The Eyrie Hat represents the soaring heights and nest-like comfort of the large eagles and birds of prey who spy the many hidden bounties and claim the arid lands of the Southwest as their own. With its soothing, rhythmic ribbed texture, you’ll feel snug as a nestling in this airy, bouncy hat with its downy pom-pom.

About the Desert Vista Pattern Collection, in collaboration with Traveling Yarn:
In collaboration with Traveling Yarn Co., I have designed a collection of knitwear accessories inspired by Sarah’s custom-milled base, Arcadia DK. A knitter’s dream, this non-superwash base is woolly with a natural loft and softness that feels as if it came directly off the sheep and is just as warm and airy, but with all the brilliance of Sarah’s impeccable dye skills in a broad range of colors.

Honoring Sarah’s home state of Arizona, this collection draws from the transformative power of wind, erosion, water, and wildlife of the desert landscapes of the southwest, and pays homage to this stark, but vital landscape.

The patterns in this collection play with textures and the elegance of a couple of simple elements that mirror the primal elements at work in a desert. Each pattern focuses on the essentials of knitting at its oldest core values: knits and purls, slipped stitches, and twisted ribbing against an open backdrop of stockinette to allow the yarn to “speak for itself”. Opposing forces of serene rest space against striking but simple visual details like finding an arroyo nestled just below a seemingly flat horizon is the balance I have recreated to honor Arcadia DK’s heritage of practical functionality as a garment for the shifting moods and weather of the desert.

Materials

Yarn
60 - 80 grams (approximately 220 -300 yds.) DK weight yarn

Yarn used in photos:
Arcadia DK in the following colorways (Size M):
C1 – Natural (20 grams)
C2 – Frida (25 grams)
C3 - Spicy Salmon (25 grams)
Additional (optional) – scraps of all C1, C2, C3 + Moon Boots & Gossip Column for pom-pom

About Arcadia DK:
100% non-superwash Merino
180 yds per 50 gram skein
All USA sourced, spun, and dyed

Needles
US 5 (3.75 mm) 16” circular needles for brim ribbing
US 6 (4.00 mm) 16” circular needles for body
US 6 (4.00 mm) double-pointed needles or 32” circular needles (or longer) for Magic Loop for small circumference crown decreases

Notions
Stitch marker to mark BOR
1 tapestry needle
Optional: additional stitch markers to mark crown decrease repeats (7 + 1 BOR marker = 8)

Gauge & Notes
22 stitches & 32 rows = 4” in Stockinette

Hat is worked seamlessly in the round from the brim up on circular needles through the brim and body, switching to DPNs or preferred needles for smaller circumference knitting on the crown, and includes: a contrasting 1x1 ribbed brim, a purl ridge to separate brim from body, ribbed body in 2 colors, and a defined right-spiral crown. Pattern features knits and purls and decreases for the crown, with an optional pom-pom. Instructions are written.

Pattern is written for 3 sizes: Small (20-21”) Medium (22”), and Large (23”).

For easy visual reference sizes are color-coded: small – blue, medium – red, and large – green.*