Spirally silky goodness
I’ve been jonesing for an instant-gratification project JUST FOR ME for some time, and this weekend I finally found it. Every where I go I’m seeing people bundled in their oh-so-cute Peruvian woolly ear flap hats (a.k.a. Chullos), coveting them but knowing it would be a shame to buy one when I could knit something just as cute if not better (and you just know that the people making those hats are likely not earning a fair wage for them). Not to mention I have a copious stash of luxurious yarns to choose from.
Brim detail
As it turns out, what resulted in my search for the perfect project looks nothing at all like those ubiquitous hats, but I am totally alright with that. Because who wants to look like everyone else?
I was inspired by Not an Artist’s “Another Green Hat” in which she (Michelle) used up a super sexy but tiny quantity of Artyarns Beaded Silk she had gotten at the very first Knitty Yarn Roundtable (a.k.a Yarn Tasting). I too had gone home from that event with some Beaded Silk, but in a peachy-mauve-greenish colourway, with gold beads and gold thread. Like Not an Artist’s, its also been sitting in my stash forever. I had originally envisioned it to become Perdita from Knitty, but as it turns out, I had quite a bit of this yarn – much more than I would have needed for Perdita. And a hat is so much more showy!!
Bead detail
I started off expecting to follow Mintyfresh’s design for her Roman Earflap Hat, but making use of the spirally yarn design by Not an Artist. Instead of the needle-size/guage in Mintyfresh’s design I opted to work on 4 mm needles and cast on only 108 stitches, like Michelle’s hat. The textured brim is worked with a double strand of yarn in a stitch pattern from Barbara Walker’s first stitch treasury (a series of books I really need to get my hands on), and then worked for the body and crown of the hat in a single strand of yarn. I had some leftover Dream in Color Classy in Cocoa Kiss from the Baby Yoda Sweater — a perfect colourway to set off the varied colours of the Beaded Silk.
I fully intended to do the earflaps and pom pom but as soon as I tried it on I knew it was perfect without them. And I’ve had nothing but compliments since I started wearing it!
