Tuesday, October 02, 2007

A Pattern!

No Tuesdays are for Spinning today. But I will have finished handspun for you in short order. Today is Tuesdays are for Knitting With Hand Spun.

To go with my first hand spun project, I'm going to add another first: my first pattern. As I said a few posts back, this is a beginner pattern, and it's quite easy. It's a great one for people who want to stop knitting rectangles--scarves, dishcloths, blankets--(not that rectangular knitted objects are not lovely, but it's nice to have more options) and start knitting in the round. My first project in the round was a sweater It was purple and acrylic and we are never to speak of it again. I think this is a little bit more friendly. So here goes.

Basic Top-Down Hat

Start with a yarn you like. For hats, I enjoy using a worsted or bulky weight yarn, and needles that are one to two sizes smaller than what I would ordinarily use for the yarn I chose. This makes a thicker fabric, and that’s certainly what you want for a winter hat. You’ll also want a set of double-pointed needles and a 16” circular needle in whatever size you decided on.

For this particular hat, I used a hand spun yarn that ranged from worsted to bulky I got a gauge of 4 stitches and 5 rows per inch on size 8 needles. You might want to make a gauge swatch, but I don’t for this sort of thing. If the gauge is off, just add or subtract increases as necessary to make a hat that is properly head-sized.



Cast on 6 stitches and divide evenly onto 3 needles. Join to knit in the round being particularly careful not to twist (it’s easy with this few stitches)

Row 1, and every odd row: K all sts
Row 2: *K1 m1 * repeat to end of row. (12 sts)
Row 4: *K2 m1 * repeat to end of row. (18 sts)
Row 6: *K3 m1 * repeat to end of row. (24 sts)

Continue in this manner, increasing 6 sts every other row a total of 14 times. (84 sts) OR until the hat fits the head of its intended recipient.

Knit even for 3.5 inches. At this point the hat should measure 7 inches from the top (Cast on) edge (Knit more or fewer rows if you had to change the number of decrease rows worked to get a hat that is 7” from the top.)

Next row: *K2 p2* repeat to end of row.

Continue in 2x2 ribbing for 2”. Then, bind off all stitches very loosely. I used a size 11 needle for this.

When you have bound off all the stitches, weave in the ends at the top and bottom of the hat. If you have leftovers, as I did, you may want to make a little pom-pom and fix it on the top with the cast on end.

Put on the hat, and take a picture:



Ta Da!

For my next post look for that Smoky Mountain Fibers roving, Navajo plying, and a Monkey I got off my back.

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