Commissioned by the Juilliard School in NYC; this hat is one of four; each different, but all hats that might have been worn in the 1950's. They are for a production of an opera set in the 1950's.The blue hat is made from a wonderful 70%wool/30%silk yarn that the school provided. I believe it is a Cascade yarn; bulky.
I made this one with a fair isle pattern; it has a 10-stitch repeat, and is 13 rows with a 5-row pattern above it; separated by a red/blue border of one row.
The yarn has a soft drapiness that called for more of a tassel than a pompom, so that's what I did. I think it was about 80 wraps over a 4" cardboard... tied, and another tight wrap and tie before trimming the bottom edge.
The pattern is one that I made up as I went along; starting on size 10.5 US circular needles for the garter stitch edge, then moving onto size 11 US circular needles for the body. I began decreasing after the fair isle pattern was finished; it didn't interfere with the pattern, but I nearly ran out of the blue yarn!! They picked great colors for this hat; I love how this particular shade of blue really makes the red "pop"!!
