It will, if you wait long enough, eventually be spring. I know it doesn’t seem like it. (I live in Maine. I’m writing this in late March with freshly fallen snow on the ground at the end of an unspeakably long and snowy winter. I am exquisitely aware of just exactly how distant the prospect of spring can seem.) But I promise it’s true.

Nothing lasts forever. Not winter. Not wretched old men with too much power. Not fascist regimes. They all, eventually, come to an end. And when they do, all sorts of lovely, new things turn up to take their place. People come together to take care of their neighbors (and that, when done at sufficient scale and for long enough, is the only thing that has ever overthrown tyrannical regimes). Vile old men die, alone and unmourned, in their beds. And countless green and growing things push their way up through the soil every spring.

It’s inevitable, warmer days are coming. All you have to do is hold on. Maybe knit a hat full of sweet little spring buds while you wait. Or better yet, go say hi to your neighbor.

General information

This delightfully thorough pattern walks you through every detail of creating this lovely hat.

Skills & scope

This is very nearly all stockinette in the round, which I find to be some of the most soothing knitting in the world. You’ll start with a turned hem (don’t worry, I’ll talk you through it), add as many little stems and buds as you’d like (yes, you can totally work them in different colors), then finish off with a little starburst at the top.

And of course I’ll tell you exactly how to do the stems and buds (and yes, you absolutely can add them to other projects if you’re so inclined).

The pattern uses charts, so you will need to know how to follow a knitting chart.

Yarn, gauge & sizing

The hat comes in six sizes (80, 88, 96, 104, 112, and 120 stitch cast ons) and is written for six gauges (from four to six and a half stitches per inch in half stitch increments).

That means you can use just about any weight of yarn from fingering up through heavy worsted/aran, and there will be a size to fit pretty much anyone’s head.

The hat in the pictures took about 110 yards of an aran-weight yarn (about 100 of the main, and 40 of the contrast) at 4 stitches per inch.

If you’re making a larger size or using thinner yarn, 200 yards for the main and 100 for the contrast is a safer bet.

You’ll also want a piece of scrap yarn at least three feet long.

Tools & supplies

You’ll need needles that let you work in the round (circulars or DPNs) in whatever size lets you get a solid fabric with your chosen yarn, plus the general knitting tools you need for most projects (scissors to cut your yarn, a darning needle to weave in ends, the occasional stitch marker). A crochet hook could come in handy but isn’t necessary.