Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Skull Flap Hat

Another one to cross off the list...



Started: October 14, 2006
Finished: October 15, 2006
Yarn: Knitpicks Swish dublin 2 balls and elanns Devon in white (doubled) 1 ball
Pattern: A combination of a few...altered so much I think I will call it my own;)

Where to begin. I really like Swish...it's so soft and squishy. I have yet to wash and dry a swatch in machines...but I will today. What a great yarn for kids clothing. Here is another view of the hat...a little blurry though, the lighting is crap today.


My guage is 20sts and 28 rounds to 4" using US#7 for st st and US#8 for fair isle.
The hat is really big. I actually don't mind that it doesn't pull on the fair isle and it doesn't squash the hair. The finished circumference is about 24". If you want it snug, you need to make a tighter gauge.

I started with the earflaps.
Long tail cast on 7 sts and purl one row. Work the chart, increasing in front and back of stitch for symbol.



The purled in skull motif is not really necessary, because the motif is hardly visible, but it does help the flap not to curl.
You end up with 33 sts that you put on a holder then make the second one.
The second flap you leave on your needles then cast on 39sts for the front. (I used the thumb cast on done really tight.)
Now knit the 33sts off the holder of the other flap. Cast on 15 sts for the back and then join it all in the round. 120sts.

Knit 1 round.
Purl 2 rounds.
Knit 12 rounds.

Work the 21 rows of this chart.


To keep guage in fair isle, I find I need to go up a needle size. So on row #6 I changed to US#8 needles and back to US#7 needles on row 17.
When the chart is complete, knit 9 rounds.

Start the decreases:
round 1: (k13, k2tog) 8 times. 112sts
round 2: (k12, k2tog) 8 times. 104sts
round 3: (k11, k2tog) 8 times. 96 sts
cont decreasing this way until you have 56sts.
round 9: (k3, k2tog, k2tog) 8 times. 40sts
round 10: (k1, k2tog, k2tog) around 24sts
round 11: (k2tog) around 12sts.
repeat last round. 6sts. Break yarn and drawn through remaining sts and pull tight. Weave in ends.

I finished the edges with a single crochet all the way around. Then made two twists of yarn (7 pieces for each ear flap) for the ties.

Finito!

FYI: Thank you all for your comments on the bus problemo. It seems I am not alone. I have called them everytime they have done this....guess that doesn't work. As I walked him to the bus...three blocks...PAST the perfectly good public school outside my door...in the pouring, freezing rain...with my 2 year old...I am really starting to "eye" that public school.

20 comments:

Karyn said...

I love your hat! Thank you for sharing the pattern. I'm going to get started on one for my daughter a.s.a.p., as soon as I buy some Swish in the appropriate colors. I think I might just make a couple for my nephews too, they'll make great Christmas gifts.

Thanks again!

Stacey said...

So great! A nice basic flap hat pattern...I may have to give this one a go!

Mariss said...

Adorable! You're so good at following through with projects! What an inspiration to us ;)

Anonymous said...

Nice looking hat! Looks warm, too.

Anonymous said...

Cool hat! I'll have to store this one away for the hubby.

gray la gran said...

this is fantastic! and thank you for sharing your pattern :)

Mag said...

Great Hat and wonderful photo!

Anonymous said...

Totally cute! I wish I was related to you so I'd get a cool and thoughtful Christmas gift. You're such a good mother/sister/cousin/etc.

Singular Stitches said...

Carolyn, the hat is excellent!! How much yarn did the hat require as made. (I'd love to make this for my sister's BF, in grey and black swish, but want to make sure I order enough)

Thanks!

KnittenKnots said...

Cool hat!! You have been flying through the projects lately - great socks too!

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for the great pattern! My son is going to love this!

Unknown said...

Hey really cool hat. I might try making it for my brother. Cool blog too.

MsFortuknit said...

This is the most!!!
Thanks for posting this, another one for the list!!

Rani said...

Thank you so much for sharing that graph! I am always so amazed at how generous knitters can be!

ps are you on ravelry?

Anonymous said...

thank you so much my brother has been looking for an earflap hat for a long time now but he never seems to find one he likes so he and mum came up with the great idea that I should make him one, so I was left with the task of finding a design/pattern he likes, and this is the first... many thanks

Anonymous said...

thank you so much my brother has been looking for an earflap hat for a long time now but he never seems to find one he likes so he and mum came up with the great idea that I should make him one, so I was left with the task of finding a design/pattern he likes, and this is the first... many thanks

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