A while back, I made a blanket for my friends’ baby, improvising with yarn she’d given me. I guess the image of that blanket stuck in my head, because just today, I looked at my new hat pattern, Contrariwise, and realized what it reminded me of.

I’ve kind of gotten hooked on making hats lately: they’re such portable, instant-gratification projects, and you can never have too many of them (or, if you do, you can always find a home for the extras). I enjoyed knitting the Contrariwise colourwork pattern so much that I made three different samples: beanies with and without a contrasting hem

and a slightly slouchy version.

The pattern also includes tips for further adjusting the depth to suit your style and/or row gauge, including an alternate chart to start the crown shaping at a different point in the design.

Contrariwise is worked in heavy fingering/light sport weight yarn, using 145 yds/133m of the main colour (including the brim), 115 yds/105m of the contrasting colour, and 40 yds/37m for the optional hem. The samples here were worked in a variety of Sunday Knits 3-ply yarns (the solids), and Dyed in the Wool from Spincycle Yarns (the multicolour). At the pattern gauge, it comes in 19.5 (22)” / 49.5 (56) cm circumference (measured in the colourwork section), and 8 (10)” / 20.5 (25.5) cm depth. The k3, p3 ribbing at the brim is extra stretchy, giving greater flexibility in fit; you can also adjust the size by adjusting your gauge. The pattern for Contrariwise is available on Ravelry for $5.50 USD (click link for full pattern info), or you can click here to buy it now.

I have to thank Gale Zucker for taking such amazing photos of these hats. She has an amazing eye and is wonderful to work with, and I feel privileged to have her shooting my work, even more so because she finds models like Josephine Ankarah to work with her. Thanks also to Specklet for letting me use her photo of their intrepid baby H.