I tinkered with the idea for this hat for weeks – I wanted something that carried both a subtle gradient a fluffy Suri up the length of the hat, something textured but not too busy. At last, while doing some road trip knitting on our way to a caving festival in Marengo, IN, I found my “aha!” moment.

At one point during this road trip I looked up from my in-progress-hat, and the colors of the sky perfectly matched the colors of my knitting. The subtle pink-to-blue gradient and textures seemed to fall into place, and I also had my pattern name, Marengo Sky.

This is a versatile pattern knit, you have three choices for various modifications: 1) size, 2) long or short brim, and 3) fluffy or marled texture (samples are shown for both).
The stitches used in this hat are basic k/p/slips, ideal for even beginner hat knitters.

Here are links to the sample pages for the long brim (white) and short brim (grey) versions.

Choosing Colors & Bases

There are many combinations of yarns and colors that will yield completely different FOs, depending on two criteria:
1) How fluffy your yarn is (most important!), and
2) The contrast between the colors.
In this hat, Yarn A is carried along the entire hat – from CO to BO. You are only alternating Yarns B and C, so it is Yarns B and C that are driving the colorwork! In the pattern, I provide advice for choosing yarn colors and textures to produce the hat you want!

Size: finished brim circumference approximately 19 (22, 25) inches, or 48 (56, 63) cm

Needles:

• Size US 5/3.75 mm 16” circular knitting needles

• Size US 6/4.00 mm 16” circular knitting needles

• Size US 6/4.00 mm DPNs or long circular needles for magic loop (finishing the crown)

Yarn (long brim version):

• Yarn A: fluffy lace weight yarn (such as mohair or suri blend), 160 (180, 200) yds/150 (165, 185) m (sample used Woolberry Fiber - Berry Suri in colorway Minas Tirith)

• Yarn B: DK weight yarn, 130 (145, 160) yds/120 (130, 150) m (sample used Woolberry Fiber – Berry DK in colorway Minas Tirith)

• Yarn C: fingering weight yarn, 50 (55, 60) yds/45 (50, 55) m (sample used Woolberry Fiber – Simple Sock in gradient mini set Home Sweet Home (five colors))

Yarn (short brim version):

• Yarn A: fluffy lace weight yarn (such as a mohair or suri blend), 150 (165, 180) yds/ 135 (150, 170) m (sample used The Plucky Knitter – Sophisticate in colorway Wanderlust)

• Yarn B: DK weight yarn, 110 (120, 135) yds/100 (110, 125) m (sample used The Plucky Knitter – Primo Fingering in grey One Hit Wonder)

• Yarn C: fingering weight yarn, 65,(70, 80) yds/65 (70, 80) m (sample used The Plucky Knitter – Primo Fingering in colorway Indian Summer)

Notions: Four stitch markers (one unique for BOR), tapestry needle

Gauge: 20 sts x 30 rows = 4” x 4” stockinette stitch, worked flat

• This gauge is very forgiving of changing yarn weights, so feel free to deviate from the suggestions above! The approximate gauge will be comparable to that of a worsted weight yarn.