This is the Swan Bonnet pattern by Rhianna Ellington. I wasn’t previously following Rhianna, but Instagram showed me a post about the Swan Bonnet pattern, a week prior to its release, and I was immediately sold and started following (so, very occasionally, the suggested posts are welcome!). I bought the pattern on release day and started knitting as soon as my yarn arrived.
I opted to use one of the recommended yarns (Garnstudio’s DROPS Air) as I wanted to recreate the samples as closely as possible. I did consider alternative colourways, but since I had originally fallen in love with the black and white version, I decided not to overthink it.
My bonnet knit up quickly and I’m really happy with the finished result. I also think a narrower version could be useful (I’ve previously knit the Portsmouth Skating Hat pattern and find it great for keeping your ears warm), so might knit a modified version at some point.
I always print out the patterns I’m currently knitting, so that I can keep them in my knitting bag and scribble on them as I go, and I found the size of the chart when printed a bit small which did lead to me making (but easily correcting) a couple of mistakes on the placement of the swan and bow. Working with the digital pattern, or printing larger than A4 would address that.
I’m now knitting another bonnet, Susan Crawford’s Motoring Hood, and using up some 4-ply yarn from my stash which I’ve been looking forward to pairing with a pattern for ages. I’m also using up some worsted yarn, which has been in my stash for ten years, on a hot water bottle cover. I think I will end up using a few different colours of yarn before I’m finished, but a hot water bottle cover seems like the perfect project for using up yarn odds and ends.