Today, I would like to talk about the inspiration behind my exciting new Winter 2012/2013 Collection!

This collection is the very first one for Cotton & Cloud and I felt it was important to have a theme that is personal to me and reflects my life experiences.  Therefore, my very first Winter Collection is a fusion of my fond memories of being a child in Japan and then my new life in the U.K.

So here it is and I hope you will enjoy making and wearing these designs, as much as I enjoyed creating them!

Mikan Snood & Hat

The attractive Mikan Snood & Hat are perfect winter-warmers and will definitely cheer you up during the cold, dark winter days.  I have designed the Mikan Snood & Hat to be decorated with cute, chunky clumps of cable-like stitches making a chain of oval blobs, like tiny tangerines!

The inspiration for this design comes from my childhood in Japan and the delicious little tangerines I loved to eat in the wintertime.

Mikan is the Japanese word for tangerine or satsuma and these brightly-coloured fruits were my very favourite winter fruit in Japan. I used to eat them sitting at the Kotatsu table and sometimes while I knitted.

Citrus obsession!

When I later came to the U.K. to study, the fruits I could eat at boarding school were more often bananas and green apples. My beloved tangerines were replaced by clementines which, to me, are completely different and I missed eating the sweet and juicy tangerines at home with my family.

Now that I come to think about it, this must be one of the reasons why, as an adult, I am obsessed with eating citrus fruit – along with my obsession for pain au chocolat!

Video tutorial

However, let me get back to the Mikan Snood and Hood instructions!

• The clusters of cable-like stitches are made by knitting 5 stitches together and then increase back to 5.
• In over to prevent fabric being pulled too much (due to k5 tog), you should make yarn overs on the previous row that are subsequently dropped.

Here’s a quick tutorial I made for you.

Chunky & Cosy

The snood is reversible and I used Manos Wool Clasica, which is one of my favourite yarns. Manos Wool Clasica has varying yarn thickness, which makes the finished article more interesting and almost rustic.

Straight yarn would also work well, for example, something like Artesano Aran would turn out beautifully.

So what was your favourite winter food as a child – it’s so nice sometimes to remember those days with your family isn’t it?