisted stitches tutorial really helpful too (it has step-by-step photos and a video).
It's a great method because if you've memorised which way the basic k2tog and ssk decreases lean, it's easy to know which cable-twist moves to do.
I found I didn't even need to follow the chart after a while. :)

The pattern download for the Beeswax hat is available on Ravelry.

I have a matching cowl pattern in the works too! Here it is peeking out from under the hat... ;)