Giacomo's Baby Hat: The Pattern

Gauge

6 stitches = 1 inch with US size 5 needle in stockinette stitch

Finished Size 

14.5-inch circumference (to fit a baby approximately 6 - 18 months old)

 

Starting 

With US size 4 needle and the main color, cast on 88 stitches.

Place a marker and join for working in the round, being careful to not twist the stitches.

Round 1: *K1, P1, repeat from * to end of round. 

Repeat last round until piece measures 3/4 of an inch from the cast on edge. 

Switch to US size 5 needle. 

Knit 3 rounds.

Knitting the Fair Isle Section 

For the next 19 rounds follow this chart:

Some tips:

Read each line from right to left, starting at the bottom right corner. Repeat the line until the end of the round (4 times), and then move up the chart to the next round. 

Be sure to keep the strands across the back of the work loose. I find the best way to do this is to shove the stitches on the right needle far over to the right so that the new color has to stretch to reach the left needle. This creates perfect slack, preventing buckling and tightness.

One other thing to keep in mind is that when there are 7 or 8 stitches of 1 color, tack the other color's strand after 3 or 4 stitches. Also, I cut the MC, but carried the other colors up the inside.

Here's what the fair isle section looks like when it's finished:

 

KNITTING THE CROWN

With the MC, knit 3 rounds. 

Next round: *K6, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round.

Knit 1 round.

Next round: *K5, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round.

Knit 1 round.

Next round: *K4, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round.

Knit 1 round.

Next round: *K3, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round.

Changing to double pointed needles, knit 1 round.

Next round: *K2, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round.

knit 1 round.

Next round: *K1, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round.

Next round: *K2tog, repeat from * to end of round. (12 stitches left)

Cut the yarn. Sew the tail through the remaining stitches, pull tight to close the top of the hat, and bring the tail to the inside of the hat.

 

Weave in the ends and block the hat.

Finishing 

For really satisfying pom poms, I like to use a Pom Pom Maker. In this case, I chose the second largest size and the white yarn. Please check out my Pom Pom Tutorial if you need help figuring out how your pom pom maker works.

After tying off the pom pom, cut the tail and bring it through the center of the top of the hat. Turn the hat inside out and tightly tie the pom pom tail and the hat tail in a square knot. Weave in the ends.

 

Comments

[karen]

thank you so much for the best instructions I have seen yet for carrying colors and reading a chart. I have always been intimidated by fair isle but I plan on making this for my grandson.

[sappmama]

Oh my goodness! You guys are starting off 2008 with a bang. This hat is utterly adorable and I must, I simply must, make it.

[Sarah]

Thank you so much for this adorable pattern. I have been wanting to try my hand at Fair Isle. May I ask though, what do you mean when you say:

"when there are 7 or 8 stitches of 1 color, tack the other color's strand after 3 or 4 stitches."

What does tack mean?

Thank you!

[Melanie]

Absolutely adorable and looks pretty fast! When do you change to the size 5 circular? I'm thinking after the ribbing?
Thanks,

[purl bee]

Sarah,
Tacking the yarn down prevents too long a "float" or strand in the back of the work. By "tack" I mean to hold the yarn not-in-use between the yarn you're knitting with and the needle. When you knit the next stitch the old yarn will be caught up in the back strand. Perhaps you have done a similar technique carrying yarn up the inside of striped knitting? I hope this helps - I'm sorry I didn't explain it before! -Whitney

[purl bee]

Melanie, Thank you for pointing out the omission! Yes, you do change to the size 5 needle after the ribbing. I'll be sure to amend the pattern. - Whitney

[Sandy]

This project is so cute- I'll have to give fair isle a try!

[Kate]

I would love to make this hat for a 2-2 1/2 year old. Do you have any tips for adjusting the size without destroying the pattern?

[ebru]

just in time!!
i was looking for new hats for my 3.5 years twin boys and now decided to knit myself, can you advise how shall I adjust the size for the pattern? maybe your answer for sandy would work for me too:-) thanks for this great idea,
ebru, from turkey.

[Jennifer]

Hi Whitney!
I just started this hat and have a question. How did you follow the chart and switch rows once you came back to the beginning of each round? Does the question make sense? I'm not sure how else to put it. For instance, did you do a "jogless jog" like I would do with stripes to try to blend the rows? Thanks!

[Purl Bee]

Hi Sandy and Ebru,

Because the Fair Isle pattern is a 22 stitch repeat, I would suggest changing the gauge of the pattern rather than adding a whole 22 stitches. To figure out the new gauge divide 88 by the size hat you want (88/16 = 5.5) and the resulting number is the number of stitches/inch that you need to get.So, for a 16 inch hat, use a yarn that knits at 5.5 stitches per inch (Koigu's Kersti would be a great option). Good luck! - Whitney

[Heather]

Thanks for this pattern. I learned so much from it! I made one that has light gray in place of tan, bright green in place of red, and medium blue in lace of white, kept the orange the same. This was hard, but fun! Thanks for challenging my knitting skills :)

[moonless]

Thank you so much for this pattern. I will do it for my baby And I write it on my blog in Turkish.
www.kelebeklebizbize.blogspot.com

[Tom]

I realize this is an older post, but I just stumbled upon it. What wonderful instructions and a super product. Easy-to-follow instructions...and like the additional Pom Pom tutorial. Well done.

[Leonie]

I started knitting immediately when my eye fell on the pattern. I followed the instructions carefully and checked my gauge, still it's way too small for my 10-months-old. Where can I have gone wrong and did anyone else come across this problem?

Thanks!

[Leonie]

By the way, I did take into account that my circular stockinette gauge might be completely different from knitting stockinette straight, not alternating with purl rows, but on the hat I still get 6 stitches to an inch, the brim is 16,5 inches exactly and my son, in spite of his obvious genius, does not have an abnormally large head, in case you were wondering.
I don't get it. The main problem seems to be that the hat is too 'short'. For the people who made this: how many rows do you get to an inch?

[Purl Bee]

Hi Leonie,

I'm sorry, I can't remember how many rounds per inch I got when I made this hat, and Giacomo's not answering his phone!

I think there is a very easy solution to your problem: knit more rounds. There are two places to add rounds. One is right after the ribbing (and before the fair isle) and the other is right after the fair isle (and before the crown decreasing). Knit as many rounds as you think would make the hat long enough for your 10 month old!

Thank you for your questions - I hope you end up with a perfect hat!

Whitney

[Leonie]

Thank you, whitney, for answering. Did I mention that I absolutely adore the pattern? Anyway, no harm is done, I love knitting it so much that I'm happy to keep going until I get it right - and my four-year-old now has an extremely pretty hat for one of her dolls...

[mk]

Awesome!