Lifestyle Top Down Hats, No Swatch Needed
Your Tour Guide, Charisa Martin Cairn P U L S H Fiber Journal I updated 21 February 2009 Not a pattern, but a lifestyle Wherein I provide you with a guided tour to taking your knitting into your own hands and knitting hats that always fit.
Start the hat:
You will be knitting in the round with two circular needles. Use a needle size recommend for your yarn size. 1. Cast On 8 stitches using the Emily Ocker circular cast on 2. Place 4 stitches on Circular Needle 1 (N1) and 4 stitches on Circular Needle 2 (N2) (Click to see how to knit on two circular needles.) 3. Set up row: Inc in each stitch/ You now have 16 total stitches - You will have 8 st on (N1), 8 on (N2) 4. (N1) & (N2) Setup Place stitch markers after every stitch marked in red Read diagram below, right to left After completing instructions (1-4) above. Row 1: Knit in pattern Row 2: Increase (M1, or make 1) after every stitch marker. (8 stitches increased on row 2) Repeat rows 1 and 2 untilthe knit circleis the right size for the type of hat you are making.
Using this no-swatch, top-down method, you can knit any hat, any size, any stitch pattern. Play! Want it floppy, knit it big. Want a skull cap? Knit is $5{-}10\%$ smaller than the head it is intended for. The possibilities are almost infinite. Hats take from 100-250 yards of yarn (bulky yarn requires less yardage than fine yarn.) The type of hat you end up with can be decided based on the yarn, the head you are knitting it for or both. See instructions below for different types of hats.
For a beanie (left): Stop increasing when your circle is about $5{-}10\%$ less than the measurement of the head. Then knit in pattern and/or ribbing until the hat fits. Loosely cast off. For a pillbox (right): Stop increasing when your circle is the measurement of the head. Use a tape measure to measure the edge of your knit circle. Knit in your chosen pattern until the hat fits (is the right length). Add a turn-back brim if desired in another pattern or just extend the length in pattern, loosely cast off and fold back if you added a brim. Stop increasing when your circle is $2{-}4^{\prime\prime}$ bigger than the head measurement. Knit for several inches (3-6 inches, more will make a billowy beret), then decrease by $10\%$ by $^{\ast}\mathsf{K}\,8.$ ${\mathsf{K}}2{\mathsf{t o g}}^{*}$ allthe way around. Note: if you knit a bigger circle, (i.e. 4" bigger than the head) you might need to decrease more than $10\%$ . The goal of this decrease row is to make the opening about your head size - try on as you go.
Finish your hat
Knit a ribbing: $K2/P1$ or $K2/P2,$ OR Knit a garter band: in the round it's K1 row, P1 row OR Make a rolled edge: simply knit a few rounds.
For a beret (left):
Loosely cast off and fold back, if desired. (Elizabeth Zimmermann's sewn cast offis one of my favorites.) You will knit your hats with confidence because they will fit! Look around you and try on hats. Pull out your pocket measuring tape to jot down the dimensions then make your own version. The Lifestyle Hats guide and more knit patterns are available at Charisa's Web site: http://www.k1p1design1.com. This hat guide is for non-commercial use only.
References
· Emily Ocker's cast on - http://www.spellingtuesday.com/circular co.html ● How to knit on two circular needles - http://www.az.com/\~andrade/knit/twocirculars.html · Cast off with EZ's sewn cast off - Knitty has a beautiful description of this fantastic cast-off with photographs. Scroll down to the "Elizabeth Zimmermann's sewn bind off". · Knitting Help - Videos for various increases - http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/increases · Add a ridge to the top of your hat - http://pulsh.blogspot.com/2007/10/how-to-knit-welt-ridge-pintuck-texture.html · Charisa's original inspiration - Live Dangerously, Don't Swatch Blog Article, http://ma2ut.blogspot.com/2005_11 01 ma2ut archive.html
