07 October 2012

Hat Season

After two mornings of Omaha's first hard freezes of the season, my thoughts have turned to keeping warm. I'm not a fan of being hot (ask Dave who can mimic me so well. "I don't like to sweat!") so I have a little extra bounce to my step. There is a cowl around my neck as I write, and I've been locating all my mittens and gloves. I also come across two lovely hat patterns.

The first is Autumn Tam designed by Sandy Blue for Simply Shetland:



This is a gorgeous, traditional tam, knit in a fingering weight Shetland sheep yarn, creating a warm yet light hat. The pattern, as written, calls for 10 colors of Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift. Multiple tams can be knit from all that yarn. I'm planning on sharing with some friends.

The second hat is the Sluggy Bonnet by Tanis Gray for Juniper Moon Farm:



We may have had a horridly hot and dry summer, but sure as the sun will rise tomorrow (it's not yet December 21, 2012) the winds will be howling down the road in a few weeks. Just as I was thinking that I needed to protect my ears I located this cute worsted-weight earflap hat. Not only does the Sluggy Bonnet look warm and not too difficult to knit, but it's a FREE pattern.

Happy Fall knitting!