Wesley's Cat Hat
Here is a pattern I devised for my sister-in-law, Wesley. She asked me over the 2006 Christmas holiday to make her a “plain hat with kitty ears." Fair enough, I thought. I looked at a bunch of patterns and they all seemed much more complicated and elaborate than they needed to be, so I worked out my own.
You will need:
110 yards of worsted weight yarn. I used one skein of Elann's Highland Wool in worsted weight. I imagine this would also be lovely in Knit Picks Swish Superwash or Shine Worsted. Size 7 16-inch circular needles and Size 7 double-pointed needles.
Hat Body:
Cast on 90 stitches. Join ends to work circular. Place marker on needle to indicate beginning of round. Work in K3, P3 ribbing for 1.5 inches. Then work in stockinette until the hat measures about 5.5-6 inches overall (including the ribbing).
Hat Crown:
\*Switch to DPNs whenever it is most comfortable for you. Round 1, at every $15^{\mathrm{th}}$ stitch, K2tog. At end of round you should end up with 84 stitches. Round 2, knit, placing a stitch marker after every 12 stitches (will use 7). Round 3, knit until 2 stitches before each marker, Ktog. Round 4, knit Repeat rounds 3 & 4 until there are 56 stitches on the needle (3 more times). At this point, I switched to DPNs. Round 5, knit until 2 stitches before each marker, Ktog. Repeat Round 5 until there are 7 stitches left. Draw yarn through the 7 stitches and secure underneath. Weave in ends. Kitty ears: You will see a sort of pinwheel effect where you reduced stitches on the crown; there are about 12 stitches at each of the 7 reduction points. Using 2 stands of yarn held together, pick up and knit a total of 8 stitches, starting along one of these reductions down onto the body. I picked up 5 on the crown and 3 on the body. This way the ears aren't way on the top of the head. Row 1: P8 Row 2: K6, K2tog Row 3: P7 Row 4: K5, K2tog Row 5: P4, P2tog Row 6: K3, K2tog Row 7: P2, P2tog Row 8: K1, K2tog Row 9: P2tog Bind off remaining stitch. Stockinette is the right side. Weave in ends. Tip: Weave ends along the edges of the ears on the wrong side to eliminate curling and make the ears sturdier! Repeat for second ear on opposite side of the hat crown. EXCEPT: pick up and knit 8 stitches from the body up onto the crown. I picked up 3 from the body and 5 from the crown. This will make the stockinette match on the right sides of both ears. That's it! Wesley's Cat Hat $\circledcirc$ 2007 Gina Waters. All Rights Reserved. http://mirthful-menagerie.blogspot.com For private, non-commercial use only. Pattern may be copied and distributed for free.
