Gathered Hat

Both the Gathered Scarf and the matching hat are complete. I will probably block the scarf, since I wouldn't mind if it was a bit wider. A bit shorter wouldn't be a bad thing--I had enough yarn (over three balls) to knit 50 stockinette panels, making the scarf over 70" long. I hesitate to block the hat, as it fits perfectly now. I've written out some instructions below, in case anyone wants to knit one. I'll apologize in advance for the amateur pattern-writing. Just let me know in the comments or in an e-mail if anything needs clarification.


Gathered Hat

To loosely fit head sizes 21" - 22"

Materials: Cascade Indulgence, dk weight yarn, 70% alpaca/30% angora; 123 yds/50 g., 2 balls Needles: size 7 24" circular, size 4 24" circular, size 7 and 4 dpns

Gauge: 4 stitches/inch in garter, lightly stretched (Note: The recommended yarn has little elasticity, so the gauge is quite loose even on size 4 needles.)

To start: Cast on 176 stitches with size 7 needles, join to work in the round. Place marker for end of round.

Abbreviations:

kfb--knit into the front and back of the same stitch (an increase)

k2tog--knit two stitches together (a decrease)

Knit 6 rows, **with smaller needles, k2tog around. 88 stitches remain.

Round 2: Purl

Round 3: Knit

Round 4: Purl

Round 5: Knit

Round 6: Purl--3 garter ribs

With larger needles, kfb around, increasing to 176 stitches.

Knit 5 rounds.**

Repeat from ** to ** for 4 repeats, changing the first rowof the 4th repeat of stockinette to kfb twice, k1 around, reducing the number of stitches to 144. The next round of k2tog reduces this to 72.

After the next garter repeat, reduce to the stitch count again on first row of the next stockinette repeat by *kfb 8 times, k1* repeating around. After 5 more rows of stockinette, you will k2tog around to start a garter repeat which will have 64 stitches.

After this garter repeat, you are ready to start decreasing for the crown. Place markers every 8 stitches; you will k2tog before each marker for a decrease round. Continue pattern, alternating decrease rounds with plain rounds, but you will alter the pattern by not increasing and decreasing when you change from stockinette to garter and back.

You should end with stockinette, knitting only 3 rows, the last being a decrease row which reduces the stitch count to 8. Tie off and weave in ends. It's a hat!

Knitting tip for desperate times:

I worked on this hat while traveling, and was stuck without the right size dpns when I got to the crown. I thought I could use two circulars to finish off the hat, but I found it cumbersome at the very top. Luckily, I had my sock dpns with me, and I found that my interchangeable needle tip fit on the end of a size 1 dpn nicely.

I just used the set of size 1s, putting the size 4 needle tip on the end of the one I was using to knit the stitches.