The pattern is for a traditional stranded colourwork beanie, worked in typical woollen spun jumper weight yarn. Its a perfect beanie for fall - simple to knit, with a rounded crown.

It has instructions for both HAND KNIT and MACHINE KNIT

For the hand knit version you will need short circulars - 3.5mm or size to get gauge, and the dpns for the crown. The ribbing is knit one size down.

For the Machine Knit Version you will need a standard gauge machine, with ribbing attachment and punchard or other patterning capability. The crown is shaped giving a traditional hand knit appearance. It uses successive decreases across the crown, using the tiered approach whereby the knitting is taken off onto waste yarn, and put back onto the bed using decreases across the width of the fabric. Its this that gives this such a traditional look.

The recommended yarn is the seasonal club yarns from Ria Burns. Ria works with a local farm in the Mendips in the UK and then forages for and grows her own dye materials. The palettes are beautiful and reflect the landscapes of the UK. One seasons club gives you five 20g mini skeins which is ample for this project. You will have plenty left over for another project! To get the gorse effect I used three greens and a yellow - from a couple of packs.

An alternative yarn is the ‘British’ 4 ply from Woolyknit. Although I am not sure about the provenance of this yarn (and neither are they) its a good value work horse yarn which gives the right look.

Jamiesons of Shetland Spindrift 2-ply would be an excellent choice also.

This is a quick knit - either a couple of hours on the machine, or a small project to take away for the weekend.

It reflects both the changing of the seasons - the passage from summer to autumn, looking forwards to the autumn colours, but remembering fondly back to those heady June days of late spring.