We've always been into buying local in our home. There's a wonderful farmer's market up the street, my LYS carries a lot of local fibers and my first knitting book was about yarns that are American from sheep to skein - 100% local to our country.
The Fiberists is a local Virginian yarn company run by Spencer and Reggie. They approach the creation of their hand dyed yarn with a research based process and their inspiration comes from the work of influential naturalists and scientists and their discoveries of colors, forms and structures. Each color has both a scientific name and a more color-specific name. I love their yarn, their science theme, their colors and the guys themselves are great.
I've done a few designs for them in the past (Ulee's Hat, Kinderhook, Booker and Rimrock) and I'm pleased to introduce my latest, the Polarized Hat.
Using 1 hank each of diamond and graphite in their Curie Heavy Worsted, the yardage is generous enough to be able to get 2 hats out of it if you reverse the MC and CC. This hat combines a lot of my favorite knitting elements for a hat - highly contrasting Fair Isle color work, Latvian braids, corrugated ribbing, a tassel and a classic slouchy silhouette. This unisex design looks great on anyone and everyone!
It's hard to believe that winter is right around the corner (I've started my holiday gift knitting, have you?)… This hat is a quick knit that will keep the wearer warm and happy until spring and beyond.
Download the Polarized Hat pattern here.