Summer of Hats: Knitting the Moby Hat

This summer will be the summer of hats. (For me, anyway.) Hats are great projects for summertime: they’re small enough to tuck into a purse and won’t result in long stretches of wool fabric lying over your lap in the height of the hottest season.

I have, at last count, six hats picked out to make before the end of August, and while I’m looking forward to all of them, I’m particularly excited to make the Moby Hat by designer Amy Gunderson.

From the moment I saw it included in Interweave Knits Fall 2020, I’ve been dreaming of making it. The hat combines colorwork and texture in a way that had me constantly coming back to it.

Julia’s Moby Hat

I’m using Freia Fine Handpaints fingering shawl balls for my hat in colorways Flare and Aurora, and let me tell, this yarn is making me rethink my dislike of single-ply. The 100% hand-dyed Merino wool is so soft and consistent, and has excellent stitch definition. What makes me love this yarn, though, is the gradient factor; the yarn slowly shifts color as you knit. This works beautifully with the stranded colorwork on the hat, adding depth to the colorwork and making it
look like handknit stained-glass. I’m particularly excited to begin working on the crossed stitches, which give the hat crown a somewhat raised texture.

As you can see, I’m not very far along. It always takes me a while to work the ribbing on any hat brim, but I’ve been savoring working with this yarn. The stranded colorwork has me eyeing some other colorful projects, too, like the Quiet Nights Cowl and the Slippery Slope Socks. These would also make marvelous summer projects, being small and portable. Both of these, as well as the Moby Hat, are included in the Interweave Favorites: Knitted Colorwork Patterns
collection, which was designed to highlight a few different colorwork techniques. If you’re interested in colorwork, but you’ve never tried it before, maybe check out Kyle Kunnecke’s online workshop on stranded knitting to get started.

I’m sure everyone has their own favorite summertime knitting project, and it’s probably not universally hats. For my part, I’m looking forward to my summer of knitting hats and my autumn of wearing them. What do you like to knit in the summer? Let us know in the comments!

Happy Knitting,
Julia

Summer Knitting: Hats and More