Weekend Hats.

Knitted hats are wonderfully useful things. For the knitter, they work on several levels. We often recommend a hat as a second or third project for beginners, as they give the relatively new knitter the opportunity to learn a few new skills: decreasing and working in the round, both with a circular needle and double pointed needles. For more experienced knitters, hats are wonderfully small canvases on which to play with different kinds of designs, from colorwork to cables to lace. Designer, innovator, and all-around knitting heroine Elizabeth Zimmermann often suggested using a hat as a swatch for a bigger project, so that one might find out their honest-to-goodness in-the-round gauge for that project. Another thing about knitted hats is that they make great gifts. They are substantial and happily received, yet small enough that the knitter can give one away without feeling too sad to see them go. 

This week, we got a new collection of hat patterns which show off all the fine qualities of knitted hats. Weekend Hats is compiled by Cecily Glowik MacDonald and Melissa LaBarre, authors of last year's New England Knits, and features patterns from a bunch of other great designers, including Jared Flood, Mary Jane Mucklestone, Kate Gagnon Osborn, and Kirsten Kapur. Here's a peek inside:

All three of these hats were made with yarns that we carry, by the way--Berroco Ultra Alpaca, Malabrigo Worsted, and Schoppel-Wolle Crazy Zauberball, respectively. Come by the shop for more hat inspiration!