Hirta Hat Set

The Queen of the Waves Hand Knitwear Design Collection by Alice Starmore

Persian Tiles wrap by Jade Starmore from the book A Collector's Item and Hirta Hat Set and Maidenhair pullover patterncard kits by Alice Starmore

The Polaris Cardigan and Hirta Hat Set patterncard kit designs by Alice Starmore in Hebridean 2 Ply

Description

Measurements:
Beret – Circumference 64.5cm. Brim to crown 26cm.
Fingerless Gloves – Width around knuckles 19.3[20.7, 22]cm.

The Hirta Hat Set is composed of a beret and one pair of fingerless gloves in Alice Starmore™ Hebridean 2 Ply. The set is worked in the stranded circular technique. If you are new to this technique then there is a graded progression you can follow, starting with the beret which introduces double decrease shaping in the patterned crown. The fingerless gloves will teach you how to make thumb gussets and how to work each digit in the round. The Hirta Hat Set is shown here with the Boreray Pullover and Dun Cuff, the gold verison is shown with the Persian Tiles wrap and Maidenhair Pullover and the blue version is shown with the Polaris cardgian.

This kit includes a colour-printed patterncard with full instructions and all the yarn required to make the Hirta Hat Set in your own choice of colours. The colours I used in the two examples of the set are shown in the photos here. The first darker set has a background colour is Storm Petrel with a pattern colour of Driftwood. These two colours are complimented with smaller amounts of Pebble Beach as Contrast 1, and little dashes of bright Summertide as Contrast 2 and Sea Anemone as Contrast 3. The second paler set has a background colour of Pebble Beach with a pattern colour of Golden Plover complimented with Contrast 1 of Driftwood, Contrast 2 of Spindrift and Contrast 3 of Corncrake. The third set is made in a Background Colour of Selkie with a pattern colour of Solan Goose with Kittiwake as Contrast 1, Shearwater as Contrast 2 and Mara as Contrast 3. The beret is made in one size and instructions for the gloves are provided in three sizes. Enough yarn is provided in the kit to make the largest size of gloves.

Click here for a digital shadecard of all Hebridean 2 Ply colours.

£56.00

Size

Background Colour

Pattern Colour

Contrast 1

Contrast 2

Contrast 3

International Delivery Information

International Shipping

Tracked International Shipping Costs

Orders up to £150 to a single address – Total Shipping £10

Orders up to £175 to a single address – Total Shipping £15

Orders up to £250 to a single address – Total Shipping £20

Orders up to £350 to a single address – Total Shipping £30

Orders up to £450 to a single address – Total Shipping £40

Orders over £451 to a single address – Total Shipping £50

Orders over £551 to a single address – Total Shipping £60

Orders over £651 to a single address – Total Shipping £70

Orders over £751 to a single address – Total Shipping £80

Orders over £851 to a single address – Total Shipping £90

Orders over £951 to a single address – Total Shipping £100

This scale reflects the fact that larger orders will go in separate boxes.

Please ensure that you check our DELIVERY INFORMATION page for full details.

UK Delivery Information

UK Delivery

Orders up to £100 to a single address – Total Shipping £5

Orders up to £150 to a single address – Total Shipping £7

Orders up to £250 to a single address – Total Shipping £10

Orders up to £350 to a single address – Total Shipping £15

Orders up to £450 to a single address – Total Shipping £20

Orders up to £550 to a single address – Total Shipping £25

Orders up to £650 to a single address – Total Shipping £30

This scale reflects the fact that larger orders will weigh more and will go in separate boxes. All of our UK parcels are sent by Royal Mail 1^st Class. Shipping times within the UK are 2-3 days on average.

Please contact us if you wish to make an order over the value of £650.

Please ensure that you check our DELIVERY INFORMATION page for full details.

Purchase Information

Our pattern-inclusive kits are made up in skeins of varying weight, according to the amounts required for each project. Every project on our website has been knitted here at Virtual Yarns, so we know precisely how much yarn is required to make them. Each kit contains that amount plus an extra 8 per-cent more yarn. This is enough yarn to knit a swatch and the project, PROVIDED THE INSTRUCTIONS ARE FOLLOWED FOR THE SIZE ORDERED. The extra 8 per-cent allows reasonable leeway for knitter error. Kits are made up by hand to order, and each yarn amount is carefully weighed.

For further information, please check our PURCHASE INFORMATION page.

Washing Instructions

Please note that all of our yarns are supplied washed and therefore do not require to be washed or fulled after knitting, unless you have an accident. Generally speaking, your garments should not require cleaning/washing any more than a coat would.

All of our designs are made with 100% pure new wool yarns and should be washed either by hand with pure soap in hand hot-water, or in a front loading washing machine which has a specific wool programme using a small amount of non-biological detergent. We do not recommend the use of any fabric softeners or any additives that will remain in the fabric after rinsing.

If hand washing, dissolve a small amount of pure soap flakes – or if using a pure soap bar, grate the required amount – into hand-hot water. Ensure that the soap has thoroughly dissolved before immersing the piece. Use a gentle squeezing motion to wash; do not cause any friction by rubbing or scrubbing as this will cause the fibres to felt. Gently squeeze out the excess soapy water and rinse well in warm water. It is important to remove as much excess water as quickly as possible as the longer moisture is left in wool yarn, the more likely it is to shrink or felt.

The best method for removing water is to spin in a washing machine, but if you prefer to remove the water by hand then gently squeeze the piece to remove the main water load and then lay the piece flat on towels and roll up, squeezing out as much water as possible into the towels. You will have to use several towels and repeat the process to remove as much moisture as you can.

Alternatively, spin to remove the excess water. If using a top loading machine it is important to place the piece in a suitable pillowcase (white cotton is best) so that it does not wrap around the spindle and become distorted. For both top-loading machines and front-loading machines, it is vitally important to remove from the spinner as soon as it has stopped: otherwise the piece can become permanently creased.

In all cases, dry flat on towels away from direct heat/sunlight, and smooth gently into shape. You can place small towels – or even better, cut and finish old towelling into the garment shapes, such as sleeves etc – and place inside the garment so that the two layers are separate. This will greatly help speed up drying process.

For straight, dropped-shoulder pullover styles, a woolly board is an excellent method of drying as the garment is placed on the board and dried to size allowing air to circulate inside. The board can also be used for cardigans in this style so long as you tack the front bands closed using a strong cotton thread, which you then carefully remove once the garment has dried. Glove boards can also be used for gloves which will allow them to dry in perfect shape.

Story

Every time I travel the 40 miles of wild Atlantic Ocean between St Kilda and my island home of Lewis, I find myself imagining the thoughts of those who left their beloved home forever. The last thirty-six islanders who made that final voyage in 1930 ranged in age from 4 to 74 years and, quite predictably, the balance of excitement and trepidation tilted more or less according to age. For the little children it was an adventure whilst the elderly felt nothing but sorrow and loss. I imagine that our Queen of the Waves felt both excitement and sorrow in equal measure. She would never again experience the thrilling sensation of balancing along a thousand-foot high ledge above a heaving ocean, but she still had all the confidence of youth to see her through the uncertainties ahead.

This idea of holding these two equally powerful and opposite emotions were in my mind as I left Hirta for home on a typical Hebridean day when the weather swings from sharp diamond light to soft misty cloud in a moment. Hirta and her satellite islands can create their own weather; from out of a clear blue sky towering clouds form over them and tendrils of mist wrap themselves around the jagged cliffs – sometimes to the extent that when you are on the ocean, Hirta is there one moment and gone the next. I imagined our Queen looking back to her receding home and forward to her future, wearing her hat and gloves depicting her emotions with abstract shapes and lines based on the sharp outlines of cliffs, gannets and waves. She would make them in different colour palettes in the future depending on mood. But for this “past and future day” she chose to emphasise the graphics with a strongly contrasting dark background and light pattern colour which she tempered by working the pattern in a soft Driftwood tone. Another subtle misty tone of Pebble Beach was then added, and this was followed with confident dashes of Summertide and Sea Anemone to complete the picture.

You can have a lot of fun working out colour ideas for your own Hirta Hat Set.

Alice