Hats are definitely the  best knitting project for time of stress. They’re small and portable. There’s a fabulous range of patterns available. And results are pretty quick.

And so as  my life got complicated summer became the season of the hat.

Here are the results:

(I’m sorry that the quality isn’t great, but at the moment I only have a mobile phone camera.)

Here’s the chronology:

Bottom right: Medici by Woolly Wormhead

Now this was the hat that started it all. It was like no hat I’d seen before and it was love at first sight. Not my finest piece of knitting I’m afraid – I was raised to knit cables but I’d never twisted stitches before. More twisting practice is definitely required! I love my finished hat in lovely Flamboyance aran wool though. I think of it as a lovely tarnished antique crown …

Bottom left: Symmetrie by Woolly Wormhead

I never thought that I would knit a hat in fingering weight.  But this pattern grabbed me. And although I love sock yarn I don’t love sock knitting, so this seemed a lovely way to show off some variegated Fyberspates yarn that I hadn’t been sure how to use. Progress was slow but the knitting was easy. I loved seeing the pattern emerge and now I love my new beret.

Top right: 16 Cable Hat by Circé Belles Boucles

I knew that I had to knit this hat as soon as I saw it on Ravelry. I was entranced by those wide cables: exactly the same technique as traditional aran but such a different effect. I pulled out a couple of balls of Sirdar Peru and felt so virtuous as I knitted. It wasn’t another hat that I didn’t really need, it was stashbusting! Mine isn’t as sculptured as some I’ve seen – it came out larger than I anticipate and more than a light blocking might have rendered it unwearable. I love it as it is. I can sit it on the back of my head or pull it right down over my ears to keep the cold out.

Top left: Vernalis by Woolly Wormhead

My fiance, having observed me doing a lot of hat knitting asked for one for his niece’s birthday. I pulled up a selection on Ravelry and this was his clear favourite. It wasn’t the quickest knit. The cable necessitates holding stitches to the front and the back at the same time (tricky!) and the yarn (Artesano Alpaca 4 ply) was very fine. But the work was worth it. The finished hat is so light and pretty and I was sorry to have to give it away.

Centre: Propello by Woolly Wormhead

The yarn came first with this one. Hullaballoo by Colinette. It conjured up autumn leaves and bonfires and it just had to be a hat. A simple hat to focus on the colours. And this pattern appeared. It knitted up very quickly and became my hat of choice for walking Briar in the park….

Now winter is coming and life is settling down I’m back to bigger projects. But I am definitely a hat person and there are a good few hat patterns still in my Ravelry queue …