If you’ve spent any time in online knitting groups, you likely have heard about Musselburgh by Ysolda Teague. I myself learned about it from a knitting friend.
This pattern (£6 on Ravelry) is really a recipe. Pick your yarn and needle size and start knitting. Then, based on the size of your knitting and what size you want your hat to be, the pattern has the sizes you need throughout. From there, let your whimsy make the hat. Color blocking, sure. Ribbing, sure. Stripes, yep. I’ve even wondered if you could put in some cabling or a pattern. Based on the fact that this has over 33,000 projects on Ravelry, I bet the answer would be yes.
I have a lot of single skeins of fingering weight yarn that I always get to “make more socks” with and then don’t. And I always like to have a really simple project on the needles that I can take with me. This is seriously that project. Once you get past the increases, you just knit and knit and knit. It’s perfect for knitting with friends, watching TV or long drives (or family gatherings or long flights or unnecessary conference calls or….).
Getting the cast on correct was tricky. VeryPink Knits to the rescue because not only are her videos fantastic, but she does this in slow motion. For this first hat, it did take me a few tries to get right, but I got there.
The pattern suggests going up a needle size if you knit with fingering yarn, so I went up to a 4. I would probably do a US3 in the future as I think the final fabric was airier than I like,
The yarn is Zebra Shit Sock yarn from A whimsical Wood Yarn Co. in Powerful Peacock. I love this dyer (met her in person at a trunk show) and her yarns are GORGEOUS. I mean, look at those colors. I have some left over and I might try to make some socks out of it to see how that striping works up in a smaller circle. Or maybe I’ll make a baby hat.
Have you tried the Musselburgh pattern yet? What did you think?
PROJECT DETAILS
Pattern: Musselburgh
By: Ysolda Teague
Cost: £6
Yarn: A Whimsical Wood Yarn Co.
Colorway: Powerful Peacock
Weight: Fingering
Needle: US4





