The Viti Fair Isle Beanie
The Viti Fair Isle Beanie is named with an old Finnish word meaning “freshly fallen, powdery snow.” It features a traditional Norwegian star motif that was inspired by traditional Norwegian Selbu mitten patterns.
This beanie pattern happened by accident. I had a friend request hats that featured the same pattern as some mittens I had made for her, so I got to work figuring out how to make it work…and the Viti Beanie was born!
If you’re not a knitter (or you love the hat but don’t want to knit it yourself), you can shop hats here in the shop.
The thing I love most about this pattern is that it looks great in both more traditional colors and in fun, modern colors! I have loved coming up with fun color combos for this hat!
Pattern Details
Because of the stranded color work in this pattern, I’d consider it an intermediate/advanced pattern. The trickiest part is getting your floats right around the bottom of the hat so it stretches enough to be able to get it on your head.
SIZING
As written, this pattern is one size. It will fit a head circumference of 21”-22”, but I’ve included instructions to adjust the size if needed.
Since this pattern has a 28 stitch repeat, adding or subtracting a few stitches isn’t an option. The best way to adjust the size is to adjust the gauge, or use a combination of adding stitches and adjusting the gauge (this will depend on your personal knitting gauge).
YARN
The recommended yarn weight for this pattern is DK or worsted. I used Malabrigo Rios and Madelinetosh Tosh DK for the hats I’ve made with this pattern. Rios is labeled as a worsted weight, but it’s a very light worsted weight, so using a different worsted weight yarn will impact your gauge and the size of your finished object.
Main color: approximately 160 yards
Contrast color: approximately 50 yards
NEEDLES
US 4 16” circular needles
US 6 16” circular needles
US 6 double pointed needles
You may need to adjust your needle size based on your knitting gauge and the size of hat you want. I definitely recommend knitting a gauge swatch with the color work pattern.
If you knit this pattern, be sure to tag it with #vitibeanie on social media!
