Cynar
Cynar is a quick colorwork project, featuring a bold pattern based on one of the motifs in Andrea Rangel’s Alterknits collection. The shapes are geometric and distinct (and easy to follow!). I played a bit with the beginning point and depths of the medallions and added detail at the crown to emphasize the shapes at top. Notes are in the pattern about how to modify for depth or width.
I had fallen in love with all the colors of the Water Street DK and this hat gave me the excuse to pair one of the beautiful tweed shades with a solid, so the dark charcoal of the background in this combination allows the complexity in the accent color to shine.
The yarn is really special stuff - round and soft and warm, and fantastic to work with -- both the colors and the cashmere create a hat that’s both striking and kind of luxurious, which I think makes a perfect gift! Craig agreed with the description, claiming his hat feels “like buttah” -- and is now asking me to think about more cashmere designs…
Scroll down for details.
Yarn: North Light Fibers Water Street DK (165yds/150 meters, per 2oz/56g skein; 40% Cashmere, 60% Super Fine Merino). Shown in Charcoal and Santolina.
If substituting yarn, a natural wool fiber in a DK weight with some elasticity works best. A solid color, a subtle heather, a tweed or a semi- solid colorway in a DK weight wool would be my recommendation. As for color choice, I purposely worked a more tweedy background color (Santolina) against a more solid brim and detail color (charcoal).
Gauge: 26 sts/32 rounds per 4"/10cm in ribbing on smaller needles. 24 sts/28 rounds per 4"/10cm in colorwork on larger needles.
Needles: US#4/3.5mm and US#6/4mm 16”/40.5cm circular needles in both sizes. DPNs in larger size only.
Sizes:
18.25(20, 21.75)"/46.5(51, 55.25)cm around body of hat.
Depth: 9"/23cm from cast on edge to center of crown shaping.
Yardage: 2 skeins needed, one of each color. (150-175yds/137-160m)