Ekaterin Vorkosigan is a character in Lois McMaster Bujold’s fantastic science fiction / space opera series: Ekaterin is a lady who has immense inner strength, a strong sense of duty and responsibility, and an artist’s soul. This hat, with its hint of Russian styling and practical warmth, seems like the sort of thing she’d wear on a cold winter day on Barrayar.

The original was knit with considerably less than one full skein of Briggs and Little Royal, a worsted yarn with 249 metres (272 yards) in a skein. In all, the hat only used 75 grams of yarn, so this is easily a one-skein project. You can use any reasonably sturdy yarn that suits your fancy, and you have the option of knitting a slightly oversized hat then fulling it down to create an even warmer fabric.

The brim of the hat is worked first, side to side: this means you just keep knitting that narrow piece until it is long enough to wrap nicely around the head it is intended to fit. The top and bottom edges of the brim are worked in i-cord, so that they roll nicely into a hem. Seam the centre back (or use a provisional cast on and graft it, or pick up stitches and do a three needle bind off), then pick up stitches along the inside of the top edge and work the crown of the hat. That’s it: the only sewing up is that one back seam, and tucking in the ends of the yarn when you are done.