Fallen Leaves – An Autumn Inspiration

Fallen leaves  

A carpet of fallen leaves mean autumns here! I’ve always loved this time of year – the ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’ as poet Keats described it. I love the misty mornings, the nip in the air, the ever-changing colours of the leaves, the acorns, the hazelnuts and berries on the trees, and the carpet of leaves in the woods nearby.

On every walk, I seemed to come across photogenic piles of leaves…

Fallen leaves on photogenic stepsEverywhere I looked, there seem to be oranges, yellows, reds, rusts, coppers and browns…

Bright berries

In particular, I’ve noticed how many different colours of berries there are on the bushes around my neighbourhood – (I think they’re Pyracantha)… These were in my local park…

red berries

These yellow berries were in a garden round the corner…
yellow berriesAnd then there were swathes of orange berries just up the road…

The colours and the change of temperature inspired me to pick up my crochet hook and knitting needles and start designing cosy cowls again after the heatwave of summer which had put paid to woolly working.

A design takes shape

I picked out a few colours of DK from my Stylecraft stash… I love the way that there are so many shades in that range, which makes it a joy to come up with new ideas. This time, I chose Copper, Mustard and Walnut… I’d bought them from one of my favourite online yarn sites: WoolWarehouse

Using the fallen leaves and berries as my inspiration I started crocheting away… A really enjoyable project with a variety of stitches, yet  one which works up quickly.

Fallen Leaves Autumn Cowl in progress

So here it is – my finished Fallen Leaves Autumn Cowl, inspired by those turning leaves and plump, bright berries.

Fallen Leaves crocheted cowl

I’ve used  treble clusters to make a sweet row of berries at top and bottom, changing colour and carrying the main colour yarn along the rows. Then a wave stitch worked in the back loop only represents the fallen leaves.

There are so many different colours of berries around at the moment, that I’ve tried some other colourways too!

Fallen Leaves Autumn Cowl alternative colourway

I hope you like it, and if you’d like to try out the pattern for yourself, the pattern is here for personal use and is free at the moment – but if you do make one for yourself, I’d love to see a picture of your finished cowl  – you can email it to me at info@pickingupstitches.com, or share it on Ravelry (I’m acousticannie on there), or tag me on Instagram @pickingupstitches, leave me a comment here or on the Facebook page @pickingupstitches… Looking forward to seeing what you come up with…