Pattern Release: Querrine

My newest pattern might look a bit familiar if you stop by here regularly. I started knitting the first sample when we were away at the end of the year and promptly started the second after it was finished. I can only blame the winter doldrums for it taking me so long to get the pattern together (not really ideal when you're designing a winter hat), but winter has yet to fully release its grip on us here, so I'm not packing away my hats just yet. Here is Querrine, the newest hat in my pattern portfolio.

I know I'm very late to get on the mohair/silk bandwagon; for years I was convinced I was allergic to mohair because one sweater I had one time was itchy. I should've known better (how many times have I told my mother that finding a rough wool sweater itchy did not mean she was allergic to wool?). I mean there's the scratchy mohair of cheap sweaters from long ago and then there's the luscious mohair/silk you can get from so many indie dyers these days -- and there's quite a difference! This stuff is like petting the softest kitten you can imagine, and it's so warm on a windy day without being bulky. For this hat, I held a laceweight mohair/silk yarn alongside a fingering weight (Mirage and Deep Sock, respectively, from Murky Depths Dyeworks) to create this wonderfully haloed fabric. The fingering weight was a deep gray with hints of acid green and blue, and the lace weight was a pale gray, giving this lovely marled effect when held together.

The stitch pattern is subtle when the halo is out in full force. I took this rather dramatic photo of the hat being modeled by one of our lamps so you can see the pattern when it's backlit.

Can you believe this isn't lace? I promise, it's not! It's just m1 increases and centered double decreases amid knits and purls, resulting in a very stretchy but delicate fabric that is warm but not too heavy. It's pair with a hemmed ribbed brim for a double thickness around the ears, where you feel the cold most on a blustery day. And if you like the look of the pattern but not the halo (or if you're truly allergic to mohair), then you can work it in a single strand of sport weight yarn, as I did with some well-aged handspun.

The pattern is graded to three sizes, to fit children through adults; has both charted and written instructions for the stitch pattern; and has been reviewed by my tech editor to ensure that it's error free and easy to follow. And for the first week, it's $1 off when you add it to your cart and use the code HALO.