March the 30th, I wake up and see, on the other side of my window, 4 more inches of snow! This winter seems to never has an end. This year in Quebec, we beat a cold record established in 1993-1994. I love winter but now I’m dreaming of my lighter coat and walking boots. I can’t wait to store my King Cowl and my yellow Red Riding Hat far far away…

Ultimate clothing to live through this terrible winter.
Despite my desires, cold is here to stay and as you can see on this pictures, I can’t keep my head warm without wearing a hat, earwarmers and a hood. I’d love to trade the three of them for a very warm hat. This is my goal. My ultimate goal. My reason to live… until springy weather!
Pursuing my goal, I created a new design called the Crocus Hat – hopefully this name will give Mother Nature the idea of growing flowers. This hat is made in Fair Isle, resulting on a very thick fabric. Furthermore, the ribbing is lined with a second layer of ribbing. Let me show you how to do it!
First of all, you must do a provisional cast-on (green on the picture), then knit 2 rounds with the main color, 22 rounds with the lining color and 24 more rounds with the main color.
Then you fold the lining inside the main color ribbing…
…and you undo the provisional cast-on. You must carefully slip the freed stitches on a second circular needle.
The lining will end up inside the ribbing and transition between both colors is made softly.
We’ll need only one layer for the main part of the hat. To do so, the first round of this part is done by knitting together one stitch from each circular needle.
You must pass the right needle through a stitch from the needle that holds the external layer and through a stitch from the needle that holds the lining, then you pass the yarn through both stitches. TA-DA! Only one stitch remains on the right needle. From now on, you simply follow the instructions from the pattern as if you always had only one layer. But secretly, you have a very warm hat.
This is a great method to get lined ribbing without having to fold it every time you wear the hat. The look is neat but your ears will know the ribbing is here for them!
You can get the whole pattern on Ravelry!