Little Swags Hat

Little Swags Hat

I did it! I created my own hat pattern...well, one of two.

This is the first one I finished. I knit up the white one first a little while back, and just finished the pink and white one today.

The white hat is quite large and loose on my head. I suppose someone with a bigger head, or lots of hair would be able to use it. I was following another hat pattern for sizing and for the yarn I used (Bernat Satin), I probably should have either used smaller needles or knit less rows.

The pink and white one fits my head better as I made adjustments from the white one. I knit less rows, and with the decreasing I started with a different number of stitches at the beginning.

At first I wasn't sure if I was going to like the way the white swags were going to look with the pink background, but as I continued knitting and finished, it grew on me and I think I like it. So, this hat can be knit in a solid colour, or two colours.

Close up of the Little Swags Hat

The stitch pattern I used is from "400 Knitting Stitches" fro mPotter Craft. It's called the Stamen Stitch, and is on page 142. It was written for using two needles, so I had to play with it a bit to rework it for circular needles. It took a few times because, quite frankly, I'm not all that great at those sorts of things (or creating patterns). I can't look at a pattern and immediately know what to do or how to change it.

I did enjoy coming up with this, and figuring out how to make the adjustments. The pattern itself is very easy, and doesn't take too long to make.

I've decided to post the pattern here on my blog, for anyone wishing to make the hat. I don't have sizes for kids, but I'm sure a more experienced knitter will know what to do to adjust for that. I'm more than willing to accept help in that sort of thing...though really, I'm sure if you just use the sizing for other patterns (kind of like what I did for this one), it would work out OK.

Also, if you try this pattern, I would love to hear back if there are any errors, etc. Also, if you use different yarns you will probably have to adjust the amount to cast on, etc. I created this pattern using ther Bernat Satin, and have not tested it in other brands or thicknesses.


Edited to add needle sizes in the pattern.
I would also love to see any hats you make, so please feel free to leave a link in the comments so I can see. So, without further ado, here is the pattern for the hat:

Little Swags

Cast on 90 stitches with smaller needles (4mm)


Knit 10 rows of K2, P2 ribbing

Switch to larger needles (5mm) and follow the stitch pattern:

Stitch Pattern:

Row 1: K all stitches using MC

Row 2: sl 1 purlwise with yarn in front, P1; repeat around

Row 3: K all stitches using MC

Row 4: P1, sl 1 plurwise with yarn in front; repeat around


Continue the above stitch pattern for 40 rows

Row 41: K2, K2tog around. There should be about 68 stitches left.

Start decreases as following, with all decreases done on knitted rows:

1. K9, K2tog; repeat around. There will be extra stitches at the end, just knit those.

2. Follow Row 2 of the stitch pattern

3. K8, K2tog; repeat around. Again, there will be extra stitches at the end to knit

4. Follow Row 4 of the stitch pattern

Continue in this manner, decreasing one more stitch on each knitted row, making sure to follow the pattern with row 2 & 4 alternating. Do this until there are about 12 stitches left; snip yarn and pull through remaining stitches.

Honeycomb Hat

I finally finished the purple hat I was working on (see previous post). It's not difficult, but the particular stitch I did took longer for me to work at. It's an easy stitch, but for some reason I was just slow at knitting it.


The picture isn't the best, and I had to use the flash on the camera. I've adjusted the photo some in Photo Shop Elements, but the colour of yarn in the photo is pretty close to the actual colour.

Honeycomb Hat



As previously mentioned, I used Patons Classic Merino in Royal Purple. The needles were 5.0 mm circs. In all honesty, I don't really know what the sizing would be, other than to say the hat doesn't fit my head - and I don't think my head is big...maybe average sized.  I suppose this hat could fit an older child, I don't really know. I'll have to take this with me to church on Sunday and get my BFF's daughter (who is a month away from being 11 years old), and see if it fits her.

I got a gift certificate to Chapters for Christmas, and used it to buy the book "400 knitting stitches, A Complete Dictionary of Essential Stitch Patterns" by Potter Craft. The stitch for my Honeycomb Hat is found in there.  I haven't typed up the pattern yet, and in all honesty it's probably not the best pattern. I just sort of made it up as I went along.

For starters, the number of stitches I cast on may not have been the correct amount, as there "left overs" as I began my decreasing rows for the crown. For example, if I was decreasing 8 stitches and then knitting 2 together, I might end up with 5 stitches left over. I would just knit those with no decreases. I don't know if that made a difference or anything, but it may have been camoflauged because they were done only every other row (in between patterned rows). Hopefully the way I worded it makes sense. At any rate, by the time I got to k4, k2tog, I was OK with the number of stitches matching up to the decreasing.



Close-up of Pattern

 I've never created my own hat pattern before, so I took some measurements from another "established" pattern. I cast on what I thought would be the right amount (I wanted to make it a little larger than the other hats I made, so I cast on more than those ones (but not by much). The type of decrease I used was the same as in the other pattern, but I didn't know how many to start decreasing with. I think it turned out OK in the end though, but maybe if someone else looks at the pattern (when I get it posted), she might be able to tell and help make proper adjustments - even if it's just casting on a different amount of stitches instead of what I used.

I'm going to attempt to make another hat of the other pattern I mentioned in a previous post and see if it works out again as well. It's a quicker knit so it shouldn't take me too long to knit up another one. I'm going to try it using two colours and see how that looks. I'll post pics when I get the other one done, and possible share the pattern as well.

Until then, happy knitting!

Candy Wrapper Scarf

Well, last weekend I promised to post the pattern I used for my ISE4 pal's scarf. Finally, I remembered to do it! I call it the Candy Wrapper Cable Scarf because when I looked at two sections of the cable and the knitting between, it reminded me of a candy wrapped up in its foil wrapper. I know the pictures aren't all that good, but it does look cute, and it's a very easy pattern to follow.

If you would rather have the Word document of the pattern, just email me (on my profile) and let me know and I'll email it to you.

Candy Wrapper Cable Scarf

By
Shelley Snyder

* Cable pattern taken from Knitting Stitches by Mary Webb, Medium Stitch 13, page 183

Glossary of terms

K = knit
P = purl
K2tog = knit 2 together
Yo = yarn over
Sl = slip
Ssk = slip slip knit

C6f = slip 2 stitches on cable needle and hold at front; knit 4; knit 2 stitches from needle
C8f = slip 2 stitches on cable needle and hold at front; knit 6; knit 2 stitches from needle

Directions

Cast on 40 stitches

Knit 4 rows (garter stitch)

Row 1 – k2, k2tog, yo, p2, k8, p2, k8, p2, k8, p2, yo, ssk, k2

Row 2 – k2, p2, k2, p8, k2, p8, k2, p8, k2, p2, k2

Row 3, 5, 7 – same as row 1

Row 4, 6, 8 – same as row 2

Row 9 – k2, k2tog, yo, p2, k2, c6f, p2, k2, c6f, p2, k2, c6f, p2, yo, ssk, k2

Row 10, 12 – same as row 2

Row 11 – same as row 1

Row 13 – k2, k2tog, yo, p2, c8f, p2, c8f, p2, c8f, p2, yo, ssk, k2

Row 14, 16 – same as row 2

Row 15 – same as row 1

Row 17 – k2, k2tog, yo, p2, c6f, k2, p2, c6f, k2, p2, c6f, k2, p2, yo, ssk, k2

Row 18 , 20, 22, 24 – same as row 2

Row 19, 21, 23 – same as row 1

Repeat rows 1 to 24 until you reach the desired length of your scarf

End with 4 rows of knit (garter stitch)


Close up of cable pattern: