Celebrating Colour: Woolly Wormhead's Painted Woolly Toppers For Kids

Image courtesy of Woolly Wormhead

Woolly Wormhead can always be relied upon to create amazing hat knitting patterns, and now she has extended her range to children as well. Her sequel to last year's Painted Woolly Toppers is Painted Woolly Toppers For Kids, available now as a PDF download and soon to be a printed book as well.

I was fortunate enough to receive an online sneak peak of the book. From the cheeky cover photo (see right) you can tell that this is no boring tome of classic patterns for children. Wormhead applies her trademark irreverence and quirky style to the hats, creating fashionable toppers that children will want to wear.

It's probably no coincidence that Wormhead, who describes herself as a hat architect, has released the book a few months before Christmas to give readers some valuable knitting time and I can certainly see my goddaughters being happy to open one of her creations under the tree.

Wormhead uses hand-dyed variegated and painted yarns for her ten patterns. It's good to see her supporting British brands such as Countess Ablaze, Skein Queen and Old Maiden Aunt.

There's a comprehensive section on the knitting techniques used in the hats' creation. I myself haven't used German short rows before and it's great to have the instructions in the book and not to have to go off and google what to do. The patterns come in four sizes from a 16 inches to 23 inches. Twenty-two inches, the books says, is the circumference of an adult female's head. Good to see adults can join in the fun too.

My personal favourites are Kilbride:

Image courtesy of Woolly Wormhead

And Modbury:

Image courtesy of Woolly Wormhead

But don't mess with the boy modelling Swinton:

Image courtesy of Woolly Wormhead

All in all it's a great collection - hats off to you Woolly!