π Embracing Autumn Days and Preparing for the Cold βοΈ
Should you buy yarn for a hat or a beret, or perhaps for a cowl or a hood?
And what about the trendy accessory of the Autumn-Winter season: a knitted balaclava that covers almost the entire face?
The selection in our store, aries.top, located at Kyiv, Stetsenka St, 30, 3rd Line, Bldg 40, is huge! But how do you choose the right yarn so that the hat knitted from it turns out to be the desired style, holds its shape, fits snugly on the head, doesn't stretch during wear, and, most importantly, looks very, very becoming on you?
π Yarn for Autumn (Fall)
First, you need to determine the season for which you are knitting the hat, beret, or hood.
For cool, rainy, and windy autumn days, tightly knitted items made from a blend of wool and cotton like Spring Wool Laines du Nord or Merinocot Lana Gatto are most suitable; blends with acrylic such as Clorofilla Tropical Lane, Rainbow Popyarn, Nice Woolly Ladyyarn, Merino XL Ladyyarn; with linen like Linen Blend Performance; or the luxurious combination of delicate wool with silk like Silky Wool Laines du Nord.
Double hats knitted with thin merino (Baby Merino Etrofil, Baby Merino Print Etrofil) or thin virgin wool (Poema Laines du Nord, Poema Tweed Laines du Nord, Poema Stripes Laines du Nord) are also an excellent choice.
Here, the main thing is to check your sensitivity to the yarn. If you have increased sensitivity to wool yarn, pay attention to 100% cotton (Cotton Queen Performance, Cotton Eight Performance, Genesis Performance); a cotton and acrylic blend (Jeans Etrofil); or 100% acrylic (Baby Karizma Etrofil, Rio Etrofil, Romance Knitme). High-quality, hypoallergenic acrylic is used in hand-knitting yarns, and acrylic can often mimic cotton or wool.
βοΈ Yarn for Warm Winter Hats
What yarn should you choose for a warm winter hat? Here, the variety of yarns—in composition, texture, and color—is simply astounding! There is something for every taste and budget!
A warm and soft hat can be knitted from merino: Vip Lana Gatto, Super Soft Lana Gatto, Maxi Soft Lana Gatto, Vasto Laines du Nord, Mercerized Merino Laines du Nord, Matera Laines du Nord; from a blend of the finest merino with alpaca and yak (Merino Yak Laines du Nord); from luxurious llama yarn (Llama Adriafil); a blend of angora with acrylic (Angora Lux Etrofil). Virgin wool and various types of mixed yarn (Firenze Laines du Nord, Holiday Laines du Nord, Twist Laines du Nord) hold their shape perfectly and create a springy ribbing.
π§Ά Specialty and Novelty Yarns
We can talk separately about specialty yarns:
- Mohair with wool: Mohair Campolmi, Mohair Fantasie Campolmi
- Kid mohair: Paris 70 Tropical Lane
- Brushed alpaca: Alpaca Brushed Laines du Nord
- Fluffy merino: Soft Carded Merino Laines du Nord
- Bouclé: Curly Alpaca Knitme, Teddy B Laines du Nord, Ana Kuzusu Knitme
- Eco-fur: Rabbit Etrofil
- Airy cords: Boutique Wool Knitme, Rozena Laines du Nord, Firenze Laines du Nord
- Chain-like cord: Alpaca Color Laines du Nord
Hats made from these yarns are very warm and weightless.
A hat knitted with a double thread of the thinnest kid mohair or a baby alpaca and cashmere blend will turn out light and very warm: Silk Mohair Lana Gatto, Silk Mohair Lux Lana Gatto, Mohair Royal Lana Gatto, Cashsilk Light Laines du Nord will be very warm and light at the same time.
Round hats and beanie hats are best knitted with thick yarn (Tundra Campolmi, Davos Lana Gatto, Young Trendy Laines du Nord, Chunky Degrade Laines du Nord), which allows you to form the required shape, and the yarn looks more impressive in the finished product.
ποΈ The Latest Trend: Finger Knitting
The latest trend is knitting a hat without needles or a hook! Knit a hat with your magical fingers using Alize Puffy and Alize Puffy Fine.
Look for your own variations, test, knit samples, combine threads of different compositions, and mix threads of different colors. This is one of the most exciting elements of the knitting process!
And for inspiration, here are photos from the Spring Hand Knitting Yarn Exhibition in Cologne, h&h 2024.
Author: Olena Kovalenko.