1 + 2 = 50!

1 Man + 2 Knitting Needles = 50 Fun Hat Designs

It's no secret here that I love all things Norwegian. {I do, after all, share my name with the Queen!}

I was delighted to happen upon a podcast by Craft Sanity in which she interviews Trond Anfinnsen, author of this book and designer of the amazing hats.

The story of how he first to learn to knit (only about 3 years ago), then customized a basic hat pattern with over 50 variations, knit them, gave them, photographed them, and eventually got a book published (and not even in his native language!) was simply fascinating to me. And, by the way, he didn't stop at 50. He's knitted over 200!

Here's a link to his Flickr photostream showing some of his hats. Browse around while you're over there to see more. You might just spot the Queen and a bunad or two!

I haven't seen this book in the local bookstores yet, but I'm going to be on the lookout for it. In addition to designing each hat with the recipient in mind, Trond introduces each one as they model their hat and tells a bit about how he knows them.

If you'd like to make one, here's a pdf for his Silje pattern (two colors and shown on the book cover, lower right).

Very clever.