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For the first round of the Variations on a Theme Challenge, MKG knitters worked from the 1898 hat pattern (Ravelry pattern page).
In this post, we look at the many ways knitters added stripes to the pattern. But first, let’s look at a “vanilla” version of this hat, knit by Barbara Rice (babsknits126 on Ravelry), one of many participants who knit a plain hat to learn the pattern before creating their variation.
This hat pattern features a double layer brim/headband with increases and decreases to shape ear flaps; next, stitches are picked up along the top of the headband to form the crown. Barbara knit her version on size 7 needles with Red Heart Super Saver Multis.
Jessica Clifton (jessicalouMN on Ravelry) knit hers with Berroco Vintage in three colors because she didn’t have enough of any one color to finish a whole hat. She says, “What a fun hat to knit!”
Guild President Kathy Lewinski (katbaro on Ravelry), working with Knit Picks Wool of the Andes (black and grey) and Knit Picks City Tweed DK (red and grey), created stripes in the brim by knitting 2 rows in each color. Since the pattern tells you to count the rows in the brim, changing colors like this helps keep count. Kathy also used slip stitches to create a nice border at the top of the brim.
The next hat is one I made (artistnumber91 on Ravelry). Ever since I knit the vertically-stranded-socks by Lorilee Beltman (Ravelry pattern page), I’ve been looking for a place to use her vertical stranding technique, which I think of as a one-stitch intarsia. I decided to put two narrow stripes in the headband portion of this hat, using vertical stranding. For the dark green stitches, I purled on the right side and knit on the wrong side, so the stripes really pop.
Kate Crandall (KateCKnit on Ravelry) added a more elaborate stripe using a Latvian braid as she picked up stitches to form the hat crown. Her main yarn is Aarlan Cristal, a 100% wool, single ply that was left over from a much-loved sweater she made in 1989. The green yarn in the braid was left over from a sweater she just finished.
And the Latvian braid variation in Kate’s version hints at the topic of the next blog post on the Variations on a Theme Challenge: more colorwork beyond stripes. Stay tuned for more!
The Variations on a Theme Challenge will be ongoing throughout the year as we knit for our various service knitting partners.
We hope you will join along!