Celebrating our Porty Hat Preview Knitters

As part of our work preparing to get the Porty Hat design into knitters' hands we once again invited some knitters from our community to work up their version as part of our preview knitter programme.

The Porty Hat follows up on our bestselling Musselburgh pattern with a similar top-down, swatchless construction and just as much cool, casual style. We’ve named it after our local beach in Edinburgh, where a cosy hat that can be pulled down over your ears to keep out the chill is an essential accessory. The Porty Hat’s universal appeal and comfortable, elastic fit, make it a wonderful gift for anyone on your list.

Whether you’re an adventurous beginner eager to learn new skills, or an experienced knitter looking for a quick, compelling project you’ll love knitting the Porty Hat. The swatchless design begins at the centre top: the crown is shaped by increasing outward in 4 ‘compass point’ lines. When you’ve created enough fabric to do so you can simply measure your gauge on the project, and match it to the numbers given for your size and gauge. Once the fun crown shaping is complete, there’s lots of soothing 1x1 rib that makes for the perfect “take anywhere” project.

Smooth sock yarn? Something squishy and chunky? Stripes, speckles or colour-blocking? Extra long with a giant pom-pom? Understated or loud? How will you make this blank canvas your own?

We know you'll find the incredible range of hats made by our preview knitters inspiring! We've broken them down by yarn weight so that you can see how yarn choice and gauge affect the results.

Fingering (4ply) weight yarns

Winnie

Instagram: @bokchoyknits

Yarn: Atelier Franziska Uhl Handgefärbte Sockenwolle

Jy

Instagram: @jychao

Yarn: Doulton Border Leicester 4ply

Sportweight yarns

Patrice

Instagram: @Beesinthepines

Briggs and Little Sport 100% wool single ply

Winnie

Instagram: @bokchoyknits

Yarn: Sweetgeorgia tough love socks held together with Hedgehog Merino lace

Rachael

Instagram: @redrabbit8584

Yarn: Knit Spin Farm Targhee Sport

DK (double knitting) yarns

Max

Instagram: @thirdfactory

Yarn: Toots Le Blanc DK 60%wool/40%angora

Sophia

Instagram: @craftink/

Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Yarn Supersock DK

Nahoko

Instagram: @nm.ninemountains.nm

Yarn: DARUMA Merino DK / DARUMA COMBINATION WOOL

Worsted weight yarns

Charlotte

Instagram: @lolotte1409

Yarn: Squoosh fiberarts ultra worsted, Malabrigo Worsted

Tracy

Instagram: @tfknits

Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash

Jy

Instagram: @jychao

Yarn: New Lanark DK plus a strand of silk mohair

Winnie

Instagram: @bokchoyknits

Yarn: Black Cat Custom Yarn Let’s Get Worsted 

Aran weight yarns

Amanda

Instagram: @hippiemommy

Yarn: Hedgehog Fibres Merino Aran

Chunky weight yarn

Amy

Instagram: @runallthetrailsco

Yarn: Western Sky Knits Biggie

Feeling inspired? Click here to purchase the Porty Hat pattern, which includes print friendly, mobile optimised and low vision pdfs, and cast on today! We can’t wait to see your Porty Hat so please do tag us on social media and show us your progress using the hashtag #PortyHat!