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I have troublesome hair. No normal, everyday hat can hope to contain my hair. Thus Doris was born, from a hat spotted on a barrista in Mount Vernon.
Gently falling snow sold separately.
Doris is worked in super-bulky yarn, which makes her sturdy enough to win the war against Troublesome Hair. Doris has a garter stitch brim, with the main hat worked in seed stitch, for extra warmth, and that air of vintage cool. (As an added bonus, it seriously takes only about an hour to knit a hat at this gauge.)
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick, Rowan Biggy Print, or any other super-bulky yarn that works up at two stitches per inch. You will need about 60 yards.
Gauge: 2 st/inch in seed stitch.
Needles: 8mm/US 11 circulars (use a pair no more than 20 inches long – 16 inches is ideal) and DPNs or another pair of circulars for the final stage of decreases.
Dimensions: Doris is 24 inches around, and 8 inches high. Special note Doris is a bit bigger than you might expect. If you have troublesome hair, you want a hat with a few inches of positive ease, meaning that the hat is a few inches larger than your head. Otherwise, it won’t fit properly over all that hair.
1. Cast on 43 stitches and join, (all together now) being careful not to twist. (If you change the number of stitches in order to accomodate a different size/gauge/needles/yarn, be sure to cast on an odd number of stitches. Makes it much easier to work the seed stitch.) Set a stitch marker at the join.
2. Work six rows – three ridges – in garter stitch. Remember that you will have to alternate knit rows with purl rows, in order to make garter stitch in the round.
3. Switch to seed stitch (*k1, p1* – if you have cast on an odd number of stitches, this will automatically make seed stitch. If you insist on an even number of stitches, alternate a round of *k1, p1* with a round of *p1, k1*). Work 8 rounds – 4 inches.
4. Begin decreasing as follows:
Round 1: *k8, k2tog* k3
Round 2: *k7, k2tog* k3
Round 3: *k6, k2tog* k3
Continue in this fashion until you have about 15 stitches left on the needles. Switch to DPNs when things start to get awkward, or just knit from one set of circs onto the others.
5. Cast off these stitches, leaving a long tail. Thread the tail through the cast off stitches, then draw it tight to close the hole. Weave in ends, and admire a hat that you can finally wear over your big ol’ hair!
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HI! I like your hat and I’ve been making a similar one, though not in seed stitch. I’m a relatively new knitter and do not know how to use DPN. The pattern I’ve used sounds much the same but I just keep it on normal needles. It works out fine.
Someday I’ll figure out how to keep all those needles straight. I’d really like to make some gloves!
Comment by Marsha Finney —
December 2, 2006 @ 9:21 am
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Hi Marsha, thanks for your comment! If you buy a set of DPN (fat ones, like you’d use for hats) and put the stitches on them, it’s much more intuitive than it looks from the outside. You still only work with 2 needles at a time, it feels weird at first, but it’s pretty great once you get the hang of it!
Comment by Erika —
December 2, 2006 @ 1:06 pm
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