Interweave Knits, Fall 2015 issue is on the shelves of all yarn shops and book stores around the world.
Lisa Shroyer, the editor of this and Knit.Purl magazines made her last issues before moving up the ladder at F+W. Well done, Lisa!
My Bath Abbey Hat and the article Advanced Approaches to Slip-Stitch Colorwork are included in this issue. I am very excited to see my design as part of such a beautiful collection.
When I was writing the article, I made many more swatches than I needed because I could not stop. Did I mention that I love slip-stitch patterns? 🙂 The more I work with them, the more ways I see how to change the pattern and always end up being surprised of the practically complete transformation of the fabric. There is an exercise in The Art of Slip-Stitch Knitting for re-engineering a stitch pattern. Fascinating! The material in the article pertains to making the Bath Abbey hat, so I talk about working slip-stitch colorwork with cables and shaping there.
The hat features three different slip-stitch patterns in two colors, creating a depth of texture and pattern.
Finished Size 20¼ (21, 22¼)” brim circumference and 9¾” tall. Hat shown measures 20¼”.
Yarn Blue Sky Alpacas Extra (55% baby alpaca, 45% merino wool; 218 yd [199 m]/5 1/3 oz [150 g]): #3520 shale (A) and #3511 carmine (B), 1 skein each.
Needles Band—size 6 (4 mm): 16″ circular (cir). Body—size 8 (5 mm): 16″ cir and set of double-pointed (dpn). Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.
Notions Marker (m); cable needle (cn); tapestry needle.
Gauge 22 sts and 36 rnds = 4″ in Dunes patt on larger needle.
It can be worn by both men and women. Here are some photos of the same hat on my model Katy.
It all started with this swatch that I made for my class at Madrona Fiber Festival. I got so many oohs and aahs for it that I had to make something with it. A hat was the obvious choice, I thought.
My submission for the magazine included this sketch. I stayed very close to it, don’t you think?
I had to make my mind about the crown and exact look of the band, so I swatched separately the band (you see that my stitches are still on the needle) and made a wedge of a hat. The photo below shows that I placed them both on the head of a mannequin to get a good comprehension of how the hat will look. Sorry for this very bad photo. I did not care about the quality of it, just wanted to see the design.
On the real hat I changed the band a little bit. Here I have too much of red color and it is overwhelming.
It was a fun design. New yarn from Blue Sky Alpacas called Extra is perfect for hats. It has softness and the body. I used colors Shale and Carmine. Highly recommend this yarn.
And I sent it off to the magazine along with the pattern for 3 sizes. I was surprised to see the edits with the photo of a man wearing this hat, but actually, I think it looks good on the model. The choice of colors can make a difference in the look as well. The texture of this hat is what matters the most. I guess it reminded editors about a very historical church in England and they called it Bath Abbey Hat.
Read my article for the tutorial on working through this stitch pattern without using the cable needle and just on slip stitch in general. Let me know if you have any questions about this hat or the article.
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