I knit this hat for Ellen but it is so soft and lovely that I’ll be wearing it when she isn’t!
I knit this in LOFT – a 100% American wool – Grown in Wyoming, spun in New England – this wool is very fun to knit.
I used size US 2 and 3 knitting needles and knit this hat in the round. Here is a link to my pattern.
A while back a friend mentioned she wanted a classy, black, earflap hat to wear with her “good” coat. She showed my the ecru 1940s art deco style silk scarf that she wears with this coat. A lovely design is woven into the scarf and I decided to try to match it on the brim of the hat. I wanted something that would be warm and with a nice firm brim and earflaps.
Result – twined knitting – with raised stitches.
I fell in love with twined knitting about a year ago, and my family chipped in and bought me Twined Knitting, A Swedish Folkcraft Technique by Birgitta Dandanell & Ulla Danielsson. (an out of print 96$ purchase!!).
So I read the book and figured out how to make raised stitch designs and the black hat pictured here was the result. I don’t remember what yarn I used for that hat.
After knitting several hats I’ve decided a nice spungey, springy yarn, with lots of body works best when knit on a smaller size needle than recommended on the label.
I’m happy to knit you one in the color of your choice! 50 colors to choose from in Harrisiville Shetland! Shoot me a comment for more details.
I am writing the pattern using the wavy raised stitch design for publication seen on the other hats pictured here.
Pattern coming soon!
I’m so excited about this pattern!!
I have knit two of these tams now and I must say they are quite fun and the pattern is easy to memorize.
Start knitting in the round at the top and increase out to the brim. . . the top is 8 pattern repeats of small two stitch cables and twisted stitches.
The brim is ribbed and then finished with an I-cord. The diameter of the top is 11.5″ and the brim is 18″ around, unstreteched.
At the very edge of the top – I never realized how hard it is to photograph patterns in white – is a diamond pattern that weaves in the middle.
I knit this tam in yarn from Gale Woods Farm on size 6 needles. I used about 225 yards of a dk weight yarn. The crispier the yarn the better.
I knit another one in 136 Merino Superwash from Mission Falls, 100% Merino. That one turned out great too! The softness of the merino make that tam floppier resulting in a different style hat. . .just as cute!
The pattern is getting edited right now. . . and as soon as it it done you’ll be able to find it on Ravelry and Etsy. I plan on knitting another one in worsted weight yarn, just to see what happens.
The Friedman family spent some time needlefelting my hats. . . Wish I could have been there to join in the fun!
I was lucky enough to work with some Make A Wish children. . . we decorated hats to sell at the fundraising ball and auction for the Make A Wish Foundation. Hope they brought in lots of dough!!
A good friend of mine celebrated her birthday with a group of friends and needlefelting.
Here are the lovely results!
Taught Hannah to knit
Machine knitting felted hats
Two parties next week!
I’m desperately low on my felted caps and I have two big parties coming up. . . so, I thought I’d spread the wealth and hire/teach my niece Hannah to operate a knitting machine. She did very well and is on her way to being very productive. Thank goodness!
A friend of mine has done some amazing needlefelted designs on my felted hats. Just wanted to share them with you!
Of course I must remind you that I sell these hats on my etsy site!
I just arrived home from a great road trip to Port Wing, Wisconsin. I went “up north” to visit friends and participate in the 2nd annual “Sashay ’round the donut”. A fun evening of music and dance held in the town hall. And I might add, more fresh home made donuts than one could possibly eat!
I spent the evening playing fiddle for the square and contra dancers. . . and also put my needlefelting hats and roving out for those who wanted to have some fiber fun. A few people decorated hats (as seen below) and others needle felted designs on their own clothes. One 4 year old girl was sporting some very cute wool pants! Her Mom had felted two sleeves from a sweater and sewn them together to make the pants. Now Mom has needlefelted some fun color into those cool pants! Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo of the sleeve-felted-into-pants-and- decorated item.
Here are some snapshots the creative needlefelting that went on!
Hi everyone,
I finally did it! I set up a store on Etsy to sell my felted hats.
For the past 3 years I have been holding needlefelting workshops, well I call them parties, to which I bring felted hats and scarves plus all the supplies needed for needlefelting. When I first started doing these parties very few people knew what needlefelting was, but it is becoming more and more popular. To see some of the hats I have decorated with needlefelting see my other post under needlefelting.
Now, my felted hats are available to you on line. So far I have only put up one color. (My goal is to get a different color felted hat that is in stock on line every day. A bit of an ambitious goal me thinks.) They fit young adults through adult size heads. I am experimenting with child sizes but it may be a while before I get those up there. And child sizes aren’t all THAT different from our adult heads. Who knows how old one is before their head is the size it will be for the rest of their life?
It’s a perfect day for knitting. . . too bad I won’t get to it until later this evening. (and then I’ll be taking pictures of felted hats to get on Etsy)
Tomorrow night at the 331 Club some friends of mine are playing at 7pm; the Ditch Lilies – an all girl honky tonk band. I have tap class from 7:30 to 9pm but will be at the club after that. See you there?
Happy Knitting!
Shawn