Leeway Hat
by Alison Hawke (QuantumTea) Leeway is the bigger, heftier cousin of the Marginalised Hat, made from sportweight yarn instead of fingering weight. Skills required: knitting in the round, k2tog, provisional crochet cast-on, picking up stitches from a provisional cast-on Gauge: 7.5st/in on US2.5 (3.0mm) needles Needles: US2.5 (3.omm) double point needles or circulars Materials: Scrap yarn for the provisional cast-on in a contrasting colour to the hem.
There is a video of Lucy Neatby demonstrating the provisional crochet cast-on here, she explains it better than I could: https: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3J-sUx_whE (I start with a few stitches of single crochet and tie a knot in the end that has the slipknot, to make removing the crochet easier.) This pattern is for personal use only, not for commercial use
Pattern:
With US3 needles, using scrap yarn in a contrasting colour and the provisional crochet cast-on method, cast on 126st. Work flat in stocking stitch for 5 rows (knit one row, purl the next), then join to work in the round. This makes it much less likely you'll end up with a twist in the first row and you can fix the small hole when you weave in the ends. Work another 7 rounds, for a total of 12 rounds. Purl the next round, then knit 12 more rounds. Carefully pick up stitches from the crochet cast-on, transferring them onto a spare needle or set of double points. You should have 125 picked-up stitches. Remove the scrap yarn from provisional cast-on. Knit each stitch together with its picked-up counterpart to form a hem, then knit the last stitch.
Knit four more rounds in the hem colour, then switch to the contrasting colour. Knit until you have 6in of hat completed for a beanie, or 7in for a more slouchy hat, measuring from the purl row of the hem to the needle.
Decrease rounds:
Round 1: K12, knit 2 together, repeat around (117 stitches) Round 2 and every other round afterwards until round 18: Knit all stitches Round 3: K11, k2tog, repeat (108 stitches) Round 5: K10, k2tog, repeat (99 stitches) Round 7: K9, k2tog, repeat (90 stitches) Round 9: K8, k2tog, repeat (81 stitches) Round 11: K7, k2tog, repeat (72 stitches) Round 13:K6, k2t0g, repeat (63 stitches) Round 15: K5, k2tog, repeat (54 stitches) Round 17:K4, k2tog, repeat (45 stitches) Round 19:K3, k2t0g, repeat (36 stitches) Round 21:K2, k2tog, repeat (27 stitches) Round 23:K1, k2tog, repeat (18 stitches) Round 25: K2tog, repeat around (9 stitches). Break yarn, thread through remaining stitches and secure. Weave the ends in, soak hat, and block lightly.
