I'm delighted to have several in-person shows on my schedule for the latter part of 2021. One of them is Fall Fling for Kathy's Kreations. I'll be teaching reversible cables and knitting faster. Since it is a weekend-long retreat, there is extra time. I'm developing a module on hat design.
I started out with
Casquecade (see brown hat, above). This is an easy ribbles hat. This was also my attempt to create a simple
but interesting pattern that might sell on Ravelry. Fail! I thought the most
popular patterns on Ravelry tended to be easy and quick? I thought they tended
to be more conservative in style? I thought this hat would be appealing,
especially since it is top-down. Wrong! I admit I do not understand what other
people want to knit.
The pattern was not a waste of time. The overall approach is a useful template.
- Cast on with a center-out reversible cast-on at top of hat.
- Increase using Y-increase or W-increase until hat fits head.
- Work a few rounds plain.
- Work a deep brim of ribbles.
- Bind off by grafting.
There are math considerations. For example, if your desired cable pattern is a
multiple of 7, it is easier to cast on a seven-section hat. That way, you know
your pattern will fit. If you cast on a six-section hat but your pattern needs
a multiple of 7, you'll need to be mindful of when you can stop increasing and
when you need to keep going until the stitch multiple fits the desired cable
design.
I prefer to do a grafted bind-off. This involves sewing. However, I think it is worth it for the clean detail. This is my usual technique of dividing knits and purls onto separate needles and treating the whole thing as if it were a sock toe. But, I thought it might be helpful to see what I do to join the graft in the round. A bunch of carefully placed pins makes it easier to create a nice finish.
And here's a detail. First, with all the pins except the red one removed.
And with the last pin removed, so you can see the nice edge.
It wasn't until I purchased a bag of 100 plastic safety pins that I realized how useful they are. Every knitter should have a big pile of them in assorted colors. And in a situation like this one, they allow you to think before you knit or sew, rather than thinking while knitting or sewing. This improves the likelihood of success.
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