Unsalted is a richly cabled and deeply cuffed hat, with a coordinating neckwarmer featuring the same large and small cables. Both are knit in the round and have seamless construction.

Notice that the small cables on the cuff match those of the body of the hat! No basic ribbing here. Cast on begins at the head opening, and after several inches of pattern, the work is reversed. Larger cables begin and then all is decreased in pattern for the tapered top. The finished hat has a right side body with a wrong side bottom, that becomes right side when folded up to cuff.

The inspiration for Unsalted is the freshwater all around me! I live in beautiful Michigan, surrounded by the Great Lakes and featuring more additional inland freshwater lakes and rivers than any other state. Michigan is made of two land bodies: the Upper and Lower Peninsulas. I collaborated with a hand dyer in each! Unsalted is warm, wearable, and uniquely representative of Michigan, when made with Why Knot Fibers (Lower Pen) and Keenan Handdyed Yarn (Upper Pen).

These small batch yarn businesses are owned by women who produce incredibly beautiful colors on bases of the highest quality. I’m very proud to have worked closely with them while developing this design. I hope you will browse their products and support them too!

The hat and neckwarmer are written for one size (hat is 20” unstretched and neckwarmer is 24”), but you can adjust the finished circumferences by either knitting with a different sized needle or choosing a lighter or heavier yarn (for tighter or looser gauge).

Samples shown in Why Knot Fibers Scholar DK and Keenan Hand Dyed Yarn Peruvian Highland Wool DK. Both are non superwash wool, with lovely loft and softness. The fabric and sizing of these pieces is developed with these specific yarns. Using other yarns, particularly superwash fibers, will produce different results.

Special thanks to my son Ethan and daughter in law Emily for their modeling and photography.
Test knitting provided by Susan Rylowicz.