Dumpling Hat
delicious khinkali ("bo63smo") from the Republic of Georgia
ITo make awedge: Row 1 (WS): Purl Row 2 (RS): Knit Row 3: Purl 30, turn work, wrap next st on R needle Row 4: Knit Row 5: Purl 25, turn work, wrap next st on R needle Row 6: Knit Row 7: Purl all 40 sts, picking up wraps & purling them with the st. Row 8: Knit. 1 wedge (stockinette st) completed! Khinkali is filled with various fillings, mostly with spiced meat (usually beef and pork, sometimes lamb), greens, and onions. Mushrooms or cheese may be used in place of meat. Row 9: Knit Row 10: Purl Row 11: Knit 30, turn work, wrap next st on R needle Row 12: Purl Row 13: Knit 25, turn work, wrap next st on R needle Row 14: Purl Row 15: Knit all 40 sts, picking up wraps & knitting them with the st. Row 16: Purl. Another wedge (reverse stockinette st) completed! Khinkali is eaten plain, or with coarse black pepper. The meat
filling is uncooked when the Khinkali is assembled, so when cooked the
juices of the meat are trapped inside the dumpling. The khinkali is typically consumed first by sucking the juices while taking the first bite, in order to prevent the dumpling from bursting. The top, where the pleats meet, is tough, and is not supposed to be eaten, but discarded to the plate so that those eating can count how many they have consumed.
Wikipedia says:
(photo from http:// chefpremier.wordpress.com/) With your favorite selfstriping worsted weight yarn and a US 7 or US 8 needle (whatever you need to get a nice gauge) c0 40 sts, leaving an 8" tail. Work rows 1-16 above as many times as you need for the hat to wrap snugly around your head. (For the sample, I knit until it looked like I had a yard or so left.) Foolproof seam-matching technique: Bind off loosely, leaving an 8 inch length of yarn. Using the tail from your cast on, start mattress-sticthing the cast on edge and the bound off edge together. Halfway up, quit and start seaming from the top, using the piece of yarn that is hanging out up there. Seaming from the top and the bottom ensures that you won't be off at one end. Dumpling top: using a length of the same yarn doubled (or different yarn, it's up to you), wrap the short-rows section at the top of the hat firmly, but do not draw the hat completely together. It will end up looking too puckered. Tie off the yarn and using a darning needle, draw the ends into the inside of the hat and weave in. You can leave the "knot" up or fold it down, as pictured (left).
