A Hat For Gary

Ethan's Scoutmaster, Gary, is a wonderful guy and just the kind of mentor every boy should have. As a small token of thanks for all that he does for my boy, I made him a hat.

This is not just any run-of-the-mill hat. Oh no, it is a very special one made from an Alpaca fleece from the Lonesome Stone Alpaca farm in Grandby, Colorado. My friend Laura and I visited the farm about two springs ago. The animals were lovely. We got to view the entire process from dirty, stick infested fleece to luscious yarn. It is a special bit of yarn. Gary needed an extra warm hat and so it seemed to be a perfect match. I so loved knitting it up. I'd stop from time to time to "pet" the wool and enjoy the way the hat felt. I was even tempted to keep it since I like how it feels so much, but was happy to give it to him once I saw it on his head. I can always get another skein of yarn from them, if I feel the need.

Part of what makes this hat special is that the ribbing is doubled over, making your ears toasty warm and the fit a bit closer. It is a cool design.

Here's the pattern as was dictated to me over the phone by Aunt Lynne some years ago:

Double Warm Hat

Needles & yarn:
Size 7 Circular Needles (16")
Size 9 or 10 Circular Needles (16")
Size 7 Double Pointed Needles
1 skein Alpaca or Wool Yarn - Worsted weight (about 200 yards,perhaps less)

Pattern:

Cast on 60 stitches onto the size 7 circular needles.
R1 - knit
R2 -join the ends, being careful to not develop a twist in the yarn and knit.Knit in the round.

Ribbing -
Do the following ribbing pattern until the ribbing section of your hat is as long as you would like it to be. I made mine 1.5 "
*K2,P2* (60)
(If you want to make a larger hat, be sure to increase the cast on in multiples of 4 so that you end up with an even amounts of knitted and purled sections.)
Next row - Purl
Now, switch back to the *k2, P2* (60) until you have the same number of rows of ribbing as the previous part. This means you will end up with an extra long ribbed section with a purled row in the middle of it.
To complete the ribbed section fold the ribbing up so that the purled row is now the bottom of the ribbing (the purled row helps ensure that the folding up of the ribbing is equal all the way around). Make use that the ribbing sections are matching up properly. Now we get to the picky part. You need to join the two parts of the ribbing together. You do this by slipping your left needle into the stitch from the cast on that corresponds with the correct part of the upper ribbing. Knit these together. This will kind of feel like a k2t in that you are knitting through two stitches. Continue to do this until the entire rib section is joined together.
Knit 1 more row.


Stockinette/hat section:

R1 - k with the size 7 needles. Place marker. (60)
R2 - Switch to the size 9 or 10 needles and *k10, inc1* (66)
Continue working the stockinette stitch until your hat is almost as long as you would like it. I generally have my hat measure 7.5" from the end of the ribbing to the point where I begin the decreasing.

Begin the decreasing:
R1 - *K11, place marker* (66)
R2 - *k2tog, K 10* (60)
R3 - Knit (60)
R4 - *k2tog, K 9*
R5 - Knit (54)
R6 - *k2tog, K 8* (48)
R7 - *k2tog, K 7*
R8 - *k2tog, K 6*
Switch to the size 7 needles (use the circular or the DPN, using the DPN when the circular becomes too large for your project)
R9 - *k2tog, K 5*
Continue in this manner until there are 6-8 stitches left on your needles. Cut off a long tail and weave it through all the remaining stitches. Pull tight to close top, slipping the tail through the hole at the very end. Weave the tail ends to finish.