I love the sense of moving from one season to another.
While most of us have a favourite season, there is a certain joy in changing from one to another.
Something to look forward to.
Something we will miss from the old one.
In slowing down and being mindful of the world around us.
The Seasons Club is inspired by the changing seasons here in Ireland. Here, autumn is filled with deep rich colours from dark summer greens to burnt oranges and light yellows. Our days slide from the warm end of summer to the darker crisp days of the coming winter. So, as you can imagine, the patterns for this installment are all accessories that are very much needed this time of year and all explore different colourwork techniques—resulting in a celebration of colour and season.
Autumnal Colourwork
l wanted the autumn installment of the Seasons Club to focus on colourwork that was accessible to all. Colourwork, for me, is all about playing with colours and experimenting to see what combinations really work well for you. It doesn’t have to be scary or intimidating; it should be playful and experimental.
For this reason, I’ve included a variety of colourwork techniques. Of course, most knitter’s minds go straight to stranded colourwork, but it’s just one of many techniques that you can use to add colour to your knitting.
Anything that combines colours is colourwork!
One of the most enjoyable and easy ways of combining colours is by using slip stitch patterns. These ‘slip’ the second colour, so you are only ever working a single colour in a row/round. Even if you are a newer knitter, this technique is very approachable, and you can create some fantastic patterns with it!
So are you ready to take a peek inside the Autumn Club?
It’s such a relief to be able to share this with all of you. I am awful at keeping secrets. :-)
Seasons Club Patterns – Autumn
Feather Wave Cowl
The first pattern that I designed uses this slip stitch colourwork technique. It creates stripes of bright colour ‘pops’ that you will use to slip in following rounds and eventually cross the stitches over to create the fun feather effect. You can experiment with using different colours for the stripes. I used three colours, but you could use all the colours in your Autumn Club package if you wished or even use a single contrast colour.
I’ve finished the cowl off by creating an I-Cord that is housed in a folded hem around the top edge. This allows you to snug the cowl up for extra warmth, or you can even pull it tight to create a bonus hat (as shown here!)
Wobble Wave Hat
This is a stranded colourwork hat, but the pattern repeat is short, and it’s worked in a heavier weight yarn, so that means – fewer stitches! If you’re new to colourwork, this should be a really nice introduction. You can use the videos provided to check out the basics, and you can practice with an easy to memorise pattern.
I’ve given two options for the brim of this hat; shown above is the single brim, and below is the double-length brim (worked in two colours) that can be folded for a snugger edge. As with the cowl, I’d suggest experimenting with different colours. Some of my testers used a light (rather than darker) colour for the main pattern, which also worked really nicely. The important thing is to have a contrast in the ‘tone’ used so that the pattern stands out. You can also even change the stripes in the background of the pattern.
Bruite Mitts
The Bruite Mitts use a fun combination of techniques. Most of the colour work is in the cuff, so you aren’t trying to combine colourwork with shaping.
The colourwork uses a variation on a colourwork style called Bohus, which comes from a region in Sweden. Traditionally it would use a fluffy, superfine yarn that combined knit and purls stitches in the colour changes that gave the visual illusion of the colours blending together.
I’ve used a very simplified version of this, with just a few single rows of stranded colourwork, and then the rest of the work is done by combining knit and purl stitches.
Autumn Seasons Goodies
Autumn is also a season of comfort and slowing down. So with our treats for this season, we wanted to embrace slowing down and being mindful of ourselves. To stop and enjoy the making. It is our hobby, after all.
If you were a club member, you would have received a limited edition notebook designed by Talia Felix. This notebook has been thoughtfully crafted with 130 gsm partially recycled cartridge paper and bound with recycled paper tape. It has an added ruler on both the front and back leaves, which has been useful for me to have in my project bag! You’ll also find a personal message from us inside the cover that sets the tone of this season.
What can add more comfort to our club packages, you might ask?
How about some seasonal Apple Strudel tea in a limited edition tea box that perfectly pairs with the amazing apple loaf recipe from Evin O’Keeffe. Is there anything better than a relaxing afternoon with some warming tea, comforting baked goods and your favourite seat to settle into?
We don’t think so, and this recipe from Evin makes it easy even for a limited baker like myself to end up with a great tasting treat! Just look:
And so we have come to the end of this club installment. If this post has you drooling and you missed out on the Autumn Seasons Club, then make sure you’re signed up for our newsletter to be the first to hear when the Winter Seasons club goes on presale! (sign-up form below).
And a final thank you to all of our club members for making this season possible.
Where to Buy
Sign up to receive Seasons Club updates here
Feather Wave Cowl pattern here
Feather Wave Cowl kit here
Wobble Wave Hat workshop here
Wobble Wave Hat pattern here
Wobble Wave kit here
Bruite Mitts workshop here
Bruite Mitts pattern here
Bruite Mitts kit here
You can see our Notebooks here