The Bellfield Hat makes a great second stranded colourwork project that will stretch your skills. It’s worked bottomup with a cosy folded brim and enough slouchy length to pull down over your ears. The contrast colour cast-on is worked using what might become your new favourite cast on for ribbing: an alternating cable cast on. Working bottom-up means you can begin the colourwork comfortably on a 16 or 20" needle and switch to double pointed needles or magic loop once you’ve established your tension.
In comparison to the first pattern in the Colourwork Club, the Brunstane Cowl, the colourwork in Bellfield is a little more challenging: the pattern repeat is larger, so you might have to focus on the chart more; there are slightly longer floats of 6, and on one round 7 sts; and the crown shaping is incorporated into the colourwork. There’s also a large section in the middle of a very simple repeating pattern, in which only alternate rounds are stranded, so you’ll have a chance to relax. That snowflake crown is totally worth the effort! Whether you add a pom-pom is completely up to you.
Build your skills by following the links to our clear step-by-step tutorials.
30 sts and 32 rnds = 4" / 10cm in charted stranded colourwork pattern with larger needle
3 sizes available, choose a size with about 1–3" / 2.5–7.5cm of negative ease
Finished circumference: 16[19, 22½]" / 40[47.5, 56]cm
Finished length: 8½[9, 9]" / 21.5[22.5, 22.5]cm
Shown in sizes m–l
Learn all of the skills you need to make Bellfield with our beginner colourwork course. The Stranded Colourwork Basics course is a 4 week self-guided online knitting course, with continued access to the course so that you can return to each chapter for a refresher, again and again, whenever you need.
Shown in Rauma Finull PT2 (100% Norwegian wool, 191 yds/175m, 1.76oz /50g)
Size 2½ / 3mm 6" / 40cm circular needle
Size 4 US / 3.5mm 16" / 40cm circular and preferred needles for working small circumferences in the rnd.