Snowflake Toque

Snowflake Toque by McGehee Textiles

What Is Being Made

The Snowflake Toque is a knitted winter hat designed by Mindy McGehee-Cox and available in two sizes: toddler (15-16" circumference) and adult (20-21" circumference). This cozy toque features a stranded colorwork design with a snowflake motif, making it an ideal gift knitting project. The toddler version can be completed in approximately 1 hour, while the adult size requires 2-3 hours of knitting time.

Craft and Techniques

This project uses knitting as the primary craft technique. The Snowflake Toque incorporates stranded colorwork, a traditional technique where two yarn colors are carried across the row to create a patterned design. The stranded colorwork method adds both visual interest and extra warmth to the finished hat, making it exceptionally suitable for winter wear. The pattern is classified as intermediate difficulty, meaning knitters should have foundational skills before attempting this project.

Stitches Used

The pattern employs fundamental knitting stitches worked in combination:

• Knit (K): The basic knit stitch forms the primary fabric structure
• Purl (P): Used as needed in the pattern construction
• Knit Two Together (K2tog): A decrease stitch used for shaping the crown of the hat

The stitches are worked in stockinette stitch as the base fabric, with the colorwork pattern integrated throughout. The gauge is 10 stitches and 14 rows per 4 inches when worked in the stockinette stitch colorwork pattern on the larger needles.

Materials: Yarn and Needles

Yarn Requirements: The pattern calls for super bulky (weight 6) yarn in two contrasting colors. You will need 60 yards of the main color and 30 yards of the contrast color, for a total of 90 yards. The designer used Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick in River Run for the main color and Fisherman for the contrast color, though any super bulky yarn in your chosen colors will work.

Needles: The pattern requires US size 11 (8mm) and US size 13 (9mm) circular needles, both in 16-inch length. As you decrease stitches while shaping the crown, you will transition to double-pointed needles (DPNs) when the stitches no longer comfortably fit on the circular needle, or you may use the magic loop method as an alternative.