This is a first for me, here on the ol’ do stuff! blog – I’m a stop on the Classic Woolly Toppers blog tour! Which is, of course, the new hat book by the wonderful Woolly Wormhead (on ravelry here):
This is exciting for me, I’ve never been part of a blog tour before! And what a fabulous one to be a part of! I’ve always greatly admired Woolly’s hat patterns – the diversity, the creativity, the whimsey, they are oh so great! Yes! And this book is fantastic; a bit less of the whimsey and more of the classic, but not boring, that’s for sure!
This book – available in print and/or digital format – has 44 pages packed with 10 beautiful hat patterns as well as technique tutorials, sizing info, styling tips, photos of the hats on different models to see them with different face types and hairstyles… As with all Woolly’s hat patterns, all the designs come in many sizes, so you can get a perfect fit.
While the designs are inspired by classic styles, they are definitely modern patterns, and feature lots of innovative construction ideas and knitting techniques. One of my favorite bits is that the Camden Cap (pictured on the cover above and below) uses a recycled plastic bottle to make the brim insert! Smart! And she gives plenty of detail about how to make the piece and insert it into your hat as you knit it.
And speaking of recycled materials… I didn’t have time in my knitting schedule to actually knit one of the classic toppers for this post, but I did manage to make one of them! (Not really but kind of sort of…) One of my favorite designs in the book, Imagiro, is extremely beginner-friendly for the actual knitting part, as it starts off as a plain rectangle… then it gets folded and sewn in a mind-blowing magical way to turn it into this awesome turban!
Woolly’s description: “A delicate yarn calls for a delicate shape and this turban works both to glamorous effect. Worked flat, this piece is all in the finishing with fascinating folds and turns that turn simple garter stitch into a sculptural masterpiece.” I took a look at it, wanted to try it so badly but didn’t have time to knit the rectangle (oh so many projects on the needles!!), so I grabbed a thrifted sweater from my for-crafting stash, cut out the sleeves to size, and I had my rectangle!
Now, this is a far from perfect way to make the hat, as this stockinette fabric, seamed down the middle with the crocheted edges to prevent unraveling, is much different from the intended garter stitch piece. But, I got to try it out, and it worked!
I love my new tweed turban! (Doesn’t look its best styled with my newly cut, too-short bangs, but once they’ve grown out for a couple weeks it’ll look great!)
Some of my other personal favorite designs from the book are the pillbox style Taboosh, the button-embellished cozy Karenin, the asymmetrical cloche Ravine, and the bucket style Corbelle.
What’s your favorite design from the collection? Tell me and you might win the pattern!
Yup, it’s giveaway time! Woolly has generously donated giveaway copies for this blog tour, so leave a comment telling us which is your #1 favorite hat from the book – check them all out here on ravelry or here on Woolly’s website – and I’ll be picking 3 winners! 2 will get the pattern for their chosen favorite hat, and the grand prize winner will get the entire ebook, plus a copy of one of my hat patterns, just to make the giveaway a little bit leethal!
I’ll pick the winners in a week and a half-ish, on Monday November 5th. And, if you’re just dying to get your hands (literally or digitally) on a copy of this book, you can buy the print version for $16.99, the digital version for £9.00 (which is $14.50-ish), or both print+digital for £16.50 ($26-ish) – see Woolly’s site for all the buy links.
Unfortunately (and infuriatingly, for me), my website/blog has been down all week – this post was supposed to go up on Tuesday, and as I was finishing it up Monday afternoon my site stopped loading… anyway, so the next stop on the blog tour was going to be Knitspot, but that’s happened already now. Now, the next tour stop will be my buddy Cirilia over on bricoleur knits – you can find links to all the blogs and podcasts on the tour, past and future, over here! Check them all out for different perspectives on the book, interviews with Woolly, etc, fun stuff!
Happy hat knitting!!
Lee Does Stuff 
I like Karenin. Looks like a knight’s helmet.
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I love Imagiro, I am intrigued by the construction and shape. Thank you for the lovely review and for the alternative stockinette version of Imagiro 🙂
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Just looking at these beauties has me wanting to grab all the single skeins in my stash and make a stack of hats! I love the texture of Alternato.
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Donna B! You are the grand prize winner!! I will be emailing you shortly. Congrats!
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Wow – what a bunch of great patterns! I love the Camden cap best I think but Ravine and Karenin are both also really calling to me!
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oooh, Corbelle is a beauty, and looks like it would be easily adaptable to my huge noggin! I’ve knitted several from twisted woolly toppers, her patterns are fab fab fab. thanks for the giveaway!
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What a great collection! I love Ravine best. The asymmetry is so classic, but the styling is still fresh. It’s perfect!
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You are a winner! Yay!! You’ll be getting a copy of Ravine in your inbox soon. Happy Knitting!
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Woohoo! Thank you for hosting this. What a great introduction to a cool designer!
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❤ ❤ ❤ the Camden Cap. Planning to make it as a gift and also one for myself. I'd love to win it (and/or the whole book). Thanks Leethal!
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I’m quite partial to Alternato. It seems simple and understated but seems like you could really change the look with a wild yarn.
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I love Woolly’s hat patterns; I recently made East Lyme for Sweetie and it is perfect on him. Of this collection, I’m most drawn to Camden; I’m a sucker for brimmed hats ;). Nice turban,Lee! I do that sometimes, too, with knit patterns that I really want to see what they (sorta) look like made up.
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They all look so great! I think Taboosh might be my favorite, though. Glad your site is back up!
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You are a winner! Yay!! You’ll be getting a copy of Taboosh soon. Happy knitting!
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Yay! 😀
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It’s really hard to choose, I love Ravine AND Karenin AND Imagiro! If you really have to make me choose, I’ll say Imagiro, because it reminds me of my very classy grandmother who actually wore turbans.
I love your Wild is the Wind, btw. Have knitted 3 of them so far, in 3 very diferent yarns, but didn’t get around to put them on my ravpage. Will tell you when I do 🙂
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I love Ravine! That gorgeous tweedy yarn in that color with the fold is just beautiful.
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They all look amazing, but Ravine looks especially classy AND warm!
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My favorite is Alternato!
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Karenin! What a collection!
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Yeah, I can’t decide between the Camden and Ravine. I’ll just have to do them both!
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Ravine for sure!!
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I think it’s great that you are part of Woolly Wormhead’s blog tour – the two of you are my favourite hat designers! I love most of what you do! So to pick a favourite hat is rather difficult. Luckily, the choice is narrowed down to only ten patterns. So out of the book, I think I’ll pick Ravine, too. I love cloches, I love asymmetrical styles, and I love the texture. However, Alternato and Sumner are close behind.
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Bobba Hat is my favourite because it reminds me of Cinderella’s carrige: kind of pumpkin-formed but very soft-drapey-pretty (not pumpkin-pretty which I wouldn’t really want to wear). And because it would be a hat for me – I’m neighter the cloche- nor beanie-type and no fan of brims… that narrows my choice down a bit.
I want to thank you leethal for taking part in the blog tour (otherwise I might have missed that great book) and Woolly for the giveaways – and the lovely book of ourse!
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My favorite hat is Ravine. I liked looking at them all, though and I expect to knit several. Janine
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I’m kinda stuck between the Camden Cap and Corbelle. Either way, her patterns are awesome!
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This book sounds great for me. I’ve recently realized that knitting hats is my thing! I really like Karenin and Imagiro.
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So many great designs but i think it’s a shortlist of Imagiro, Ravine & Corbelle – a bit of a theme and an odd one out, but if I had to pick it would be Imagiro, or it would be today after a very nippy dog walk round the park. The shape, fit and folds suggest very warm ears, which would be perfect.
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