Braid Pattern Hat

A simple Hat James E. Bailey 14 Oct 2008

Special stitch used: No-Slant Decrease: I’m sure someone else has thought of this and given it a far better name, however, since I haven’t come across it anywhere else, you get my explanation. sl 2 knitwise, then sl the first st on rt needle back onto lt needle. K2tog, psso. The end result is a k3tog, but the two outer stitches are under the central stitch, so the decrease has no slant. Size of my head was 25 inches. (My hair is kinda long right now.) Cast on 136 sts. Or whatever multiple of 8 fits your head. K1 P1 in ribbing for 1 inch. Work 2 rows stocking st Work pattern in chart, repeating enough times to fill row. (For my head, with 136 sts, it was 17 repeats.) • •

•

• • x • x x x • x • • • • • x • x x x • x • •

• • • • x • • • • x • x x x • • x x • x • • x • • • • • x • • • x x x • • • x • • • • • • x • • • x • x x x • • x x • x • • • x • • • • x • • • x x x • • • • x • • • • •

• x • • • • x • • • •

Work 12 inches stocking stitch depending on how long you want your hat. (I like mine to cover my ears, so I worked 2 inches.)

1

Decreases With RS row facing, place 8 stitch markers evenly spaced across the row. I use a little formula to figure out where I want to place the stitches. If x is the total number of stitches, and y is the number of decrease points I want to have, then, I place the first marker at x/2y stitches, and each subsequent marker every x/y stitches. For this hat, on my head, with 8 decreases (since the stitch pattern is 8 stitches large), that means I place a marker after the eighth stitch, and then every 17 stitches after that. There are 9 stitches between the final marker and the end of the row. K to 2 sts before marker, K2tog, sl marker, sl1, K1, psso* repeat across. Finish row. Continue this decrease every 5th row until 24 sts remain. K1, No-Slant Decrease 7 times, K2tog. Work 2 more rows stocking stitch. Finishing With live stitches still on needle (preferably a circular needle), stretch and block out hat with a wet towel and hot iron. Break off enough yarn to sew up, then draw the yarn through the remaining 8 stitches to form a circle and close the top and sew the side together.