This design was conceived soon after my friends, Jason and Felicia Gurley, became pregnant with their little Emma. Felicia is a devoted knitter and Jason is a professional graphic artist and the author of the graphic novel, Eleanor (which includes some knitting, accurately depicted, I might add).
Jason occasionally broadcasts his work monitor while coloring the inked pages, allowing people like me to watch slack-jawed as he swiftly and surely lays down color and texture to bring the black and white images to life. Best of all, viewers can text him to ask, "How did you do that?!" and he will reply when he can pause.
One night there was a shower curtain [see below] whose coming-to-life was so enthralling that I borrowed its design to make a little beanie for baby Emma. And so here you have my rendition of the shower curtain-turned beanie.
Note: The hat is very stretchy around and is meant to be worn with negative ease, so the finished measurements should be about 80% - 90% of the head circumference.
MATERIALS
Yarn
Madelinetosh Tosh Sport (100% superwash wool, 270yds per 100g skein); 1 skein of MC and approx 5gm each of 6 [5, 6, 6] other colors
Recommended needle size [always use a needle
size that gives you the gauge
listed below -- every knitter's
gauge is unique] US #4/3.5mm needles: straight or circular needles Spare needle of same size for bind off
Notions yarn needle stitch holder or length of scrap yarn (optional)
GAUGE
24 sts/42 rows = 4 inches in garter stitch
PATTERN NOTES [Knitty's list of standard abbreviations and techniques can be found here.]
Working with the colors
I recommend catching the MC strand (which runs behind the semi-circles) with the CC every other st as you work the semi-circles. This will result in a slightly textured surface for the semi-circle, and means that you do not have to cut the MC yarn as you would for intarsia.
The Samples
The original baby-sized beanie (worn by baby Emma Purl at right) has duplicate-stitched semi-circles. If you prefer this method, work the semi-circles in MC stockinette and duplicate-stitch them with the contrasting colors afterwards.
Wedges 1- 7 Row 1 [RS]: K to last 3 sts, w&t. Row 2 [WS]: K all MC sts, p all CC sts. Row 3 [RS]: K to last 5 sts, w&t. Row 4 [WS]: K all MC sts, p all CC sts. Row 5 [RS]: K to last 7 sts, w&t. Row 6 [WS]: K all MC sts, p all CC sts. Row 7 [RS]: K to last 9 sts, w&t. Row 8 [WS]: K all MC sts, p all CC sts. Row 9 [RS]: K to last 11 sts, w&t. Row 10 [WS]: K all MC sts, p all CC sts. Row 11 [RS]: K to last 13 sts, w&t. Row 12 [WS]: K all MC sts, p all CC sts. Row 13 [RS]: K to last 15 sts, w&t. Row 14 [WS]: K all MC sts, p all CC sts. Size Baby proceed to Final Rows. Row 15 [RS]: K to last 17 sts, w&t. Row 16 [WS]: K all MC sts, p all CC sts. Row 17 [RS]: K to last 19 sts, w&t. Row 18 [WS]: K all MC sts, p all CC sts. Size Toddler proceed to Final Rows. Row 19 [RS]: K to last 21 sts, w&t. Row 20 [WS]: K all MC sts, p all CC sts. Size Youth proceed to Final Rows. Row 21 [RS]: K to last 23 sts, w&t. Row 22 [WS]: K all MC sts, p all CC sts.
Final Rows Final row 1 [RS]: K. Final row 2 [WS]: P.
Wedge 8
Work as for Wedges 1-7, but do not work the two Final Rows.
Resizing
To make the hat taller, simply cast on additional sts (6 sts will add 1 inch). To make the hat larger around, work one additional short row in each wedge, which will add an additional 16 garter stitch rows, which will increase the circumference by about 1.5 inches.
Charts The charts for this pattern are very large. Each fits on a letter-sized
page.
Click below and print each resulting
page.
Using MC & 2 needles held parallel, JMCO 72[84, 92, 100] sts total - 36[42, 46, 50] sts on each needle.
Rotate needles like the hands of a clock, 180 degrees clockwise, being sure to keep RS (the smooth side) facing. Now the bottom needle is on top and the top needle is on bottom. You will be working back and forth on the top set of stitches only. The bottom set of stitches are to be held to the end, and will be used to close up the seam with a 3-needle bind-off. Slip these sts to a holder or scrap yarn.
Work from Charts for appropriate size - First Half first, Second Half second, using Grove[Baltic, Grove, Grove] as MC.
FINISHING Return 36 [42, 46, 50] held sts from cast-on to a needle. Hold right sides of work together, with needles parallel. Close seam with a 3-needle bind off, ending at the crown. Cut a long enough tail to allow for sewing the small opening closed, and weave in all ends.
ABOUT THE DESIGNER
Cat Bordhi lives on an island north of Seattle, and in cold weather seriously considers inviting the deer in her meadow inside to warm up by the fire. She frequently leaps out of bed in the middle of the night to chase new knitting possibilities, some of which become books.
Eleven years ago it was Socks on 2 circs, followed by Moebius knitting, then a stream of new sock architectures, culminating in her Sweet Tomato Heel Socks, and right now-- wait, the next big thing is still a secret! The wildlife peering through the windows have seen it, but they're not talking. When it's time, the secret will be spilled here, where you can also learn about her workshops.
