Dirken

Good morning! How is the weather where you are? Another wild storm is blowing in across Kintyre from the Atlantic, and I’m contemplating just how much all-weather gear I need to attempt a short walk with the dogs. Before I do that, here’s this Sunday’s Making Light accessory.

This cosy hat features the same upsized lace motif as Dorchas / Solas, and is knitted at the same gauge of 3.5 stitches to the inch.

One of the things I really enjoy about this motif is the way that its diagonals and purl sections naturally resolve themselves into something like plates or scales.

Worked over the front of a pullover, the effect is a little like protective armour. On a hat, to me, these scales suggest something more like a pine cone. . . .

. . . which is what gives this hat its name: Dirken being a pine cone in both the Scots and Gaelic languages.

Dirken’s cone-like effect can be enhanced – or reduced – with blocking. With Kate C’s choffer version, a light-touch block retains the motif’s naturally scale-y form. . .

. . . while with the Riach version that I’m wearing here, a more vigorous block creates more slouch . . .

. . . yet still maintains the fabric’s structure.

As a designer, my favourite part of all hats is the crown, and Dirken’s is no exception. . . .

. . .where the design’s natural four-fold symmetry resolves itself into an elegant square.

This is, in fact, quite unlike a pine-cone, whose complex overlapping structure is a phyllotactic spiral . . .

(memo to self: at some point attempt to design a truly spiralling cone-y hat crown)

I suspect many of you will want to know about the glorious-looking pullover Kate C is sporting, with her Dirken, underneath her jacket. Well, she has knitted her own lovely two-tone version of Lilias Day, which we’ll add as a club bonus for you later in the week. More of that shortly.

Happy knitting, and enjoy your Sunday!