Pattern: Willow Branches Hat by Heather Anderson
Yarn: Bare Naked Wools Targhee Tango Sport in the Apilado colorway and Quince & Co. Chickadee in the Belize colorway
Needles: Size 4 and 5 circs and size 5 DPNs
I have a gradient set of yarn I’ve been looking for a pattern for, and quite of few of what I was finding that I liked involved some brioche stitch. Having never done that before, I decided I needed to try and find an easy project to experiment on before I decided to go whole hog on something bigger. This hat pattern is meant to be an introduction to brioche, so seemed like a great fit.
I’m pretty sure I’m at least an intermediate knitter at this point – I may pass for advanced in some skill sets. I cast this hat on seven separate times. It’s not that brioche is hard, but it definitely required some shifts in my thinking. I’m actually glad I chose a two pattern color – I think it ended up being easier to keep track with two colors.
I was definitely wondering what I’d gotten myself into at the beginning, but I was very happy with this pattern by the end – brioche is easy once you get the rhythm down. I will definitely start considering patterns that use it for future projects.