Introducing Botanical Beach Toque
The Story
Today’s new pattern is one inspired by a rocky beach here on Vancouver Island. I think lots of us have our favourite beach and love the calming but fierce energy of the waves. Get some of that energy in your knitting with this simple colourwork toque.
The Details
Botanical Beach is worked with a simple 2x2 rib brim and a mesmerizing, easy to follow wave chart. It’s worked in worsted weight, so you can cast on and finish over a weekend. There are no long floats, so there’s no need to catch them. Just enjoy the rhythm! It’s a great first colourwork project if you’re ready to dive in.
The pattern is for the whole family - it’s written in four sizes from 16.75-22 in/42.5-56 cm hat circumference.
Yarn Choice
I used mYak Baby Yak Medium, a wonderfully luxurious 100% baby yak yarn with a great story. This will work well with lots of light worsted yarns though, so there’s no need to splurge if it’s not in your budget. To keep the shape soft and slouchy, choose a worsted weight yarn that knits up with a bit of drape at the pattern gauge. Avoid knitting a heavy worsted at a tight gauge, as the resulting fabric would be too dense and stiff. Both woolly and smooth yarns should work well as long as the fabric isn’t stiff at the pattern gauge. I’ll be highlighting the yarns my testers used in an upcoming blog post.
Get the pattern here on my website or over on Ravelry if you'd like to keep it in your Rav library.
Pattern Specs
Finished Measurements
Hat circumference: 16.75(18.5, 20.25, 22) in/42.5(47, 51.5, 56) cm
Hat length, top of crown to bottom of brim: 8.75(9, 9.25, 9.5) in/22(23, 23.5, 24) cm
Intended to be worn with about 1 in/2.5 cm of negative ease. Choose a size slightly smaller than the actual head circumference of the intended recipient.
Yarn
Worsted weight yarn in two colours
Colour A: 90(95, 105, 110) yd/82(87, 96, 101) m Colour B: 40(45, 50, 50) yd/37(41, 46, 46) m
Shown in:
mYak Baby Yak Medium (100% yak; 125 yd/114 m per 50g skein)
Colour A: Day Dream; 1 skein
Colour B: Oatmeal; 1 skein
Blocked Gauge
Gauge measurement should be taken after blocking.
19 sts/25 rows = 4 in/10 cm in plain St st with smaller needle
19 sts/25.5 rows = 4 in/10 cm in colourwork St st with larger needle
Needles & Notions
Needle Sizes are recommendations only. Always use needle size necessary to obtain gauge.
Suggested Size: US 7/4.5 mm 16 in/40 cm circular needle
Suggested Size: US 7/4.5 mm set double pointed needles, long circular for magic loop, or other preferred small circumference method
Suggested Size: US 8/5 mm 16 in/40 cm circular needle
4 stitch markers (including one unique marker to distinguish beginning-of-round)
tapestry needle
Skills
working in the round, colour work from a chart, decreasing
