Monday, February 4, 2008

Res Completa: Chunky Knit Hat for Hillary

First of all, THANK YOU to everyone for the extremely sweet comments on my Drops Jacket! I have been blushing continuously since the very first comment and am once again reminded of why I love knitblogland and all the gracious people in it!! Thank you, thank you, thank you. You all made my day(s)...again!

So last weekend I was finally able to take some photos of a hat I made for my sister-in-law:



This was a quick, improvised knit that I based on a beret Hillary (my sister-in-law...we have the same name...it gets very confusing) and I saw in Urban Outfitters after Christmas. It looked so cute on her that I promised immediately to make her one. I made it as a beret, but it's non-slouchy enough to be worn as a cap, which I believe is Hillary Two-Ls' preferred method of usage.

Pattern: Improvised
Yarn: Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Chunky, a little over 2 balls of grey
Needles: 7mm circs
Start to Finish: around January 6-7, 2008 (chunky yarn = superfast)

Unfortunately, in the only photo I have of the hat worn as a beret, my dork husband* is modeling it, and it looks all poofy, but just to give you an idea of the beret-ness...


(Oh, dear. What have I done?)

I didn't take great notes, but it was extremely simple and I believe I did something like the following:

Gauge: 3.5 sts/inch

- CO 84 sts
- Join for working in the round
- Work 3 rounds of 2x2 ribbing
- Over next 2 rounds, increase 2 stitches for each 4 cast on
- Continue in 2x2 ribbing for desired length (I think this one's about 4.5" from CO to beginning of decreases)
- *k2, p2tog* to end
- *k2, p1* to end
- Repeat last round twice more
- *k2tog, p1* to end
- Repeat last round once more
- *work in pattern (knit the knits, purl the purls) for 6 stitches, k2tog* to end
- *work in pattern for 5 stitches, k2tog* to end
- *work in pattern for 4 stitches, k2tog* to end
- *work in pattern for 3 stitches, k2tog* to end
- *work in pattern for 2 stitches, k2tog* to end
- *work in pattern for 1 stitch, k2tog* to end
- *k2tog* to end
- break yarn, thread through live stitches, pull tightly to close

My apologies -- that's extremely general and not very well written. If anyone else is improvising a chunky-knit beret-like hat and would like more specifics or to compare notes, let me know.


*Just to prove that he is not a complete weirdo and that he is in fact allowed around small children:


(That's not our baby, it's Amanda's. Though it's a nice thought... :) )

8 comments:

AudreyO said...

Great photos. I'm a crocheter and have made my daughter a few hats. I wish I had photos to share. She loves her scraves and hats.

Audrey :)

peaknits said...

Bon Jour! What a great hat! And your husband is a good sport - I can almost hear accordian music and would expect him to speak French! :)

Anonymous said...

What a cute hat - it's stylish and looks great on her! =)

Margo said...

Too cute, Hil! I especially like it on your husband!

The Paskins said...

Lookin' good with a baby, Callis family... (hint, hint!)

Anonymous said...

Could you explain this one part for me? (I'm new to knitting =]) :

- Over next 2 rounds, increase 2 stitches for each 4 cast on

does that mean the new stitches should take place of the purl stitches in the pattern if i'm supposed to be purling or vice versa, or should the new stitches just be new stitches and I just continue the pattern from before I made the new stitch?

Hilary said...

Hi Sarah -- Sorry about those unclear directions! Now that it's been awhile since I wrote them, I can see that they were pretty confusing and now I'm having a hard time deciphering what I meant! I'm also looking at the photos of the hat (the original is with my sister in law), and I must have made a mistake. I really think that I made the increases over just one row. And I believe it went something like this:

Here's the "foundation" row...

k k p p k k p p k k p p

and here's the increase row...

k k (m1) p p (m1) k k (m1) p p (m1) k k (m1) p p (m1)

in the next row, you will "reset" the pattern...

k k p(this is a new stitch) p k k(new stitch) p p k k p p etc.

Does that make sense? Please please let me know if you have any further questions, and I'm sorry I made this mistake!

Anonymous said...

It makes perfect sense now.. thank you so so much!! =]