🧶An extra-special hat

Last week we told you about our project manager Sunnie and her Noodlyknits Hat Drive benefiting patients at the cancer treatment hospital her uncle runs in Gwangju, South Korea.

Now it’s true, the usual thing when making for charity is to use a basic pattern and stash yarn and knock them out “on repeat”…

But what if you made ONE extra-special hat? A hat imbued with meaning in a beautiful yarn and fun, engaging pattern, that’s every bit as much fun to make as it is to give away?

Knit Star Jennifer Berg “dreamt up The Peaceful People Hat as I was heading to bed one night,” she says. “I was inspired by the swirls found on the pottery and jewelry designs of the Hopi Tribe who are referred to as The Peaceful People. Their reservations dot across the Southwest and are close to our Navajo Reservation but our tribes are very different.”

“I made this piece to honor my neighbor tribe. The Peaceful People have artwork that is similar to Navajo designs but the twist and swirls are something that is a staple for them,” Jen added.

To create an extra-special exclusive kit for Jen’s design, we turned to Meg of Fairy Godmother Dyeworks. Our brand-new kit includes 25 grams of hand-dyed gradient “Evolution” Superwash Merino DK and 75 grams of “Glazed” semisolid DK yarn. 

“This kit is a lovely introduction to my Evolution yarn,” Meg shared.  The gradual flow of color from hue to hue is my signature dye style, honed over the last 17 years. 

The kit’s “Peace” gradient colorway evokes sand to sky, while the semisolid “Terracotta” is reminiscent of rock formations in the region and provides a natural contrast.

Buy your limited-edition hat kit here. Find the hat pattern on Ravelry.

P.S. Want to go all-in with Fairy Godmother gradients? Check out our exclusive Starlight DK cakes and pattern ideas here.

Here’s another fun-to-make hat idea from our Star Guide, Amber Harrison. It’s her first published pattern and she hit it out of the park!

“My ‘Melting Point of Ice’ hat was inspired by Basquiat - one of my favorite artists - and Felicity Ford’s workshop in Knit Stars Season 6,” Amber says. “The workshop reignited my interest in art. I went through a book of Basquiat’s art, doodled some elements of his work into charts, and then Mitzi at the Knit Stars Flagship Store helped me pick the perfect yarn and colors.”

Amber’s slouchy beanie is knit in the round and has a double brim. The outside brim is knit in stranded colorwork. You need 1 skein each of 3 colors Loops Luxe Chunky yarn, shown above in Natural, Light Grey and Charcoal.

Buy the yarn here and find Amber’s pattern on Ravelry. A great way to support an emerging designer!

Maybe you’d love to make a hat, but you need it to be ridiculously fast?

You might have seen Gaye “GGMadeIt” Glasspie and Adella “LolaBean” Colvin posting this past week about the “Hey Boo Beanie” by Brandi Cheyenne Harper. This one works up in just a few hours in superbulky yarn, and looks so cute on everyone. 

Yes, even you “but I never look good in hats!” folks. Promise!

Plus Brandi has mini video tutorials, making this a very beginner-friendly hat.

Mitzi used our exclusive Superloops yarn to make this hat. (We created this yarn to be softer than any other super bulky out there…and we think we pulled it off!) She had to go into a second skein of Superloops to make this hat, but you can easily get 2 beautiful beanies from 3 skeins…so why not make one for yourself, and 2 more as gifts or donations? 
 
Choose from 8 exclusive color ways of Superloops here. Find the pattern on Ravelry.

 Photo courtesy of Svetlana Volkova via Ravelry

Would you rather stick with a simpler hat? Don’t miss this Family Tree Beanie design by Svetlana Volkova! One skein of our LolaBean Cool Beans Sport should yield one hat up to size L (or more for XL and 2XL). 

Would you like to help Sunnie reach her goal of 200 hats for her uncle’s cancer treatment hospital?

They can be any pattern or materials - just please label your hats with the fiber content so they can be sorted, and ship to arrive no later than December 1 to:

Knit Stars Flagship Store
3509 S. Peoria, Suite 301
Tulsa, OK 74105

Thank you in advance, and happy hat making!

Some of last year’s recipients from Sunnie’s hat drive. There were so many hats that extras were sent to a local shelter, too ❤️

While you're making hats on repeat, you. might want to make this recipe on repeat too!

In this extra-simple, extra-fast salmon recipe from New York Times Food contributor Melissa Clark, a quick stint under the broiler transforms smooth Dijon mustard into a savory, caramelized crust, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice adds just the right brightness and tang to the rich, sweet fish. Covering the baking pan with a protective layer of aluminum foil helps with cleanup, meaning you can cook dinner and wash up in under 30 minutes.

Ingredients
2 (6- to 8-ounce) skin-on salmon fillets, each about 1-inch thick 
½ teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste 
Freshly ground black pepper 
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 
Lemon wedges, for serving 

Preparation
Step 1 Position one oven rack 6 inches from the broiler heat source then heat the broiler. Season the salmon fillets all over with ½ teaspoon salt and a couple of grinds of pepper and place them on an aluminum foil-lined sheet pan, skin side down. 

Step 2 In a small bowl, whisk the oil and mustard until well mixed. Brush the tops and sides of the salmon with this mustard mixture. 

Step 3 Broil until the salmon is opaque with a deep brown crust, about 6 to 8 minutes for medium-rare. (The center of the filets will be dark pink, if you pierce one with a paring knife and take a look.) If your filets are thinner, reduce cooking time by 1 to 2 minutes. If you prefer more well-done fish, add 1 or 2 minutes to the cooking time. 

Step 4 Squeeze a lemon wedge all over the cooked salmon filets, then serve salmon with more lemon wedges on the side.