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Advice for Knitting When You Have Natural Hair

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If you’re a person of color with natural hair, something you need to think about when knitting hats is the fiber content of the yarn used, because the yarns typically called for — think wool and other animal fibers — aren’t great when paired with natural hair.

That’s because the scales on animal fibers tend to be grabby, which can damage natural hair. Plant-based fibers suck up moisture, which is the last thing you want when you’ve worked so hard to get moisture into your hair.

Yolanda McNair did a lot of research into the qualities of different natural and human-made fibers to determine what might be best for her natural hair, and she share the results over on Knit’s All Folks.

You’ll have to click over to find out the best fibers to choose and her other tips and suggestions for knitting for natural hair. If you have any other tips I’d love to hear them!

[Photo: Knit’s All Folks.]

 

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Comments

  1. Hello! While I appreciate you linking to my website, please rethink the language you use here. Your phrasing “Most of us probably don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the fiber we use to knit hats in terms of how it will react with our hair,” – implies that “most” of the knitters who might read this blog are white – and that most knitters aren’t people of color. It (hopefully) unintentionally excludes the POC I hope to promote on my website.

  2. You’re right, of course, and yes, it was completely unintentional on my part to be exclusive. I should have said as a white woman it isn’t something I have to think about. Thanks for the kind reminder to choose my words more thoughtfully.

Have you read?

Knit and Felt Some Tabi Style Slippers

The felted slipper craze that began last year doesn’t seem like it’s fading away. The Sailor Slippers, often striped knit and felted slippers made with super bulky yarn, because the project of the moment late last year (check out more knit slipper options in this post all about sailor slippers) and they’re still consistently popular with knitters.

Which makes sense because they are fun and fast to knit, and seeing them go from this giant thing to something that actually fits a foot feels a little magical. 

I have always loved felting (in fact my first book was about felting knitting) and it’s always fun for me to see people rediscover this technique. 

If you’ve knit enough plain slippers to fit all the feet you know, maybe it’s time to stitch up some tabi style slippers instead. 

Maymade Knits has designed these cute tabi ballerina slippers, made with bulky yarn and felted. They’re worked flat at first and then in rounds, and are available in 10 EU sizes (the Internet tells me add 31 to your American shoe size to get your EU size). The designer says the slippers are meant to have a close fit and you should choose a size a little smaller than your foot for the ideal fit. 

The pattern includes a video tutorial along with the written pattern. 

You can grab this pattern on Ravelry. The same designer has her own version of the striped felted slipper as well, called Sarah’s Striped Slippers. These are worked in super bulky yarn and have a contrasting foot and a striped body. These are knit flat and seamed and there are 7 size options available. Check that pattern out here if you’re looking for a more traditional slipper shape. They also look roomier so you can wear them with socks if you like. 

[Photo: Maymade Knits]