Knitting for charity and a hat pattern

My local yarn store had an article in the newspaper last week asking for hats and other knitted or crocheted items for children in need. I already had four hats made up, waiting to be given away to the local food bank or whoever, so I called in at the Art of Yarn and gave them the hats and, of course, spent some time browsing around and enjoying eyeing the delicious yarns.

This week, I used up some bits and pieces to make four more hats, none from patterns, just made up as I went along...


The top two are made from Bernat Softee Chunky, the cream one is some acrylic I picked up at a thrift shop this week, and the red one at bottom right is made from TLC Wiggles in red and yellow. Here's what it looks like opened out...


Odd, eh! It's reversible and double thick when worn. You just push one colour inside the other to wear it. Below is my 9 year old son modelling it with a goofy face - it's a bit small for him though. The circumference is 19 inches and the depth is 6.5 inches.


Here's the pattern - I made it up so there are no copyright issues!

TLC Wiggles (acrylic) yarn, two colours, one ball of each
US #6 or 4mm circulars (16 inch length) and dpns
My gauge was 5 stitches/inch

Cast 90 stitches (using the long tail method) on to the circular needles, join and knit in the round until your work measures 5 inches. I use the position of the yarn tail hanging off the bottom of my work to keep track of complete rounds, but it might be a good idea to place a marker at the beginning of the round for the decreasing part. Change to double pointeds when there aren't enough stitches to fit comfortably on the circulars.

Decrease for crown -
*K8, K2tog; rep from * to end of round
K1 round
*K7, K2tog; rep from * to end of round
K1 round
*K6, K2tog; rep from * to end of round
K1 round
*K5, K2tog; rep from * to end of round
K1 round
*K4, K2tog; rep from * to end of round
K1 round
*K3, K2tog; rep from * to end of round
*K2, K2tog; rep from * to end of round
*K1, K2tog; rep from * to end of round
*K2tog; rep from * to end of round

Cut the yarn, leaving a 6 inch tail, thread it onto a blunt darning needle, run the needle through all the stitches clockwise, pull up, take the needle down through the centre and knot off on the inside.

Now using the second colour, go to your cast on edge and pick up 90 stitches all around. This is done by inserting the tip of the circular needle under the two strands of the cast on, wrapping the yarn around and proceeding as if to knit. Make sure you go into every stitch (with hindsight, it might be better to knit with the lighter coloured yarn first to make it easier to pick up for the second half of the hat).

Continue to knit all stitches until you have 5 inches in the second colour. Then decrease for the crown exactly as before and fasten off. Hide the yarn tail inside.

This is a great way to make a warm hat which is neatly finished, as the yarn tails and wrong side of your work are completely hidden!