Skystone Hat

In my last post I shared the Skystone Armwarmers I was knitting in August.

These armwarmers were knit using the pattern I produced for Arnall-Culliford’s well thought out book, Boost Your Knitting: Another Year of Techniques. The motif is meant to suggest any inspiration source that has lots of little, differently-sized bits in it… from puffs of cloud in the sky above, to the little rocks and stones underfoot on any beach, or embedded in tarmac. Hence the name, Skystone.

I changed the palette to one of browns, greys and creams to make pinecone-inspired armwarmers, but kept thinking that the motif would look amazing arranged around the crown of a hat, so I designed the Skystone Hat.

In this form, and in these colours, the geometry of the pattern really begins to suggest a pine cone to me.

On Sunday, my friend Sasha modeled the Skystone hat for me. She patiently hugged trees…

…held pine cones…

…peeped from between branches…

…and helped me find the best puddles of sunlight on a sunny, September day.

Thank you so much, Sasha.

Now that I have written this pattern up, I keep imagining it in other palettes which celebrate organic forms. Artichokes, succulents, roses, cacti, sea anemones… what will you use as inspiration for YOUR Skystone Hat?