half a day makes a hat

(the best photo I could get of stitch detail)

Yesterday the Lumpy Bumpy yarn finally took shape. All it took was half a day (actually about 4 hours), two thirds of a ball of Lumpy Bumpy yarn in color Olive, a pair of 10.5 circular needles, and some decisiveness on my part regarding the stitch pattern to be used.

I decided on a rather deep 2x2 rib for the brim. For the body of the hat I used 3 alternating vertical panels of stockinette stitch and a slightly modified mesh stitch. This deep brim allows for a felt/fleece liner to be sewn in around the brim to keep ears warm while the more open stitch of the body portion of the hat allows the top of the head to breathe.

(good picture of color)

I didn't exactly keep great pattern notes, but I wrote down enough of the details to be able to give you readers (if I have any readers... ) who have some knitting skill a run-down of the pattern. It might require a little measuring and adjusting to make the hat fit your needs.

Wilderness Beanie
materials:
-one skein Farmhouse Yarns Lumpy Bumpy (I used color Olive, but there are tons of other great colors)
-one US size 10.5 (or size to obtain gauge) circular needle or dpns; I used a 24" circular and used the magic loop method. You could certainly use a shorter circular for traditional circular knitting. In that case I would recommend a 16" circular needle and a set of dpns for crown shaping.
-stitch markers, row counter, tapestry needle, measuring tape, scissors

gauge:
20 sts = 6" in stockinette stitch
6 sts = 2" in mesh pattern

mesh stitch pattern: multiple of 2
row 1: *yo, k2tog; rep from * to end
rows 2 & 4: knit
row 3: *yo, skp; rep from * to end

finished measurements:
10" from crown to brim
23" circumference unstretched; 25" stretched

*This hat was designed for a male with a largeish head (25" circumf.). If you have a smaller head you can:

1. Make the hat to the specified measurements for a loose, lazy, comfy fitting beanie with a good amount of ease. In this case I would suggest going down a needle size for the ribbing and shortening the brim-crown distance by an inch or so. You may still need to add some elastic to the brim after you finish it.

2. Make the width of the hat smaller by decreasing the number of stockinette stitches between mesh panels. This can easily be done by measuring the circumference of your head (say 20") and multiplying it by your stitch-per-inch gauge (say 3 sts to the inch).

A. 20x3= CO 60 sts

The mesh panels should be worked as usual, 3 of them with 6 sts each, totaling 18 stitches. To calculate how many stitches should be in your smaller stockinette panels, subtract 18 (the total the number of mesh stitches) from your answer A. Divide the remaining number by 3, and that is how many stockinette stitches should be between the mesh panels. If you get an uneven number you can round up or down as necessary to make the number of stitches in each stockinette panel equal or pretty close to equal.

*WHEN CHANGING ST. #- it is important to remember that the number of stitches for the brim must be divisible by 4 (because it's a 2x2 rib).

garment instructions:
1. Cast on 76 stitches, mark beginning of round with a stitch marker
2. Join in the round. Work in 2x2 rib until piece measures 2", stop at beginning of next round.
3. Place stitch markers so that the following numbers of stitches are sectioned off:

19-6-19-6-20-6

4. Work the panels of 19 and the one of 20 in stockinette stitch, knitting every row (because it's knit in the round, knitting every row creates st. stitch). Work the 6-stitch panels in mesh stitch. Use your row counter to keep track of these rows. Work the first 8 rows with no decreases.
5. On row 9 begin doing a single decrease in each stockinette panel on each row. That means that 3 stitches will be decreased from each row.
6. Now this is where my written instructions kind of fall apart, so for the most part calculating the rate at which you decrease is up to you. In general I worked 1 decrease in each stockinette panel on 2 out of every 3 rows. Just keep in mind how long you want to brim-crown distance to be. If you want it to be longer, stagger decreases to every other row. If you want it to be shorter, maybe work double decreases in each st. panel of every row. Try the hat on as you go and use how it feels and how much more crown-brim length you need to knit as gauges of how many stitches to decrease and how often. By no means do your decreases need to be precise and perfect, this yarn in LUMPY BUMPY so it's forgiving.

Important Notes on Decreasing

*Make sure you decrease the same number of stitches from each stockinette panel on each decrease row. This ensures that the stockinette panels will decrease vertically at the same rate and look uniform.

Mesh Decreases
A.Work decreases only on stockinette panels until your piece measures 7 or 8 inches (or 2 or 3 inches less than your desired crown-brim measurement). On the next Row 1 you knit you will work decreases in each mesh panel as follows:

in Row 1: yo, k3tog ---There should be 4 stitches left in mesh panel

B. Continue on as before, decreasing only in stockinette panels.
C. Once piece is 1 inch from your desired crown-brim length, decrease in each mesh panel as follows:

in Row 2 or 4: k2tog, k2tog ---There should be 2 stitches left in mesh panel

7. As you get closer to the crown and have fewer stitches on the needles you may, as I did, catch yourself working more than 3 decreases per row. It worked well for me to decrease every third stitch one row, then every second stitch the next couple of rows, then every stitch the last 1 or 2 rows.
8. When you have only a few stitches left on the needle, cut off your yarn with a 12" tail. Using your tapestry needle, draw the attached tail through the remaining stitches and secure it with a couple of knots on the inside of the crown of the hat. Weave in ends.
9. ****Note on blocking**** I wet blocked the hat and it grew at least 3 inches in width. I just put it in the dryer for 10 minutes or so and it shrunk back down. However, I wouldn't suggest blocking your hat. The mesh panels didn't really open up much after blocking and the yarn is already soft enough to wear fresh-from-the-needles. If you must block, I'd suggest not using a total wet-block method.


I hope that wasn't too hard to understand. I'll look this over later when I'm not in lecture trying to multitask. . . and not get caught goofing off!