The Burren Beanie takes its name from the beautiful Burren area of Ireland, home of Sionnach Yarns who collaborated with me in making this pattern – and a beautiful sight across the sea from Inis Oírr, the smallest of the Aran Islands (where I was born and raised!) As a knitter from the Aran Islands, I love adapting the Aran style to suit modern knitters. Here, I have taken a classic Aran style cable pattern and adapted the motif to work it in the round, on two sizes of circular needle. The finished hat is seamless, with the cables flowing from brim to crown without interruption.

The cabling pattern is not overly complicated; working a 8 stitch and 8 row repeat - I would consider this a pattern suitable for improving and intermediate knitters.

The hat is sized for an adult, and comes in three sizes, Small, Medium and Large. The Small size would equate to a traditional women’s size, and the Large would equate to a traditional men’s size. The pattern is easy to adjust in size, as the cabling pattern works on an 8 stitch repeat - you can cast on 8 less for a child-sized hat, or 16 less for a baby-sized hat.

The beanie measures around 17 inches (43cm) in circumference (flat, unworn) in the Small size, 18 inches (47 cm) in circumference in the Medium size; and 19 inches (48.5 cm) in the Large size. All beanies measure the same in height: 8 1/2 inches/22 cm from brim to crown.

The pattern has been test knitted, and the test knitters found that it was quick to work up - a bonus for any gift knitter! One of my test knitters also translated the pattern into German for me; and I am excited to be able to offer a German version of my patterns for the first time!