Head Turning Hats

Post concepts for this blog come to me from a variety of sources. This post was inspired by a recent hall closet cleaning. I took my basket of seasonal hats down from the closet shelf and discovered that they weren't seasonal because I hadn't switched out the warm woolen hats, scarves, and gloves that were in it for my summer hats back in early May as I should have. So I got out my summer hats and reminded myself to wear them in order to prevent more sun damage and scoldings from my dermatologist, and then ran the winter accessories through the wash. As I was blocking my winter hats on various plates, pots, and bowls in my kitchen, I had an epiphany. I realized I'd been making hats and scarves for myself willy nilly because I liked the patterns and/or yarn without really thinking about what coats they'd go with. I'd never make a sweater without figuring out what it'll go with and where I can wear it, but hats take less time and material and had slipped under my practicality radar. Consequently I had coats for which I had no coordinating hats and hats which went with nothing. I promised myself that in the fall when I do the coat and hat switch out again I would figure out what went with what, do some weeding out, and possibly make myself some new accessories if needed. And that train of thought led to this post.

I got inspired to go through the hats on Ravelry and see if I could find some that had some style so I'd be prepared if I should decide I need to make myself some new ones come fall. There are tens of thousands of hats on Ravelry and I can't pretend to have looked at them all, but I did look at a great many and here are 20 that I liked. The hat pictured above is included mostly because I love the picture. I can't for the life of me make out the hat well enough to know whether I can recommend it or not. If you want to take a stab at making it, it's A Chic Knitted Hat for Spring, which originally appeared in the Australian paper The Western Mail in September 1931, and the pattern is available for free.

This is the Alannah Slip Stitch Hat, which was designed by Kristi Founds, and is available for $6(USD). I love the drape and the detail around the brim.

This is the Felted Fedoras are Fun pattern, designed by Kristi Holaas, and it's available for $5.50(USD). The fedora/trilby style is very popular right now, and you can make this pattern your own by doing it in whatever colour you wish and trimming it to suit your own sense of style.

This the Peacock Tam, by Celeste Young, and with my raging Art Nouveau fetish I immediately fell in love with it when I first happened across it some months back. This pattern was published in Knits of a Feather: 20 Stylish Knits Inspired by Birds in Nature.

This is the Slouchy Beret pattern. One can't not notice the vibrant stripes. It's a Noro Magazine pattern designed by Rachel Maurer, and it's available for $5(USD).

This is the very fetching Newsboy Hat Hannah, designed by Heidi Hennessey. It's available for $6(USD).

So many of the hats on Ravelry are unisex in style. When I'd picked out all the other patterns in this post and found they were all for women, I searched specifically for hats for men and came up with just this one. This is the Dublin Cap. It was designed by Cheryl Andrews and is available for $5(USD).

Here's another felted hat, this time in a vintage style based on the hats of the 1930s and 1940s. The Evelyn Tilt Hat, designed by Jennifer Tallapaneni, is available for $3.75(USD).

After that last distinctively vintage hat, here's a very modern hat, the Ecliptic pattern, designed by Jennifer Elaine. It's a free pattern.

When I was selecting hat patterns for this post, I ruled out many I had initially liked on the basis of how some of the pictures looked once I clicked into the pattern page. In many cases the pattern had a cute thumbnail shot but it turned out that the hat didn't look nearly as good when photographed from other angles. Do be sure to check out whatever pictures are available when choosing a hat pattern. Everyone's going to see you and the hat from all sides rather than at one carefully staged angle. This Sprig Cloche hat, designed by Alana Dakos, is a simple yet distinctive affair that does show well in a holistic viewing. It's available for $6(USD).

I haven't included too many caps in this post, because although caps are warm and wearable, they seldom have much style and I was looking specifically for hats with style. But I had to include this Frostfangs Hat pattern because it was irresistibly eye catching. It was designed by Liz Smith and is available for $3(USD).

Tams really lend themselves to some gorgeously intricate patterning because of their flat top surface. This is the Eomer Shield Tam, designed by KYMaggie based on one of JRR Tolkien's unused drawings for the Lord of the Rings series, and it's available for $4(USD).

The Sunflower Medallion Beret, designed by Anna Al, appears in Vogue® Knitting: The Ultimate Hat Book. That little twist-tied band just adds so much.

Trimming often makes or breaks a hat. Here's a very simple cloche hat made by the addition of an effective bow. This is the Beau Cloche design, by Natalie Larson. It's available for $4.49(USD).

Here's another newsboy cap style, this time with a band and buckle. This Newsboy design, by Sylvie Rasch, is available for €5.95(EUR). The newsboy style can be worn by everyone but always strikes me as a style that is especially cute on women.

The Annie Hat pattern, designed by Kristina McGowan, was inspired by the hat Diane Keaton wears in Annie Hall and uses pipe cleaners to maintain its shape. The pattern was published in Modern Top-Down Knitting: Sweaters, Dresses, Skirts & Accessories Inspired by the Techniques of Barbara G. Walker.

The Elfunny Beret, designed by FadenStille, has been made 171 times by Ravelry users, and it's easy to see why. It's easily wearable and looks good on everyone, and is also a free download.

Another beautiful tam. There were so many I wanted to include in this post and regretfully had to decide against to keep the post to a reasonable length. This one is the Béret généreux, by Isabelle Allard, and it's a free download.

The Adele Felted Hat pattern, by Laurie Pribbeno, is available for $4(USD). It's really the colour and the added brooch that make this one. Making a hat of this style might be a good use for any vintage/inherited brooches you've got lying around and never wear.

This is the Tiima pattern, designed by Lilja Palmgren and available for €4.00(EUR), and it's another example of the trimming adding a lot. The stitchwork on this cap is very pretty, but I looked at countless textured caps during my research for this post and chose this one because the simple eyelet ribbon trimming adds so much.

This 1940s Patons pattern for an angora hat and scarf set, originally published in Patons booklet #42, Styles by Beehive in Angora, isn't readily available, but I'm including it for your interest and inspiration. It looks nothing like any contemporary hat I've seen and yet I think it's quite wearable and attractive for today. I did find a couple of copies available online in a quick search, so if you really love it you can probably manage to get your hands on a copy.

Knit Simple Fall 2014: A Review

Knit Simple has posted the preview of their Fall 2014 issue. Let's have a look, shall we?

We begin with a striped capelet. It's a cute and useful little piece.

A baseball shirt-styled sweater. It's not bad. More sophisticated colour choices would elevate it.

Ribbed fingerless gloves, trimmed with a second colour. I like these, and that mustard and lavender colour combination is one I would never have thought of but that actually works surprisingly well.

A simple garter stitch cowl. This isn't bad, though I don't think I'd go with that colour blocked effect. A single colour for the body and a second colour for the edging would be fine.

This pullover has a definite "shrunk in the wash" look. The whole thing looks weirdly askew and misshapen.

A hood with an attached cowl. Not even this beautiful model can lend this piece any chic. Fun fur yarn is always a challenge as a design element, because it tends to cheapen whatever item it's on, but it definitely doesn't belong with the other yarn used here. Mohair would have been a better choice for the trim, if this piece must be trimmed. I'd be inclined to go with a single beautiful yarn. Query: What's the term for a hood with an attached cowl? Is it a howl?

The fun fur has broken out again, but here it works fairly well. These ribbed fingerless gloves look fun and girly.

Nice afghan with a great colour and nice texture. That is, if this is as I think and hope and pray, an afghan rather than a monster-sized cowl.

Simple crocheted cushions. These aren't exactly marvels of design or even interesting, but are adequate: they'll be comfy and durable, they'll make nice bright accent pieces for your couch or chairs, and they'll go with most decor styles.

This cowl is... okay. I would want a cowl that is less bulky and lies more gracefully and looks more sophisticated than this, but this one will knit up very quickly and has some texture and will keep you warm, so basically it's doing its job as a cowl pattern.

Knitted dishcloths. I hate knitted dishcloths as they get all disgustingly gunked up with soggy bits of food, as opposed to a regular old J-cloth which doesn't hold food and rinses quite clean under the tap, but I know some people love knitted dishcloths. So I'll just say if you are or are knitting for one of those people who are Team Knitted Dishcloths, these are a good way to practice some different stitches.

I like these knitted throw pillows. They look ever so comfortable and they have more style than the crocheted ones above.

I'm pretty sure this is a colour block scarf rather than two scarves worn together. If it's the colour block scarf, I like it. The two scarf idea wouldn't work so well as few people are going to want to bother wearing two scarves at once.

Classic pair of fingerless gloves.

Very respectable looking cowl.

Basic shaker knit cap.

Ribbed men's sweater with leather shoulder patches. I actually like the leather-patched look in men's clothing, but I don't think I care for this particular example. It's a little too homemade looking for a design element that usually upgrades a look.

Nice classic vest, and this model looks as though he's been properly coached on how to hold the knitting needles. (If he actually knows how to knit, that's even better.)





A collection of fairly basic knitted hats. Nothing really stand out as especially attractive, but if they were done in a beautiful yarn in your favourite colour, they'd look fine.





A collection of crocheted hats. These all look kind of amateurish and as though they were made by someone who wasn't even using a pattern, except the rust tam with the green trim at the bottom, which has some style and looks as though it were designed by a professional.

Hmm, a cowl with little rosettes on it. I actually like this. It's cute and fun, though I do think it belongs on someone under 25.

This striped skirt looks like it's been fashioned out of a thrift shop sweater by someone who is on a 'shroom trip and who will bitterly regret it when she comes down. It's hideous and the shape is remarkably unflattering.

Classic cabled pullover. Can't find a fault with this one.

Basic cabled cap anyone could wear.

This drape front sweater isn't bad on its own, but this style does tend to be hard to wear and this piece is likely to prove unflattering on most women.

Basic bandeau. If you want to knit yourself a bandeau, I'd look further for a more interesting and attractive one.

Very simple gray and white sweater. It's not bad, but I'd neaten up the fit a little as this one is going to look a little dumpy on.

Work sock boot toppers. These aren't bad, for boot toppers. They at least look convincingly like the top of a knee sock, which is how boot toppers work best. I'm afraid I am boot topper-ist.





A layette with sock, cap, blanket, and a sweater and a jacket pattern. There are more interesting baby layette patterns out there but this one has a certain sturdy, practical appeal and is an easy knit.





These are cute in their way, but if I were to make a bunny I'd want to make a bunny that was shaped like a bunny rather than one that was shaped like a sock with ears attached. However, if you make one of these for a baby, said baby will be perfectly happy with it.

I wouldn't call this issue terrible, but I will say it's lacklustre. The patterns were generally very plain and basic. I realize I'm not Knit Simple's demographic as I'm advanced knitter and these are easy knitting patterns intended for beginning knitters, but beginning knitters deserve projects that are not only easy but also attractive and interesting, and it's possible for knitwear designs to be all three. I'm hoping the Knit Simple editors will set the bar a little higher in future.

Hare Skins

This is a stop animation video for the song "Les peaux de lièvres" ("Hare Skins") by the former French-Canadian indie pop band Tricot Machine ("Knitting Machine"). Those who made this video used an incredible 720 separate pieces of intarsia to tell the story of two lovers spending an evening outside during a snowfall, and the characters depicted in the video actually resemble Tricot Machine members Catherine Leduc and Matthieu Beaumont. The song title itself refers to an old St. Lawrence River coast expression, used when there's a heavy wet snow, "it's snowing rabbit/hare skins/pelts", and this video features subtitles that contain both the French lyrics and an English translation of them.