Wednesday 13 January 2021

Kep Hat

I love Fair Isle knitting.  I love the patterns and endless colour combinations.  I find changing colours and patterns so often keeps the knitting interesting all the way through even though it's all stockinette stitch.  I also love knitting in the round which means you never need to purl and best of all, no sewing is required at the end!

Here is my hat finished.  I was only working with whatever leftover wool I had from other projects and improvising with colours as I went along so wasn't sure I'd like the end result... but I'm pleased with how it turned out.


I like that you can wear the extra fabric on the side
or on the back for a different look.


I had fun making the big colourful tassel.



Keps were/are traditionally worn by Scottish fishermen.  I used Shetland wool which is renowned for being warm, strong, durable and has a "grippy" quality which is particularly good for stranded knitting.  And the best part with this wool is that you don't have to weave in your ends (there are so many!), you just knot, tear, and leave to felt into the fabric with use and washing.

I looked up Shetland to find out a bit more about the area... I didn't know it comprised of so many islands!  And that it is so far north.  There are 100 islands in the Shetland of which only 16 are inhabited, Fair Isle being one of them with about 65 residents nowadays (down from about 400 in the 1900s).

This particular pattern is from a book I recently got by Mati Ventrillon called "Knitting from Fair Isle".

There will be some more Fair Isle knitting going on as my son has now requested a sweater for his birthday.  I have made a start on it but this will take me several months to knit.  I'll be showing that in a future blogpost.  I might also make another hat or two (time and elbow permitting!), as family members would now like one too!  My son asked if I could make him a beanie version of this hat.  But I won't be remaking the same one, I'll look for different designs... or maybe even design my own as I have books that show many traditional Fair Isle patterns (peeries and border patterns) so that you can mix and match depending on the number of stitches you require.

Best wishes,
Frivole

14 comments:

  1. Looks like a really great hat!!! :)

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  2. I love Fair Isle knitting too and your hat is splendid!

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    1. Thank you Jane, we've had a bit of a cold spell lately so I've enjoyed wearing it!

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  3. Your hat is SPLENDID! I love Fair Isle as well. I made Queen Anne's Lace by Alice Starmore. It's a beauty. I don't wear it much in Arizona!

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    1. Hi Steph, thank you! Queen Anne's Lace is beautiful, shame you don't get to wear it much. I love Alice Starmore's designs and have a few of her books. Just looking to get the newer edition of her "Tudor Roses" book.

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  4. I live in Alaska and that hat would go for a fortune! Absolutely beautiful work!

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  5. It's been a while since I've done any Fair Isle knitting, but I do enjoy it! Your kep hat is gorgeous! Now I want to break out my Fair Isle books!

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    1. What's the last Fair Isle project you've done Diane? You are always so productive, I don't know where you find time to do all that you do! :-)

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  6. Ein wunderschöner Hut. Er ist dir wunderbar gelungen. Ein dickes Lob

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  7. Fabulous hat and beautiful colours, I hate fair ilse knitting, its the changing of the colours kI get fed up with

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    1. Ha ha! That's funny Margaret! It goes to show everybody is different and what I love is what you dislike! :-)

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