The first is a hat I made for hubby. He's been wearing this knit cap with a wool liner that he's had for years & apparently it started to come apart. When he saw that I was making a bunch of stuff for the kids (mostly diapers for the baby), he said he'd like a new hat. He was also gracious enough to give me till next Christmas to complete it. Ooo...a challenge :)
I scoured the internet looking for a suitable free hat pattern. Something like a skull cap but maybe with a fold up brim...I found this.
I thought it fit the bill. The only trouble was that it was for circular knitting. AAAHHH...I've never tried that before. Well there's a first time for everything, right?
Off to find yarn...I wanted something that was mostly wool (of course) and relatively inexpensive. Oh yeah, and it had to coordinate with a mystery project that hasn't quite been started (sshhh, don't say anything, ok :)
I picked up some black wool-ease thick & quick on sale & I was off.
Being bulky yarn, I had to make some modifications to the pattern as I went along, but I ended up with a skull cap. I was pretty satisfied with it so I let J try it...he didn't like the fit so much :(
Ok, what to do? I still had some yarn left so I picked up stitches along the bottom & knit a fold-up rim (a few stitches narrower than I'd started the rest of the hat so it would fit tighter).
With only a few inches of yarn to spare, I finished (again) but this time he liked it :) Yay!
So here's what I did...
J's Twisted Rib Hat Pattern
Modifications I made for bulky weight yarn to make a skull cap for a 24" diameter head…
(The needle size changes are only because that’s what I have on hand)
Alternate Knit Cast-on & Purl Cast-on for 77 stitches on #9 circular needle.
Round 1: Slip 1 stitch, Ktbl1,P1 for 74 stitches, P2tog (76sts).
Continued twisted rib for 6.5”
1st decrease: Ktbl1, P1, SSKtbl for one round.
Ktbl or P for 2 rounds as stitches appeared.
2nd decrease: Starting at last Knit stitch on last round, SSKtbl, P1 for one round (switched to size 6, 16” needle).
Ktbl or P for 2 rounds as stitches appeared.
3rd decrease: SSKtbl for one round (19sts) (switched to size 3 dpn).
Ktbl for one round.
4th decrease: SSKtbl for one round (10sts).
Ktbl for one round.
5th decrease: SSKtbl, Ktbl1 for one round (7sts). Leaving a 10” tail, break yarn & draw it through all remaining sts. Pull it closed on the wrong side of hat.
DH complained that it was too short & too loose around the ears so I added the fold up brim as follows…
Pick up 72sts from the bottom edge (skipping 4sts evenly around).
Ktbl 1, P1 for ~1.75” then knit & purl cast off.
I would’ve liked to have a thicker brim but I used nearly ALL of the skein and had only inches to spare. Maybe if I had originally only cast on 73sts to start the hat, I would’ve been able to add a thicker brim.
Also, adding the brim as an “afterthought” actually worked well to give the hat a natural crease for the bulky yarn to fold. I think the next one I make (with bulky yarn) I will add a regular knit round after the height of the brim so it can fold up easily.
The finished product...
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