Knitting

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A Hat Knitting Pattern for Big Hair

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Most knit hats are made for what you might call “standard” sized heads, which don’t account for having a lot of hair. Whether because you have lots of curly hair, wear locs, have braids, etc., you might find that standard hat knitting patterns just don’t fit with your style.

Fatimah Hinds discovered she had this problem, and the Big Hair Much Care hat was born. She says she found that most knit hats are too short to cover her ears once they’ve covered her head, or if they’re meant to be “slouchy” they end up being loose and uncomfortable and just not very warm.

Her design is completely customizable based on what you need for optimal head comfort. The brim is deep, but it’s also worked flat and not seamed so you can wear it open at the back if you need to and it will still keep your ears warm. If you don’t need as much space you can pin the brim together, giving you an opportunity to use a pretty pin or a fun button on your hat.

It can be styled with hair tucked into the hat or not, depending on your preference.

The top of the hat is worked in the round and the pattern has information on how to customize it to fit your hair.

The hat is worked with two strands of fingering weight yarn held double for extra warmth, and can be worked with two colors or using up your leftover yarn from other projects. Or try a DK weight yarn instead if you can get gauge that way.

You can get this pattern from Ravelry.

[Photo: Fatimah Hinds.]

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Add a Little Lace to Your Knitting Patterns

If you’re new to lace knitting or just aren’t sure how to incorporate the technique into garments, check out these tops and sweaters that use lace as a decorative element.

The easiest lace out there is eyelets, and you can practice them plenty with this eyelet covered sweater from Knitcro Addict. It uses light/DK weight yarn and is worked in four pieces knit flat. It’s intended to be a little cropped and a little oversized, and includes sizes XS to XXL in the pattern.

If you’re in parts of the world where it’s getting colder as you read this, the Nora sweater from Bummbul might be a good choice. This is actually a great one for learning lace because it’s worked in super bulky yarn, which makes it easier to see what you’re doing and makes the lace super graphic. This one just comes in one size, with a 42 inch (106) cm bust, but that could fit a variety of people depending on how much ease you like.

Minimi Knit Design has a cute allover lace cardigan worked in one piece from the bottom up. It’s worked in lace weight mohair held double, which maybe isn’t the best for those new to lace (because it can be hard to rip out) but it sure is pretty. Sizes range to fit from 30 to 66 inches/76 to 168 cm bust measurements.

If you’d rather not have lace all over your sweater, you can knit the Lumi sweater from Originally Lovely, which has a chevron lace pattern on the yoke and is otherwise worked in reverse stockinette stitch. (It’s worked inside out so you don’t have to purl every stitch.) The pattern has 9 sizes from XS to 5XL and uses worsted weight yarn.

Or try the super romantic sookie blouse from Trust the mojo (available on Ravelry). This sweet top is started working flat from the bottom up and has a V-neck and I-cord edgings. The sleeves are worked separately in the round, and the pieces are all joined together to work in one piece to finish off the top. It comes in eight sizes and is available in English and French.

You can also pair lacy sleeves with an otherwise plain top, like on the Starflower Wrap from Annelise Driscoll Gingrow. This intermediate pattern makes a wrap sweater with generous lacy sleeves and a double wrap belt. The pattern has nine sizes, from XS to 5XL, and is available for free from Hobbi.