Book Review: Knit Hats with Woolly Wormhead

April 28, 2022 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

Woolly Wormhead is known for her fun and colorful hat knitting patterns, and 22 of her designs are collected in Knit Hats with Woolly Wormhead.

The patterns are arranged by size/gender: 5 for kids, 5 for men and 12 for women. But of course women would be happy to wear the “men’s” hats, and some of the women’s hats would be great for guys as well. (Having written books I totally understand needing to have some kind of organizing conventions, but it’s still worth noting a lot of these patterns would be nice for a variety of heads and the patterns all give a wide range of sizes.)

The designs are often not what you’d consider traditional. They’re often worked from side to side rather than top down or bottom up. There’s a lot of colorwork, lace, cables and textured knitting.

But if you’re going to knit hats they might as well be fun, right?

Some of my favorites include Scourie, a side to side colorwork pattern with a sort of leaf-shapes design; Chevron, a beanie with a zig-zag textured stitch; and Wychavon, a Garter Stitch hat with a brim that folds up and is held in place with buttons.

You can check out all the projects on Ravelry.

Hats are fun to knit because they don’t take a lot of yarn or time and are a great way to play with new techniques. You will definitely find some new to you options in this book and have a good time keeping everyone’s head warm.

About the book: 136 pages, 22 patterns, paperback. Published July 2021 by Stackpole Books. Suggested retail $24.95.

Next Pattern:

Have you read?

Learning to Knit? Try a Garter Stitch Washcloth

I used to always teach people how to knit by giving them bulky yarn, teach the knit cast on and have them knit a scarf (like this garter stitch scarf). That’s still a great first project, but I acknowledge people might get bored knitting all that garter stitch before they can say they’ve finished their first knitting project. Plus they might not want to wear something that comes out a little wonky, as first knitting projects often do.

These days I’m more likely to recommend a garter stitch washcloth to a new knitter.

Washcloths are usually made with medium weight cotton yarn, which is one of the easiest yarns to find at big box stores and craft stores, and it’s usually inexpensive and comes in lots of fun colors. You only need one ball of yarn and one pair of needles to make one, so there’s not a lot of outlay in terms of supplies.

Everyone can use washcloths, and even if you drop stitches, add stitches, have weird tension issues or all of the above, it will still work as a washcloth. And you can keep that first thing you made to see how much progress you make in just a couple of projects.

And if you still want more garter stitch when it’s done, you can move on to a scarf (or even a sampler scarf if you want to try some new stitches).

That post linked above is a great one for a brand new knitter or someone who just needs a refresher, because it walks you through everything you need to know how to do to make it. There’s also a full video tutorial for people who would rather see moving images rather than still pictures.

What was the first thing you made when you learned to knit? Or if you’ve taught someone to knit, what first project did you give them? I’d love to hear about it!

Easy Washcloth Knitting Patterns

Knit a Sweet Ducky Washcloth

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