Hats Off (Or Should that Be On?) for Warmth

I have been feeling the desire to knit a lot of hats lately, which is kind of funny because I don’t wear hats all that often. I usually only wear mine when my daughter makes me go out and play in the snow, or the cold, but I have to know I’m going to be outside for more than a couple of minutes to make it worth my while.

Maybe I need some prettier hats (though I do really love the funky flat hat I wear most of the time) to encourage me to keep my head warm. Maybe you do, too. Here are some projects to help all of us out.

The Dibdin hat by Amanda Keep Williams for Berroco uses a fuzzy and warm mohair/merino blend yarn and a relatively easy openwork pattern with a sort of cloche shape. Classic and pretty. Gyr from Berroco (this one is by Brenda York) is an earflap hat with a subtle textured stitch pattern.

Tahki Yarns has a great hat and scarf combo (PDF) by Teresa Chorzepa that uses a casual cable pattern and two strands of yarn held together for extra warmth. For the hat the cable is worked sideways in a band, from which stitches are picked up to form the top of the hat. Their Loretta Hat, worked in a fur-like yarn, is easy but also really dramatic.

Plymouth Yarns has a great little mistake rib hat (PDF) worked in super cozy Baby Alpaca Grande that is sure to keep even the coolest head warm. I actually have a bit of this yarn left over from a sweater I knit so I may be adding this one to my list soon.

The Ombre Pom Pom Beanie from Things We Do is super cute and easy, and a great way to use up bits of bulky yarn you might have lying around.

Mirasol’s Llama Una hat is a pretty two-color hat with a really simple colorwork pattern that makes the hat that much warmer. I love this color combination, too.

Have you knit any hats lately? I’d love to hear about it!

Looking for more knitted beanie patterns for Babies? Check these out on Etsy.

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork.

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn.

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look.

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me.

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round.

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.

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