DIY: Aqua PokaPoka by Kiyomi and Sachiko Burgin

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The Aqua PokaPoka hat by Kiyomi and Sachiko Burgin is the answer for Canada’s cold and windy winters. I don’t mind our winters too much but my weak point is cold ears. I always struggle to find the right hat to protect them and I become cranky when I can’t. This four layered, mohair mix hat is extremely cozy and is the warmest hat I’ve ever made.

The hat is from Sachiko and Kiyomi’s book Moon and Turtle. The construction of the Aqua PokaPoka is basically two hats knit together and folded up to make a toasty four-layered toque.

This hat would work well as a scrappy project. The double layer and extra wide brim means that there is more than double the yardage requirement than a regular hat. If I made this hat again, I would go through my scrap bin and might even use two different (but close) yarn weights.

Yarn and tools

Since I intended to knit the warmest hat ever, I used mohair and merino in matching aqua shades. The inside layer is made from a mohair called Flocon in colour Lagon, a vibrant turquoise and fuzzy laceweight yarn. The speckled outer layer is knit in Koigu’s Painter’s Palette Premium Merino, or more commonly, KPPPM.

Koigu is an Ontario yarn company that is famous for their speckled, hand dyed yarns. Their annual tent sale in is a long drive from Toronto to Chatsworth, but it is a knitter’s dream! When we visited in 2018, our stash almost doubled! See some of our other Koigu projects here.

Adjustments

I barely made any adjustments to the pattern. The only design change was to the top of the hat. The “stem” in the pattern is a short straight one, but I extended it longer in order to make a single knot. This little change was inspired by my Oak Crest Hat by Vanessa Townley.