So in this little journey through the four seasons via my new cowl design, I’ve finally alighted on spring. There’s no daffodil-yellow in the Highland Heathers range as yet (hint hint, Stylecraft!) so I couldn’t fully convey the blue-yellow-white palette of spring shades.
Yeah, yeah, I need to weed this little patio that I built in the photo above. It’ll happen soon. But still, I hope you get the hints of optimistic greenery and flowers against a background of endless grey rain and the off-white of Why-are-we-still-having-frosts-this-late-in-spring? Because this blog shall not shy away from disappointing realities of life, no sir! That’s why my knitted picture of a river included things like the submerged shopping trollies that I remember from childhood paddling exploits:-
The seasonal cowl set is almost complete. That said, I’m tempted to rework autumn before publishing the pattern. The yarn is deliciously dense and cosy, as proven via extensive kitten-testing:-
On reflection, the original version of this cowl that I designed and made for my lifelong friend Rebecca’s 50th birthday was perhaps the best representation of any or all of our British so-called seasons, encompassing as it does everything from frosty white, to my-face-is-tomato-red-in-the-heat, to the-cellar-is-flooded-blue, and losing-the-will-to-live grey.
Top tip if you’re visiting the UK for the first time: dress in warm trousers/jumper, with sunglasses, a raincoat, sunhat, gaiters, flip-flops, and possibly a snorkel. You’ll be fine. A couple of years ago, I posted two photos on my private Facebook page, taken four hours apart in our little garden. One of my lovely fellow Stylecraft Blogstars who lives in a different and meteorologically saner country responded with confusion about whether I was playing a practical joke. Fair enough, she’s not British. But honestly, these pictures were taken four hours apart in my back garden. (The bench and pond in the second photo are on the far right of the first photo.) See what we have to contend with? How would you dress for a day like this?!
So do please expect a quirk or two in the seasonal cowls when I publish the pattern shortly. Perhaps a tornado amongst the summer flowers, or a cheeky little heatwave in January.
So that’s where we’re at. Pattern coming very shortly. The cowl involves grafting with Kitchener stitch, which is much easier that you’d imagine once you’re used to it, but would you like a little tutorial?
The colours are so great in this!
The cowl for your friend and the Spring one look lovely. I don’t knowhow you do your Kitchener stitch but I avoid it having got into a mess when I tried to do it as an experiment. Recently though I saw a way to knit Kitchener stitch which looks easier and I mean to try sometime.