Thilde Hat

Happy Valentine’s Day! From February 8th-14th, 2025, this festive hat is my Valentine gift to you. I designed it as a love note of sorts to thank you for knitting with me and for all you do to make the world a happier place with every stitch!

Introduction
I am obsessed with hearts. I always have been. I make heart shaped bread, pizza, cookies, and pancakes. I sometimes sign my name with a heart. And I use the heart emoji more than any other. I think it’s wonderful how just seeing a heart makes us think of love. In Nordic knitting, the heart also stands for courage, kindness, and understanding. Pair the heart with the star (that stands for light and protection) and you have the perfect love note! I designed the Thilde hat for Valentine’s Day 2025. But it can be worn to bring a little Valentine’s spirit all year round. Let the stars and hearts shine alone or add a snap-on pompom for extra charm. Thilde works up quickly. It’s knit with super soft yarn and only eleven rows of colorwork. I designed it tall for extra coziness. I hope you will pull this hat out again and again on particularly chilly days.

Due to the design motif, this hat is only available in one size. You can make a larger hat by changing the gauge to 19 stitches over 4 in/10cm, and a smaller hat by changing the gauge to 21 stitches over 4 in/10 cm.

Working three colors with LBJ (Ladder Back Jacquard) is a mini colorwork workout! I will be using this hat as part of a masterclass to teach these useful skills. If you’d like a more stress-free knit, you can always knit Thilde with just two colors, which has an equally charming result. If you do choose to go with the three-color version, there are only 9 rows with three-colors—just enough to get your feet wet with that skill. And the happy Valentine vibe of the red and pink is worth every round. I personally love knitting with three colors. I love the dance of weaving in and weaving out the colors as I work. Knitting with three colors is like life with loved ones, even when we can’t see them, they are always there as we travel the road of life together. Besides, knitting with three colors makes the hat even warmer! Switch the main and background colors around and you can make three hats with three skeins of yarn. That way, you can practice your colorwork and share some Thilde Hat hygge with your loved ones. Happy knitting!

Materials
Yarn: Worsted Merino | Genmou by Daruma | 165 yards (151 meters) per 50g (3.5 oz) skein
Main Color: 1 skein | Color: Almond
Or approximately 132 yards/120 meters of equivalent worsted-weight yarn
Contrasting Color A: 1 skein | color: Red
Or approximately 25 yards (23 meters) of equivalent worsted-weight yarn
Contrasting Color B: 1 skein | color: Pink
Or approximately 22 yards (20 meters) of equivalent worsted-weight yarn
Snap-on Pompom (optional)

Needles: 16”/40 cm circular for the ribbing and the single-color knitting on the hat and one set of double pointed needles/ Flexiflips for the crown in gauge-size needles. Many knitters will need to use one needle size larger for the colorwork portion.
Suggested needle size: US 6 (4 mm) for ribbing and single-color knitting and US 7 (4.5mm) for colorwork.

Gauge and Swatch
Gauge for adult medium hat: 20 stitches/24 rows = 4 inches or 10 cm
Make a swatch in stranded colorwork and a swatch with a single color to find the perfect needle size.
Length from cap from brim to crown: 12 inches / 20 cm

Sizes
Adult Medium: fits an average-sized head (22-24 inches/ 56-60 cm)

Skills used to make Thilde
Long-tail cast on
Knitting
Purling
2x2 rib
Ladderback Jacquard
Knitting with two-color stranded knitting
Optional knitting with three-color stranded knitting
Catching floats
Ssk
K2tog