For our second Christmas in the UK, we decided that it would be fun to go on a last minute trip over the Christmas holidays. Just three or four days, to some place we’d never been before, maybe that had a Christmas Market still ongoing that we could enjoy…we ended up going to Copenhagen on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas). Think about that for a minute. Denmark, in December, a few days after the shortest day of the year. And it was magical. There was snow. There were fairy Christmas lights everywhere. There was a hippopotamus (at the zoo). There was a winter wonderland in the middle of the city. There was a Little Mermaid. We didn’t have proper snow boots, or the right coats, but we had lots of layers, lots of hot chocolate, and we had hats. Maybe not this one in particular, but enough to keep our ears and heads warm while we explored Real Winter.

This hat was created with a nod to Danish knitting tradition in mind. The snowflakes are an obvious motif, but the knit-purl version harkens back to Danish Damask knitting, which uses purl stitches to make textured patterns on a stockinette background. I’ve used this technique to make the snowflakes on this hat, and it makes for a nice subtle pattern, if bold and graphic colorwork isn’t quite your style.

SKILLS NEEDED
I-cord cast on, knitting, stranded colorwork or purling, decreasing (k2tog).

SIZES
Baby (Toddler, Child, Adult Small, Adult Medium, Adult Large), to fit approximately 14 (16, 18, 20, 22, 2)] in/36 (41, 46, 51, 56, 61) cm head circumference.
Finished size: 14.25 (15.5, 17.75, 18.75, 21.75, 24.75) in/36 (40, 45, 48, 55, 63) cm circumference, unstretched.

MATERIALS
Approximately 60 (80, 90, 110, 150, 170) yds/55 (73, 83, 101, 137, 155) m light worsted weight yarn. For the colorwork version, the breakdown is approximately 40 (55, 65, 75, 100, 110) yds/37 (50, 60, 69, 91, 101) m main color, and 20 (25, 25, 35, 50, 60) yds/ 19 (23, 23, 32, 46, 55) m contrasting color.