Project Notebook: Insta-Hat

Here’s another fun project I picked up from spending way too much time on Instagram (I’d love you to follow me there, if you want!). Just after Christmas, Lee Meredith, also known as leethalknits, released a mystery knitalong project known as the Insta-hat.

The pattern uses bulky yarn and strategically slanted decreases paired with yarn overs to make a sort of zigzag texture across the hat.

It offers three sizes depending on the amount of slouch you want.

I went wild on this one and did not knit a gauge swatch (gasp!) and didn’t use the size needles the pattern called for (double gasp!) and it still came out just fine. Knitting is magical sometimes.

I knit the medium size on size 11 needles, and it’s not all that slouchy though it is a little long. I sometimes fold the brim up when I wear it for extra warmth and less slouch.

You can find the links for each step of the pattern — there are only four and it took me less than a day to knit — linked on Ravelry.

Did you knit an Insta-hat or would you like to? I’d love to hear about it!

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Santa and Saint Nicholas generally get all the good press, but Central European kids know you don’t want to just be good so you get presents from St. Nicholas; you also want to avoid the ire of Krampus. (He’s depicted as a human-like figure with horns and usually hairy or furry who gives birch rods instead of gifts to kids who are bad.)

If you’re the type to embrace the naughty side (or you just want to scare the children into good behavior over the holidays), maybe you’ll want to knit a Krampus sweater.

This one, from Sofie Amalie Laulund, is a top down circular yoke sweater with Krampus faces at the top and cavorting Krampuses further down the body, with some traditional Scandinavian snowflakes thrown in for fun.

Because of the large motifs there’s not a lot of room for adjusting the fit, but it is available in five sizes (the Ravelry page doesn’t say what the sizing is, and it says its worked with no ease but the photo looks like the sweater has a bit of positive ease, so if you decide to make this one just check the measurements and your own comfort level for ease when picking a size).

It also uses five colors, but there’s very little red and brown so you can probably use scrap yarn for those parts. It calls for DK weight yarn. You’ll want a background color that helps the creatures stand out. You could also work the snowflake bands in different colors if you want to mix it up.

The pattern is available in both English and Danish, and you can find it on Ravelry. This is the designer’s first pattern, which kudos to them because it’s such an ambitious (and fun!) project I’m happy to add to my collection of whimsy-filled knits.

[Photo: Sofie Amalie Laulund]

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