Hip Knit Hats: 40 Fabulous Designs

While some of the hat patterns were appealing, I am throwing this one in the trash. The instructions were consistently incomprehensible.

I think there were may 3 out of the entire book which were knit bottom up. Top down might appeal to some knitters, but not to me. Waste of money for me.

Seriously. This book was published in 2005 and I don't think most of these hats would have been acceptable then. So much fuzzy yarn. One hat looks like a bag. It's closed 2 inches from the top with a decorative draw string. If you are looking for kind of weird hats for a Quirky, early 90s themed costume/wordrobe, then this is an excellent book. But these hats were never on trend at any point in western fashion.

I've been searching for a book of hat patterns and this is THE one! I prefer knitting hats with circular needles and all of these are done this way. I don't think there isn't one pattern in this book that I wouldn't like to make. Lots of styles, from basic to really stylish. I would definitely recommend this book for someone looking for really great patterns for hats. I even learned a new technique to start them.

It's great to hear that so many of you out there are tackling the hardest of the patterns in Hip Knit Hats...thank you to the eagle eyes out there who have caught the ERRATA!! Profuse apologies - these things do happen - do check out my website: www.pondedge.net - for corrections to patterns...on the Home Page - click 'Helpful Info', then click 'Errata' - there's a FREE PATTERN that you can access on the Errata page as well in thanks for your forbearance!! Keep those needles clickin'!

The great thing about this book is that every project is shown in different gauges and colors. So, if you want to know what a chunky-weight single-color hat looks like in bulky weight yarn and two colors, in many cases you can just turn the page. There are pillboxes, berets, felted hats with felted flowers, hats with ribbing at the bottom, furry eyelash yarn hats, etc. Hats for men and hats for women that are truly wearable! My only critique is that some of the hats are too similar. The hats that are really unique (ex: the bobble hat and the topknot hat) stand out so much that I wanted to see more of them.

The knit hats and patterns in this new book really are hip and cool! And that's saying something; most hat patterns I've seen are either dull and uninspiring, or so wildly "out-there" that only a space alien would wear one. Hip Knit Hats manages to avoid either extreme, offering 40 fun patterns for knit hats and caps that are creative, fashionable and flattering. Excellent tutorials on hat construction and knitting techniques (knitting in the round, casting on with variations, finishing, felting and fulling) lead to unusual embellishment options and then, finally, the hats! Cute, simple caps are followed by hats with wide upturned brims, caps for guys, a head-hugging cloche, a pillbox hat with darling bobbles, seed-stitch pillboxes, and various berets. I love the "Fabulous Felted" chapter and embroidery techniques offered as well.