Last year (or has it been longer already?) when I visited my brother and his family, I promised to make him a hat. A hat with colourwork, possible blue, grey, white, and/or black. Of course I still had a knitting queue, and I was very into spinning for a long time, so the hat got postponed regularly.
But recently I decided to get on with it and knit something already. I went surfing on Ravelry to see if there was a pattern that resonated. And yes, I found a hat that looked perfect for my brother. It was a bit more colourful than what he wanted, but that could be changed easily. It was the Vairisle pattern.
I was especially fond of the brim that gets wider over the ears through the use of short rows.
When I asked my brother about colour preferences, he was still fond of blue and grey, but when he saw the photo of the hat, he suggested that it could be great in black and white too. I agreed, maybe even with some grey mixed in… So when I visited a good friend a few weeks ago I also visited the LYS Pera & Pasha to buy some Lang Yarns. I find it easier to find a good combination in real life than by shopping online.
It’s not black and white, more like light, medium, and dark grey. But I think that the combination works well, it almost looks like undyed yarns.
The pattern is written for two yarns: one solid and one variegated, to suggest proper Fair Isle knitting with multiple colours. I decided to use the medium grey as my main colour for the brim. I knitted one row medium, one row dark, one row medium, one row light, etc. When the pattern started, I used two colours at a time and regularly changed them around to highlight the pattern. If I knit with two colours, I hold one thread in each hand. My tension is looser in my left hand, so I held my contrast colour in my left hand whenever possible.
Because I knitted with three colours, I had to weave in many ends. But I really like the end result. The combination is balanced. It is just the shape that does not seem entirely finished… I know! It needs a pompom!
I am glad that my brother agrees that the pompom is necessary. But in case he wants to remove it, I attached it in such a way that you can easily take it off.
This was a fun and quick knit! I hope that the hat will fit his head.
