Designed by Pat Novak
A hat for any season with 2.5” wide brim. Optional flower or a button may be added for accent. Top of hat is worked in single knit on one loom for shaped top.
Loom: ‘Rotating’ Double Knit Loom, with 52 pegs
Yarn: Lion Brand New Basic, 75% Acrylic/25% Wool, Machine wash, lay flat to dry.
175 yds per skein. (1) skein Grass, (¼) skein Olive, accent yarn for flower (any yarn), New yarn of stronger cord of similar color (36”).
Notions: Loom, knit hook, crochet hook, (6-8) plastic/metal pins for sewing, darning needle
Stitches: Open chunky Rib, Stockinette in double knit, and ewrap in single knit
Size: Fits adult with 22”-23” head circumference (above ears)
Hat is knit in 2 pieces: main hat, and added brim which is sewn on.
Abbreviations used: aprox=approximately, rnd(s)=round(s)
INSTRUCTIONS
Cast on in double knit with Olive yarn using stockinette cast on. Lay anchor yarn of thick strong yarn.
Change to Open Rib set up. (outer loom, move every other loop (L to R) to adjacent peg so that there is an empty peg between the pegs with yarn. Continue to wrap only the pegs with loops on next circular. Lift 2 over 2 on each hook over. On inner loom, you will have 2 loops on each peg; lift 1 over 1 on the hook over.
Rnds 1-4: Work in Open Rib Stitch. (chunky rib)
Move one loop from pegs with 2 loops back to empty pegs (R to L) on outer loom. You will now have one loop on every peg on both looms. Cut yarn with 3” tail and tie on Grass yarn for remainder of hat.
Rnds 5-19: Work in Stockinette stitch. The hat should be aprox 4.5”-5″ including the hat band.
Top of Hat
Change to single knit for top of hat.
Move all inner loops to corresponding pegs on outer loom. You will have 2 loops on all pegs on outer loom and the inner loom will be empty. Remove the inner loom and legs.
Work hook over, one over one, so that there is only one loop on each peg on outer loom.
Decrease 1: Think of pegs in groups of 4. Decrease peg one onto peg two, by moving first loop onto peg two. Count 3 more pegs for that group. Move next peg over for decrease and skip 3 pegs. Decrease next peg. Skip 3. Once you have worked around loom with this decrease, you will have one peg empty, one peg with 2 loops, and 2 pegs with one loop, for each group of 4 pegs.
Group of 4 pegs: one empty, one with 2 loops, 2 pegs with one loop. Wrap again for one empty, one with 3 wraps, 2 with 2 wraps. Continue with all pegs. Ready to hook over. Lift 2 over 1 and 1 over 1. Leave all empty pegs empty.
Rnds 20-25: Work these 5 rounds in ewrap and skip the empty pegs. Work the peg with 2 loops by lifting both loops over new loop. This will be 1.5”.
Decrease 2: Move the 2nd loop in each group to next (last peg in group of 4) so that you have one loop on every other peg.
Rnds 26-32: Work these 7 rnds in ewrap, skipping the empty pegs.
To close top of hat, cut working yarn with aprox 15” and place the yarn tail onto darning needle. Pick up all loops and place them on the working yarn. You can go around the pegs a 2nd time so that the gather is very strong. Remove the hat from the loom and carefully pull yarn to gather the remaining stitches. Work the gathering process so that the top of hat is completely closed in. Take the yarn to inside of hat and work some securing stitches. Weave in ends of yarn and trim ends.
Bind off at anchor yarn with crochet hook, using 2 loop method. Set hat aside until the brim is ready to attach.
Brim
Add the inner loom into base of loom. Brim will be worked in double knit in one long piece. Remember that the outer edge of the brim will be longer than the edge that is attached to hat, so you want to knit it long enough for the outer edge. We knit aprox 36” for the brim piece. This will be aprox 180 rows of knit, or 35″-36″. Then the inner edge will be gathered to fit circumference of hat.
Cast on 9 stitches in stockinette stitch. Use more if a wider brim is desired. Add anchor yarn.
Work in stockinette until brim is desired length. It needs to be aprox 10” longer than the base of hat where it will be attached. Once complete, bind off at both short edges.
Gather one edge of brim so that it is desired length to fit around base of hat. You will want to gather the long edge of the brim piece with a New yarn. It needs to be strong and twisted yarn of similar color to hat yarn. Have New yarn about 25” long. You may choose to leave it in the hat or remove it, just depends on colors. Our sample was sewn with a black cord but does not show, so we left it in the hat.
Put yarn onto the darning needle and pick up each stitch on one long side of brim. Gently pull it in as you go so you can control the ending length. Once you have it all on the New yarn, measure it to the hat for fit. If it fits the hat, tie the 2 ends of New yarn together and work the gather so that it is even all around and fits the size of hat band.
Sew the 2 short end of the brim together with hat yarn.
Fit the brim to edge of hat and secure in place with plastic or metal pins. Be sure the joined short edges are placed at back of hat.
Once you have the edges together evenly, you can turn the edges to inside and sew together with matching yarn color and darning needle. You can use part of the New yarn (stronger cord). Try to grab only the edge stitches of both pieces for an invisible seam. Knot the yarn when complete and weave in all yarn ends.
Working from inside of hat, sew brim to edge of hat grabbing only the edge stitches. Once secure, remove pins and sew the short edges of brim together at back of hat. Be sure to sew the brim to hat by stretching the 2 pieces together so the seam is smooth and not too tight. Trim all yarn tails and weave into knit.
Flower or Adornment
This adornment can be a knit or crocheted flower. Knit a square 6 stitches X 8 rows wide, gather both edges with yarn tails to form a circular piece. Then create a center with accent yarn of 5-6 loops. Sew onto the brim.
PIN IT!
