Apologies to my regular readers for my lack of posts lately, we were on holiday for 4 weeks over Christmas and I couldn’t get the WordPress app to work on my phone!

Issue 67 of The Knitter was released on the 7th Jan and features my new hat design, Kolka.  I even made it onto the cover!

I was inspired to make this hat by traditional Scandinavian techniques and began looking at different ways to work the head band.  I settled on the Latvian Braid, which is fun to make and looks really effective.  There is a masterclass in this issue of The Knitter on how to achieve this.

The hat is knitted in the round on 3.5mm needles using 4 different shades of Milla Mia Naturally Soft Merino DK.

The braid is snug around the ears, and because the rest of the hat is worked using stranded knitting, the hat is double-layered and really warm.  Instructions are given for both a slouch hat (pictured) and a shorter beanie style hat for those who prefer.

Also featured in Issue 67 is a gorgeous jumper by Sasha Kagan, a tweedy aran cardigan by Linda Parkhouse and an amazing elephant cardigan by Martin Storey – all things I would like to knit when I get the time!