Dread hat

Just as Summer-like heat is starting to creep in to my West-facing sewing room, I bring you my most recent knitting project! I tried to think of the right word to describe - tam, beanie, hat, tube? Not sure, but come next Winter I think it'll do the job of keeping my head warm and my dreads out of my face!

I used a pattern called Brown and blue hat from Jane Brocket's book The Gentle Art of Knitting.



I love Jane's books which also include The Gentle Art of Quilt-Making and my favourite The Gentle Art of Domesticity.

I started this project in my final knitting class at Tangled Yarns. I used a gorgeous rich red Peruvian Highland wool (100g ball of Cascade 220 in Ruby by Cascade Yarns).

It's meant to close at the top like a beanie, but I was running out of wool. It sat unfinished for weeks while I sewed up a storm. In the end I left off the last seventeen rows and sewed up the main seam, leaving it an open "tube". Probably simpler in the end, as I would have found it tricky to adapt the pattern to accommodate my dreads!





Needless to say it didn't stay on for long! It is now nestled in my Winter woollies drawer waiting for next year!