This design was inspired by the Shetland Webcams. Visit them for yourself!

Yarns
There are three hats and each hat uses 6-7 colors. One skein of each is ample amount to complete a hat. Every effort was made to use some of the same colors in the three hats. For example, Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift in Ivory is used in both the Rocks and Waves and the Puffin hat.

Gauge and Needles
Use the needle size that yields 7 stitches/inch or 2.8 stitches/cm to make a 20-inch hat that has a snug fit (it needs to stay on in the wind). I use US 2/2.75mm 16-inch circular needles for the ribbing and US 2.5/3mm circulars for the rest of the hat. You’ll need a set of double pointed needles, or whatever you use for small circumference knitting, in the larger size for the top of the hat. Instructions are provided for adult and kid’s sizes.

Everyone knits with their own tension, and the Fair Isle technique seems to magnify differences between knitters in this regard. If this is your first Fair Isle project using this type of yarn, a swatch is in order. There are very few events in this world more sad or disappointing than a Puffin hat this is too big or small…take time to make a swatch!

A few notes about Fair Isle knitting
One of my favorite features of Fair Isle knitting is the transformation that happens when you wash your finished project for the first time. Before washing the stitches look a bit jumbled and lumpy, but once its washed and dries, the stitches will line up and the colors will blend beautifully, and you’ll be so amazed.

I have found two books especially helpful in understanding Fair Isle knitting. The most recent is Mary Jane Mucklestone’s 200 Fair Isle Motifs: A Knitters Directory. She explains the basics and the motif patterns are shown adjacent to pictures of knitted samples. The other book is Alice Starmore’s Book of Fair Isle Knitting. It’s a classic. If you’re not sure that you’ll do any more Fair Isle knitting, but you don’t want to give up too easily, get the Mucklestone book. If you’re hooked, get both.

The charts in this pattern were made using an Excel template provided at https://colornotesyarn.com/create-knitted-design-chart-wi...