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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Knitwear designers can get inspiration from almost anything when it comes to re-creating a color scheme, an image or a texture in stitches. Sometimes the inspiration isn’t always obvious in the finished project, but sometimes it’s more literal.

That’s the way it is with the Tin Ceiling Blanket from Purl Soho. Not just because the inspiration is in the name, but if you’ve ever seen one of these old ceilings you can see that the design of the blanket is quite similar to the pattern of the tin tiles.

This is also a good example of the idea that you don’t have to use fancy stitch patterns or lots of color to make a big impact with your knits. This single-color blanket (designed by Gianna Mueller and inspired by a washcloth and towel set designed by Sandi Rosner) is made completely with knits and purls, other than slipped stitches at the beginning of rows to make neater edges.

The pattern is written out row by row, but there’s also a chart, which means this project is a great opportunity to practice reading a chart where you can check your work against the written pattern if you need to.

It comes in two sizes, a crib blanket and a throw. The yarn used in the sample is an organic cotton sold by the cone, which is a great way to get a large quantity of yarn and have fewer ends to weave in. In fact, you can knit either size of the blanket with just one cone of yarn, which isn’t inexpensive but makes you a great, sturdy, heirloom quality but still washable blanket you’ll use for years to come. (Of course you can use any sport weight yarn you like to make this blanket.)

Check out all the details and grab the free pattern from Purl Soho.

[Photo: Purl Soho]

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