A New Old Hat

A few years ago my cousin sent me a photo of a knitted hat she had bought on eBay. The lady she had bought it from was no longer selling them and my cousin really wanted another one, so she asked me would it be possible to reproduce the hat or something similar from the photo. 

This is what I made:

 Not exactly the same as the original but a similar shape and pattern. But it turns out my cousins and I have completely different shaped heads so the hat was much too big. "Not to worry I'll make a smaller version!" And then life got in the way and I got distracted so finally this weekend I sat down and got started. I dug out the rough notes I'd written which weren't very clear and did a bit of maths to make a smaller size. 

I cast on 66 stitches using 4.0mm needles and chunky wool (I think this is King Cole Value Chunky but I've lost the ball band..). 4 rounds of garter stitch. The next round I changed to 6.0mm needles and at the end of the round I knitted the last 2 stitches together (65stitches). The following rounds were as follows:

Round 1. (Yfwd, slip1 k1 psso, k7, k2 together, yfwd, k2) x 5

Round 2. Knit

Round 3. (K2, yfwd, slip 1 k1 psso, k5, k2 together, yfwd, k2) x5

Round 4. Knit

Round 5. (K3, yfwd, slip 1 k1 psso, k3, k2 together, yfwd, k3) x5

Round 6. Knit

Round 7. (K4, yfwd, slip1 k1 psso, k1, k2 together, yfwd, k4) x5

Round 8. Knit

Round 9. ( K5, yfwd, slip 1 k2 psso, yfwd, k5) x 5

Round 10. Knit

Knit 2 rounds

Repeat lace pattern rounds 1- 10

Knit 1 round

Decrease rounds:

Round 1. (Knit 9 knit2 together) x 5, knit 10

Round 2. Knit

Round 3. (Knit 4 knit 2 together) x 10

Round 4. Knit

Round 5. (Knit 3, knit 2 together) x10

Round 6. Knit

Round 7. (Knit 2, knit 2 together) x10

Round 8. Knit

Round 9. (Knit 1, knit 2 together) x10

Round 10. (Knit 2 together) x10

Cut yarn leaving a long tail. Using a yarn needle thread the yarn through. The remaining 10 stitched and pull tight. (I like to thread the yarn through a few times to make sure it's good and tight. Secure the yarn and weave in any loose ends. Job done!! 🙌

Note: this is designed for a very small head. If you wanted to go a size larger I would recommend adding an extra lace panel and starting off with 78 stitches andleaving out the decrease at the end of the first knit round using 6.0mm needles. To make the hat longer just add extra knit rounds after the lace rounds.

For a finishing touch I'm adding a flower. The pattern I'm using is the "Large Crochet Flower" pattern from Daisy Cottage Designs

it gives a lovely 3-D layered flower which I think finishes the hat off perfectly 😀.