Knit a Super Cozy Hat

I’ve talked before about how I don’t love wearing hats, but I will admit they’re fun and satisfying to knit. And honestly if I went outside more when it’s cold (I try not to whenever possible) I would probably like wearing hats more.

And if the hat happens to include a touch of mohair for even more warmth and coziness, that might just be the thing to get me over not liking to wear hats.

The Cheslie Toque from Kiyomi Burgin uses a strand of worsted weight yarn along with mohair, which doesn’t change the gauge that much but makes the hat warmer and gives it a bit of a halo. But it’s not too much to obscure the pretty eyelet pattern that runs up the hat in panels.

This hat is worked from the bottom up and has a fold over, ribbed brim. It comes in three sizes (which I would say are probably for teens, adult small and adult large) and is meant to be worn with 2 to 5 inches of negative ease to give you a snug fit and to help open up the eyelet pattern.

If you don’t like the mohair or just don’t have any on hand, you can use a worsted weight yarn by itself, just make sure to check your gauge before you get started.

The pattern is available on Ravelry.

Looking for more fun hat patterns to knit? Here is a collection of worsted weight hat knitting patterns that are perfect to make with leftovers from other projects. I also recently shared a bunch of hat knitting patterns for fall, and if you’ve never knit a hat before you can start with these flat hat knitting patterns that don’t require working in the round (and sometimes don’t need any shaping at all!).

[Photo: Kiyomi Burgin]

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Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

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