… As I (and many of my friends) have suddenly gone mad knitting and crocheting scarves, gloves, hats and other cosy accessories. My obsession at the moment seems to be hats. I knitted two over the last weekend and have plans for three more. I also seem to have fixated on two pattern books, Whimsical Little Knits 1 and 2. Both of which have a number of hat patterns – Cairn, Icing Swirl Hat and Ishbel Beret in WLK1, and Ripley and Snapdragon Tam in WLK2.

Hat #1 Snapdragon Tam, WLK2

Many, many cables but intuitive and fun to knit. I used some leftover Debbie Bliss Donegal Tweed in a lovely rich purple shade. I also added a crochet reinforcement to the brim to help it keep its shape. This is a great idea which I picked up from the Yarn Harlot’s blog a few years ago and much easier that finding elastic!

Hat #2 Ripley, WLK2

A super slouchy hat in Rowan Cocoon. Loved knitting this, only took about 4 hours. Quite a clever design too, integrated pleats mean that it really does slouch in an attractive manner.

On the Needles just now is:

Hat #3 Woolly Wormhead’s Mystery KAL Hat in Drops Merino Extra Fine (Nordsjøen).

And currently planned are:

Hat #4 Icing Swirl Hat, WLK1 in New Lanark Aran (Pebble).

Hat #5 Ishbel Beret, WLK1 in Malabrigo Sock (Playa).