It's that time of the week - we are releasing the next pair of Cloudy Apples patterns. To see the gorgeous Clarinette convertible shrug/scarf/cowl that Kyoko has designed, head over to her blog at Cotton and Cloud.
This is my Puffin Apple hat. It's made from 2 skeins of Jamieson & Smith Shetland Aran - a beautiful woollen-spun yarn that gives a softness to the cables that I absolutely love. I'm quite proud of this design as I had to rip back the sample quite a number of times before I got the cable and shaping to work together in just the right way. I'm not normally known for my perseverance with ripping and re-knitting my designs, so this is a real achievement for me!
The names of the projects in Cloudy Apples are all taken from Somerset apple varieties, and it seemed to be too much of a coincidence to have a Somerset apple variety with a name that could be linked to Shetland (puffins nest around the coast of Shetland - see these posts from when we were there in the summer). Puffin apple has a sister design, which will be revealed in the final batch from the collection - you'll have to wait to meet her...
© Jesse Wild
The cable started life in a wonderful stitch pattern book that I found at Loop in London - Aran Lace by Annie Maloney (currently out of stock). I fell for the lovely background texture pattern as soon as I swatched it, and then I played around with the cables to make them work into the shaping at the top of the hat. Nic suggested that the cables look like 2 friends linking arms - while this wasn't purposeful on my part, it really fits nicely with the inspiration behind our project!
If you have previously purchased the Cloudy Apples eBook, then you will receive an email today with the new pattern files for you to download.
Clarinette and Puffin Apple are also available to purchase individually for £3.50, or you can buy the whole eBook for £9.00. If you purchase the eBook, then you will receive all of the remaining 5 patterns as they are released. The eBook also contains a photo gallery and introduction. The final patterns will be released on 16th October 2012.
To buy the whole Cloudy Apples eBook, click here: 
To buy the Puffin Apple hat alone, click here:
To buy Kyoko's Clarinette shrug/cowl/scarf alone, click here:
I've just rediscovered the behind the scenes pictures that we took on the photoshoot, so look out for a post on that over the weekend. Aparently I'm entirely incapable of being sensible with a camera aimed at me...
Happy knitting!
