In 2019, Lisa at Indie Untangled was putting together the third installment of an annual yarn club. The concept was pairing knitwear designers with indie yarn dyers, and each pair would create something together around a single theme: where we knit.

I was paired with Heather of Earl Grey Fiber Company, a fellow Washingtonian, for the August 2020 collaboration, and we both wanted to capture that end-of-summer feeling—those warm evenings in the Pacific Northwest when you’re outdoors somewhere and in the company of friends and family. I wanted to design something that would actually be worn that way. Something you’d wear around a campfire or that you’d pull on with flannel for a hike or an evening stroll, not something too precious for the outdoors.

Heather and I chose her sport weight base for how it took dye. When the package arrived, I opened it and stopped in my tracks. The color. It had this depth and richness that represented those evenings exactly: warm, glowing, alive. I showed my husband immediately, and he saw it too—that this was the right color. I couldn’t wait to cast on.

I started with a folded brim, something that sits close to the head and keeps the warmth in. And then I wanted the stitch patterns to feel like fire itself: something with flame-like cables that move and dance and lace that catches light like sparks. Wearable, grounded in where I actually knit.

What emerged was Emberly, a hat designed for the moments you actually live in. One that’s been waiting for your adventures all along.

What makes it special

• Unique ribbed brim. Not your standard 2x2 or 1x1—the ribbing creates a foundation that pairs beautifully with both the cables and lace to come.

• Mirrored cables. The cables are balanced around the hat, so they don’t all lean in the same direction. This gives the pattern symmetry and rhythm as you work.

• Lace that’s straightforward, cables that challenge. If you’ve worked lace before, these sections will feel familiar. The cables ask a little more of you, but the written instructions and charts keep you grounded.

• Crown shaping that unfolds organically. When you get to the top, the instructions guide you through shaping that emerges naturally from the stitch patterns themselves.

What you get

In the downloadable PDF you’ll find …

• A full list of abbreviations and detailed descriptions for the cables
• A video tutorial for the German twisted cast on
• Written and charted instructions for the body of the hat
• Round-by-round instructions from cast on through finishing

The Knitty-Gritty

Description
Emberly is a hat originally designed in collaboration with Earl Grey Fiber Co. for the August 2020 installment of the Indie Untangled Where We Knit Yarn Club. With its flame-like cables and columns of simple lace that resemble sparks flickering up to the night sky, this hat captures the mood of end-of-summer evenings, which involve spending time outdoors in the company of good friends and family, often around a campfire—and knitting, of course!

Sizes
One Size

Finished Measurements
15” (38 cm) circumference at brim, unstretched; 11” (28 cm) tall with brim unfolded; 8½” (22 cm) tall with brim folded

Hat is very stretchy and can fit most adult heads comfortably. Sample shown on 21¼” (54 cm) head.

Yarn
250 yards (229 meters) plied sport weight yarn

Hat shown in Earl Grey Fiber Co. Matcha Sport (sport weight, 100% superwash merino wool) in colorway ‘Under the Stars’

Needles

• US 5 (3.75 mm) circular needle, 16” (40 cm), or needle size necessary to obtain correct gauge
• US 2½ (3.0 mm) circular needle, 16” (40 cm), or needle size 3 sizes smaller than gauge needle
• Appropriate needle(s) in the larger size for your preferred method of knitting small circumferences in the round

Gauge

• 28 sts and 34 rnds = 4” (10 cm) in stockinette stitch worked in the round using larger needles, unblocked
• Each 21-st cable panel measures approximately 2¼” (6 cm) wide using larger needles, unblocked and unstretched

Notions

• (1) Stitch marker for beginning of round

• Cable needle

• Tapestry needle