Berry Warm Hat!

This is my Berry Warm Hat!

I had a hankering for a chunky knit hat with flaps. I browsed through ravelry and couldn’t find one to my liking, so I decided to fudge one… and I think it came out amazingly! Hopefully you like it too. This is more like a recipe than a pattern (as I took no direct notes; this is all from memory, see..) and you can modify it anyway you like (length, width, etc).

PDF available on 4shared and Ravelry

Here’s the recipe:

You’ll need:

• At *least* 110 yards of super bulky yarn (yarn pictured is Kraemer Yarns Bear Creek in Berry Blast. I used most of the skein. I dunno how much. The yardage is 130 for this and I guesstimate I used ~100-110)
• #15 16-inch circular needle
• Either #15 DPNs or a 36 in circular needle (I have an interchangeable set, so I added cords to make a 36 in and used the magic loop method;  easy peasy! Look it up on YouTube. The KnitWitch’s tutorials are the best!)
• Four stitch markers [few places have markers big enough for 15’s; luckily I make some. Check out my Etsy shop for some ;)]
•  Four locking stitch markers
• A large eyed yarn needle
• A 4x8 in piece of cardboard (for the tassels/ bootleg pom pom) [if you have a pom pom maker,t hat works too…]
• Scrap super bulky yarn for tassels (I used LB Thick and Quick in black for my tassels; you can use whatever the hell you have on hand, or even the same yarn from the body)

Abbreviations:

CO=cast on

BO=bind off

St= stitch,

k=knit,

p=purl

k2gth=knit two together

ssk= slip slip knit

pm=place marker

ST st= stockinette stitch

Dec=decrease

sl= slip

Hat Body

Using the Long Tail Cast On, CO 50 st, join for knitting in the round and pm, making sure your stitches aren’t twisted.

1. Knit six rounds of garter st, starting with a k row (in the round, that’s one row knit, one row purl. I started with a knit row by accident; technically, when you use the LTCO, the first row looks knitted. This worked out to my benefit as you will see later).  Six rows of garter gives you three ridges. You may do more or less as you like; I liked the way three looked.
2.  Switch to ST st and place remaining markers as follows:  k 12, pm; k 13, pm; k 12 pm; k 13, pm. Knit until the piece measures 5 in (or longer. Mine fit right to my hair line; I wanted it a little longer. I should have done 6!) from CO edge.
3. To decrease, simply either k2gth or ssk after each marker. My dec look like ssk, but that’s ‘cause I knit bass ackwards. Dec as established every row and switch to DPNs/longer circular when necessary (my point of change was after two decrease rows). Dec until 14 st remain. Cut yarn 8 inches from work, thread yarn needle and pass through remaining sts. Past needle through hole in hat and draw tight. Knot and weave in end.

Flaps

Turning the hat so the tail of the CO is in the back-middle of your head, try on the hat. Fit well? Great! Place the locking markers so that you have two in the front with 14 st between them, and place the remaining two in the back with 14 st in between those; you’ll be fussing with the 11 stitches in between the sets of markers.

(sl the first st of every row and use the circular or DPNs for this part… you’ll thank me later ;))

1. With the right side facing you, pick up 11 st [starting from the right going to the left], then purl your way back.
2. Commence ST st for about 2-2 ½ inches, and then: sl 1, dec, k to last three, dec, k 1. P wrong side. 
3. Keep dec in right side rows until you get to five st left, then dec, k1, dec.   
4. Slide the stitches down to the other end of the [circular or DPN] and start i-cord. Do i-cord for as long as you like. I did it for 10 in. BO i-cord, leaving 6 inches of yarn behind.

Repeat for other flap.

Tassels and Pom Pom

• For the tassels: With scrap yarn, cut two 8 in pieces of yarn and set aside. Take one of these and tape to the cardboard lengthwise, or hold in place. With cardboard, wrap yarn around the 4 in side of the cardboard 20 times.  Untape/unhold long piece and slide up to the top of the wrapped yarn and knot tightly. Cut the other end, trim to even out if necessary. Repeat for the other tassel.
• For the pom pom, fold the 4x8, so it becomes a square (haha). Wrap the yarn around the side where the fold meets. I wrapped it like 25-30 times, but you can more or less accordingly. Cut a 10 in piece of yarn and tie at the open end of the fold. Tie it tight! Cut the other end.  Voila! A bootleg, floppy pom pom. Sew to top middle of the hat.

To attach tassels, sew one of the ends into the tip of an i-cord; try to get it as centered as possible. Tie a securing knot and trim remaining yarn (if needed) and add to the fringe. Wrap the tail from the i-cord BO around the base where the tassel meets the i-cord, do a loop knot once or twice, trim off extra yarn.

That’s it!

*whew*

This pattern is untested, reconstructed from memory so if you find any issues, please let me know and I will try to correct it the best way I can. I'm tastee.chaos[@]gmail.com.

Berry Warm Hat by Deena White is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.