This hat is probably the first time my fiancé and I have worked out a standard knitting conundrum: something that is both interesting to knit for me, and something he would actually wear. He actually picked out the colors for this hat, and had a good sense of what he wanted. I tried to suppress my urges to jazz things up too much and actually let him do some of the designing.

What came out of this process is a big, rugged man hat. Perfect for watching sports, putzing about in the cold, fixing stuff, or just hanging out. It’s sized to be deep, fully cover the ears, and as it is Fair Isle, it is doubly-thick for all-day outdoor man-tivites. Man-tastic!

Of course, for all you lovely ladies out there, I’ve provided a scaled down, but equally awesome and rugged version for you….

Note: This pattern is provided as both written instructions and a color chart with instructions included to be printed on 11x17. Hopefully at least one will be useful for everyone.