The Lady Lorraine Hat

This is a very easy, basic hat. You might call it the hat world's version of the little black dress, since it can be dressed up or down by adding an embellishment or two. The cool thing is by using brooches or ribbons or silk flowers on pins that the look can be changed daily to suit the occasion. I keep remembering that scene in the movie Auntie Mame where they are invited out for an impromptu Christmas Eve dinner and to dress up her plain hat Rosalind Russell snatches a sprig of something colorful from the christmas tree and sticks it in to her hat, making it instantly festive. The same thing can be done with this hat. After Christmas, take the pointsettia off and change to a brooch. The look of the hat can also be changed by how the brim is folded up. The brim can be folded only slightly at back and but widely over the eyes, or over an ear. Or evenly all the way around. This pattern is so easy that even a beginning knitter can make it.

I am continuing my hat series named after the gals in my knitting group. We call ourselves the Loopy Ladies, which explains why each pattern is named "Lady". Since I love vintage things most of these hats will have a vintage flavor to them. If you have any questions or the instructions are unclear please feel free to leave a comment. Enjoy!

The Lady Lorraine Hat

Materials:

Approximately 160 yards of light worsted weight yarn (I used KnitPicks Andean Treasure)

size 6 13" circular needles and/or size 6 double points

yarn needle

8 stitch markers, one unique (optional)

Gauge: 19 stitches over 4 inches or 4.75 stitches per inch

Will fit up to a 22.5 inch head. To make smaller or larger change needle size.

Instructions:

With circular needle cast on 104 stitches, place marker to indicate beginning of row, and join.

Row 1-7: Knit

Row 8: Purl

Row 9: Knit

Row 10: Purl

Row 11-35: Knit (about 3.75 inches)

Row 36: Purl

Row 37: Knit

Row 38: Purl

Row 39: Knit 13, place marker. Repeat.

Row 40: Knit 11, knit 2 together, slip marker. Repeat.

Row 41 and all odd numbered rows until Row 63: Knit

Row 42: Knit 10, knit 2 together, slip marker. Repeat

Change to doublepoints when necessary.

Row 44: Knit 9, knit 2 together, slip marker. Repeat.

Row 46: Knit 8, knit 2 together, slip marker. Repeat.

Row 48: Knit 7, knit 2 together, slip marker. Repeat.

Row 50: Knit 6, knit 2 together, slip marker. Repeat.

Row 52: Knit 5, knit 2 together, slip marker. Repeat.

Row 54: Knit 4, knit 2 together, slip marker. Repeat.

Row 56: Knit 3, knit 2 together, slip marker. Repeat.

Row 58: Knit 2, knit 2 together, slip marker. Repeat.

Row 60: Knit 1, knit 2 together, slip marker. Repeat.

Row 62: Knit 2 together, slip marker. Repeat.

Row 63: Knit 2 together, discard marker. Repeat.

Row 64: Knit 2 together. Repeat.

Snip yarn so there is a 6 inch tail. Thread tail on yarn needle, draw through remaining 4 stitches. Take the tail to inside of hat and fasten off. Fasten off any other ends.

Turn up edge of hat as desired and add embellishments like silk flowers, ribbons, brooches, etc.

Bitten By the Hat Designing Bug

Boy, I love hats. 50 years ago a woman didn't leave the house without a hat. My grandmother always wore a hat, the larger and fussier the better. I'm not so much in favor of large fussy hats (being only 5'1", a large hat would look a bit silly.) But today hats have pretty much gone by the wayside. Those of us in the frozen north wear winter hats outdoors to keep warm. But they are not very elegant. Many are attractive, some are cute, but not a lot of them are stylishly elegant.

Now, I'm not a trained designer, but how much goes into a hat anyway? It's basically a short tube, with one end open and the other closed. I can do that. And I will do that. My first adult hat, the Lady Jodie hat, is being well received on Ravelry, so I think I'm going to try a few more. I plan to name all my hats after ladies in my local knitting group. I don't think I'll be designing enough hats for everyone to have a design named after them so I'll draw names.

I'm pretty excited about this new project. Too bad it came up when I could be knitting Christmas gifts. :)

Lady Jodie Vintage Hat

The hat theme for the November 2009 Hat! Hats! Hats! group on Ravelry.com was vintage hats. I couldn't decide what I wanted to do. Cloche? Turban? So I came up with this hat, a combination of both styles. I particularly like the accent at the face edge. It looks sort of art deco-ish to me. The hat is knit flat, seamed and the stitches for the top are picked up and knit in the round. Then the i-cord accent is added. It is pretty quick and easy to make, thanks to the bulky weight yarn. I named this hat after my friend Jodie from my knitting group, the Loopy Ladies.

I'm not sure how adept I am at writing patterns, so bear with these directions and let me know if something is wrong or confusing.

Lady Jodie Hat

Materials:
100-110 yards bulky yarn (I used a little less than 1 skein Misti Alpaca Chunky)
size 10 needles, straight and double point
yarn needle
decorative button or brooch

Gauge: 4 stitches per inch.

Side Crown:
Cast on 23 stitches (for a taller forehead, cast on 26 stitches)
Row 1: *Knit 2, purl 1*, knit 2.
Row 2: *Purl 2, knit 1*, purl 2.
Repeat rows 1 & 2 until piece measures 21 inches. (Or longer/shorter, depending on how large the wearer's head is. It should be a half inch or so smaller than the wearer's actual head measurement).
Cast off.
Seam the sides together using mattress stitch (instructions here) or whatever stitch you prefer.

Top Crown:

Using double point needles, pick up 16 stitches on each of 4 needles along the top edge for a total of 64 stitches. If the side crown was knit longer than 22 inches, pick up 17 stitches per needle, knit rows 1 & 2, and decrease one extra time like this: knit 7, knit 2 together. Then continue with Row 3
Row 1: Knit every stitch
Row 2 and every even row until row 16: Knit every stitch
Row 3: Knit 6, knit 2 together. Repeat. 56 stitches left
Row 5: Knit 5, knit 2 together. Repeat. 48 stitches left
Row 7: Knit 4, knit 2 together. Repeat. 40 stitches left
Row 9: Knit 3, knit 2 together. Repeat. 32 stitches left
Row 11: Knit 2, knit 2 together. Repeat. 24 stitches left
Row 13: Knit 1, knit 2 together. Repeat. 16 stitches left
Row 15: Knit 2 together. 8 stitches left
Row 16: Knit 2 together. 4 stitches left.
Cut yarn, draw tail through the stitches using a yarn needle. Fasten off on inside of hat.

I Cord and Embellishment:

At top of seam in side crown pick up 8 stitches vertically.
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: Knit
Row 4: Purl 2 together, knit 4, purl 2 together.
Row 5: Knit
Row 6: Purl 2 together, knit 2, purl 2 together
Row 7: Knit
Begin I-cord. make I-cord for 11 inches.
Embelishment Part 1: (this is worked in stockinette until last couple rows)
Row 1: purl
Row 2: Knit front and back, knit 2, knit front and back. 6 stitches
Row 3: purl
Row 4: Knit front and back, knit 4, knit front and back. 8 stitches
Row 5: purl
Row 6: Knit front and back, knit 1, knit front and back, knit 2, knit front and back, knit 1, knit front and back. 12 stitches
Row 7: knit
Row 8: knit
Cast off.
Embellishment Part 2: (this is worked in stockinette until last couple rows)
On the back of Row 3 from the first embellishment pick up 6 stitches.
Row 1: Purl
Row 2: Knit front and back, knit 4 knit front and back. 8 stitches
Row 3: Purl
Row 4: Knit front and back, knit front and back, knit 4, knit front and back, knit front and back. 10 stitches
Row 5: Purl
Row 6: Knit front and back, knit front and back, knit 1, knit front and back, knit 3, knit front and back, knit 1, knit front and back. 15 stitches
Row 7: Purl
Row 8: Knit front and back, knit 5, knit front and back, knit 1, knit front and back, knit 5, knit front and back. 19 stitches.
Row 9: Purl
Row 10: Knit front and back, knit 7, knit front and back, knit 1, knit front and back, knit 7, knit front and back. 22 stitches.
Row 11: Knit
Row 12: Knit
Cast off.

Finishing the Hat:

Weave in ends.

Lay the I-Cord so it slants diagonally accross the hat from the top front to the opposite bottom of hat. Tack the embellishment down so it hangs a little over the bottom edge of the hat. Also tack down the I-Cord in a few places. Add a button or brooch.