Brenda Griffith has put together a really lovely and informative book with A Beginner’s Guide to Kiln Forming
from Lark Books. I’m a glass bead maker first but have found such joy in kiln forming, also known as fusing and slumping and casting…Brenda’s book really helps to expand my palette as far as possible projects as well as information on glass. You can’t have too much information about glass in my humble opinion. She shows inspiring examples of a diverse group of other glass artists and really makes you want to get out your glass and cutters and frit and go to town. I highly recommend adding this book to your library of glass reference materials. And if you’re new to glass or already have a background in it, you’ll find something for you…
Have you read?
A Beautiful Way to Keep Your Head Warm
I haven’t knit a lot of hats, because I don’t wear hats that often, and because I don’t wear hats that often, the ones I have knit tend to be pretty basic and utilitarian. There’s nothing wrong with that, but there’s also nothing wrong with treating yourself to a lovely hat that takes a little more time to knit but will also be a joy to wear whenever you need to.
I think the Two Grey Hills hat from Tressa Weidenaar is an example of that second kind of hat. With its allover colorwork design and use of DK weight yarn, this is going to take you longer to knit than, say, a ribbed hat in bulky yarn. But you’ll also get that time to enjoy the process and reflect on the meaning behind the colorwork, which is inspired by Navajo weavings.
The pattern calls for two colors of DK yarn and is available in two sizes, adult medium and large. Two colors with a nice contrast will be helpful for seeing the design, which is somewhat intricate in places.
Despite that, this isn’t a difficult pattern if you’ve done stranded knitting before. You need to know how to cast on, knit, purl, work in the round, do colorwork from a chart and decrease stitches to make this hat.
Make this hat with a soft yarn and you’ll want to wear it all day, every day when the weather is cold. You can grab the pattern on Ravelry, and also check out the Rug Weaver’s Headband, which has a different look but is also inspired by Navajo weaving. The headband might be a better choice to knit if you don’t live somewhere where you need a winter hat that often.
Looking for more hats? Check out these hat knitting patterns that use worsted weight yarn leftovers.
[Photo: Tressa Weidenaar]