Iona Wool Fair Isle Tam.
Designed by Linda Moss for Iona Wool.

This pretty tam or beret celebrates the famous Isle of Iona by featuring the knotted heart symbol of Iona Wool, a modern motif reminiscent of the traditionally Scottish Luckenbooth design favoured by Mary, Queen of Scots. The hat is knitted in Iona Wool, a single-origin pure wool DK yarn from sheep reared on the island and sold by the Iona Craft Shop. By making this hat with Iona Wool, you support farmers and business on Iona.

The design is suitable as a beginner’s colourwork hat. It is constructed in tradition Fair Isle method of circular knitting , which actually makes things simpler because the design is always facing you as you knit, and there’s no need for any purl rows. It’s an all-over design, rather than separate bands of pattern, with repeats and mirror-image that makes it easy to remember. Only 2 colours are ever in use at once. It has a ribbed brim, and 7- or 6-segmented crown. The instructions are for Double Knitting weight, and for either a very slouchy tam, or a closer-fitting beret, depending on how many segments of the crown you include. If you want a beret, make it with 6 crown segments. For a slouchy tam, make it with 7 segments.
You can make it either in just 2 colours, or in 4. It works well in both. The 4-coloured version alternates 2 natural background colours, and introduces a bright highlight as spots in the design.

Materials: A total of 100gms. of DK wool: either 50 gms of each of 2 colours, or 50 gms of your pattern colour and 25 gms of each of 2 coordinating background colours. For the highlight spots, a tiny amount of a strong contrast colour. Fair Isle designs work best if there’s a strong tonal contrast between pattern and background colours.

Making the Hat
Skills needed:
This pattern attempts to avoid, or to lead you through, any of the difficulties often associated with Fair Isle knitting, but you need to be able to knit in the round; follow a chart for the design, (just read it from right to left for each pattern repeat on each round) and it’s easiest (but not essential) if you hold one colour in each hand, using “continental” knitting (picking not throwing the yarn) for your left-hand yarn. This means your 2 yarns won’t get tangled.
I assume you can knit and purl, but increases and decreases are fully explained in the pattern.
I hope that this pattern will encourage those who feel a bit daunted by about Fair Isle knitting to give it a try, and perhaps then move on confidently to more complex designs: I have several more on Ravelry!

There are 3 files to download: the written instructions, and 2 full colour charts for the hat in 2 and 4 colours.