Knitting roots can come from so many places. Montse Stanley, a knitting historian and author who was born in Spain, was driven to learn about knitting when she found out how little was known about the knitting in her country. Recalling the many lace doilies she saw as a child, she had no idea where the designs came from. She asked some knitters in the area and was surprised to discover that one of her favorite designs was actually a pattern in a German knitting booklet!

My paternal grandmother crocheted doilies and hats. I don’t know where she got her patterns. But those doilies and the woman who made them are the inspiration for this hat, made from soft and warm Vermont woolpaca yarn.