Product Description
This tam is named after the Loch near my home, where I walk my dogs most days. There's a beautiful 13 mile trail around the Loch which encompasses woodlands, country trails, and a bit of a river walk. It's teeming with wildlife and surrounded by hills on two sides. Anyway, it's lovely and I just felt inspired to make this. The yarn used for this tam is Baa Ram Ewe Pip Colourwork, as I wanted to try this out - and very nice it is too.
The hat will fit a 20 - 23 inch head.
Gauge: 39 rows x 32 stitches (approx) on 3.00 mm needles.
Yarn requirements: 5 x 25g balls of Baa Ram Ewe Pip Colourwork in the following shades:
Bramley Baths Lotherton Crucible Eccup Wesley Bob
Good substitutes include Jamieson's of Shetland Spindrift or KnitPicks Palette.
Loch Leven Fair Isle Tam by Sharon Spencer
What is Being Made
The Loch Leven is a Fair Isle tam—a traditional Scottish-style beret hat—designed by Sharon Spencer and inspired by the natural landscape near Loch Leven. This intermediate-level knitting project creates a finished hat with a circumference of 10.5 inches, sized to fit heads measuring 20 to 23 inches. The tam features colorwork patterning characteristic of Fair Isle knitting, combining multiple yarn colors in a structured, repeating design.
Techniques Used
This pattern employs Fair Isle colorwork, a traditional knitting technique that incorporates multiple colors within the same row to create intricate patterns. The hat is constructed using circular knitting, worked in the round on either double-pointed needles or a circular needle to create a seamless, tubular fabric. The ribbed cuff is worked separately on smaller needles before transitioning to the main body, and the finished piece requires blocking to achieve the correct gauge and final dimensions.
Stitches Used
- Knit (K)—the fundamental stitch forming the base fabric
- Purl (P)—used in combination with knit stitches to create the ribbed cuff
- Make 1 (M1)—an increase stitch created by picking up the loop between two stitches and knitting into the back of the loop, used to shape the tam
Materials and Tools
The Loch Leven is worked in 4-ply yarn using Baa Ram Ewe Pip Colourwork in four colorways: Bramley Baths, Lotherton, Crucible, and Eccup, with 25 grams of each color required. Needles include 2.75 mm double-pointed or circular needles for working the ribbed cuff and 3.00 mm double-pointed or circular needles for the main body, with needle sizes adjustable as needed to obtain the correct gauge. Additional notions include a stitch marker for tracking the beginning of each round, a tapestry needle for weaving in ends, scissors, and an 11-inch plate for blocking the finished hat. The pattern specifies a gauge of 39 rows by 32 stitches per 4 inches (10 cm) on 3.00 mm needles after blocking.
```Specifications
| Brand: | Independent Designer |
| Yarn Weight: | Fingering |
| Pages: | 2 |
| Designer: | Sharon Spencer |
| Craft: | Knitting |
| Format: | Downloadable PDF |
| Languages: | English |
| Number of Patterns: | 1 |
| Skill Level: | Intermediate |
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