Pinstriped hat pattern**
click any photo to enlarge
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| Both sides of the basic pinstriped hat, worked in a color wheel progression. The pinstripes are worked in Paternayan embroidery wool. |
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| Variations on the basic hat: two color pinstripes and a brim with horizontal decoration. The pinstripes and decoration are worked with sock yarn scraps. |
BASIC INSTRUCTIONS
(Variations, including the brimmed version, are at the end of the pattern)
(Variations, including the brimmed version, are at the end of the pattern)
Basic hat, worked in a color-wheel progression pattern...
Gauge and needles: In stockinette stitch, 5 st= 1 inch, Use whatever knitting needles you require to get this gauge. Use a crochet hook of similar diameter for applying the pin-stripes. Here is a link to an equivalence chart.
Finished size: just under 20" inches diameter, un-stretched.
Materials: A 3.5 ounce skein of worsted weight (the weight of yarn normally knit at 5 st/in). For the basic version, I used Galaway (Plymouth Yarns) 100% wool, color 8, white. For the brimmed version, Cascade 220, color 8505, white.
The pinstripes on the basic version worked using a long single strand of Paternayan embroidery wool, held double. Twelve colors are used to create the color wheel:
- yellow green 692,
- yellow 761,
- light orange 813,
- dark orange 820,
- red 941,
- red violet 352,
- violet 300,
- purple 331,
- blue violet 340,
- blue 551,
- blue-green 686,
- applied in the seam, between the blue green and the yellow green, the last color is plain green 706.
Cast on:
Leaving a 30" tail in reserve (later to be used for seaming) cast on 97 stitches using the long tail cast on.
Bottom edging:
Rows 1, 3, and 5 purl. Rows 2 and 4, knit.
Row 6 and 8: purl, row 7: knit.
Row 9: purl.
These rows complete the double reverse-stockinette edging at hat bottom.
Rows 1, 3, and 5 purl. Rows 2 and 4, knit.
Row 6 and 8: purl, row 7: knit.
Row 9: purl.
These rows complete the double reverse-stockinette edging at hat bottom.
Body of hat:
Row 1: knit 8 sts, place marker, p1, place marker *Knit 7 sts, place maker, p1, place marker. Repeat from * 10 times, 11 sets of markers placed. (There will be 12 total pinstripes, but since one is worked up the "valley"of the seam, only 11 pinstripes are worked as-you-go.) End row by knitting 8.
Row 1: knit 8 sts, place marker, p1, place marker *Knit 7 sts, place maker, p1, place marker. Repeat from * 10 times, 11 sets of markers placed. (There will be 12 total pinstripes, but since one is worked up the "valley"of the seam, only 11 pinstripes are worked as-you-go.) End row by knitting 8.
Row 2: purl all stitches, except knit the stitches between the markers.
Row 3: knit all stitches, except purl the stitches between the markers. Repeat rows 2 and 3 until a total of height of the hat is 6", end by working a purl row. This height will make a rather short hat, designed to be worn with the edging "straight" (not flipped up, no brim). Optional:
Before you decide for sure on the length of your hat, take a look at the end of the pattern for possible variations on the brim. If you do decide to knit the hat longer, this is the point that you would knit more rows.
Row 3: knit all stitches, except purl the stitches between the markers. Repeat rows 2 and 3 until a total of height of the hat is 6", end by working a purl row. This height will make a rather short hat, designed to be worn with the edging "straight" (not flipped up, no brim). Optional:
Before you decide for sure on the length of your hat, take a look at the end of the pattern for possible variations on the brim. If you do decide to knit the hat longer, this is the point that you would knit more rows.
Decrease for hat top:
Decrease row 1: (knit side decrease) knit to within 3 stitches of marker, k2 tog, k1, slip marker, p1, slip marker. Repeat across the entire row. After slipping last maker, work to within 4 stitches of end, k2tog, k2.
Decrease row 2: purl all sts, except knit the sts between the markers.
Decrease row 3: knit all sts, except purl the sts between the markers.
Decrease row 3: knit all sts, except purl the sts between the markers.
Decrease row 4: (purl side decrease) purl 2, p2 tog [see note], purl to marker, k st between markers, *purl 1, p2 tog, purl to marker, k st between markers repeat from * across row, after last p2tog, purl to end of row.
[note: there are LOTS of different kinds of p2tog's. The kind to use in this pattern is worked as follows: insert R needle under the forward (right) arm of the next two sts on the needle and purl these sts together from this position]
[note: there are LOTS of different kinds of p2tog's. The kind to use in this pattern is worked as follows: insert R needle under the forward (right) arm of the next two sts on the needle and purl these sts together from this position]
Decrease row 5: knit all sts, except purl sts between markers.
Decrease row 6: purl all sts, except k the sts between markers.
Decrease row 6: purl all sts, except k the sts between markers.
Repeat decrease rows 1-6 once, then rows 1-2 again. There will remain 37 sts on the needles, you will be on a k side row.
Next row: k1, *reposition next st on L needle so it lays left arm forward. K2tog tbl, slip marker, p1, slip marker, repeat from * to end of row, k. there remain 25 sts on needle.
Next row (as you work this row, remove the markers) P2, then *k1, p1* to end of row, ending with a p2.
last row: k1, *reposition next st on L needle so it lays left arm forward. K2tog tbl, repeat from * until 2 sts remain at the end of the row, k2, there remain 14 sts on needle. Place these sts on a holder.
Block: Block hat. Steam blocking works well. If making brimmed version (see variations, below) block the brim up at the fold line.
Next row: k1, *reposition next st on L needle so it lays left arm forward. K2tog tbl, slip marker, p1, slip marker, repeat from * to end of row, k. there remain 25 sts on needle.
Next row (as you work this row, remove the markers) P2, then *k1, p1* to end of row, ending with a p2.
last row: k1, *reposition next st on L needle so it lays left arm forward. K2tog tbl, repeat from * until 2 sts remain at the end of the row, k2, there remain 14 sts on needle. Place these sts on a holder.
Block: Block hat. Steam blocking works well. If making brimmed version (see variations, below) block the brim up at the fold line.
Pinstripe the 11 purl columns in a colorwheel pattern, using the embroidery wools listed above or your own alternatives. The pinstripes are worked with a doubled stand of yarn. Regarding length: each strand of pinstriping takes approximately four times the length of the purl column to which it will be applied. When working with a doubled strand, this means 8 times the length must be allowed. Add a coupld of inches to this measure so you can run the end into the pom-pom (more about working ends in below).
Starting a pinstripe with a doubled strand Working with a doubled strand eliminates a tail at the bottom of the hat Following the diagram below, hold the bottom loop of the doubled yarn at the very bottom of the pinstripe, and draw it through as the first loop. Consider this loop over your hook-barrel as the first loop of the pinstripe.
Starting a pinstripe with a doubled strand Working with a doubled strand eliminates a tail at the bottom of the hat Following the diagram below, hold the bottom loop of the doubled yarn at the very bottom of the pinstripe, and draw it through as the first loop. Consider this loop over your hook-barrel as the first loop of the pinstripe.
Next, insert the crochet hook into the next stitch higher in the column, then grab both strands of the embroidery wool, as shown below.
Finally, draw the two strands through the bottom loop, and off you go, pinstriping up the column. (The pin-striping method itself was described in the previous post of this series. Also, here is a link to a video about how to pinstripe.) By starting the pinstripe in this manner, no tail is left flopping around at the bottom of each pinstripe, requiring you to work it in later.
When you get to the top of each pinstripe, allow the ends of the colored yarns to dangle inside the hat at the top. Do not trim them short.
Finishing: Seam the hat shut using the reserved 30" tail from the cast on, via a slip stitch seam which leaves a "valley" in the back of the hat. (At link, scroll down slightly for instructions on using the slip stitch for seaming.) Below is a quick glimpse of what slip-stitching a seam looks like in person--
If you stretch a finished slip-stitched seam, you can see the cross-yarns where the slip stitches pass from one fabric to the other, as on photo below.
Insert the crochet-hook into the gap above each cross-bar to work your pinstripe and the seam will look for all the world as if it were a purl column. The photo below is of the seam after the pinstripe has been worked. Other than the tell-tale where the bottom of the seam meets the hat border (which I pulled on to make it more obvious for you) the seam-pinstripe blends right in with the others--see for yourself.
Let the excess of the tail remain on reserve, dangling inside the hat at the top. Using the reserved 15" long tail, graft the top of the hat shut via Kitchener stitch.
Below is what a Kitchener-stitched closed top looks like before the pom-pom is attached. (This is a variation hat, but the top is identical to the basic hat.)
Make a pom-pom in the same color as the hat. Pom-poms can be made large (as the brimmed hat in this post) or smaller (as the basic hat in this post). (Geek note: pom-poms getting ratty through wear can be made to look new again via a "hair cut." Larger pom-poms obviously yield more opportunities for this trick.) Attach the pom-pom on top via the two long main-color tails you reserved inside the hat, then trim these to length.
Decorate the pom-pom AND get rid of the contrast color ends as follows: With each set of color-ends, thread them onto a sharp needle and run each through the hat top and then into the pom-pom, then trim to match the pom-pom strand lengths. Repeat with all the other color-ends. Work in any other stray ends (such as from the grafting) in this same manner. The contrast color ends yield a very pretty effect, as you can see below.
Because the pinstripes all start with a loop, and all the loose ends are run into the pom-pom, there are no ends to work in anywhere on this project.
Create more or fewer pinstripes: add or remove purled columns, evenly spaced (or not!) It is fair game to alter the stitch count slightly, to accommodate. If you're alternating solid color pinstripes, like for a team-color hat, make sure two same-color stripes won't accidentally wind up next to one another. The hat top shaping assumes 11 evenly spaced purl columns, plus a "purl column equivalent" to be created via the seam, so if you have any other arrangement, consider stopping the pinstripes before the hat-top decreases, and eliminating the purl columns at that point, also.
Looser hat: The basic pattern makes a short, rather tightly-fitted hat. If you prefer a looser hat, either knit at a looser gauge or add more stitches. If adding stitches, distribute them evenly in the areas between the markers as well as before the first marker and after the last marker. This is because the hat is knit flat and stitch count as given is designed to allow two stitches to be consumed in the seam. These two stitches will become as "one purl column" once the slip-stitch seam is created, and the valley of the seam is where you work the last pinstripe. In this manner, the areas before first marker and after the last marker end up being identical to the areas between the markers. Remember, also, that you must work additional decreases at the hat top to get rid of any added stitches.
Brimmed variation:
Below are instructions for working a brimmed variation on the basic hat. This particular version of the hat also varies in the nature of the pinstripes: these are worked in two colors.
For a "real" brim, where the flipped-up brim has the "right side showing" just like body of the hat does, you cast on as for the bsic hat, then knit the brim to the height you want. The brimmed hat shown in this post has a 3" brim, measured from the curl-over of the bottom border to the fold line.
fold row 1: working on the purl side of the fabric, k1, p1, * k5, p1, slip maker, k1, slip marker, p1, repeat from * to within 2 sts of end of row, k1, p1
row 2: p1, k1, *p5, k1, slip marker p1, slip marker k1, repeat from * to within 2 sts of end of row, k1, P1.
row 3: p all sts except the k sts between the markers.
row 4: k all sts except the p sts between the markers
row 5: repeat row 3
row 6: repeat row 4
row 7 (Releases the internal tension of the fabric so the hat lays smooth behind the brim): k1, p1 across the row. (Reality check: the sts between the markers remain in knit.)
row 8 k1, p1 across the row. (Reality check: the sts between the markers switch to being knit sts.)
row 9: the fabric reverses at this point--k all sts except p the sts between the markers (The reason the fabric reverses so far past the fold line is so that the "back" of the fabric never will show around your face--have a look at the third photo below.)
row 10: p all sts, except k the sts between the markers.
Repeat rows 9 and ten until hat is the height you want, as measured from the first fold row. Return to the basic hat pattern for the shaping of the hat top. When you finish knitting, block the hat with the brim folded up, as shown below.
Also note that making the hat brimmed gives you a lot more places to hide ends at the bottom edge of the hat, so working the pinstripes with a doubled yarn isn't as important. The photo below shows lots of tails, but these will all be hidden either inside the hat or behind the brim, and will never show.
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| Slip stitching shut the hat seam |
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| The slip-stitched seam pulled open, showing the "cross bars" of the slip stitches |
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| The middle pinstripe is in the seam. I tugged the bottom border into a little point to make obvious the seam location. |
Below is what a Kitchener-stitched closed top looks like before the pom-pom is attached. (This is a variation hat, but the top is identical to the basic hat.)
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| Close up of Kitchener stitching (grafting) at top of hat, before pom-pom is attached |
Decorate the pom-pom AND get rid of the contrast color ends as follows: With each set of color-ends, thread them onto a sharp needle and run each through the hat top and then into the pom-pom, then trim to match the pom-pom strand lengths. Repeat with all the other color-ends. Work in any other stray ends (such as from the grafting) in this same manner. The contrast color ends yield a very pretty effect, as you can see below.
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| Top view of color-wheel hat: the ends of the pinstripes have been threaded onto a needle, then run through the hat top, into the pom-pom and trimmed to length. Therefore, there is no need to work the many pinstripe-ends into the fabric |
VARIATIONS
Pinstripe colors are easy to change: a muted single color worked on a plain hat yields a tailored look: even fashion-averse guys will wear gray with a gray stripe. Alternating colors of pinstripes look well, too, or even 2-colored pinstripes as on the brimmed hat variation shown in this post. Pinstripes easily add team colors to a hat: the red-and-white on the brimmed hat variation honors Bucky Badger, a very appropriate hat for a fall day in a stadium full of red and white.
Create more or fewer pinstripes: add or remove purled columns, evenly spaced (or not!) It is fair game to alter the stitch count slightly, to accommodate. If you're alternating solid color pinstripes, like for a team-color hat, make sure two same-color stripes won't accidentally wind up next to one another. The hat top shaping assumes 11 evenly spaced purl columns, plus a "purl column equivalent" to be created via the seam, so if you have any other arrangement, consider stopping the pinstripes before the hat-top decreases, and eliminating the purl columns at that point, also.
Looser hat: The basic pattern makes a short, rather tightly-fitted hat. If you prefer a looser hat, either knit at a looser gauge or add more stitches. If adding stitches, distribute them evenly in the areas between the markers as well as before the first marker and after the last marker. This is because the hat is knit flat and stitch count as given is designed to allow two stitches to be consumed in the seam. These two stitches will become as "one purl column" once the slip-stitch seam is created, and the valley of the seam is where you work the last pinstripe. In this manner, the areas before first marker and after the last marker end up being identical to the areas between the markers. Remember, also, that you must work additional decreases at the hat top to get rid of any added stitches.
Add a horizontal trim to the hat border. Whether you knit the basic version or the brimmed version, you can add a line of Fake Latvian Braid (FLB) between the two sections of the bottom border. This was done to the brimmed hat, here is a close up of that part of the brim.
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| The bottom border is in two sections, the FLB peeks out between them |
Longer hat: the pattern indicates where to add rows to make a longer hat. If making the hat longer, consider how you want the bottom edge to look. Specifically, do you want a straight edge, flipped edge or brim?
Straight edge or flipped edge: The hat is designed with a double-reverse stockinette border, as shown close-up, below left. The hat is designed on the short side, the idea being to wear it with the edging "straight" (unflipped). If you choose to make the basic hat, but work it a little longer, you could then wear this hat with the edging flipped up: the look would be as shown shown below, left. Flipping up the brim shows the reverse of the fabric--the back of the pinstripes show a sort of a stitched appearance. Click the photo for a closer look, as shown below, right.
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Left: Worn with a straight (unflipped) bottom edge, the hat features a double reverse-stockinette edging. Right: If worn with the edging flipped up, the reverse of pinstripes shows.
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Below are instructions for working a brimmed variation on the basic hat. This particular version of the hat also varies in the nature of the pinstripes: these are worked in two colors.
For a "real" brim, where the flipped-up brim has the "right side showing" just like body of the hat does, you cast on as for the bsic hat, then knit the brim to the height you want. The brimmed hat shown in this post has a 3" brim, measured from the curl-over of the bottom border to the fold line.
Once the brim is the height you desire, end on a knit row, then turn work.
row 2: p1, k1, *p5, k1, slip marker p1, slip marker k1, repeat from * to within 2 sts of end of row, k1, P1.
row 3: p all sts except the k sts between the markers.
row 4: k all sts except the p sts between the markers
row 5: repeat row 3
row 6: repeat row 4
row 7 (Releases the internal tension of the fabric so the hat lays smooth behind the brim): k1, p1 across the row. (Reality check: the sts between the markers remain in knit.)
row 8 k1, p1 across the row. (Reality check: the sts between the markers switch to being knit sts.)
row 9: the fabric reverses at this point--k all sts except p the sts between the markers (The reason the fabric reverses so far past the fold line is so that the "back" of the fabric never will show around your face--have a look at the third photo below.)
row 10: p all sts, except k the sts between the markers.
Repeat rows 9 and ten until hat is the height you want, as measured from the first fold row. Return to the basic hat pattern for the shaping of the hat top. When you finish knitting, block the hat with the brim folded up, as shown below.
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| The brimmed variation blocked with the brim up |
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| This brimmed version of the hat has lots of ends (especially since it was worked in a two-color pinstripe) but the brim provides a place to hide them. As with the basic version, the reserved ends at the top will be worked into the pom pom. |
As per the small print on row nine of the brimmed version, the FOLD line and the line along which the "front" of the fabric switches to the "back" are not the same line. If they were, you would not get the smooth turn-up at the brim which you can see in the below closeup.
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| The spot where fabric of the brim switches direction (front becomes back), is hidden away under the turn-up of the brim. However, the reversal takes place several rows past the fold line, to assure that the fabric "back" doesn't flash at the fold line |
"Tube-ulate" the bottom edging of the hat: If you intend to pinstripe the hat with a single strand of yarn and NO brim, it would be easiest to knit the hat bottom as some form of tube (provisional cast on followed by an I-cord bind off, or skip the provisional cast-on and simply start with a tubular cast on). Each of these alternatives provides a tube as a hiding-place for the tail of each pinstripe.
Work the hat in the round: I wrote the pattern to be knitted flat to in order to show off how perfectly a pinstripe conceals a slipped-stitch seam. If you don't care about proving this point to yourself, then alter the pattern and knit in the round. One downside: while pinstriping the narrow top of a hat CAN be done, it is easier to pinstripe a flat fabric, because this give you more space to maneuver the crochet hook for pinstriping.
If Kitchener stitching is not your fave, make the hat somewhat longer and then simply run a yarn through the remaining stitches at the hat top (called a "purse-string" ending). The pom-pom will cover the hat top anyway and knitting the hat slightly longer takes care of how the purse-string "draws up" the fabric.
--TK
PS: About the different font sizes: Try as I might, I can't get the type sizes to even out, in the main text body so...sorry about all the distracting variation.
** I've test-knit this pattern several times--the two you see here plus several earlier variations. Buuuut--if I made an error in the pattern, well...I know what I MEANT to say, and might have glossed over it. So, if you knit this and find an error in the pattern, I'd appreciate you letting me know right away. In thanks, I will send you, as a gift, a link to any published TECHknitting pattern on Ravelry.
PS: About the different font sizes: Try as I might, I can't get the type sizes to even out, in the main text body so...sorry about all the distracting variation.
** I've test-knit this pattern several times--the two you see here plus several earlier variations. Buuuut--if I made an error in the pattern, well...I know what I MEANT to say, and might have glossed over it. So, if you knit this and find an error in the pattern, I'd appreciate you letting me know right away. In thanks, I will send you, as a gift, a link to any published TECHknitting pattern on Ravelry.