Perhaps it’s the artist-musician in me, but I’ve often responded to the opening lines of Genesis aurally and visually:

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Now the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the ruach Elohim hovered over the face of the waters. (Gen. 1:1-2).”

I imagine the sound and sight of that windy spirit to be something like that which might have been seen and heard in the divine voice walking toward them in that ruach ha’yom, the “breezy time of day” (Genesis 3:8). This windy voice frequently invokes organic images of spirals and pinwheels, and inspires similar knitted metaphors. For me, there are few knitted stitches more organic in their execution or appearance than the “brioche” stitch; here, the stitch is transformed into the “knit one below” stitch. And the Ruach Kippah is an attempt to translate an inspired understanding of divine voice into a simple knitted kippah.

Another KOB/brioche kippah, this kippah is worked in six swirling sections. Perhaps making or wearing this kippah will connect you to the intelligence of the sound of wind in the void or the breeze in the treetops.

The current version of this pattern is (2.0), March 2010. Earlier versions may contain instructions that have revised. Please feel free to contact me with questions or concerns about the pattern, or to obtain a copy of the revised pattern if you purchased an earlier version and have not already received an update.

NOTE: Whatever version of the pattern you may have, Row 6 should read:
Row 6: with MC, * kykb, k1, k1b, k1 * 6 times, to the end of the round
with CC, * k1, k1tbl, k1, k1b 2x , repeat * 6 times (36 sts)