Spring Slouch Hat

Materials

4.5mm circular needles and three 4.5mm dpn

Cascade Yarns Pearls - 1 skein (Or if you can find any Souffle by Knit One Crochet Too, use that)
any thin variegated mohair in a similar colourway to the Pearls

Instructions

Using one strand of each yarn, held together, loosely cast on 80 stitches. Knit in stocking stitch in the round for 8 to 10 inches, depending on how much loose fabric you want at the back of the hat. Place stitch marker at beginning of round.

1st decrease round - *K3, K2tog* repeat to end of round - 64 stitches
Knit in stocking stitch for 2 rounds.

2nd decrease round - *K2, K2tog* repeat to end of round - 48 stitches
Knit in stocking stitch for 2 rounds.

Transfer the first 24 stitches onto one dpn, and the next 24 stitches onto another dpn. Hold the 2 needles parallel in your left hand.

Using the 3rd dpn in your right hand, take one stitch from the front left hand (LH) needle, move it to the back LH needle, and K2tog from the back LH needle. Repeat.

Bind off a stitch by using a LH needle to take the furthest right stitch from the right hand (RH) needle and pass it over the other stitch on the RH needle.

Chain one stitch by transferring the RH needle stitch back to a LH needle, K1.

Continue knitting two together from the LH needles, binding off from the RH needle, and chaining one stitch, until you are left with only one stitch, on the RH needle.

(Alternate bind-off method: after stitches are divided between two dpn, use a tapestry needle and graft the two sides with kitchener stitch.)

Break yarn, draw it through the final stitch and pull tight, put yarn to inside of hat, knot and weave in ends.

If you like, you can draw together the two top conrners of the hat, and tie them with a small bow of yarn. Or you can leave the corners separate, which looks a bit like cat ears.

Three Stripe Hat

This is a hat made with any natural undyed yarn, with stripes of dyed yarn.

It has two options for the brim (flat brim and turned up brim), and two options for the crown shaping (round or slouchy).

Three Stripe Hat

Materials
Worsted, aran or bulky weight yarn, depending how dense you want the fabric of the hat to be. Knitting with a single strand of worsted will result in a fabric that looks a bit more “holey”. You can always knit with two strands held together to get a denser fabric. Thinner, softer yarns will give more drape to the slouchy crown shaping.

Main Colour (MC) – natural undyed yarn of any colour – enough for the main body of the hat.

3 Contrast Colours (CCa, CCb, CCc) – dyed yarn in 3 different colours that look good together - enough for 4 rows of knitting each. Suggestion - use the darkest or brightest colour for CCa, and the lightest or most subdued colour for CCc. CCa will be closest to the face, and the hat looks most balanced with the strongest colour in this position.

Hat-sized 6mm circular needle

Set of 6mm double-pointed needles (dpn)

Instructions
With MC cast on an odd number of stitches to circular needle, using relaxed tension.

–adult sizes –
· small - 67 stitches
· medium -73 stitches
· large - 79 stitches

Join for knitting in the round, being careful not to twist.

Knit in seed stitch (K1, P1) for 4 rounds (flat brim) or 6 rounds (turned up brim) – check at each new round that you are purling the knit stitches and knitting the purl stitches. If you have cast on an odd number of stitches, this should take care of itself.

At beginning of next round, continue in stocking stitch for 3 rounds (flat brim) or 11 rounds (turned up brim).

Change to CCa. Knit for 4 rounds. (You don’t need to break the MC yarn at the colour changes, you can just leave it attached and start using it again when you need it. Make sure to leave enough slack when you join it again – you don’t want to be able to see pulling or puckering from the outside of the hat.)

Change back to MC. Knit for 5 rounds.
Change to CCb. Knit for 4 rounds.
Change back to MC. Knit for 5 rounds.
Change to CCc. Knit for 4 rounds.

Change back to MC. Knit for 3 rounds (rounded crown) or 12 rounds (slouchy crown).
Work the crown shaping according to the shape of hat you want. Switch to dpn when you need to.

Rounded Crown
*K2, K2tog* for 1 round
Knit 3 rounds
*K1, K2tog* for 1 round
Knit 2 rounds
*K2tog* until 6 stitches left. Break yarn leaving a 6 inch tail. Thread the tail through the final 6 stitches, put tail to inside of hat, draw tight, knot to a stitch in the previous row, weave in ends.

Slouchy Crown
Divide stitches into 3 groups as equally as possible, either placing 3 stitch markers if still on circular needle, or placing each group on a separate dpn.

Round 1: *K2tog, knit to next stitch marker (or next dpn)* 3 times
Round 2: Knit
Repeat these 2 rounds until 15 stitches remain. Break yarn leaving 8 inch tail. Thread the tail through the final 15 stitches, pull tail to inside of hat, draw tight, knot to a stitch in the previous row, weave in ends.

Textured Toque

You should need 2 balls of Noro Kureyon, and there will be some left over. Knit with the yarn doubled. For subtler shading pull from each end of one ball at the same time. For more distinct striping, use two balls of the same colourway, and pull one strand from each ball, holding them together so that the colours are very similar throughout.

Cast on enough stitches to fit your head, using an even # of stitches ( I like to use a 6mm or 6.5mm circular needle.)

Approximate sizes on 6mm needles - small - 60-66 stitches
medium - 68-76 stitches
large - 78-86 stitches

*1st round k1 p1 rib
2nd round k
3rd round p1 k1 rib
4th, 5th and 6th rounds k*

*repeat these 6 rounds until you want to work the crown decreases as follows:

on next pattern repeat, decrease during 5th round (knit round):
1st dec round - *k2, k2tog* all the way around (switch to dpn when you need to)

on next pattern repeat, decrease again during the 5th round:
2nd dec rnd *k1, k2tog* all the way around

then continue in st stitch, decreasing *k1, k2tog* every 2nd round until 9 stitches left
draw yarn through final stitches, knot on inside of hat, weave in ends.

Hatzensuch

As in "Hats and Such" or maybe "Have Zen Seek" This is where I learn to design knitting patterns for use by other people. I'll post my efforts, and you can tell me what works and what doesn't.