The Yurt Hat
Design by Perry Way
Facebook: http://www.facebook/perry.way Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/people/Forestkeeper
The Yurt Hat, by Perry I Way
I have often found myself admiring the durable Mongolian people. They live in a fairly inhospitable location with a strong connection to the weather and the land. Rugged people as well as freedom lovers, they have often been equated as being like cowboys of Asia (with sheep and camels in place of cows though). They raise sheep and camel for the wool and milk mainly although they do eat them too when food supplies are too low to maintain their flocks. Most of that wool goes into their daily needs. It becomes their clothing and their protection from the elements as well as roping and harnessing for their horses. They harvest the wool then felt it by boiling it first then washing and mashing it together by hand. This felt then gets hung over lattice walls and becomes their Yurt mobile homes as they migrate around the grassy steppes of central Mongolia. Without the wool and the lightweight but stiff lattice work structures, they would not be able to migrate according to where their animals may get fed because it would be too heavy and cumbersome to move around. Keep in mind that they must migrate about once every two weeks throughout the growing season. As a result, their eco-sustainable lifestyle is inherently interconnected with nature, which I admire. I designed The Yurt Hat by stylizing the architecture of the walls and roof timbers of the common yurt. The lattice walls portrayed in a lattice cable and the top of the hat as the yurt's roof with raised ribs acting like roof timbers meeting to a common point in the center.
You will need:
1 skein of Cascade 220 (original worsted weight) Size 6 or 7 16" long circular needles (4.0-4.5 mm) DPN's of same size as circular Cable needle for cabling (or use one DPN) Tapestry needle to weave and tie off the end.
Sizing:
· Medium 96 stitches (if you're bald or shave your head like I do I recommend the Medium size for a snug fit after blocking). 96 stitches leaves 12 "roof timbers" on top which is optically pleasing! Large 104 stitches (may I suggest large for women because they usually have plenty of hair). 104 stitches leaves 13"roof timbers". Extra Large 112 stitches (big head, lots of hair, or wanting a looser fitting hat). 112 stitches leaves 14 "roof timbers" and is optically pleasing for being balanced but not as pleasing as 12.
The Yurt Hat, by Perry Way
Abbreviations:
●K=Knit ●P=Purl LC = Left Cross (slip next stitch purl-wise onto cable needle and hold in front of the work, knit the next stitch if it's a knit or purl if it's a purl, then knit the knit or purl the purl stitch remaining onthecable) RC = Right Cross (slip next stitch purl-wise onto cable needle and hold in back of the work, knit the next stitch if it's a knit or purl if it's a purl, then knit the knit or purl the purl stitch remaining on the cable) SSK = Slip Slip Knit (a method of decreasing two knit stitches so that the stitch on top comes from the right side and leans to the left. You simply slip as if to knit the first stitch and the second stitch, then place left needle into both loops and then knit the two stitches together) P2tog = Purl 2 stitches together K2tog = Knit 2 stitches together (by the way this is the exact opposite of SSK in terms of appearance as it produces a right leaning decrease with the left stitch remaining on top of the right one after you finish)
Background information for fellow picture/pattern thinkers:
If you're like me, you find it hard to follow row by row patterning because you're a picture or pattern thinker. So if that's the case you will benefit from knowing the following: This pattern involves lattice cable in the round. Due to it being in the round, and the nature of how that interconnects mathematically speaking I had to work out a way to transition each row's completion into the beginning of the next row of new stitches since stitches are rearranged when cabling. I accomplish this by moving the stitch marker forward by one stitch when starting with each row of cabling. The reason why is the background cabled stitch is the part of the lattice that is behind the front part and it's aimed in the right direction. So we follow that stitch up to the top of the hat as it transitions. Alternating rows in this pattern are not fully completed as the final stitch in that row becomes the first stitch in the cabling sequence causing the starting point to "twist" its way up the hat. The pattern below mentions to repeat the pattern until one stitch before the end of the row because you need to use that final stitch for the first cabled stitch of the next row essentially. Optically speaking, you will make up for the missing stitch at the end of each cabled row by following with a round of no cabled stitches and when the work is complete it will be very hard to notice the missing stitch as blocking will stretch it wide enough that your eyes will miss the difference.
The Yurt Hat, by Perry Way
Directions:
1, 112) stitches, join together in the round making sure you do not "twist" the stitch
Row1
K2, P2 to end of round Place stitch marker to mark beginning of round.
Row 2
K2, P2 to one stitch before the end of the round Move stitch marker one stitch forward to mark new beginning of round
Row 3 (begins the lattice cabling)
\*RC, LC, repeat from \* to end of round
Row4
· K1, \*P2, K2, repeat from \* to one stitch before end of the round (knit the knits and purl the purls) Move stitch marker one stitch forward to mark new beginning of round
Row5
\*LC, P2, repeat from \* to end of round
Row6
K2, P2 to one stitch before end of the round Move stitch marker one stitch forward to mark new beginning of round
Repeat Rows 3-6 until hat measures 6 inches high and end after a Row 4 repeat.
The lattice cable portion is now finished and the transition to the Yurt "roof" pattern begins. At some point very soon you will need to transfer to DPN's to finish the shaping of the hat as each round will get smaller and smaller in diameter you will run out of circular needle quickly.
Row7
\*SSK, P2, repeat from \* to end of round
Row8
\*K1, P5, repeat from \* to end of round
The Yurt Hat, by Perry Way
Rows 9-12
Repeat Row 8
Row 13
\*K1, P2, P2tog, P1, repeat from \* to end of round Row 14 \*K1, P4, repeat from \* to end of round Row15-18 Repeat Row 14 Row 19 \*K1, P1, P2tog, P1, repeat from \* to end of round Rows 20-21 \*K1, P3, repeat from \* to end of round Row 22 \*K1, P1, P2tog, repeat from \* to end of round Row 23 \*K1, P2, repeat from \* to end of round Row24 \*K1, P2tog, repeat from \* to end of round Row25 \*K1, P1, repeat from \* to end of round Row 26 \*K2tog, repeat from \* to end of round
Row27
Knit all stitches to end of round
The Yurt Hat, by Perry I Way
Cut yarn leave a long enough tail to finish hat. Thread a tapestry needle, slip needle through each stitch as you remove it off the needle, then thread through, pull tight, tie in knot or weave in the end, your preference. Wash hat in warm to hot water if you want to full the yarn a bit (I like fulling because it makes a warmer hat that blocks the wind better). I use world famous Big Sur Country Soap (just kidding, Big Sur is world famous but the soap is a local product) because it is a very gentle mild soap that cleans extremely well and has a fantastically strong scent that leaves my wool knits skin touchable. Block the hat, by stretching to your head's shape and wear it for an hour or two while it dries if you don't have a suitable mannequin head. After drying thoroughly, the hat will retain its shape because that's howwool works!
Big Sur Country Soap can be ordered online, by the way. I am sharing this just to share a great product I've been using for years! I'm not financially benefitting from sharing . I used to have skin problems (eczema) before I ate right and treated my skin with proper care. This soap is hand made from the best natural ingredients. It's not a lye based soap but one based on saponified oils and all natural ingredients. It is very gentle to your skin, and there is a wide assortment of "flavors". My personal favorites are Anise and Red Clover (wonderful for eczema), Bay Rhum Scrub, Cherry Oat Poppy Scrub, and Mud Bath, though I have tried most of the flavors and like many others as well. Here's the link to the "soap menu": http://www.bigsursoap.com/menu.html
