The Problem

Learning lace can be overwhelming. Fear of making mistakes can keep you from attempting lace, or you may fear that you’re not “there” yet. Adding charts into the mix can make it more intimidating.

The scary truth is that you have to practice lace to learn lace!

The KnitFreedom Solution

We teach lace using the Foliage Hat because it is an elegant and fast project for learning lace.

It is a project you can complete in just a few hours, the chart is simple enough that you get the hang of it after only a few rows, and you end up with a gorgeous hat you will love.

After you take this class you’ll be…

• Feeling confident knitting charted lace in the round
• Able to fix a wide range of mistakes on lace
• Ready to approach any intermediate and advanced lace project with confidence

You are going to love knitting this classic lace hat, first published in Knitty in 2007.

This smooshy, textured lace hat knits up in just hours with a chunky- or worsted-weight yarn.

You’ll be using one long needle to knit this hat in the round on Magic Loop, a very easy and efficient way to knit in the round.

Don’t worry! If you have never done Magic Loop before we will teach you every step on this fun lace hat.

The crisp colors of falling leaves and the chunky texture is created by a charted leaf lace pattern, perfect for learning or advancing your lace-knitting skills.

The hat is knit from the top-down. You will enjoy the quick knit as you do the crown plus just two rounds of leaf lace and finish with a ribbed brim.

This classic project has been knitted over 5000 times since it was first published in Knitty in 2007.

Foliage Hat by Emilee Mooney

SIZE
To fit an average adult head

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Circumference, unstretched: 17 inches
Will stretch to comfortably fit up to 24 inches.

MATERIALS
Version 1 [Chunky weight, shown in yellow]
Malabrigo Chunky [100% Merino wool; 104yd/95m per 100g skein]; Color: Pollen; 1 skein

1 40-47-inch US #10.5/6.5mm circular needle
1 40-47-inch US #9/5.5mm circular needle

Version 2 [Worsted weight, shown in red-orange]
Malabrigo Merino Worsted [100% Merino wool; 215yd/197m per 100g skein]; Color: Red Java; 1 skein

1 40-47 US #7/4.5mm circular needle
1 40-47 US #5/3.75mm circular needle

Both Versions:
Safety pin or split ring marker
Stitch Marker
Tapestry Needle

GAUGE
Version 1: 15 sts/20 rows = 4 inches in stockinette st using size #10.5/6.5mm needles
Version 2: 21 sts/24 rows = 4 inches in stockinette st using size #7/4.5mm needles

FREE PATTERN: Foliage Hat on Knitty

In this class you’ll learn how to do every step of this chunky or worsted charted lace hat, plus tons of troubleshooting steps and skills that will help you on future lace-knitting and charted projects.

If you have never knit in the round before, never knit lace before, and/or never knitted from a chart before, or have tried any of these skills but don’t feel confident yet, you are in luck.

You are going to love the growing confidence you feel after you have gone through these videos and knitted your first Foliage Lace Hat.

You’ll learn how to:

1. Knit in the round on Magic Loop
2. Make a gauge swatch and check your gauge in the round on Magic Loop
3. Cast on very few stitches and start knitting in the round on Magic Loop
4. Read and follow a lace chart, including understanding and knitting the following abbreviations and their symbols: yo, k2tog, s2kp, empty space on a chart, missing squares on a chart
5. Read your work to know where you are in the chart if you get lost, plus how to use markers (or not) and still keep your place
6. Recognize and fix a huge range of beginner-to-advanced mistakes on lace and charted knitting
7. Put in a lifeline, remove stitches back to a lifeline, and continue knitting from the lifeline
8. Work in ribbing including how to count your rounds on ribbing
9. Bind off with two different attractive and stretchy bind-offs for ribbing: Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off and the Invisible Ribbed Bind-Off

Getting Started

1. Pattern
2. Materials
3. Project Overview
4. Navigating this Class

Magic Loop and Gauge

5. Learn/Practice Magic Loop
6. Check Your Gauge

Cast-On and Hat Crown

7. Cast-On and Hat Round 1
8. Hat Rounds 2-3
9. Crown Rounds 1-2
10. Crown Rounds 3-4
11. Crown Round 5
12. Crown Round 7
13. Crown Round 9
14. Crown Round 11
15. Crown Round 13
16. Crown Round 15

Tips

17. Pattern Round or Plain Round?
18. Counting Chart Stitches
19. How to Put in a Lifeline
20. Remove Stitches to Lifeline

Troubleshooting

21. Lost a Loop of Cable
22. Fixing Mistakes #1
23. Fixing Mistakes #2
24. Extreme Mess-Ups
25. Forgot a Yarnover
26. Dropped a Yarnover
27. Fixing Mistakes #3

Hat Body

28. Decrease Round
29. Leaf Lace Rounds 1-2
30. Leaf Lace Round 3
31. Leaf Lace Round 5
32. Leaf Lace Round 7
33. Leaf Lace Round 9
34. Leaf Lace Round 11

Ribbing and Bind-Off

35. Ribbing
36. Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off
37. Invisible Ribbed Bind-Off
38. Weave in Ends

The expertise needed to improve my skills and have fun too

“Prior to this class I would have bypassed a top-down lace hat pattern as the chart gaps had me convinced that this was above my skill level and patience.

“Having utilized the videos in this class I found that I could meet the challenge. This was like having the most patient knitting instructor all to myself.”

– Lucinda C., Pottstown, PA

I love projects that teach me new skills

“One of the aspects of Liat’s course that surprised me and made me love her as an instructor even more is the troubleshooting section of her course.

“I love how every time she made a mistake in her knitting, she used it as an opportunity to create a short video both identifying the mistake and subsequently fixing it.

“She demonstrates multiple approaches to make a correction so you can use the one easiest for you.”

– Katherine Osborne, Waldoboro, ME

Learning lace is exciting (and fun)!

“I am so excited and proud to announce that now after taking the class… I was able to knit the Foliage Lace Hat using the chart!

“Once I started knitting the hat, I had it done the very next day. I was so excited to be able to read the chart that I didn’t want to stop knitting.”

– Linda Keefe, Orange, VA