Central Dogma Hat (DNA → RNA → Protein)
By Melissa Michelitsch
Materials:
US 5 20" circular needles. (You may want to use bigger needles. I plan to use a 6 next time. See notes.) US5DNPs Clasic Elite Fresco (60% sheep, 30% baby alpaca, 10% angora) Color combo not recommended. Tapestryneedle
Notes:
· I use a 20" instead of a 16" circular needle because the “fair isle" stranding give very little stretch. Using the larger needle makes my hats fit better and reduces pucker by uneven strand tension. This had was a touch snug (although it stretched well because it's wool). Keep your stranding on the loose side, and consider increasing your needle/yarn size a bit if you have a large noggin. When I make this hat again, I will use only one background color, and two yarns that have a greater degree of contrast. The photo actually increases the contrast, but in real life the colors I chose blur together where the pattern details are small. I didn't finish the double stitching on the "enzymatic reaction" in the sample photo shown. If you pm me with an e-mail address I can send the excel spreadsheet with the original charts. They didn't copy well into word to make the .pdf file.
Instructions:
· Cast on 111 stitches. (I put markers after (9/9/9/10)\* stitches (repeat 3 times) ·Make a ribbed edge by k1p1 for roughly 3/4". The stranded knitting will be tighter, so increase a bit more than the ribbed band as follows: (k8 kfb k8 kfb k8 kfb k9 kb)\* repeat 3 times to finish first row. You should have 123 stitches. The pattern is 41 stitches and repeats 3 times per round. I left the markers in place to help me keep track of where I was in the large pattern. Work the pattern. The smaller chart is the repeating pattern with the parts that differ between the three repeats shown in blue. The larger chart shows every stitch. I thought it was easiest to work off the repeat chart except when I was on a row with variations. Knit every stitch except the decrease. For the right slanting decrease (/) I did k2tog) and for the left slanting decrease (\) I did k1 s1 psso. The bound substrate in the middle repeat is knitted in the same color as the enzyme, so it looks like one big blob. Either duplicate stitch the bound substrate shapes with a contrast color or stitch their outline around their outside edge in a contrast color. (not shown on chart)
