Hat Knitting: Irish Eyes Beret

This past week I was given some yarn to knit a hat for someone as a gift to a third person.  Miraculously I was able to complete the project in time for the giving.

The pattern was found originally on Ravelry.com and is called Irish Eyes Beret.  The sister who asked for the hat to be prepared did not want the bobbles which made the hat a cinch to knit.  Here are the general directions:

1.  Cast on 88 stitches and rib K1, P1 for 10 rounds.
2. Increase round: K1, M1 around (132 stitches on needle--by the way, the ribbing is in a US size 5 16-inch circular needle and the increase round was on US size 7 24-inch circular needle).
3.  Knit plain (this is what I did. The bobbles are in the pattern) for about 21 rounds.
4. Begin decreasing by K10, SSK around. At this point I put in stitch markers after the SSK each time.  This way I never had to think again about when to SSK.  I felt pretty smart about that!

This is the beret with the decrease stitch markers in place.  I hope I remember to do this every time I make a hat from now on...!

5. Knit the decrease round then knit one round plain. Do this until you have decreased 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 2, 1, and finally a K2tog round.  Be sure to knit the plain round after each decreasing round.
6. Switch to double pointed needles when there are too few stitches to continue on the circular needle.
7. Break yarn, leaving a good amount.  Insert the tail through those last few stitches on the needles (I think there were 8 or so stitches at this point...) and pull tight.  Tie off the yarn and weave in ends.
8.  Your hat is ready to block if you used wool or ready to wear if not.

It looks like a plate when finished!  This is what the sister wanted...a "flat" hat.

Sadly, I don't seem to find the finished hat picture on my phone camera, so you will just have to imagine it.

Charity Knitting: Easy Premie Hats

Here are two premie hats I made recently to go along with a newborn hat.

Ribbed Hat

Cast on 48 stitches with soft worsted weight yarn and using US size 7 double pointed needles.

Knit 2, purl 2 ribbing for 4 inches.

Begin decrease rounds. 

Dec. Round 1: Knit 2, knit 2 together.  Repeat around.
Dec. Round 2:  Knit
Dec. Round 3: K1, k2tog around
Dec. Round 4:  Knit
Dec. Round 5:  K2tog around.

I think you need to do a second K2tog round to get to 6 stitches left. 

Work I-cord for 2 inches.  Bind off the 3 stitches and weave in ends.  Tie a knot in the I-cord.


Beanie Hat

Cast on 48 stitches with soft worsted weight yarn and using US size 7 double pointed needles.

Knit 1, purl 1 ribbing for 1 inch.

Knit every round until 4 inches from cast on edge.

Begin decrease rounds. 

Dec. Round 1: Knit 2, knit 2 together.  Repeat around.
Dec. Round 2:  Knit
Dec. Round 3: K1, k2tog around
Dec. Round 4:  Knit
Dec. Round 5:  K2tog around.

You may need to K2tog again to get to 6 stitches remaining.  Cut yarn with a long tail.  Thread a needle and run yarn through 6 stitches and pull tight.  Fasten off.

Make a small pompom and sew to top of hat.  Turn up brim.

Knitting: Little Gnome Hat

A dear friend sent me the link to a darling-looking hat earlier this week.  It is called the Little Gnome Knitted Peaked Hat.  Since I was at a rather low spot I spent five hours the next day and knitted up the hat.  The next morning I was awake at 3 AM (the cinnamon bun day) so I spent another hour doing the finishing-up work.  The hat is cute but I do not see lots more of them in my future.

Here is the hat with the beginning knitting done and cast off the needles.

This is the hat with the back seam sewn up and all the knitting (neck band added after back seaming) done.

This is the completed Little Gnome Knitted Peaked Hat project.  Cute, but I will only be making this for precious babies after this time.  Well, all babies are precious, but because it took me so long, what I mean is that I will most likely not use this pattern for my use-up-the-stash-as-quickly-as-possible projects.

Slouchy Leftover Hat

This hat was knit up rather quickly as a potential gift.  I had my doubts about its acceptability which turned out to be correct!

The hat was knit on 16" US 11 circular needles holding two strands of Bartlettyarn (which is worsted weight/heavy worsted weight) together throughout.  You could use a bulky yarn.

Cast on 64 stitches and knit in K2, P2 ribbing for 3 inches.

Knit one round plain, increasing 5 stitches evenly.

Knit plain (knit every stitch in every round) until you are ten inches (or a little more) from cast on edge.

K4, knit 2 together around.

K3, knit 2 together around.

K2, knit 2 together around.

K1, knit 2 together around.

Knit 2 together around. If necessary, continue this final decreasing until you have only 6-8 stitches left on needle.  Break yarn leaving plenty of tail to go through stitches, pull tightly and secure. Finally, weave in ends.

This is a very sturdy and somewhat slouchy hat.  If you want it slouchier, use softer yarn, perhaps some which is already bulky weight.  I carried one color throughout, adding new colors as I ran out of the previous color.  A pretty quick knit, but next time I will use metal needles instead of bamboo as the bamboo did what they do best, stick to the yarn do it does not slip off needles!

Since I rather like this hat myself, I may be wearing it out in the cold soon!