Celebrate the Season in the Southern Hemisphere

For those who live in the Northern Hemisphere, we’re just getting into the cold part of the year, but in other parts of the world it’s slowly warming up.

The flowers of the Pohutukawa tree begin to bloom in December and January, earning the tree the nickname of New Zealand’s Christmas tree.

Francoise Danoy was inspired by the tree and its blooms for her Pohutukawa shawl. Textured sections evoke the bark of the tree, while the lace and fringe are inspired by the red blooms.

The shawl is a 3/4 round knit top to bottom. The pattern has a base price of $12, but she also has pay what you can options.

[Photo: Francoise Danoy.]

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Sometimes I feel like knitters get intimidated to try new things because they think they need to start with a big project. Your first time working in the round doesn’t need to be a sock, and your first colorwork doesn’t need to be a sweater, for example. You can find little projects that use the skills you want to learn to build your confidence before you move on to something that requires more time commitment.

This adorable knit bunny, for example.

The colorwork bunny from Knit Picks was designed by Amy Munson and is a kind of bowling pin shaped bunny complete with a knit hat, contrasting inner ears and a little stranded colorwork on its body. Note that the ears are attached the the hat not the bunny, but you could stitch them to the bunny if you’d rather.

It’s worked from the bottom up and also has a tiny pompom tail you can’t see in the picture but it’s a really cute touch. There are a variety of little fair isle patterns to choose from to make the best bunny for you.

The bunny comes out about 8 inches tall (or just over 20 cm) and use several colors to complete the colorwork, depending on the design you choose.

You can purchase the pattern by itself from Knit Picks, or make a kit that includes sport weight yarn in all the colors you need for your creation. There are gray and brown options for the main body of the bunny, but of course if you’re using your own yarn you can make it whatever color you like.

Once you’ve tried colorwork (maybe also working in the round and shaping if those are skills you haven’t used before) in a little project like this you’ll be ready to take on something bigger in no time.

Check out the pattern on Knit Picks.

[Photo: Knit Picks]

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