Berries and Branches a Hat Story

As soon as I opened 150 Scandinavian Motifs by Mary Jane Mucklestone I fell in love with motif 1 and 2 (actually I fell in love with the whole book). First thing I did was add them to a little sock. Then I started playing around with ideas for a hat.

The body of the hat was pretty straight forward as I was planning on using the motifs as they appear in the book. The crown- the part I enjoy the most- can be like working with a kaleidoscope or a puzzle as you try to bring the whole into harmony.

Sharing process photos on Instagram, friends started asking for the pattern and so I decided to publish a free hat recipe that included my crown design with my formula for designing a basic hat. I referenced the book mentioned above as a good resource for motifs for the body.

Eventually ideas started percolating and I realized I could make the entire hat my own design. I started putting the pieces together.

One thing that had troubled me about the original /traditional dot motif was that the center dot as knit with the background color can appear sunken. I tried a few manipulations like knitting it through the back, which helped a little but still wasn’t what I had in mind. Eventually a friend mentioned the Estonian Button Stitch. I looked it up and realized with a few slight variations (working it over just one stitch and with two colors) I was able to get the effect I was hoping for.

I also realized using a third color could highlight the dots and so included that as an option in the chart along with some optional diagonal lines which I think add some fun dimension and movement.

Ultimately I published the updated pattern fully charted – body and crown along with the instructions for my version of the button stitch. You can find it here.  I decided since I was updating the blog I would post a little video I made demonstrating the stitch up above on its own page.

I’m really happy with the pattern and proud that I stuck with it to make it my own.