I love designing simple, easy-to-knit patterns that might look complicated to beginners, but are actually very straightforward. And for experienced knitters? These kinds of designs are perfect for in-between projects — a refreshing breather between more complex patterns, or some soothing, mindful knitting to relax with.

The Bradley Hat is a simple colourwork design using the slip stitch technique — which means you’re only ever working with one colour per row. It’s knitted in pieces and then sewn together.

As with many of my designs, the name has meaning. The slip stitch pattern reminds me of brickwork, so I looked into the history of brickmaking in Yorkshire and discovered a Victorian company in Wakefield called Bradley & Craven Ltd, known for manufacturing brickmaking machinery. It felt like the perfect name for this pattern.

I chose Jamieson’s yarn for this project because of its beautiful heritage — it’s a true Shetland yarn, with fleece grown, sheared, and spun on the Shetland Islands. Supporting that tradition means a lot to me, and I love that this craft continues to thrive today.

CONSTRUCTION
Knitted flat from the bottom up in one piece with one seam.

TECHNIQUES USED
Cast on, knit, purl, decreasing, knitting in the round, slip stitch technique sometimes called mosaic colour work.

YARN
One 25g ball each of Jamieson’s Spindrift in shade A, shade B and shade C.
100% Shetland wool, 105m/114yds per 25g

SUGGESTED KNITTING NEEDLES
3mm and 3.25mm

GAUGE (tension)
27 stitches and 46 rows to 10cm square over brick pattern using 3.25mm needles.
It is important to obtain gauge so do swatch and change your needle size to achieve the correct gauge if you need to.

SIZE AND FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
To fit average size of head. Due to the nature of the rib pattern & individual gauges the finished circumference can vary from 52cm to 58cm.

NEED HELP?
I am here for you! Pop into the Skipton studio, send an email, or check out the Purl &Jane YouTube channel for tips, inspiration and guidance including handy resources like gauge (tension) guides and how to tutorials.making in Yorkshire and found there was a Victorian company from Wakefield that specialised in manufacturing braickmaking machinery. They were called Bradley & Craven Ltd.
I chose the Jamieson’s yarn because of it’s history. It is a Shetland yarn that is exactly that, the fleece is grown, sheared and spun on the Shetland Islands. Something that is close to my heart and I love that the craft is still continuing today.