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The Story:
Snow, snow and more snow. That's how winter in Lowell has been so far and it seems appropriate that I am working on this text for my Duchess Starfish Hat during a Nor’easter. After all, I designed this hat for my walks to work during the multiple snow storms we've had this season and the more that are sure to come!
I love hats, but I have bangs. This means that once I put a hat on, it must stay on or I’m walking around with my bangs plastered to my forehead. I thought that the solution was a jacket with a hood, but I found that I had to hold it on when it gets windy. I usually have too much to carry on my walk to work to make this easy.
I knew that there had to be a hat that would keep the snow off my head without leaving my hair a complete disaster. A beret seemed promising, even though it's not entirely my favorite look, I liked the idea of a band that was tight to the head to keep the hat on and so I kept that. Then I made the rest of the hat floppy and vented it with a lace pattern. Double wrapping the yarn overs makes for larger holes in the pattern. I worked with the top for awhile trying to avoid the pancake shape of a beret. I chose the version here because I like the way the top puckers: it reminds me of a starfish.
So, here’s my hat, I hope that you like it!
The Yarn:
Duchess — 40% merino, 28% viscose, 10% cashmere, 7% angora, 15% nylon
I decided to knit this hat in Duchess, because right now, I want to knit everything in Duchess. This yarn has many great qualities—the yarn is soft and lovely to knit with and to wear, yet its firm twist prevents it from pilling; the gauge is 3.5 stitches to the inch which makes for quick knitting; and it's multi-plied, round structure shows off stitch patterns. It comes in a great color range too!
Where to buy Duchess.
The Stitches:
Sometimes a single yarn over stitch just isn't enough—the hole it makes is too small for the look we want. The solution is to work a double yarn over in place of a single one. Of course, this adds an extra stitch, so it's important to drop that extra yarn over on the next row. This hat design uses double yarn overs to make larger holes in the vine pattern. If you'd prefer smaller holes, try working single yarn overs instead.
Learn how to work double yarn overs.
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