The Rowan Beatrice Beanie by Lisa Richardson – a knitting pattern review
I first fell in love with this hat on a trip to the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace in London back in October 2019. Rowan had a stall at the show and were selling balls of Rowan Sultano Fine yarn as a sort of kit combined with the pattern. The pattern itself is a free download so you really only pay for the yarn itself which, since it’s made up of a silk, mohair and cashmere combination, is a little on the spendy side but once you have a feel of that stuff you’ll absolutely know why it’s so pricey.
I didn’t buy the yarn that day though as there was no getting away from the expense of it, no matter how lovely and having already spent a lot (it was the Knitting and Stitching Show after all) I just couldn’t justify the cost at that time. It did however, remain on my knitting wish list for a long while after the show and I just couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Beatrice Beanie Hat Pattern Image Rowan Sultano Fine in shade Lapis
Since I loved the style of the hat anyway, I decided to try out the pattern on a cheaper yarn I’d had at home for a while, a lovely neutral beige wool blend from Hobbycraft. The yarn was pretty much the same weight as the Rowan so I hoped it would knit up ok and it did.
The hat is knit flat which I quite liked as I’m still not overly confident at knitting anything in the round and the pattern is made up of a simple but really effective rib pattern of alternate knit 3 purl 1 stitches.
I found this pattern to be a really lovely, relaxing knit. There’s a little bit of interest there in the alternating knit and purl stitches but it’s easy enough to knit in front of the tv without requiring too much concentration.
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Despite being knit on 4mm needles with a fair few stitches on the needle I found the hat knitted up much quicker than I had expected. I enjoy knitting on smaller sized needles anyway as I find it easier on my hands.
Once my hat was finished it was very quick and easy to sew up the back seam and I chose to use a fluffy brown faux fur pom pom to finish it off which I picked up from a lovely shop linked here on Etsy.
Unfortunately, this beloved version of the Beatrice Beanie came to a sad end as, after wearing it during an October half term holiday to Cornwall, it accidentally got thrown into the washing machine with a lot of other holiday washing and let’s just say the wool blend didn’t take kindly to a 40 degree wash!! You live and learn…
So later that year, around Christmas time when still couldn’t get that lovely Rowan Sultano Fine yarn out of my head I decided to treat myself to a skien in the pretty shade of Lapin which is a very dark navy – the shade the model wears in the picture above which I absolutely loved the look of.
Since the yarn comes as a skien it needs winding into a ball. I employed the help of my husband for this part. He held and I wound, it took a little while but it was well worth the extra effort, you’re bound to encounter a few horrible tangles if you skip this step!
This second version of the hat knitted up so nicely and the yarn was a dream to knit with, despite the fluff rings that I kept needing to cut off every so often 😉
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I’m so pleased that I invested in the recommended yarn for my hat in the end because it was well worth it. It really does feel special, super soft, cosy and luxurious. I managed to save the faux fur pom pom from my sadly machine washed first version and re use it for my navy version and I think it finishes it off perfectly.
I’d really love to knit another version of this hat in a different shade of the Sultano Fine but I might have to save up for a little while first 😉
Have you knit this hat? If so, how did you find it and I’d love to know if you’ve ever treated yourself a really special wool or yarn – was it worth it? I’m happy to say that in this case, for me it was.
Do comment below and let me know!
Until next time – happy knitting!
Sally xx
If you fancy seeing the hat ‘in person’ and hearing a bit more about the knitting process I talk all about it in my January 2021 makes video over on YouTube – the link below will take you straight there 🙂