The Kootenay Bowler is a very simple roll rimmed hat. I have added a little spice by knitting the Bowler from the top down and recommend that you knit two strands of yarn together. I prefer for one strand to be 6 ply. hemp. Why two strands of yarn? I felt that the use of a wonderful fibres like alpaca, dreamy cashmere, or drop dead gorgeous hand dyed yarns needed an additional fibre to give shape to the ‘bowler’ part of the hat. 6 ply hemp does just that, and hemp won’t rot or mildew and helps the dreamy fibres to retain their shape. Don’t want to use hemp or two strands, the hat can be knit using only one strand, you will just have a thinner roll to the rim. This pattern is written for the following gauges: 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, and 6 sts., 2.5cm/1in.

Pictured: from top, Marlene Chrysler’s Random/chunky Bottom, Rowan Summer Tweed used one hank #Sh542 and Hemp for Knitting 6ply hemp.