My previous blog post was all about sewing colourful placemats to use for alfresco outside dining during the summer. This one is about hat knitting. It’s a small step going from summer to autumn. I have to say that autumn may be my favourite season of all. Of course, days get shorter, evenings get longer, the temperature goes down and the rain kicks in. But the colours of the season are simply beautiful. All the different yellows and oranges and reds: I love them! And candles are good compensation for the shorter days. And coffee.
Temperatures that go down indicate the start of the hat season. I, of course, do have a few hats ready to be used in a basket near the door. But, it’s a bit like with shawls: do you ever have enough of them? And, hats are a lovely small project to make.
Small Project Love
I like a small project every now and then because they are a quick make and they often only require a small amount of yarn. That means that these projects are great for odd skeins from your stash. Do you know that one leftover skein of yarn from a project or that beautiful skein that you bought at a festival but is not available anymore? Small projects are perfect for these.
Now, I have to admit that the yarn I used for the Simple Rib Hat was not one of these odd skeins. I bought it especially to make this hat. The yarn is dyed by Sylvia of Wol met Verve and she uses a special tie-dye technique for this one. The yarn has undyed bits all over which results in white speckles in your knitted piece. I had my eye on this kind of yarn for a while but I didn’t know what I wanted to make with it. Problem solved, it became a hat (and a free pattern). Hats are great one-skein projects.
The Simple Rib Hat
This hat had to be a simple one. No complicated stitch patterns, but just plain rib stitch knitting to let the yarn shine. I chose to use a DK weight yarn and that makes it a very quick knit. You could maybe even knit the Simple Rib Hat in just one evening (not me, I’m a slow knitter haha). That makes it perfect for gift knitting as well! (Hint: we are approaching that season again!) My little gift to you is the free pattern to make this hat.
The rib stitch fabric is very stretchy which means that the hat will fit a lot of heads. In the pattern, I also explained how to adjust the size of the hat. Just in case.
Balloon for blocking
Depending on the kind of yarn used to make your piece, the stitches will shine even more when you block your work. Blocking a shawl, of course, is not so complicated. It’s a flat piece and you can block it either on the floor or on your bed. You could also block a hat this way but using a 3D shape will give you a better result.
The easiest way to block a hat I think is to use a balloon and a small dish. Simply blow the balloon so that it is a bit smaller than your head, tie a knot and place it in the dish (knot down) so that it can stand on its own. You can now slightly dampen the crown or the top of the hat and place it over the balloon to let it dry. That’s it.
The free pattern for the Simple Rib Hat is available on my website. There is a pattern page on Ravelry too so that you can show off your projects there as well!
I really like my Simple Rib Hat and I hope that you will make one too (and enjoy it!)
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