I went into Klose Knit to look around and walked out with a hank of thick malabrigo in lush hues of purple, green and blue wound into a nice little cake.

I had no specific pattern in mind because I thought that I would just make a plain ol’ rolled brim, simple stockingette hat because I wanted a project that would feature the colorway of the yarn. However, I am not generally one for such simplicity, I was inspired by the twist and slouch hat by Kristina Taylor although I didn’t follow the pattern at all, really. I just looked at the hat and liked the concept.

I started off with my yarn, size 13 takumi 16” circulars (switched to dpns later) and casted on 50 stitches. I knitted in the round until the piece measured about 5 1/2” in length, then I started reducing as one normally would for a hat. Then, once it was finished (looking like a too-short rolled brim hat) I picked up the stitches from the original cast-on row casting on an extra 8 stitches on either end of the circular needle. I knit back and forth without joining in a garter stitch until I had enough for a decent brim. I casted off using a single crochet cast-off and did the requisite end-weaving. With the “tails” I tied a little knot and wound up with a jaunty little bow. Hooray!

I like it because I can roll the brim more or less depending on how I wear it. If I put the knot to the side and roll the brim just right, it looks like a little cloche. I love how this turned out and it probably took me a little over three hours to make. I’m really happy with how this turned out!