If you have the Milarrochy Heids hat-knitting pattern book, you have the pattern for the Tettegouche hat. ( It is also sold separately – see the link at the bottom of this post.)
It’s a beautiful book, with lots of pretty hat patterns and they all use Kate Davies Milarrochy Tweed yarn. I bought the yarn in a variety of colors and began this hat a while ago. I didn’t like the way it was coming out. I blamed myself for not being familiar with colorwork, good cast-on’s, or having the right hat gauge. Honestly I didn’t like the yarn. I put it aside.
Finished Tettegouche
When I joined The Woolly Thistle knit-along, I became familiar with Rauma wool and fell in love! Everyone was using it to knit colorwork projects. After knitting some mittens by this hat’s designer, Virginia Sattler-Reimer, I went back to try to knit the Tettegouche, only this time I used Rauma yarn. By the way, she has mittens to match the Tettegouche hat pattern!
Good size, with a bit of extra room at the top.
I made some changes to the pattern, and one was to do a 2×2 ribbing for the brim. The colors I used were what I had available and they are not the greatest. But I had fun with this. It has been a good practice hat after knitting Katie’s Kep. Because I had already knit that colorwork hat, I knew to try a smaller needle for Tettegouche.
Buy The Tettegouche Hat Pattern
The pattern is also sold separately and you can buy the Tettegouche hat pattern here. Please click the link to see it, because it is so much prettier than mine! You won’t believe it is the same hat…!
What Was My First Colorwork Hat?
My first all-colorwork, Fair Isle knitting project was Katie’s Kep, which is a fun hat pattern which is Free to download.
I am staying home, as we all should be, which gives me time to organize. As I was digging out things I hadn’t viewed since I moved, I came across the “Simple Simon” sweater. I’m not exactly sure of the image, but it looks like that nursery rhyme to me. It was knit long ago by my Nana who is not around to remind me.
The pattern also includes white “dots” all over, which is called a Lice pattern and originated in Sedestal, Norway (as best I can tell). Because my Nana grew up in Denmark, it stands to reason she would knit this type of pattern. As for the images, she must have followed a pattern.
My grandmother’s hand-knit sweater for a child with lice stitch and images of people and house.
The Simple Simon Verse
Just in case you are not familiar with this nursery rhyme, let me refresh your memory. The first part goes like this:
Simple Simon met a pie man, going to the fair. Said Simple Simon to the pie man, “Let me taste your ware”.
Truthfully that is all I know of the rhyme… but to read it in it’s entirety, view it here. The figure on the right, on the sweater front, looks like a man holding a pie. Because Simon, and the Pie Man are boys, I believe this sweater was made for my son. I only have one sister, so this boy-themed sweater was not made for us. It is “newer” and was knit in the late 70’s – is my best guess.
Digging Through Keepsakes
There is a container in my closet which holds some old baby clothes which were worn by my boys (who are now ages: 43, 37, and 21). When I moved, I left my daughter’s special baby clothes with her.
In that container, I came across two sweaters, this one and another that I wore as a kid – now that is old…..! Also, there were some mittens which were knit by my Nana, probably made for my oldest son as well (photo below). We moved to Florida where the rest of my kids grew up and there was not much need for sweaters and mittens. However I do have the coolest back-zipper sweater she made for my second son.
Nana’s mittens
My Nana had been knitting sweaters and mittens for kids, and adults, in the family since I was young. She may have begun knitting as a kid, for all I know. She came to New England from Denmark as a teenager. My father was her son.
Nana would knit mittens like mad for us kids, because we wore them out quickly. Back in the 1950’s and 60’s kids played outdoors all the time! We especially loved to play in the snow. I remember puppet type mittens – similar to the ones in this vintage pattern book sold on Etsy – which had buttons for eyes and long braids along the back of the hand. I loved those!
Of course I never appreciated all the work that went into those hand-knits.
Child’s cardigan with lice stitch on back and sleeves
In her nineties, Nana died of a heart attack, while knitting in her favorite chair. She had a little room off her kitchen which held a tiny Jotul woodstove and that is where she sat to knit. I remember visiting her and talking while she knit. I was never very interested in her hobby ….. not until now, when it’s too late to learn anything from her. Such is life. It’s pretty stupid.
I wonder today how many hand-knits are still around which were made by her. I also wonder what she was working on at the time of her death. Something wonderful, which was never finished? Or did one of her daughter’s finish the knitting?
Now that I do knit myself, I look at this handiwork with marvel. I love seeing all those carried stitches knowing that my Nana’s hands created them all! I wonder where her yarn came from and what her needles looked like. I always think of her when I knit and wonder what wise advice she would give me. She’d be able to teach me a lot.
I imagine us sitting together knitting away and comparing patterns and ideas. She would marvel at the internet and how easily patterns and yarn can be purchased these days.
Inside floats of stranded knitting on child’s sweater
I don’t have anything else that belonged to my Nana, except a hooked rug she made for our family when I was young. She was a crafter, with busy hands, who also grew beautiful flowers, canned vegetables and fruit from their huge garden, baked “monkey faces”, and did weaving on a big loom.
She was only 4’10” tall and she was one of my favorite people.
Vintage hooked rug (1950’s) with three ducks walking on a log in the water with cat o nine tails and one cloud.
After I finished knitting two different pair of color-work mittens, I wondered what to knit next. Suddenly, knitting with only one strand of yarn seemed boring! I may be on a Fair Isle, or stranded-knitting jag for a while.
I was browsing Ravelry and a very pretty colorwork hat caught my eye. I decided to save it in my favorites. When I went to the designer’s hat page, I found that “Katie’s Kep” was a free pattern – at the time – I wrote this and used the pattern. It is no longer free.
The designer created it as a tribute to her mother. The pattern called for using wool fingering yarn – which I have in abundance – so I had to make it.
Fair Isle hat
Choosing Colors
When I was planning my mittens, I bought a lot of Rauma wool yarn, in various colors. I ended up using Brooklyn Tweed Arbor for both pair of mittens, so I had lots of Rauma wool left. The “Katie’s Kep” pattern uses this type of wool, so all I had to do was choose the colors. Simple, right?
Honestly, it’s tough for me to envision a finished product by selecting colors. As I began the brim for the hat, I was wondering if I had made a mistake in my colors. If you begin this hat and think the same thing, it will probably look better as you knit more.
Wool yarn from Norway
I wanted a dark background and I had a dark blue called Dark Petrol Heather, which I used. The rows that look whitish are actually a very light green, and I messed up on the first section! I’m not used to doing this type of knitting, and this was more good practice for me.
I think the only color mistakes you can make is to have colors that do not stand out enough to show the design. Wilma Malcolmson (links to her website), the Shetland designer, includes four various color way suggestions with her pattern download, so you can go buy the colors she suggests. It takes the guesswork out of the color selecting.
I also began knitting the colorwork on the brim incorrectly and had to begin over. After the purls the yarn must go to the back before the knits are done. Newbie mistake – lesson learned. BTW, that brim ribbing is called “corrugated ribbing”.
Nearly done, just working the crown
Switching to DPN’s at the top of hat
Needle Size
Another problem I had was which size knitting needles to use? Many of the knitters mentioned that the hat had come out huge. I know that I am a tight knitter. Usually I have to go up a needle size for all patterns. Because of this, I stuck with the size 3 suggested needle and the hat ended up being a bit large, but not crazy. If I knit it again I will try a size 2. If it’s too small I can give it to my daughter, who has a small head.
Knitting the Crown Pattern
Knitting the crown took me almost as long as it took to knit the rest of the hat. It came out looking fine, and I only made a couple of color mistakes. I’m becoming used to using DPN’s, and hats only have a few rounds where they are needed, but along with the colorwork, it made for a challenge. An experienced colorwork knitter would not have a problem.
Below is a photo before washing. I still had lots of ends to tuck in. I had read that some knitters were using the CDD (center double decrease) as opposed to the pattern’s Sk2p. And I think it may look neater. I’m not experienced enough to know and I didn’t do my Sk2p’s correctly because I slipped the first stitch purl wise and it should have been knit wise. Live and learn. I should have looked it up.
Crown detail before washing
The Sk2p is a left-leaning decrease and the CDD has no lean, it makes a ridge straight up. Once washed, this hat will look perfect – fingers crossed. I have notes written all over this pattern for my next project.
Scottish Fishermen Keps
So what is a Kep? I had to look around for some info, and it seems they were colorful, Fair Isle hats worn by Scottish fishermen while out to sea. The hats had a liner to keep the head warmer, and some were like stocking caps – longer with a tassel or something at the top. The Kate Davies Designs (KDD) site has a bit of info about Keps.
The yarn I used (Rauma) is from Norway, so to truly knit a Kep, I suppose I need to use Shetland yarn from Scotland. Maybe next time. I have none in my stash, but it’s on my list of yarns to try.
More Keps and Fair Isle Hats For Us to Knit
If you love to do colorwork and want to try more hats like this one, I’m making a list here. The Katie’s Kep pattern is free. The printout is in small print and I had to enlarge the charts – and yes, you must be able to read a chart.
North Star Hat – Sized for kids and adults, Aran weight yarn
Where to Buy Wool Yarn
The Woolly Thistle is based in New Hampshire and sells lots of wonderful wool sourced from the UK, Scandinavia, and Europe. This type of yarn must be hand-washed. It comes in many beautiful colors as well as natural animal colors. The prices can be high at TWT compared to other places that sell the same type of yarn. I’ve found Jamieson & Smith 2-ply, 125 yard skeins at Fairlight Fibers much cheaper!
At Wool and Company they also sell Rauma wool yarn, and other types of course. Remember that the purpose of a hat is to be warm, so real wool will do the trick. Even if the yarn is hand-wash only, how often do you wash a hat?
Today is Easter and my son is grilling ribs. I made southern style potato salad and we will eat outside later. It’s hot here in Florida so I have the AC on.
My other children are spending the day with their better half’s family. Did I say that right? They are in New Hampshire and Kentucky. Anyway, like every other holiday, nothing special happens here. We eat and drink and relax.
Years ago the kids and I would dye eggs using food coloring, or one of the popular store bought ways to dye eggs. It was fun, and we made memories. Funny, but I don’t remember their father being a part of any of it.
When my kids were small I would hide eggs (for the Easter Bunny) and put little notes inside which would have clues as to where to find the next egg. It was a treasure hunt, which took a lot of planning and organizing. At the end of the hunt there would be a big Easter basket which I had put together for each child. Usually there would be candy and a wrapped, special gift.
One year when my youngest son was small, he and my grown daughter searched for eggs in the woods near our rental house. Usually I didn’t put eggs outside because of animals, but this place was in the woods and it was perfect for a good-weather egg-hunt. I wrote down the number of plastic eggs I hid, and I think we came up one short although they looked and looked, and I couldn’t remember all the spots, so it may still be there. It could contain a dollar bill or maybe a quarter!
When I was a kid, my father used to do the same type of treasure hunt notes thing for me and my sister. None of my kids have kids of their own, but if they ever do, they may carry on the tradition.
New England's Narrow Road 