In Twisted Woolly Toppers, Woolly Wormhead’s third book, she brings us a fabulous collection of new hat designs with its focus: cable, twist and bias techniques. Beautifully photographed on location in Italy, there are ten great designs for men, women and children. Each hat is sized to fit three or more head sizes so by altering the colour and sizing to suit, each hat can be made for a range of people including those with big hair, like me.
The hats have great names which reflect the designs such as the curved, windmillesque lines of Turbine which meet centrally at the top and the directional arrows of Freccia. There are a combination of styles to knit, some beanie-shaped, some with double points at the crown, some upright, some slouchy and yet others still, like Lollie, finishing with the flourish of an i-cord topknot. They all have a characteristic twist pattern in common either on the brim, in the body or at the crown.
Unlike her previous book, Going Straight, there are no tutorials included, but don’t let this put you off, as ‘…all techniques needed to complete the projects are available online or in general knitting techniques books.’ Although some of the designs seem complicated at first glance, they are cleverly written with clear and concise instructions which are easy to follow. What’s more, each pattern has both charted and written instructions giving an option if you prefer a visual over text, or vice versa. There is an excellent two-page abbreviation/chart key in-one at the back of the book, as well as useful sizing information and a resource guide.
I loved this book and look forward to knitting many of these creative, fresh and fun patterns.
If you’d like your own copy, click here to purchase one from the knitonthenet shop, and please do check out Woolly Wormhead’s website for more of her designs, tutorials including making your own woolly dreadlocks, and some really great blog posts.
First published for knitonthenet.