While I was in Belfast, Prince Edward Island, I purchased some locally sourced hand-dyed worsted wool. I selected three different colourways—Stones, Gale and Forget-Me-Nots–aptly named for their Maritime roots. I wanted to experiment with these variegated wools to determine which crochet stitches and which hat patterns would show them off best.

Variegated yarns are created by dyeing yarn with different hues or colour. How the yarn is dyed affects the finished knitted or crocheted piece. Some multi-coloured yarns give the effect of self-striping. This results when yarn is dyed with long repeating sequences of different colours. In contrast, shorter colour repeats can result in a finished product with pops of colour that pool or sit next to each other. A hand-dyed yarn with random splashes of colour give a more haphazard appearance, with neither striping or pooling of colour.

Variegated yarns work up nicely with simple crochet stitches and with small textured stitches. Single or half double crochet stitches, moss stitch, seed stitch, and bobbles are subtle and let the colours of the yarn take centre stage. In the same way, choosing a simple hat pattern, such as a beanie or slouch hat, allows the colourway to shine. Seeing colours develop and change as I crochet is fun and keeps me engaged in my projects with variegated yarns. 

We hope to see you at the Dunbar Holiday Market & Craft Fair on Saturday, November 25th, 2023. More information coming soon.

Prince Edward Island is home to many artisans and craftspeople. Having recently travelled along the Points East Coastal Drive and Green Gables Shore, I discovered that the arts and crafts culture arose from a need for self-sufficiency in an island community. I could see that both heritage and the coastal and pastoral vistas have a huge influence on the products made by hand.

Although not exclusively, fibre arts was my focus. Here are a few of my many experiences. At the Messy Crow Studio in Souris, I met Lisa whose needle felting art is whimsical and colourful. I was describing some of the hats that I make and she immediately embellished the beanie of my chosen funny-faced ball ornament with a flower.

The wool is lightly processed and hand dyed using “a non-hazardous, non-chrome, low impact, heavy metal-free acid dye.” The resulting wool is versatile and light and the range of colours produced is amazing.

Brenda is a knitter of cozy throws, sweater shawls, messy bun hats, headbands and neck warmers. Her favourite medium is bulky yarns, but she also knits up things like mug warmers in lighter weight fibres.

“How we all love to create! It is a little bit of the divine in us.” 

(From the Complete Journals II: 100, April 19, 1904 of Lucy Maud Montgomery)

The traditional granny square is simple and easy to crochet. Made up of double crochet and chain stitches, it is made in the round starting at the centre and working outward. Granny clusters of three double crochet stitches are worked into chain spaces in the preceding round. Early on, grandmothers, “grannies”, used leftover scraps of wool to crochet small squares, typically 4-6 inches, and join them to make afghans or other household items. Projects were portable, economical, and practical.

The humble granny square evolved over time to be a symbol of counterculture in the 1960s and a popular DIY motif of the 1970s. Modern-day granny squares have made a resurgence in fashion and home decor. There is renewed interest in new motif patterns and styles. The granny square need not be square; it can be crocheted in any number of shapes, including circles, triangles and hexagons. For the maker, the fun continues in experimenting with different combinations of colours. It is common to see granny squares in contrasting complementary colours joined and outlined in black. My preference is softer, an analogous palette where I combine colours adjacent to each other on the colour wheel, then add in a neutral. Another attractive option is to use different shades and tints of a single colour.

Here are a couple of ways to wear a slouch hat. First, place it on your head so that it covers most of your forehead but stays above your eyebrows. The bottom of the hat should just skim the bottom of your earlobes. Tease the back horizontally to spread out the slouch. This style is great for cool weather.

If warmth is not a factor, you can adjust the slouch by holding the band part with one hand and pulling the hat back with the other. It’s a different look with the hat resting at your hairline in the front and slouching more at the back.

I finished the two slouch hats shown in the photos in a tweed wool blend and was pleased with the vibrant colours and the clearly defined stitches. The method of crocheting the ribbed hat band created a neat knit-like look with good functional stretch.

Granny squares were one of the first things I crocheted as a child. After making afghans, skirts, sweaters and vests, I started creating multi-coloured granny square hats using leftover lengths of wool. Now, I’ve decided to revisit that hat. My first two have a floral motif and are in shades of green, nature’s neutral.

I really liked a certain pattern, but the silk that I favoured for it was too fine. I thought that, by using a double strand of the silk yarn, I could effectively get a thicker yarn to match the gauge of the hat pattern. Gauge (number of stitches and rows per inch) is important in order for the finished garment to be the correct size.

Margaux of Wet Coast Wools in Vancouver helped me produce two equal-sized balls of yarn from one hank. There were two steps to doing this. First, she used a yarn winder to transform the hank into one large yarn ball or cake. Then she used the yarn winder and a weight scale to divide the large cake into two smaller cakes of equal size. 

The resulting yarn cakes make crocheting or knitting easier because they sit flat on a surface and let you pull yarn neatly from the centre of the cake. For my crochet squares hat, I used two strands of yarn held together to crochet five granny squares, joining them to make up a hat.

An athletic headband keeps the sweat from rolling from your forehead onto your face and into your eyes while you are exercising. Steve, physical fitness trainer at DoStrength Gym, is wearing one that I made of white and black cotton spandex. Often used as rib banding on track suits, this medium-weight fabric has crosswise and lengthwise stretch. It is comfortable, durable and easy to clean.

Sweat keeps you cool through evaporation. Another good sweatband material for your workouts is bamboo rayon. Lightweight and soft, it is moisture-wicking and breathable. How about this other option – bamboo rayon on one side with cotton Terry cloth on the other? Terry cloth with its small loops of fibre is very absorbent and dries quickly. Bath towels and bathrobes are commonly made of this.

As well as functioning as exercise gear, headbands are a fashion accessory. In place of headbands from the 2010s with bows and flowers, today’s fashion headbands borrow from the simple form of the athletic headband. The monochrome headband is a good first selection.

And finally, have a listen as Ryan Gosling lists his lightning headband (first minute of the YouTube video) as one of the top 10 Ken Essentials to tap into your Kenergy.

To sew this bamboo rayon stocking cap, I used Kwik Sew Pattern 2527, a vintage pattern designed by Kerstin Martensson. After studying fashion, clothing construction and pattern making in Sweden and England, Martensson worked with the Swedish sewing machine company, Viking. She rose to the position of international representative, an unusual achievement for a woman in the 1960s.

When Viking produced a revolutionary new sewing machine with stretch-stitch capability, it initially did not sell well in America. Home sewers just did not know what to do with the new stitches. So, Martensson developed a few simple stretch-friendly sweater patterns. The response of home sewers to the sewing machines and the patterns was positive and huge. In 1967, Martensson founded her own Sew Knit & Stretch Company in Minneapolis and later renamed it to Kwik-Sew Pattern Company.

Embarking on a new crochet hat project is fun. Duplicating or tweaking the same hat pattern continues the adventure. Colour is an obvious way to change the look, as is the choice of yarn. Different yarns give hats different drape and structure. In the hats pictured above, Bluefaced Leicester wool and a wool/silk/cashmere blend were used to crochet beanies with a tailored look where the stitches are well defined but softness is maintained. Fibre thickness might dictate a change in crochet hook size. Having an assortment of hook sizes enables me to crochet test swatches and adjust the pattern accordingly.

Technology touches aspects of modern living, including yarn development. A Peruvian yarn of “de-haired” alpaca and merino (shown below) is spun in a tube of silk webbing and does not pill. For this incredibly lightweight fibre, I used a hat pattern crocheted in the “third loop” of half double crochet stitches. It has ever so slight a brim, so I added a flower embellishment in two tones with a button.

Bold or subdued? Colourful or neutral? Durable or delicate? When you decide that you would like to have a custom hat tailored and your head size is measured, there are countless fabric choices. After consulting with my customers, I have developed some general guidelines to help select. They fall into three categories that I call the “3Ps”: personality, palette, and purpose. I’ll give some examples to illustrate.

Personality: If you have a flamboyant or outgoing personality, then perhaps you embrace a bold hat that calls attention to you. You dare to wear clothing that is avant-garde and you’re definitely not afraid to be imaginative or unconventional in your dress. This might be reflected in pattern and colour.

Palette: Colour choices can reflect your personal preferences. If you are averse to colour, then it’s likely you would veer toward a neutral or more muted shade. With a reversible bucket hat, the two fabric choices can be complementary or contrasting. Many like a solid on one side and a patterned (such as floral, striped, or plaid) on the other. The season might dictate the hues, for example darker for winter, lighter for the warmer months, autumnal for fall.

Purpose: Your might need your hat to match an outfit for a special event, in which case you might be more daring and make a one-of-a-kind choice. On the other hand, you might want an all-occasion hat that can go with just about anything and that you can wear just about anywhere. It might a smart casual look that you’re after – for grocery shopping or watching your kids play soccer on the weekend. Travel plans can influence the choice of hat. A sun destination might require something in a light colour, a lightweight fabric, and a longer brim for sun protection.

A sister/brother duo was spotted at a provincial park campground this spring sporting crocheted hats. Like a lot of children, they have been wearing hats and caps since they were babies. This early habit has made consistent hat wearing easy and each child has a selection of many hats. The parents realized the importance of protecting their young ones’ delicate skin against harmful UV rays and regulating body temperature. Hats keep them warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.

I chose to use a bright pink wool to crochet the girl’s brimmed Brickwork Hat. Pink is her favourite colour and she has many matching dresses, T-shirts, and hoodies in the same colour. A well-chosen chapeau can complete the look of an outfit at any age.

The little boy was attracted to his slouchy beanie, mainly because of the pom pom. Importantly, the hat fits and sits well on his head and is comfortable to wear. So much so that he wanted to wear it to sleep.