Windward

In the mad rush to finish my Christmas knitting, I almost overlooked my cousin’s teenaged daughter, C. But how could I forget the girl “with a passion for hats”? I was going to knock out a pair of last-minute wristwarmers, but then I came upon the Cherry Strudel I knitted but never actually wore – perfect! So it was wrapped and despatched and I relaxed.

When I got back from Beauly, I rang my mother, whose first words were: “What was this hat like that you knit for C.?” My mother’s sister, C’s grandmother, had apparently rung my mother to sing the praises of Strudel, and to ask if I would knit one for her! Now, C. is 16… but Aunty J. is 86! Talk about cross-generational appeal! So I have sent off some wool samples to my aged Aunt and await her decision on colour.

Meanwhile, in a whirl of Wormhead-fever, I cast on for Windward from the same Woolly Wormhead book,“Going Straight”. This was one of the patterns which convinced me to buy the book. I immediately imagined wearing it on a breezy beach. A little bit rasta-girl, with all my hair stuffed inside and a batik top? So apologies for the parka-styling... it is January after all!

With a Scottish summer in mind, I chose this Sublime Yarns Soya Cotton DK. It is 50/50 soya/cotton and has a lovely cool “handle”. Unlike pure cotton, it is fairly lightweight and drapes well – good for the slouchy shape of this hat. My only worry is that this yarn has very little “memory” and it may stretch and fall off after one wearing. My back-up plan is to stitch a band of narrow elastic under one of the stocking-stitch “stripes” near the front as a sort of “hat-bra”.

I discovered that this hat needs to be worn fairly far forward on the head, using the lace band as a "fringe". After a comment from FL which included the word "dowdy" (what a cheek! I was flabbergasted!), I decided to sew three toning seed beads to the point of each picot, to help weight them down and for a touch of bling. I really wanted to add a few tiny shells here and there, in homage to dreadlocked style… but I couldn't find the bag of shells, so beads it is! Never under-estimate how long it takes to sew three seed beads on each picot point - I was definitely frazzled by the time I finished!

FL suggested threading coral ribbon through the lacey front section. I can see what he is getting at - but it would be a bit too "blowsy country milkmaid" for me. The picot edge is quite girly enough, thanks!

Stats: Windward by Woolly Wormhead. 100g of Sublime Yarns Soya Cotton on 3.75mm needles in Indigo colourway. I made the Large size to allow for my long hair, but only did 8 repeats of the "slice" instead of 9, as I didn't need the extra circumference.