Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Tropical Twist Hat

Tropical Twist Hat

First off, I have to say it: I've been having a great time taking my knitting photos in my yard, even if my neighbors now think I'm nuts (and they definitely do). But I don't care, because the Tropical Twist Hat looks great out in the wild. Sure, it's nothing fancy - just some alternating cables - but it's a nice, clean, unisex design that takes variegation well. And sometimes, that's all you need!

Yarn: Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash Paints (100% Hand Painted Superwash Wool; 220 yards [200 meters]/100 grams); #9859 Tropical Punch - one skein

Needles: One 16" circular needle in size US 6, one set of double pointed needles (dpns), also in size US 6, and one cable needle (cn) or dpn for cabling (or you can always cable without a needle, if you'd prefer)

Notions: Tapestry needle, stitch marker

Gauge: 22 stitches = 4 inches

So let's make a hat! First, then, using your circular needle, cast on 120 stitches, place marker, and join in round. If you want to get really fancy, you could knit the first five or six rows in a smaller gauge needle to create a tighter brim, but it's certainly not necessary. Either way you do it, we'll get straight to the main pattern, after a little notation as follows:

front cross (fc): slip 2 stitches to your cn and hold in front; k2; k2 from cn

left twist (lt): with right-hand needle behind left-hand needle, skip one stitch and knit the second stitch in back loop; then insert right-hand needle into the backs of both stitches and k2tog-b (knit two together through back loops, inserting right needle from the right)

And now that we've covered that, let's get to it!

Rows 1 & 2: * p1, k4, p2, k4, p1; rep from *

Row 3: * p1, k4, p2, fc, p1 *

Rows 4 - 8: * p1, k4, p2, k4, p1 *

Row 9: * p1, fc, p2, k4, p1 *

Rows 10 - 12: * p1, k4, p2, k4, p1 *

Knit rows 1 - 12 three times and then knit rows 1 - 9 once more. Now it's time to begin our decrease rows, as follows:

Decrease Row 1: * p1, ssk, k2tog, p2, k4, p1 * (100 stitches)

Decrease Row 2: * p1, lt, p2, k4, p1 *

Decrease Row 3: * p2tog, k1, p2, k4, p1 * (90 stitches)

Decrease Row 4: * p4, k4, p1 * 

You may want to switch to your dpns about now...

Decrease Row 5: * p3tog, p1, k4, p1 * (70 stitches)

Decrease Row 6: * p2, fc, p1 *

Decrease Row 7: * p2, ssk, k2tog, p1 * (50 stitches)

Decrease Row 8: * p2, lt, p1 *

Decrease Row 9: * p1, p2tog, k1, p1 * (40 stitches) 

Decrease Row 10: slip first 2 stitches to final dpn; then, * k1, p3tog * (20 stitches)

Decrease Row 11: * ssk * (10 stitches)

Clip yarn tail, thread through final 10 stitches, and pull tight. Thread to inside of hat and knot. 





16 comments:

  1. This turned out nicely! So simple, and yet full of interest and movement.

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    1. Thank you! Sometimes it's nice to go back to basics. :)

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    2. I like so many of your hats. Most hats just don't look good on me. How about knitting me a new head?

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    3. I like the concept, but I worry it would fail in execution!

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  2. Ha ha, I love your site, and I bet your neighbors love you too! I just discovered this and your wonderful patterns. Keep on designing and entertaining the neighbors!

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  3. Thank you! I will! :) And now that we've moved I have to set up the head on the edge of my balcony above the street... I hope she doesn't drop on someone some day!!!

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  4. Hi Gretchen. Please help! I am stuck with decrease row 2. After finished the row and counted (if i did it right!), there were 90 stitches. But then decrease row 3 will have 90 stitches as well. how can it be possible as I see there is p2tog in decrease row 3. Aaaaaah! Help please......

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    1. Hi there! Thanks for getting in touch! :) If I understand your question correctly, the problem you're having is probably in decrease row 2, since there shouldn't actually be any decreases in that row and you should still be at 100 after completing it. Is it possible you misread the row?

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  5. Thank you so much, Gretchen. I got it now. I did the left twist wrong :)

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    1. Wonderful! I know my brain sometimes goes on autopilot so I figured you might be reading that stitch as a decrease just because it was in the decrease rows! :)

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  6. Hi. I just stumbled upon your site, and I like many of your patterns. As a novice knitter, this look pretty...daunting, LOL. I follow directions pretty well, but I wonder if you might indicate level of difficulty in this and other patterns., i.e., novice/beginner/easy, intermediate, etc.

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    1. Hi Anita!

      I'm glad to hear you like my site! :) In general, most of my patterns are of the beginner/intermediate variety, including this one. And I'm always happy to answer questions, but one reason I don't do ratings is because I very rarely use any techniques that qualify as advanced, although I understand that some of the stuff I do may be daunting for a beginning knitter. Also, I'm a big believer that people are capable of more than they expect, knitting-wise, and I would hate for a rating to put someone off a pattern than they may attempt otherwise! :)

      All of that being said, again, I'm always happy to help, answer questions, or point you in the right direction for resources. Happy knitting!

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  7. Hi Gretchen
    Could you share this using straight needles.

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    1. The finish can't be done quite the same way, but this will be close!

      So let's make a hat! First, then, cast on 122 stitches. Then we’ll work as follows:

      Row 1 (right side): k1, * p1, k4, p2, k4, p1; rep from *, end k1

      Row 2: p1, * k1, p4, k2, p4, k1; rep from, * end p1

      Row 3: k1, * p1, k4, p2, fc, p1; rep from *, end k1

      Rows 4 & 6: p1, * k1, p4, k2, p4, k1; rep from *, end p1

      Rows 5 & 7: k1, * p1, k4, p2, k4, p1; rep from *, end k1

      Row 9: k1, * p1, fc, p2, k4, p1; rep from *, end k1

      Rows 10 & 12: p1, * k1, p4, k2, p4, k1; rep from, * end p1

      Row 11: k1, * p1, k4, p2, k4, p1; rep from *, end k1

      Knit rows 1 - 12 three times and then knit rows 1 - 9 once more. Now it's time to begin our decrease rows, as follows:

      Decrease Row 1 (wrong side): p1, * k1, p4, k2, p2tog, ssp (slip, slip, purl), k1; rep from *, end p1 (102 stitches)

      Decrease Row 2: k1, * p1, lt, p2, k4, p1; rep from *, end k1

      Decrease Row 3: p1, * k1, p4, k2, p1, k2tog; rep from *, end p1 (92 stitches)

      Decrease Row 4: k1, * p4, k4, p1; rep from *, end k1

      Decrease Row 5: p1, * k1, p4, k1, k3tog; rep from *, end p1 (72 stitches)

      Decrease Row 6: k1, * p2, fc, p1; rep from *, end k1

      Decrease Row 7: p1, * k1, p2tog, ssp, k2; rep from *, end p1 (52 stitches)

      Decrease Row 8: k1, * p2, lt, p1; rep from *, end k1

      Decrease Row 9: p1, * k1, p1, k2tog, k1; rep from *, end p1 (42 stitches)

      Decrease Row 10: * k1, p3tog; rep from *, end p1, k1 (22 stitches)

      Decrease Row 11: * ssp *, end k1, p1 (12 stitches)

      Clip yarn tail, thread through final 12 stitches, and pull tight. Thread to inside of hat and knot. Seam.

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  8. Hi Gretchen
    I did this using circular needles but really struggling with the decrease and dpns
    Any clues how I can get this bit right.

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    1. Hi again! Here's an article with some tips - I don't use all of them but some might certainly help! https://nimble-needles.com/tutorials/how-to-knit-with-double-pointed-needles-like-a-pro/

      You could also try the magic loop instead of dpns... You need two circular needles, but many swear by it! https://www.google.com/amp/s/blog.tincanknits.com/2013/10/03/magic-loop/amp/

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