Northdale Hats

Matching fair isle hats for my father and grandfather

Hello, everyone! Today I’m diving into two hats I made and gifted to my family for Christmas this year. First up, we have the Northdale Hats. I loved the colorwork pattern in these and knew my dad and grandpa would appreciate the warmth stranded knitting brings.

I found this pattern on Ravelry and just had to make some. This pattern is by Gudrun Johnston, is incredibly well written, and knits up quick. Of all the colorwork hats I made for Christmas this year, these two went the fastest, despite looking the hardest and most intricate. All colorwork in this hat is provided in the pattern as charts and it is solely two-color work within each row.

(As a quick note, I am trying to update my Ravelry project page, and I recently added these hats to my finished projects. Feel free to friend me on Ravelry!)

I have been trying to dip my toes into fair isle knitting a bit more, and these hats were the perfect excuse for some digestible colorwork. I finally mastered the crown decrease shaping that gave me such a problem in my 20th anniversary fair isle hat. This decrease is made by slipping two stitches knit-wise, knitting one, and then passing the two slipped stitches over the knit stitch. I think it was more of a conceptual road block for me than a technical one, but nevertheless, I figured it out, and I am overjoyed with how clean and neat the crown shaping looks.

When choosing yarn for these hats, I went with a different selection of yarn than listed in the pattern. For the blue hat, I used Cascade 220 in Atlantic, Smoke Blue, and Grey. For the green and brown hat – which I’ve dubbed the “pistachio hat” – I used Cascade 220 Superwash in rich brown, and Cascade 220 in antiqued heather (white) and turtle (green). I have really enjoyed using Cascade 220 in many of my recent projects. It has fantastic stitch definition, blocks beautifully, and is a warm 100% wool.

I blocked both of these hats with my usual Eucalan and tepid water concoction. The colors just blend together so well after blocking, and I like to wash my gifts before I send them away.

Both my dad and my grandpa adore their hats! It feels so wonderful to see your loved ones wearing your handiwork. They have sent me photos of them sporting their new hats and I smiled so big to see them in their new gear. I look up to these guys so much and it warms my heart to see them supporting me and my craft.

Thanks for spending some time with Bilingwool today! Until we talk next, happy knitting!