From Knit-Sender@bolis.com Thu Dec 4 17:39:25 1997 Received: from ivanhoe.bolis.com (ivanhoe.bolis.com [192.41.15.58]) From: Bethlth Date: Thu, 4 Dec 1997 18:24:29 EST To: Knit@bolis.com Subject: knit: gift baby hat Sender: Knit-Sender@bolis.com ICOSH: gift baby hat hello knitfriends, I just shipped off 12 roll brim baby hats to DM for her church bazaar this weekend. I was really pleased with the finished product, each hat took less than a skein of yarn, was fast to knit (about 2 hours for me) and came out looking extremely cute, IMHO. Several people asked me to share my pattern, so here it is. It's a variation on the beloved fruit cap, my changes were to work a design on the hat (I will include the design for hearts knit around the cap, but any colorwork pattern that's a multiple of 2, 4, or 8 stitches will work), and rather than a "stem" on top, I made a topknot. Enjoy, and happy holidays! Laurie Longinotti bethlth@aol.com ROLLED BRIM BABY HAT WITH A TOPKNOT (Should fit a baby from 0-6 months, but I didn't have a baby head to try it on. When I blocked my hats, I blew up a balloon to what I seemed to remember was a baby size head.) 1 skein worsted wt. yarn (I used oddballs and it seems like a 50 gm. skein was plenty), plus small amount of contrasting color for the hearts size 7 dp needles (I worked most of the hat on a #7 16" circular needle, then switched to the dps when I got to the decrease section). Cast on 72 sts in main color. Working in the round, and knitting every row, knit 20 rows. Your brim should be rolling up as you work. Work heart design in contrasting color: 0=Main color X=Contrasting color 00X000X0 0XXX0XXX 0XXXXXXX 00XXXXX0 000XXX00 0000X000 (sorry, that looks rather elongated, but it IS a heart!) Continue in MC until hat measures about 4 1/2" from the bottom of the rolled brim (in other words, DON'T unroll the brim to measure!), then begin decreasing: 1st dec row: k6, k2tog, repeat around 2nd dec row: k5, k2tog, repeat around 3rd dec row: k4, k2tog, repeat around 4th dec row: k3, k2tog, repeat around 5th dec row: k2, k2tog, repeat around 6th dec row: k1, k2tog, repeat around 7th dec row: k2 tog, repeat around You should have 9 sts on 3 needles. Work around on these sts for 3 1/2". Bind off. Tie the long "stem" into a knot. Weave in loose ends. Find a baby to adorn! I used worsted weight wools, La Gran mohair, handspun angora (so soft for some lucky baby!) and a good quality chenille for my hats, all turned out great. If you do use a thicker yarn, you might need to make your "stem" longer, as it can be difficult to tie the knot if the yarn isn't as stretchy. Also, the mohair and the chenille made a larger hat.