When delightful new yarn turns up in the mail, I want to cast it on straight away to see how it knits up. The perfect item to do this with is a hat – one which sees you knit from the crown down, so the colour of the yarn is readily apparent.

Mahunga is knit from the top down.
The crown is knit flat, then the body of the hat is worked in the round.
A small seam is closed on the crown once knitting is completed.
All sizes and yarn weights start with the same cast on number!
The pattern comes in 8 sizes (from premature baby to large adult head), and in 5 yarn weights (4ply/fingering, 5ply/sport, 8ply/dk, 10ply/worsted, and 12ply/bulky).
The pattern also comes with instructions for 4 different brims

Mahunga is the Maori word for head…..children schooled in New Zealand learn a song in Maori naming the body parts; the word Mahunga is very familiar to most of our population!
~mahunga, pakihiwi, puku, hope, waewae~

This pattern has been created for Olive & Emma Designer Yarns, an Indie Dyer from New Zealand. To view her yarns, please visit www.oliveandemma.co.nz