Start in the Center
Riitta Rautio July 2010
I've always found it challenging to decrease a beanie fittingly. So why not start at the center, in the "north pole" and increase. Found the formula in a Finnish knitting book 'Suomalainen myssykirja' - Finnish Hat Book. It's simple: cast on 8 sts, increase every other row 8 times per row until you have enough sts for the head circumference. Then go on straight as long as you like. This is an adaptation of the formula for a child's hat or a small woman's one. Knitting it I tried out increasing every row and it didn't look bad. I used some worsted yarns from my stash and you can useany of yours. Needles: a set of 4 mm dpns Gauge: 1 $17\ \mathsf{s t s}=10\ \mathsf{c m}$ (4 inch) stockinette st Abbreviations: $K=\mathsf{k n i t}$ $\mathsf{M}1=$ make one (use the increase that you like best and that looks best to you; I made one as in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qxwdwXor90&feature $=$ related) $P=p u r l.$
nstructions
With yarn A (red in my hat) cast on 8 sts. Knit around. Take care not to twist the sts. Rnd 1: Knit and simultaneously arrange the sts on 4 dpns [ 2 sts per dpn]. Rnd 2: $^{*}\mathsf{K}1$ $\mathsf{M1^{*}}$ 8 times [16 sts, 4 sts per dpn]. Rnd 3: $^{*}\mathsf{K}2$ ，$\mathsf{M}\mathsf{1}^{\ast}\,\mathsf{8}$ times [24 sts, 6 sts per dpn]. Rnd 4: $^{*}\mathbb{K}3$ $\mathsf{M1^{*}}$ 8 times [32 sts, 8 per dpn]. Continue in this manner knitting around and making 1 st two times per dpn until you have 20 sts per dpn. Knit one row. Change yarn B (variegated in my hat). K one row, P one row. Change yarn A, K 3 rows. Change yarn B, $^{*}\mathsf{K}$ one row, P one row\* two times. Change yarn B, $^{*}\mathsf{K}$ one row, P one row\* 3 times. Change yarn A, K two rows. Change yarn B, $^{*}\mathsf{K}$ one row, P one row\* 3 times. Change yarn A, K two rows. Change yarn B, $^{*}\mathsf{K}$ one row, P one row\* 3 times. Cast off all sts. If the hat is not deep enough it's easy to knit one or two more stripes. I couldn't because this took all my scarp yarns (except the small amount I saved for the pom-pom). Make a pom-pom of your choice. Weave in ends. Enjoy!
Here you can see another hat started from the center. It's knitted for a dear gentleman and of sock yarn, gauge 32 sts/ ${}^{10}\,\mathsf{c m}$ (4 inch) with needles $2\;\mathsf{m m}$ . I increased every other row until I had 160 sts. After that I knitted 7 cm straight and 5 cm k4, p2 ribbing to the edge to prevent rolling. And guess what, it was he who insisted on having a pom-pom $\circledcirc$
Do you have a question? Found a mistake? Please e-mail me: rirautio@yahoo.com
This pattern is for personal, non-commercial use only. All other uses require prior permission of the author. Please ask the author's permission for reproduction or distribution of this pattern. This includes distribution of this pattern through electronic or print media. You may print copies of this pattern for personal use, but do not resell them.
