Skater Baby!

I knit this super simple hat for Chewy, my youngest.  It's sooooo cute on him!!!  Below is the pattern.  For the brim, I actually dismantled a cheapie store bought hat and stole the brim from that one, but I've seen online that you can cut one from plastic canvas.  I do not have a template for that right now, but will make one up and post soon.

Skater Baby! ~ Brim Hat

© Emily V (aka Coffeebra!)

Size: Childrens – 6-12 months (You can adjust the size by

adding or decreasing the cast on stitches by multiples of 8)

Yarn – Aran/Worsted weight “4”, I used Mission Falls 1824

Wool.

Needle – US size 7, 16” circular needles, Cable needle and US

size 7 DPNs

Also will need a stiff brim of sorts. You can make one out of

plastic canvas or thick cardboard. I used the brim from a cheapie hat I bought.  (if you are making your own brim, the measurements I used were 6inches across, 1.25 inches wide and a slight curve.  You can take a 2 inch thick piece of material (whichever you have chosen) and make sure when you draw a pattern that there is a slight curve but that the brim material doesn't exceed being 1.25 inches wide at the thickest part.   Also, if you wrap the plastic canvas in duct-tape, it provides a much easier glide and more stability.

 

Gauge – 20 stitches, 28 rows 4x4 inches

 

Cast on 72 stitches. Place marker and join in a round, being careful not to twist. Work in k2p2 ribbing for 16 rounds, or until piece measures 2 inches.

 
Fold brim to inside and prepare to join to current round to form casing. Insert left-hand needle into first st from the cast-on round, then k2tog with first st of current round. *Insert left-hand needle into next st from cast-on round, then k2tog with next st of current round; rep from * to approx halfway across round. At this point, insert your plastic brim so that half of it is inside your casing and half is out. Continue to form casing, pulling the knit brim up on top of the plastic brim and encasing the plastic brim as you work. The casing should fit snugly around the plastic brim.    

Once you have joined the entire brim around, knit all stitches for approx 5 inches. You can join a new color to make stripes. In the hat pictured I did 8 rounds of the main color (MC) and then 3 rounds of the contrasting color (CC), then 3 rounds of MC and 2 rounds of CC and finished the hat in MC.  (note: where the plastic brim is the widest, the stitches will be tight to maneuver for a couple of rounds.  Just try to knit a little looser in that area to help ease things fro the next roound.)

 

Begin decreasing the hat with the following pattern… 

Decreases (changed 1/17/08 for better shaping):

Row 1: K6, k2tog (63 stitches)

Row 2: K5, k2tog (54 stitches)

Row 3: K4, K2tog (45)

Row 4: Knit

Row 5: Knit

Row 6: K3, K2tog (36)

Row 7: Knit

Row 8: Knit

Row 9: K2, K2tog (27)

Row 10: Knit

Row 11: K1, K2tog (18)

Row 12: Knit

Row 13: K2tog (9)

 

Break yarn leaving a 6 in tail, thread through remaining stitches and draw up tightly. Fasten and weave in

ends.

Free for personal use, please do not make these to sell.  If you do I might have to hunt you down and hit you with one of my muppet fur thongs.  It's a free pattern, so no need to get all piratey.  ;)