I'm really excited to share a couple of my recent self-published knitting patterns, the Aspis hat and Tildearth cowl! Both designs use similar weights of yarn (heavy DK/light aran) and are completely unisex.
Aspis is a lovely colourwork hat in beautiful squishy yarn. It has nice little details like simple instructions for a tubular cast-on for a nicely finished, stretchy edge. The colourwork is relatively simple, and the heavy DK, almost aran weight yarn makes it a nice quick knit – perfect for gift knitting! It comes in three sizes, which roughly equate to teen, adult small and adult large.
Though it's not a complete beginner's pattern, one of my test knitters had never knit a hat or colourwork before and loved knitting it!
The pattern is available as a digital download in the online shop and on Ravelry.
The Tildearth cowl is knit in a very similar weight yarn to the hat (so if you make the cowl, you might have yarn left over to use for one of the colours for the hat!). It uses ribbing and cabling techniques for truly reversible texture and interesting structural details. The cowl can be worn as is for extra warm for the bottom half of the face, or folded down for a neater look.
The cowl pattern is available in the online shop and Ravelry.
I went on a day trip to Wales with my husband and we took these photos at sunset at Rhossili, on the Gower peninsula. The hat and cowl were very necessary as it was an incredibly windy day!
I really wanted to show that they can be worn by anyone. I'd love to make some versions in different colours and yarns to show the different effect it gives. Though I've suggested the yarns that I've used in the patterns, I really encourage yarn substitution. Some of my test knitters made great choices – check their projects out on Ravelry or with #aspishat and #tildearthcowl on Instagram.
