Tree of Life Through the Seasons: My first pattern collection

The Tree of Life Through the Seasons is a set of five fichu patterns depicting the Tree in spring, summer, autumn, winter, and paradise. The basic outline, a crescent with a wide lace edge at the hem, remains the same for all five. The difference is in the details - what surrounds the tree? How dense are the leaves? How much has the trunk grown? What type of edge detail fits each season?

Each fichu begins at the back of the neck and is increased on every right side row until the fabric forms a wide crescent. The stitches are left on the needle without binding off. The lace edging is knit sideways and attached as you go, so no sewing is necessary and the hem remains elastic. Mix and match to create your own shawl: because the lace edge is knit on sideways, you can use the chart for any lace edging with any of the body patterns.

Each of the patterns included in the collection is available separately, but if you want the best value, purchase the pattern collection. See footnote The 29-page PDF includes all five patterns for the price of four, plus an introduction and extra photos of each shawl. Each fichu pattern in the collection includes charts for the border lace, the entire body of the shawl and color photographs.


buy now for $27.80 at my Ravelry store
buy now for $27.80 from Patternfish

Tree of Life in Paradise Fichu - Fifth in the Series

The fifth and final (for now) fichu pattern in the Tree of Life Through the Seasons depicts the Tree in in Paradise. Rays of light emanate from the center of the Tree, and lush flowers fill the outside corners. The lace border is composed of flowers and leaves. Glimpses of tropical blue sky peek through warm, lush jungle colors. The fichu shown is knit with two skeins of Crystal Palace Yarns Mini Mochi in Color 119.

The Tree of Life in Paradise Fichu is a crescent-shaped shawl with elongated “wings” which help it sit securely on your shoulders. The shawl is cast on at the neck edge and worked downwards, culminating in a 4 1/4”-wide sideways lace border which is joined progressively to the live stitches along the bottom edge of the shawl. No sewing is required. Increases are worked along the front and sides of the shawl to avoid a pronounced triangle point at the center back.

The 5 page PDF contains charts for the border lace, the entire body of the shawl and color photographs.

buy now for $6.95 from my Ravelry store

Fourth in the Series: The Tree of Life in Winter

Brand new today: the fourth entry in the "Tree of Life Through the Seasons" series.

These fichus been incredibly fun to design and make. It's endlessly fascinating to me the way variations in color and border and rearrangement (or redesign) of simple background motifs make an entirely different piece with a completely different feel. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

buy now for $6.95 at my Ravelry store




This isn't all, either. Soon to come, one more pattern: The Tree of Life in Paradise. For a limited time, here's a special offer: if you purchase the first four fichu patterns, you'll get the 5th free.

Knitter's Graph Paper

You can chart knitting on regular graph paper, of course, but remember: knit stitches are wider than they are tall. It's much easier to get an idea of what your finished product will look like if you use graph paper with blocks that are rectangles rather than squares.

Click the image above for a full-size JPG of knitter's graph paper. Feel free to print or save the image for your own design use. Happy knitting!

Tree of Life in Autumn - Third in the Series

New today, the Tree of Life in Autumn! The third fichu pattern in the Tree of Life Through the Seasons depicts the Tree in Autumn. The difference is in the details: the dense leaves have thinned into an openwork feather-and-fan texture. Falling leaves and flowers surround the tree, and a border of leaves edges the hem.

Like previous designs in the series, the Tree of Life in Autumn Fichu is a crescent-shaped shawl with elongated “wings” which help it sit securely on your shoulders. The shawl is cast on at the neck edge and worked downwards, culminating in a 4 1/4”-wide sideways lace border which is joined progressively to the live stitches along the bottom edge of the shawl. No sewing is required. Increases are worked along the front and sides of the shawl to avoid a pronounced triangle point at the center back.

The 5 page PDF contains charts for the border lace, the entire body of the shawl and color photographs.

The winter fichu, next in the series, is well on its way. Design is complete, and knitting is in progress. It should be ready late this week.

buy now for $6.95 in my Ravelry store

Tree of Life in Spring Fichu - Second in the Series

I was right, the Tree shawls are addictive both to design and to knit. :) The Tree of Life Through the Seasons is officially a series. The new design shows the Tree in spring surrounded by a multitude of flowers and edged with a delicate border which is knit on sideways. This fichu is the second in the series depicting the Tree of Life through the seasons.

The construction is the same as the first fichu, but the difference is in the details. The knit-on edging is a delicate border, and the colors have migrated to springtime pastels. The shawl takes just one skein of Lang Jawoll Magic Superwash yarn (440 yd / 400 m), a light-fingering weight with a very soft twist to it. I thoroughly enjoyed working with the yarn, and I am looking forward to wearing the shawl!

It was a quick knit, too - just three days from cast-on to blocked and photographed.


buy now for $6.95 at my Ravelry store
buy now for $6.95 from Patternfish