I’ve always had a penchant for legends and folk tales, and these simple graphic shapes (a downward chevron framed by 2 zig zag lines) remind me of the story of how the remains of Apo Anno (an Ancient Ibaloi warrior hero) were laid to rest because the waters carried him to a sacred place. Water is sacred and in certain legends, it may even be sentient. The ancient people showed their reverence to it by telling stories of how water played a crucial role as a life-giving or purifying substance and some-times the bringer of death and destruction. Sometimes revisiting these old tales can give us an insight of our old roots and connect us to the important things missing in our fast paced world. DANUM simply means water in the Kankanaey and Iloko Languages, the substance responsible for giving and sustaining life.

The Motif for this hat was taken from the Chico River Wrap. I was pleasantly surprised to see it work as a hat, too. The DANUM hat uses 2 contrasting colours of fingering weight Yarns. It is quite a simple pattern and suitable as a first colourwork project since it doesn’t require the knitter to weave in or trap floats. This was such a fun and easy knitting project and I hope you enjoy this project as much as I enjoyed it!