Backyard photography (and a new pattern)

One of my favourite parts of the knitting process is the finishing. I know I may be in the minority here but I don't mind weaving in ends, sewing seams and I LOVE blocking! Not only does blocking inject life into the finished item, it also means I am a mere few hours from wearing my brand new knitted; and that is my very best part!
I also look forward to photographing my knits. I'm really lucky to have over a hectare of natural Australian bush as my backyard. No matter what time of year it is, my backyard is always stunningly beautiful with tall willowy Karri and Marri trees, natural coffee rock and banksia trees. The ground is a carpet of fallen leaves and in winter, when the rain has washed everything clean, the colours positively glow.

That, my friends, is my backyard! Oh and my new cowl pattern ;-)

Most of my photoshoots take place here and the bushland you see is literally metres from my back door.
Now I don't profess to be an expert photographer, in fact my bestie would kill me if I did (She actually IS a photographer! She often sneers at my 'little' camera ;-)) But since I can't always have her on hand to take amazing pics for me, I have to make do with the resources I have.
I shoot with an amatuer level DSLR; a Canon 500D. I always shoot in natural light and try to choose overcast days or late afternoon where possible for the best lighting. I've been training Miss 12 to take my pics for me (she does a much better job than hubby!) And this past weekend we went to the beach for a shoot, just for something different. It was an unseasonably hot day with some light cloud cover so we were rushing to take pics each time the clouds diffused the sun.
The photo's are of my latest pattern, Wistful Cowl, which I released on Ravelry overnight.

This cowl features a diagonal eyelet mesh pattern that changes direction halfway. At the start of the round you are left with a vertical strip of stocking stitch, the perfect background for some decorative buttons! You can choose from the shorter version (shown in green) or the long version (pink) which can be wrapped twice for extra warmth.
The pattern is available for $4.50 AUD and you can buy it here:

Helping Hands

A fundraising event is currently taking place over on facebook to help fellow designer Julia Stanfield during a difficult time. For the next two days ALL of my patterns are reduced by 20% and ALL sales will be donated to the Stanfield family fund. This is a great opportunity to get a pattern you've been eyeing off at a discounted rate and to help a fellow knitter during her time of need. Use the coupon code: JustOneHelpingHand at checkout to get your discount. :-)

Oh, and see those rad legwarmers top right? They are coming to Ravelry very very soon!! But if you're super keen, drop me an email. For the next few days they are available for the discounted price of $3AUD.

Pattern Release::Reversus

Late last year Nan Bray of White Gum Wool very generously sent me a skein each of her buttery soft and velvety sustainable and ethical merino wool in the 4ply and 8ply bases. The samples were intended for test dyeing which of course I did, but almost immediately the seed of an idea began to sprout in my mind.
Reversus began as the simplest of sketches, not even a fully fledged idea, just a lace panel flanked in reverse stocking stitch. The original sketch is dated a year ago. At some point while flicking back through my journal the seed germinated and suddenly this little lace panel was destined to become a hat.
The idea of ALL that purling wasn't really appealing to me so I started to toy with the idea of knitting it inside out. I practically knit a whole other hat as my swatch trying to get the lace stitches to sit right. Once that part was sorted I had to think about the crown of the hat. what would happen to the lace as the hat got smaller?
Some hats have you knit to a certain length and then just decrease like crazy over three or four rounds and the hat is done. That's fine and looks great for slouchy hats but I really wanted something a little more polished so I began playing around with the lace and how to decrease while maintaining the pattern as long as possible. I hope you like the finished result. I do.

As this pattern went live today Alicia Plummer also released a new pattern featuring a very similar lace motif. White Leaf is a beautiful cosy cowl knit in Augustbird rich aran. The two patterns compliment each other so nicely and would make a perfect matching set.
Augustbird is also a retailer of the White Gum wool that I used for Reversus and I have recommended her beautiful hand dyed yarns as the perfect partner for my pattern. Rebecca has kindly offered a 10% discount on her DK weight yarns for anyone wanting to knit their own Reversus. How awesome is that! To take advantage of this generous offer just enter the coupon code reversusDK10 at the checkout.
For the next two days my pattern is available for the special price of $3.50 (applied at checkout, no coupon needed) after which it will revert to the full price of $4.50.
You can find the pattern here: Reversus Don't forget to take a look at the finished projects. My testers did a wonderful job!