hunter orange – New England's Narrow Road

Last year I searched for a hunter orange yarn so I could knit hats for my kids who live in New Hampshire. Whenever hunting season is open – and it is regularly open year round for various animals in NH – walkers, hikers, bikers and anyone who ventures into the wilderness needs to wear hunter orange, aka safety orange, or an equally bright color.

Last year I was unsuccessful in finding the perfect, brightly colored yarn. This year I believe I have found it!

I came across the colorway “Kid You Not” by Hedgehog Fibres, in aran worsted weight and took a chance and bought two skeins from Eat, Sleep, Knit. Later, I found it at Wool and Company and was a bit less expensive. Hedgehog Fibres yarn is hand-dyed and comes from Ireland. It is beautiful, but pricey. What I also love is that it is superwash. Some people I knit for will not hand wash.

Habitat cable hat — Pattern photo of “Habitat”

Hedgehog Fibres yarn “kid you not” orange — Pattern photo of “Habitat”

Knitting the Cabled Hat “Habitat”

Because the yarn is a semi-solid color I wanted to knit some cables. I searched through many cable hat patterns and ended up with the “Habitat” by Jared Flood. I’ve knit his “Skiff” cabled hat a few times, so I suspected this pattern would be similar, and it is.

I love the way the cables criss-cross up the hat, but that means lots of various cables to do all throughout the project. I do okay until I have to switch and use the DPNs, but the end product is always worth the work.

Shorten the Cable Descriptions

This pattern is charted only, which can be a bit intimidating, but not too tough to figure out. Every cable used is listed on the right-hand side of the chart, with a description of how to make that cable. The chart and cable description prints out on the same page.

The printing is tiny – too tiny for those of us with older eyes to see well – so I use a pen and make each cable easier to read at a glance. This can be seen beneath the pencils in my photo below.

For instance: C3Lp = Slip 2 stitches to CN (cable needle) and hold in front. Purl 1, and knit 2 from the CN. That description is written out, but I make my note to simply say: 2F, P1, K2. When I get to this cable stitch in the pattern, a quick glance tells me what to do.

Coloring the Cable Chart

The next order of business before knitting this cable design, is to get out the colored pencils. I’m sure some tech-savvy people can do this using some sort of spreadsheet, but I color the chart by hand. (I do use Knit Companion and I think this can be done with “Magic Markers” in the program, but I haven’t tried it. I do like having a paper printout too, just in case technology is down.)

Next, I go through each cable listed and find it on the chart. Each of the seven various cables used in this knit will get it’s own color coding. Doing this is time consuming, but totally worth the effort. The C3Lp cable which I mentioned, is colored pink for my chart, so every time I come to a pink colored cable in the pattern, I know at a glance to do 2F, P1, K2 ……. 2F (hold 2 front on CN), P1 (purl 1 from the normal needle), K2 (knit 2 from the cable needle).

When I am knitting each row from the chart, I use a sticky note to mark my place. I find this way of knitting the cables to be quite easy to follow.

Needle Sizes I Used

This hat is being knit for my daughter who has a small head. The hat is offered in two sizes, but that only means the length will change, not the diameter. Because of this, I dropped down a needle size and used a size 6US to cast on and knit the short brim. In general, I am a tight knitter, so I hope that will help with size reduction. I switched to size 8US for the cables.

The difference between the Small / Medium and Large sizes is a cable section which is done right after the brim. Choose the shorter, Chart A for S/M or the longer Chart B for size L. Whichever chart is chosen, it will be knit only once. This is a set up section before moving on to the longer, main hat chart.

Habitat Hat Knitting Photos

After a few inches of knitting, the cables begin to show. There are a lot of cables to do in this pattern. The yarn is beginning to remind me of Cheetos!

Switched to DPN’s on row 25 which is not a cable row, to make things easier.

Cabling on the DPN’s and keeping track of the cable sections got a bit difficult, but I hate DPN’s in general.

hunter orange cables hat “Habitat” pattern — Beginning the crown decreases

knitting cables Habitat pattern orange — Beginning the crown decreases

wearing new hand knit beanie with cables — “Habitat” Hat

Cabled beanie in bright orange Habitat pattern — “Habitat” Hat

The Gift

Hiking mountains wearing Habitat hat — Gifted this hat to my daughter who wore it on a New Hampshire hike in Fall!

My Last Remarks About Knitting “Habitat”

Loved the pattern and the yarn. Although this hat comes in “two sizes” there is not much difference between them. I may go up a needle size if I want to make a larger hat, but cables are stretchy.

I know from my experience knitting Jared Flood’s “Skiff” hat that I can do cables. This hat was similar, but was a quicker knit because there is no long brim.

Brooklyn Tweed patterns are full of information but sometimes it’s spread out on various pages. It is imperative that time is taken to read through the entire pattern carefully before beginning any project. I take a highlighter and mark all the important information as I read.

I used the sm/med size which makes the hat shorter only, and not by much. I knit it for my daughter, but for myself, I would knit the large size to make it a bit taller – only 4 more rows, so not a huge difference. I may do a rolled brim next time.

getting the shot newly knit cabled beanie — Getting the shot!

It’s fun to experiment with photography and as soon as I finish weaving in the ends (and sometimes before that!) I grab the iPhone and begin to get the shots that will be added to this blog and my Ravelry project page.

I’ve wanted to knit hats using bright, hunter-orange yarn for a while now. My kids live in rural New Hampshire towns where hunting happens pretty much throughout the year. Almost all land is open to hunters unless it is posted as “No Hunting”. Hunters can be in state forests, federal land, parks and even on privately owned land, and the thing is, non-hunters can be there also! If you are out and about in New Hampshire during hunting season, it’s a good idea to have on bright orange clothing of some kind.

Hunter in camo clothing with piece of bright orange on his backpack — Non-hunters also need to be seen in the woods

I had searched for the bright orange yarn, also called “hunter orange” or “neon orange” and been relatively unsuccessful at finding some. So, I lost interest and moved on to knit other things. My daughter mentioned at Christmas (after she opened my hat gift to her) that she and her fiancé would like orange hats.

Page update: *In July 2021, after I wrote this page, I found brightly colored orange yarn at Hedgehog Fibres and knit a cabled hat in worsted yarn.

Or see more ideas for hat knitting down the page.

Where to Buy Hunter Orange Yarn

Below are some yarn options I found while searching for my own knitting needs. I chose the Mega, bulky yarn to quickly whip up a couple of hats. I may buy some cotton as well to make lighter weight beanies that could work for early Fall and late Spring hiking. Once I have this yarn in hand I will note the actual color.

When searching for bright orange yarn, use these descriptions; safety, blaze, hunter, vibrant, or neon, along with orange.

Cascade Ultra Pima Fine – link goes to Webs – the yarn is 100% cotton, comes in 136 yard skeins of DK / Sport weight and is machine washable. They offer a “vibrant orange” color. This would be good for warmer weather hats. Cost: $5.25 (at time of writing)
Purl Soho’s Super Soft Merino – Super Orange Solid looks promising (thank you to the reader who pointed it out). $23 for 87 yards.
Maybe ***Plymouth Encore Mega – link to Wool & Company – is and acrylic and wool mix in bulky weight. It comes in 64 yard skeins and is machine washable. Knit up a hat quickly with this bulky yarn. Cost: $6.50 (at time of writing) – this seller offers free shipping for any purchase to US… ***NOTE: I knit a hat (photo below) using this and it’s not really bright enough for walking in the woods, IMO.
Paintbox “Blood Orange” – link to Lovecrafts – is worsted weight, 100% wool yarn that comes in 219 yard skeins. It is machine washable. Cost: $10 (at time of writing)
Fiber of Maine – Blaze Orange – Now we’re talking, except it is sold out (at time of writing). I am adding the link in case it comes back in stock because this yarn looks perfect.
Etsy – a search on the Etsy site could be successful.
* Found: HedgeHog Fibres – “Kid You Not“, in aran worsted is the PERFECT color…. but it is expensive, $30-$32 skein (166m / 180yds – approx).

How Much Yarn is Needed to Knit a Hat

Honestly, it is difficult to say how much yarn you will need to knit a hat, but there are general suggestions out there.

At Lion Brand they have a chart, where you will see at the top a section for hat knitting. It goes from “yarn weight 1” to “yarn weight 7” which would mean the finest yarn – lace weight, to the bulky type yarn.

Less yarn is needed as the thickness of the yarn goes up. Also, less yarn in each color is needed if a hat is knit in more than one color. A rolled brim adds to the yardage.

My orange hat, pictured below, was knit using one skein of the Encore Mega yarn. I only had a short strand leftover, but the hat is not bright enough, in my opinion.

Orange knit hat — Not quite bright enough, IMO for “hunters” to see.

Hats for Men (and Women) in Worsted Weight Yarn

When aran or worsted weight yarn is used, a hat can be knit up quickly. The Men’s Basic Hat pattern is free and uses this type of yarn. I have not used the pattern, but many knitters have. Unfortunately it is knit flat and not in the round. Seems weird.

Bankhead is also a free pattern that is knit in worsted weight yarn.

The Classic Ribbed Hat is a free pattern offered by Purl Soho and is probably my favorite pick. It is knit in a DK weight, so will take a bit longer to finish.

More Hat Pattern Ideas For Hunter Orange Yarn

Nearly any hat pattern would work when knitting with orange as long as the weight of yarn you find works with that pattern. A search for hat patterns will bring up many, both free and to purchase. Or, if you know how to knit a basic hat, make it up like I did.

If you are knitting for a man, make sure he approves of the look. Guys can be very particular.

A popular and simple hat to knit is all one color and done in ribbing. The watch cap may be a bit boring to knit, but it’s perfect practice for beginners and is also they type that boys and men prefer – no frills! The hat below was knit in washable DK weight yarn. The hat below is loosely based on a pattern by Churchmouse Yarn & Teas.

finished watchcap hand knit — Finished watchcap

The Northward cable beanie, (bulky yarn) by Tin Can Knits, was knit in a day’s time. It’s a free pattern and the link goes to the TCK site.

Northward cable hat hand-knit — Quick knit in bulky yarn

I have made two Triple-patterned Watchcaps, (worsted yarn) and the style is perfect for keeping ears warm. The thick brim folds up double, and it could be knit in all one color. The pattern is in the “Hat’s On” book, which is full of great hat knitting patterns suitable for beginner knitters and also experienced.