Lake Effect Snow Hat Perfect for Blustery Winter Days
It’s been snowing … a lot, making this the perfect opportunity to share my go-to winter hat with you.
I bought this blue Cascade 128 Superwash last week with plans to knit another sample. The timing was perfect since another blizzard was barreling towards the Tahoe basin stranding us from the rest of the world.
High mountain snow storms are delightful as long as you don’t have to get kids to school. I love them. So with nowhere to go, I settled in with a pot of hot tea, a crackling fire and this quick knit project. I was done before we even had 2-feet of new snow on the deck.
One of the benefits of this chunky yarn is that it really shows the texture added by the Showy Decrease. I put some thought into the design adding details that that are both practical and pretty. Take a look.
- The Resilient Cast On edge is a real feature that sits on top of the folded cuff. It is both pretty and has more stretch. You can read about the Resilient Cast On in this blog post and see how it’s done on our You Tube Channel.
- Those of you who have been reading the blog for a while know whats coming next . . . the Showy Decrease. It is the mainstay of most of my designs. I’ve actually tried to design without it, but it makes everything so much better that I just can’t. This recent post about Knitting Bricks has a nice summary of the benefits. Here it is used to create a faux cable that’s perfect for a decorative rib.
- Fit is important, so there is a plain 3×3 rib hidden under the fold to help hold the hat in place.
- My favorite part may be the star shaped crown. The ever-present Showy Decrease is used in a different way here to raise and smooth k2tog and ssk decreases into a decorative element that completely hides the shaping.
- Think we’re done? Nope. One more Nuance, the Double Decker Hat Top is the icing on the cake, or hat as the case may be. It keeps that raised line going all the way to the top.
Let’s talk yardage.
I first knit this hat with a chunky Alpaca. That skein had only 110 yards and with the wide cuff, the hat required just over one skein. Ugh. I put the hat aside and went back to the drawing board.
The big cuff really had to stay, so the solution was finding a different yarn. This Cascade 128 Superwash has (wait for it) 128 yards. That’s 18 extra yards. That means the small can be knit with just one skein. However, the medium which is taller still requires those few extra yards. I measured … it was 6 more yards.
No problem, I just knit up a quick matching cowl to use up the 2nd skein. It really came in handy when the wind off the lake kept blowing the soft powdery snow I was shoveling in my face and down the front of my jacket.
Sorry for the terrible selfies. I just don’t do them – ever.
Did I mention I was snowed in? My husband was snowed out down in San Fransisco. So there I was, all alone with a pattern to publish.
What’s a designer to do?
This free pattern is now available in Ravelry. Happy Valentine’s Day. xoxo
Since my primary goal for this blog is sharing new techniques, I really hope this project motivates you to try some new ideas so you can build them into future projects or designs you create yourself.
Let me know what you think and I hope this winter brings you lots of cold fluffy white stuff too.
Helpful Links
- Knitting Nuances Ravelry Store
- Resilient Cast On blog announcement
- Knotted K2Tog Bind Off announcement (optional for cowl)
- You Tube Channel with video tutorials
- Knitting Nuances on Instagram (where you can find sneak peeks!)
12 comments on “Lake Effect Snow Hat Perfect for Blustery Winter Days”
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Beautiful hat, can’t wait to start on it. Thank you for offering the free pattern.
Thanks so much for sharing your lovely pattern looking forward to starting it and trying out this cast on method
‘Way to be resourceful when showed in. I just love the hat and matching cowl and would love to start a set after tax season. Maybe two sets even so that I can surprise each daughter for Christmas. While I am not a “non-knitter,” I am a “very rusty knitter” and will need all the time I can get!
Beautiful hat – you are so very creative and clever –
Fun pattern! Stay warm!
For this hat, is round 3 of the showy cable rib pattern correct? It goes from a 6-stitch repeat to a 7-stitch repeat and back again. It seems to throw off the pattern.
As beautiful as it is, I do ‘t want to mess it up. Thanks.
Thanks for the heads up on the error! It should stay as a 6-st repeat. *k2, sl1, k1, p2*. The chart is correct.
This is by far the prettiest hat I have EVER made!
Marcia – Yippee! That makes me so happy. Thanks for the note. 🙂
I am confused as to what I should do for round 3, ke effect snow v2. What does this mean? Thanks.
Hi Elizabeth, the instructions should read *k2, sl1, k1, p2*. The chart is correct so you can go by that. Sorry for the confusion and the lateness of the response. I’m traveling. Laura
I finished the hat, totally messed up the crown, but it still worked. I’d post a photo if I could. My nephew loves it. Thank you!