Knitting Daily offers free eBook about Knitting Hats-Make Knitted Hats: 7 Free Knitted Hat Patterns

Jan. 17, 2011 - PRLog -- Knitting Daily has just re-introduced their knitted hats free eBook from seven of their most accomplished knitwear designers: Ann Budd, Mary Jane Mucklestone, Lisa Shroyer, Pam Allen, Sandi Wiseheart, Meema Spadola, and Cyrene Slegona.  Because hats are quick projects that let the knitter play with design and color, free hat patterns are extremely popular with the knitting audience. This free eBook from Knitting Daily offers seven of their most popular knitted hat patterns.

Download the free eBook online: http://www.knittingdaily.com/Knitted-Hat-Patterns/

“I love knitting hats! They’re quick and fun—I like using special yarns and interesting stitch patterns—and they’re perfect gifts. I gave each person in my family a handknitted hat for Christmas this year and everyone was thrilled! I had a great time knitting them, too.” says Kathleen Cubley, Editor of Knitting Daily.

Ann Budd modeled her RIDGED HELMET HAT after some close-fitting hats she's seen pictured on children in 1940s-era knitting books. But the luscious alpaca yarn Ann used is much softer and more comfortable around the face than the scratchy wool used way back then. The hat is worked "inside out" so you can knit more rows than you purl.

For the ANDEAN EARFLAP Hat, Mary Jane Mucklestone took inspiration from one of her favorite knitting books, Andean Folk Knitting, Traditions and Techniques from Peru and Bolivia (Cynthia Gravelle LeCount, Dos Tejedoras, 1990). For her hat she chose an adaptation of Earflap #10. She picked a familiar Shetland diamond for the colorwork motif and worked it in stranded stockinette, which created long floats on the first and last rows of the motif..

Lisa Shroyer formed the earflaps on ARMY GIRL EARFLAP by "bending" the lower edge of the hat with shaping: decreases along the centerline of the flaps make them curve downward, while increases curve the center back neck upwards. The flared effect of the earflaps, combined with the round crown and strong line across the forehead, gives this hat a military look.

RYAN'S HAT by Pam Allen is worked from the top down. After years of working hats from rim to crown, and ending up with hats that were too tight, too loose, too short, and/or too long, Pam now makes her hats from the top down—a pretty much foolproof method for getting a hat to fit. As for earflap hats, she loves the traditional ones with bright colors and bold geometric patterns. The colors in this particular version were chosen by Pam's son, Ryan, who insists that even in sunny California, it's still hat weather from time to time.

The yarn in Sandi Wiseheart's ENCHANTED EVENING EAR COVERING is actually made up of three different yarns: a railroad ribbon, a multi-hued silky twist, and a lovely merino. The drape of the yarn wouldn't work well for a traditional earflap hat, so she decided to let the yarn guide her. She ended up with a simple mobius loop that is both dressy and practical.

Meema Spadola's EARFLAP HAT is inspired by her Granny's backyard berry patch filled with raspberry, blackberry, and elderberry bushes. Although this hat is designed to be worn long after the berries are gone (or bottled up as jelly), this should bring back some tasty summer memories. Meema made extra-long I-cord ties for fun, but you can always make them shorter.

It wasn't until after Cyrene Slegona finished knitting the PENOBSCOT BAY HAT that she realized that the color arrangement she used reflects the colorscape she sees when she looks across the islands of Penobscot Bay in Maine on a sunny day-puffs of white against a variety of blues. The finishing pom-pom is like a crowning cloud. The combination of a simple but interesting pattern made this a peaceful project.

Download the free eBook online: http://www.knittingdaily.com/Knitted-Hat-Patterns/

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