The latest pattern from Liz Haywood’s kitchen atelier is a zero waste warm hat, which I wasted no time in buying as I had just been thinking that Mark needed a new beanie. I found some fantastic fleece leftover from a jacket I had made him. The fabric originally came from Knitwit Fabrics.

I will get photos of Mark wearing it soon, but in the interim here it is. It’s useful to note that the biggest sized pattern in 62 cms and Mark’s head is 63.5cms. I added a centimetre at the back seam but this fabric is really stretchy and I don’t think it was necessary.

Then came my turn and the smallest size is a little big for me (we are at opposite ends of the spectrum), but I thought I’d make it and see what the problems are. I found lots of scraps and then I found a felted black cardigan, a felted purple cashmere wrap thing that I had knitted on the knitting machine years ago, and some scraps of a Country Road jumper given to me by a friend years ago. Yes, you guessed it, it’s felted!

I forgot to take a photograph of the cardigan, but here it is after the hat was cut out. This hat isn’t lined and I used the bottom band as the band for the hat, but the problem was that when I turned the band up, all I could see was the wrong side of my knitting. I cut down the bands of the front of the cardigan, joined them together and hand stitched them to the hat, and the problem was solved.

This is the warmest hat. It’s really thick over my ears, although I think I could make the crown a little lower. I think I need more hair!

The next one I made is from the felted cashmere wrap. I cut out one of the sides and found that I had an armhole in the middle of the other. I tried to felt a piece into it, but it didn’t work, so I sewed it in and cut around it.

I hadn’t intended the hat to be same on both sides, but finished up liking it as a straight purple. I blanket stitched the band edges together and decided I really like this one. It feels amazing on my head.

The last one is made from scraps of a jumper which had belonged to a friend’s son. It had mothholes and was felted. I had already used part of the jumper to create a kind of hooded dickie, which I can’t find to link to, but the hat used the last little bits. I had to join two pieces together, and used the hems as the bottom band. I didn’t line this one either, I just couldn’t find a lining I liked and I didn’t have enough for self lining.

You can see the two seamlines in the bottom left photo. I intend to unpick them and turn them to the inside of the band.

This is a fabulous pattern and it’s currently on sale at 25% off until early September. The accompanying video is really useful and I had Liz’s voice in my head the whole time I was sewing.

Winter is coming in the northern hemisphere and it’s well and truly chilly in the mornings in the bush, so the timing of this pattern is perfect. Speaking of the bush, I thought I would show you some of the winter flowering things in our bush garden. The protea on the left is not native, but the kangaroos don’t eat them and they thrive under the harsh conditions. The photo on the right is of the pin cushion hakea. I’ve shown these flowers in close up, but they are so pretty in a mass.

Finally Miss G tackling the climbing wall at the park. She can get right to the top and then walk across those round stepping stones. No photos as I was too busy standing guard!