Saturday, March 12, 2011

2 New Hats and a Pattern

In my previous post I said that I found a free pattern for the All Day Beret and would post about making the beret on my loom.  I was very close to being done and had very sore fingers, when I noticed that the hat had some very obvious mistakes.  I had worked on this hat for hours, but was so unhappy with the way it looked that I took it off the loom and started again.  

The left diagonal that is in the pattern was very time consuming, so I figured I would try it a different way.  Here is a picture of the finished hat.  If you would like the pattern for this hat, please leave me a comment.   I would be happy to post it for anyone interested. 


I tried again and made some more changes.  I am very happy with the results of this hat and it is my favorite hat I have made. 

My Favorite Hat with Bulky Yarn


My Favorite Knit Hat with Caron Simply Soft

 Materials needed to make My Favorite Hat:  Yarn of your choice, Loom with multiples of 4, stitch markers, hook, and yarn needle.

Required stitches:  flat knit (k), purl (p), knit two together (k2tog),  and yarn over (yo).


A few notes about this pattern:  When I made my hat I used Loops & Threads Charisma. It is a bulky yarn and very soft.  I only used one strand of yarn when I used the bulky yarn.   I made the hat a second time using Caron Simply Soft and this time used 2 strands of yarn as 1.  
You do not have to use stitch markers, but I did find that it made it a whole lot easier to keep up with the pattern.  I have two small children who always seem to stop me in the middle of a round and it is easy for me to forget where I am. 

 Before you start, if you choose to use stitch markers put one on the first peg and then peg 5, continue putting markers on pegs to break the loom up into sections of fours.  Every peg with a stitch marker will be purled when you get to the body of the hat, another reason stitch markers are really helpful in the pattern.


Brim:  1.  E-wrap cast on
            2. For 8 rows  *p2, k2;  repeat from *to end of round.

Hat Body: Row 1.  *p1, k1, yo, k2tog; repeat from * to end of round.
                   Row 2.  *p1,k3; repeat from * to end of round


Repeat the pattern for 25 rounds or however many you need to get the hat to the size you like, but make sure it ends with row 2.  


If you use bulky yarn you can use this to shape the crown:  Row 1:  *p1, k2tog, k1; repeat from * to end of round.
                                      Row2:  *p1, k2; repeat from * to end of round.
                                      Row3:  * skip the first peg in your set of 4 (leave the loops on the peg)  and then k2tog; repeat from * to end of the round.

**  When I made this hat with the Simply Soft I did not shape the crown as described above.  I just did the basic decrease by 1/2.  Move yarn on peg 1 to 2 and knit over.  Yarn on peg 3 to 4 knit over.  And continue doing this around the loom.


Finishing:  thread needle with working yarn and do a gathered bind off.  




Additional notes:  When I did this pattern on the yo and k2tog, I lay the yarn in front of the yo peg .  It made it easier to knit on the next row.  When you do the k2tog bring the loops on  peg three over to peg four.  Knit like normal.  This means you will be bringing the bottom loops from pegs 3 and 4 over your new stitch. 




I hope that you like the pattern as much as I do.  Please feel free to leave comments.  If there is something that you don't understand in the pattern, please let me know. I want the pattern to be easy to read.  






           


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

24 comments:

  1. Very nice hat! I really love the texture of it! :)

    Question: What loom do you like to use for this?
    Do you find it fairly easy to use a regular round loom, or is it best to use an adjustable one, such as the long KK's with added loom clips?

    Thanks for your terrific pattern!
    Bethany

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  2. Bethany, Thank you for the comment. I love the texture too.
    I used the round purple loom with 48 pegs. It worked great. It was a little tricky doing the last row where you skip the first peg and then knit the last two stitches in the group of 4 together. I would suggest using a stretchy yarn or just leaving that step out. Hope that helps.

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  3. Oh Wow---I am so happy that you posted this pattern. Thank you thank you. I can't wait to try this. I have been waiting for a pattern like this for an "everyday beret". I hope you are open to questions. I think I should be able to pull this one off with a little patience. I think the only thing I have not done is the YO and that doesn't sound so hard. I will also be using the adult KK round hat loom---in my set, I believe it is green. Is that the same as your purple? When I use the twisted knit stitch, I have to use the red KK (child size) so that the hat will fit my head--I have a smaller adult head. Usually the flat knit or U-knit is tighter and the larger green loom should work. Is this the case for this hat?

    Wendy

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  4. Love the hat! Thanks for the pictures and instructions!

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  5. Wendy, Thanks for the comment. I don't mind the questions at all. I just hope I can answer them in a way that makes sense. I am new to making patterns. So, if my answer needs to be explained more, please just let me know so that you are able to use the pattern.
    When I made this hat, I did not make it long enough to be a beret. You could knit extra rows though if you wanted to and see how that works. This particular hat fits more like a beanie.
    You could use the green loom, because it has 36 pegs. When I made the hat I used the purple loom that has 48 pegs. I can't remember how many pegs the red has, but I think it would be too small. For myself, any hats I've made on the green loom will not fit my head - they fit my kids great though. If your head is smaller try it on the green loom. I hope it works for you. Let me know if this helps or if I need to explain more.

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  6. Beautiful hat! I'm quite a newbie, so I apologize if my question seems silly. I am in the process of trying it and as I've never done the yo, k2tog stitches, I looked it up to find out how to do it, although now I'm questioning it. So, I'm doing p1, k1 (I know how to do those), then on that 3rd peg, I'm removing it and putting it on the 4th peg, then I e-wrap that 3rd peg and leave it alone, then I knit the 4th peg that's doubled up. Have I done this wrong? So far, my hat is not looking like yours. It's still okay, but it's not the same. I am using the KK purple round loom. Any input would be helpful. Thank you!

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  7. What you are doing sounds right. What kind of yarn are you using? Is there any way to send me a picture of the hat?

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  8. hrgdane - I've made the hat again using different yarn. Check the pattern out and see if your hat looks more like this one: http://thismamaloomknits.blogspot.com/2011/03/just-finished-2-more-hats.html

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  9. Oh man--- I had to frog the hat last night. I did the body of the hat just as the above poster. Then I got to shaping the crown and was really stumped. It seemed like I should keep the series of four going so I did a YO before the k2tog. The when I started the next row I got really perplexed cause it seemed maybe I should only be working on three pegs. I'm so confused br this entire crown part. Can you provide me with a little help? Thanks. Wendy

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  10. Wendy, I am so sorry you had to frog the hat. I know how frustrating that can be. :( What kind of yarn are you using? I am thinking that if you are using something other than bulky yarn it may not work the same as what the pattern says. I know that if your yarn is not super stretchy it does get difficult. And, you are right about working with 3 pegs. With the bulky yarn I was able to work on the three pegs without there being any big holes. Does that make sense?
    If you make the hat again leave out the crown part. It won't change it that much. Just do the decrease where you move the yarn on the odd pegs to the even pegs and lift the bottom yarn over the top, so that you decrease your yarn on pegs by half.
    Check out the link I put in the comment above yours. I made the hat again with acrylic yarn and there are a few changes.

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  11. I will try the new decease you suggested. I have never decreased a hat before and find it confusing. After moving the odd peg loops to the even, what do you do with the working yarn in relation to the now empty pegs? Do I run it behind them? And one other question---in the hat body, did you ewrap the empty YO peg or did you put the working yarn in front of the peg--more like a flat knit stitch? Thank you so much. I have been searching for answers on the web since I wrote this question to you. I have Isela's primer book and find the hat decrease hard to understand. Wendy

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  12. Don't do anything with the working yarn. Just keep it at the first peg. You are only moving the yarn to the even pegs and then putting the bottom loop over the top.
    For the hat on this page I used the e-wrap for the empty pegs. On the hat on the other link I just put the yarn in front of the peg. You can do it whatever way works best for you. :)
    Please feel free to keep asking questions. I just hope that I can answer them enough to help you.

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  13. Ok----I can do the yarn move---but then what? If you are not moving the working yarn anymore, are you done? Is it time to gather and bind?

    I keep looking back at your original instructions and it seems like you are still knitting and purling along while doing the K2Tog in the crown shaping. Assuming you are still moving the working yarn along, on the K2Tog pegs are you flat knitting the working yarn by doing a 2 over 1. I guess I want to learn to do this since it seems like many hats decrease this way.

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  14. Ok, I am trying to see if I can explain. I wish I had pictures so I could show you what I am trying to explain.
    Work the pattern for the body of the hat. When the hat is the size that you want it start the decrease. Leave the working yarn where it is - between the last peg and the first peg. Take all the loops on the odd pegs and move them to the even pegs. Then take the yarn that is on the bottom of the pegs and pull them over the loops you just moved from the odd pegs. When you are done doing this gather the hat with whatever way you like to finish your hat.
    I am looking now to see if I can find a pattern with pictures.

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  15. Which pegs are you putting the stitch markers on if you are using the purple loom?

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  16. Erin, you want to break the loom up into groups of 4's. The only reason I have one on peg 1 is because it is a peg you will purl. So, 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, 29, 33, 37, 41, and 45. You don't really need the stitch markers. I just like them because with small kids I may have to stop in the middle of a row and it helps keep up with where I am in the pattern.

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  17. I have to ask too: for Row 1, I am purling peg 1, knitting peg 2, moving the loop from peg 3 to peg 4, knitting over on peg 4, and peg 3 is my "empty"/YO peg? Thanks!

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  18. Hi there, your puctures look great but I need some clarification on the type of knit stitch that you use. You call the (k) in your pattern a flat knit. I don't have any problem using the flat knit for the brim but if I use a flat knit for all the other (k) stitches in the body of the hat. I simply don't have enough slack to do a (k2tog) stitch. There have got to be some ewrap knit stitches or regular knit stitches there somewhere for me to be able to pull a stitch over between pegs.

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  21. i HOPE THIS COMMENT GETS THRU. I DO LIKE THIS SET OF PATTERNS AND WOULD LIKE THE TOP BLUE PATTERN. ALSO THE GREEN CARON YARN HAT LOOKS LIKE A SWIRL HAT? tHANKS FOR YOUR HELP

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  22. Hi Mama!
    I would love to try your Favorite Hat as my first project. I have never used a loom or knit. I crocheted for years. In addition to my wanting to make one of your hats, Dave, my bestie would like to make one also!! So I will be learning & teaching!! We would appreciate a copy of your pattern. BTW we have an oval loom w 40 pegs which his daughters discarding before we rescued it!
    Thanks for your generosity!
    Joanna

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  23. Thank you for posting this pattern...can't wait to try!

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