Stripe Hat
It’s been awhile since I last made toques. (In case you’re not familiar with the term toque, it’s a Canadian english word for a beanie/knitted hat.)
Most of toques that I own are made out of 100% wool which make them pretty warm. That’s a good thing since I live in a cold climate area, but I wanted a hat that is a bit lighter too, so that I have a variety of choices depending on a temperature outside.
I saw a really cute sample at my local yarn shop, and I bought the same yarn that was used for that sample! It’s Catena Merino Fine by Katia (Concept by Katia) in 256 (light blue) and 262 (grey).
The weight is light fingering, and it’s 78% merino wool 22% polyamide. The 22% of polyamide plus the chainette construction make this yarn super soft and light weight.
I used the same pattern as the store sample was knit in, and it’s Striped Tweed & Mohair Cap by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas with slight modifications.
I casted on the same number of stitches and did the decrease at the top as instructed. I also used the same size of needles as the pattern.
The only change I made were the number of the stripe rows and the height (length) of the hat. I switched colours after every two rows and made the hat a tad taller (longer) to give it a slouchy look.
When knitting stripes in a round, you would notice that there’s a visible step where the colours are switched. In other words, the stripes don’t connect seamlessly and they look mismatched.
This is called a jog, but the great news is that there are solutions to achieve jogless stripes.
If you google “how to knit jogless stripes in the round”, you’ll find a ton of information on how to do it.
There’re a several ways to achieve the jogless stripes but my favourite method is explained so well on this blog post by Atelier Knits. It’s in Japanese but they have clear images, so you might be able to figure it out by just looking at them. This method works like a charm even with one or two stripes rows.
I like to finish off a toque with a pompom! I avoid real fur for fashion and I’m not crazy about faux fur either. So I use my Clover pom pom makers to make pompoms out of yarn! They work really great, it’s so easy to make a perfectly rounded and dense pompoms.
Toques in cold climate are one of necessities! I’m glad I’ve made a new one for this coming winter.
Nov 12, 2019
