This hat is made following the Rose Red pattern created by indie designer Ysolda Teague. I discovered her work a couple months ago and through the blog she writes and really love the whimsy of her collections and the bold colors she uses. This is not the first of her designs I’m knitting, but it is the first to be finished and is written beautifully. The chart is very clear and because the complex geometry of the hat, is in my opinion much easier to follow than the written directions because you can *see* the shape growing.
twisting vines
It is the first pattern I’ve ever followed completely faithfully. Well… I didn’t follow the gauge but did knit a larger size to compensate for the thinner yarn and needles used. About a third of the way through the project I really believed it would end up too short vertically and began planning ways to add extra repeats, but it turned out in the end. Just needs some light blocking to open up the lace patterns.
I can definitely imagine making another, although I might simplify the lace so that the overall growth of the hat from i-cord cast-on to the band is more obvious. Finally, I used a sewn bind-off which is going to be my default from now on.
Again, I used two yarns, both from the Pickles website: Cashmerino in Soft Blue combined with a Silk Mohair blend. They are so soft, but I did have some problems with the plies of the cashmerino separating.
With the left over yarn I made an i-cord ribbon and pom-pom to wrap the package. I was inspired by this recent post by the Yarn Harlot.
This hat will be flying to my grandmother for mother’s day, though she won’t be able to use it until the fall. She was the one who originally taught me to knit and I still have the red yarn and bamboo needles somewhere… so this hat is to thank her for showing me how to knit. And so much more!
head shot
i-cord cast-on
