The traditional knitting patterns of Norway inspired this classic Norwegian Dream hat. The unisex design is timeless. Use any fingering weight yarn you love (suggestions follow).
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The Inspiration
Last summer, my husband and I spent ten days in Norway. The first day, we visited the Dale of Norway factory, where they make beautiful machine-knit sweaters which can be found all over Norway. My husband fell in love with the designs and wanted to buy an expensive hat like this one. Although I was willing to pay big bucks for a sweater (and did), I just wasn’t willing to pay that much for a hat.
Instead, I came up with A Plan. There was a yarn shop in every village we visited*. I bought three balls of yarn on sale. I bought the stunningly inspirational Selbuvotter by Anne Bardsgard** to use as a reference. I knit a hat.
*I swear I wasn’t looking for them. I just kept tripping over them!
**Yes, it’s all in Norwegian, and I don’t care. I can read charts. EDITED TO ADD: And then they published the book in English, so I got that one, too! I’ve changed the links to take you to the English version.
Actually, I knit two hats. I had enough yarn to switch out the main color with one of the contrasting colors to create matching hats that aren’t all matchy-matchy.
About the Yarn
The Dale of Norway Daletta I bought on sale is discontinued (sad face), which I why I got it cheap. You can’t beat US $8 for two hats!
However, this is a classic yarn, so you can use any classic fingering weight yarn you like. Wool will work best, although a wool blend should also work. If you don’t have any in your stash, you might try Cascade 220 Fingering, Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift, Cloudborn Highland Fingering Yarn, or King Cole Merino Blend 4-ply..
Each 50 g ball of Daletta has 154 yards [141 m]. It took me about 100 yards of the main color and a total of about 85 yards of the contrasting colors for one hat.
About the Construction
Knit it in the round on circulars and double-points, or use the magic loop method.
You’ll be using a chart for the colorwork, but there are only two colors per round. Practice holding one color in each hand for extra-speedy knitting. Watch How to Work Stranded or Fair Isle Knitting for tips on this technique.
About the Pattern
You’ll be using a chart for the colorwork. The interactive pdf includes links to tutorials for the magic loop and for stranded/Fair Isle knitting techniques.
An independent tech editor has checked the pattern for errors, and an enthusiastic team of knitters has already tested the pattern.
Be sure to share photos of your completed #NorwegianDreamHat on your favorite social media channels! We want to see what you’ve made!
