Knit Caswell Bay Hat by Fiona Alice

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I knit the Caswell Bay Hat by Fiona Alice for myself.

To knit the hat, I used 3.5 mm needles for the main part of the hat. To make it more form-fitting, I used 2.5 mm needles for the twisted rib brim. I cast on this hat during the Thanksgiving long weekend, and I just finished it after New Year’s. This hat took me ages to knit because of the small gauge, the twisted stitches, and the fact that there are so few motif repeats. I chose to knit the smaller size, which used exactly half of my skein of Viola Shadow DK. The hat is a bit short for me, but I think I have a tall head!

Following the twisted cable pattern was tricky in just that no row was the same. The hat starts with five repeats of the twisted cable arrow pattern, then reduces to three, then one. The pattern includes the instructions both in chart and written form, based on your preference. I decided to follow the written instructions just so I could keep referring to all six cable instructions! Overall, I really like the asymmetrical pattern of the hat even though it wasn’t the easiest to knit. I also like how the background fabric of the hat is reverse stockinette.

The Caswell Bay hat is from the Take Heart book by Fiona Alice, from Pom Pom Press. I bought the book, and the yarn with which I knit the hat, from a Pom Pom event at Bookhou in December 2018. This was the launch of Knits About Winter by Emily Foden of Viola Yarn. Tomiko and I just had to buy some yarn from Viola, of course. I knit this hat with 0.5 skein of Viola Shadow DK, a yarn that is 50% Polwarth, 35% Wendsleydale, and 15% Zwartbles. Not only is the colour gorgeous, but I wanted to try that yarn and that blend of sheep breed wools! The final yarn has a bit of a halo, a rich colour, and a bit of drape.

If you knit the Caswell Bay Hat, make sure you block it! Blocking the knitting evens out the stitches, makes the motifs pop, and allows the knitting to relax a bit. I wasn’t sure the unblocked hat would fit, but after a good blocking, it’s perfect!