Beinn Hat for Terri

Blue Beinn Hat (for Terri)

Pattern/Technique: Beinn Hat by Luise O’Neill

Modifications: Made mods based on notes from https://www.ravelry.com/projects/shebeest/beinn-hat

  • CO 108 sts since the Illimani Amelie I used is a bit thicker than a standard worsted weight

  • Knit 10 repeats before starting crown shaping

    • The pattern specifies knitting repeats until the hat is 7.75”, but my 9th repeat had me at 7.25” and 10th was just over 8”. Given I was skipping 2 sets of crown decreases the bit of extra length actually worked out quite well.

Materials: US 5 16” circular needle (Clover Takumi bamboo since I was traveling and didn’t have my regular needles at hand) + cable needle

1 skein (+2 yds) Illimani Amelie in ZL62 (denim blue)

New skills: n/a

Lessons/Notes: This fit my mom really well—upon seeing it, my dad tried it on and requested one of his own too (so it goes). For his, I’ll cast on more stitches (116 or 124) and knit the same number of repeats to accommodate his larger head circumference.

What I'd do differently: n/a

Care: Hand wash, dry flat and block to desired shape

Merge Hat

Pattern/Technique: Merge Hat by Emily Greene from Making: Intricate, size 17” long brim version

Modifications: none

Materials: 2 skeins Blue Sky Fibers Woolstok in Loon Lake

US2 & US3 16” circular knitting needles, US3 DPNs

New skills: Tubular cast on & transitioning to 2x2 ribbing

Lessons/Notes: The pattern recommended 3-5” negative ease, but the person I knit this for tends to stretch ribbed hats out while wearing them, so I chose a size that would give 7” negative ease. The final product fits them* well and the stretch really gives the merged ribs a chance to shine.

*and my 23” head ;)

I have a really hard time counting stitches in a tubular cast on, so next time I'll place a marker every 10 stitches to make my life easier. I also had a hard time figuring out if the cast on stitches were twisted, so I joined in the round after knitting my first row.

I accidentally repeated the 2x2 ribbing section one extra time (until row 25 instead of row 24 as specified), so I knit one less repeat of the next 4x4 ribbing section such that I'd have the same total number of rows before starting my decreases.

What I'd do differently: Tubular cast on requires a ton of close attention, and in the

Care: Hand wash, dry flat