As a designer sometimes inspiration comes from your surroundings, sometimes inspiration comes from out of nowhere and sometimes inspiration comes from the yarn itself and the sheep it comes from.

In the world of commercial yarns it is not often that the flock the yarn was created from becomes part of the story of the yarn. In this case the inspiration came from the location of the Taranui flock itself – New Zealand.

The art of the Māori was the inspiration for this hat. The intricate swirling images and classic deep contrasts were mesmerizing. I simplified intricate swirling images in this hat but I think that the “feel” came through.

Curves do not always translate well in knitting but I really wanted to capture the curve and I felt like I succeeded. I hope that you do to.

Because of the size of the chart, there is only one size of hat offered. Smaller sizing could be achieved with lighter weight yarns and smaller needles and a larger size could be made by taking the needles up one size each.

Materials: Approx. 100m (110yds) each of two high contrasting colours, sample was knit with Noro Haunui Shades 1 and 2, 3.75mm US #5 16-inch circs and 4.5mm US #7 16-inch circs and dpn’s, markers and the regular notions.

Gauge: 20 sts in 4 inches after blocking

Size: One size – average adult head.