Kate Davies – Peerie Flooers Hat Knitting Kit
Designed by Kate Davies – KDD & Co
Peerie Flooers is one of Kate Davies' best known designs, and one of the most knitted. Rows of small flowers in seven shades run up the body of the hat and resolve into a star at the crown. It has been a favourite with knitters for well over a decade.
The hat is worked from the bottom up, starting with corrugated rib, then body and crown from a chart read right to left throughout. Two sizes are given from the same set of yarn: a close-fitting shallow beanie, and a deeper, slightly slouchy one.
We have kitted this in Jamieson & Smith 2 Ply Jumper Weight, the classic Shetland jumper weight and our choice for this design in place of the yarn named in the pattern. It is true Shetland wool, with just enough grip to keep stranded colourwork even, and it blooms when blocked so the little flowers soften and settle into the fabric. Knitters have been working Peerie Flooers in 2 Ply Jumper Weight for years, and it is hard to beat for the job.
Shetland Palette 1
These are the seven shades in this kit, with the chart letter each one works as in the pattern:
- A Dark Azure Blue 142
- B Light Fawn 202
- C Lime 9
- D Egg Yolk Yellow 91
- E Light Blue 14
- F Light Green Mix FC24
- G Dark Fuchsia 43
You can see all seven below the hat in the first photograph. We have matched Kate's palette as closely as the Jamieson & Smith range allows, but these are not the shades she used and the two yarns are different, so your hat will not look identical to the photographs of the original.
Skill Level: Intermediate ★★★ (3 out of 5)
Sizes: Two sizes, both knitted from this one kit. To fit head circumference 51-56 (56-61)cm / 20-22 (22-24)in.
Gauge: 28 sts x 34 rounds to 10cm (4") over colourwork, on 3.25mm needles
The Kit Includes
- 7 balls of Jamieson & Smith 2 Ply Jumper Weight, one in each of the seven shades listed above
- Printed pattern in English, with a code to download the digital version
You'll Also Need
- Gauge-size circular needles, 40cm long. Kate's gauge was achieved on 3.25mm
- Circular needles one size below gauge size, 40cm long, for the rib
- Gauge-size needles of your preferred type for working small circumferences, for the crown
- Stitch marker
- Wool needle
A note on the needles
The pattern gives needles by gauge rather than by size, so knit a swatch first and let that decide. Kate reached 28 stitches to 10cm on 3.25mm, and that is the sensible place to start, but take whatever size gets you there in stranded colourwork.
Both cables want to be 40cm. The hat casts on 124 or 128 stitches and increases to 144 or 168, which sits comfortably on 40cm at this gauge and nowhere near comfortably on 60cm.
Buying interchangeables for this? A 40cm circular needs the short "special" tips. Standard tips only make up 60cm and above, so they will not help you here.
The crown decreases down to twelve stitches, so you will need something for small circumferences at the end. Double-pointed needles or Magic Loop both work, and the choice is personal.
Techniques used
- Stranded colourwork in the round, two shades per round
- Corrugated rib
- Working from a chart, read right to left throughout
- m1 increases
- Centred double decreases and k2tog, worked in the colourwork pattern
- Moving to double-pointed needles or Magic Loop as the crown reduces
- Blocking over a hat block, foam head or a shaped plastic bag
Why You'll Love It
- A design knitters have come back to for over a decade
- Real Shetland wool from Jamieson & Smith in Lerwick
- Seven shades in one kit, so there is nothing left to work out
- A manageable first or second colourwork project, small enough to finish
- Both hat sizes knit from the same set of yarn