Texture and colour combine to evoke the bright sky and rough black rock of the climb to the summit of Rangitoto Island, a young but dormant basalt volcano in Auckland New Zealand.

The surface of the island landmark is made up of floes of rough black basalt scoria partially covered in stunted pohutukawa trees and assorted shrubs. Large areas are still just bare rock even after several hundred years without an eruption.

The climb is not challenging for an active person but it takes several hours and while the peak always seems close, it still takes some effort to reach it due to the steepness of the upper cone. From the top you can see the city and the whole of Auckland’s east coast as well as the many other islands dotted around the Hauraki Gulf.

Although the main work is done in the round, the intarsia motif is worked flat back and forth, but joined into the round on every row with a clever join-as-you-go seaming technique which requires no sewing.

Two versions of the mountain design have been included in this pattern. V1 shows the cone profile in its entirety, viewed from sea level. V2 is more of a close-up as the climber approaches the summit. The pattern also offers instructions to create two different heights for the hat, so you can have it fitted or slouchy on top.

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