Just a plain old hat

After I finished knitting up the Skull Isle Hat and Hutchin, my oldest boy requested a hat, too. He was very specific in what he wanted, a black hat with a double layered brim to keep his ears warm. I asked him if he wanted stripes, or colors, or cables...but no, just a plain old black hat.

Despite its plainness, the hat was pretty fun and easy to knit up -- the perfect project for multiple episodes of Broadchurch. I think it could easily made into a stripey hat.

In the language of the great Elizabeth Zimmermann, here are my pithy directions for this hat.

A Plain Old Hat:

SIZE
This particular hat was knit for a 10-year-old boy, who has the same head circumference as my own, a pretty standard 22 inches. If you want to size up or down, change the needle size accordingly.

YARN
I used a nice standard worsted weight wool, Cascade 220 (220 yd/3.5 oz)

NEEDLES
Size 6 (4 mm) circlular needles with a long cable

KNITTING IT UP

Brim - Using a provisional cast-on technique of your choice, cast on 96 stitches onto a circular needle. Begin a 2 x 2 rib in the round using a magic loop technique. (A 2 x 2 rib is just as it sounds, k2 p2, all the way around.) Continue rib for 15 rounds or about 2 inches. Purl next round. Continue in rib for another 15 rounds, or the same amount of rounds you did before the purl round.

Body - Now fold the provisional cast-on edge toward the inside of the hat, so that the purl row now forms the bottom of the hat. On the next round, knit together the stitch that is on the left-hand needle with one provisional stitch from your cast on row. Keep working the provisional stitches into the stitches on the left-hand needle as you knit all the way around until you have completed the round and there are no more provisional stitches. (Count your stitches to make sure that you still have 96!)

Continue knitting in the round until the hat measures about 6.5 inches from the bottom of the brim.

Crown shaping -
Round 1 - *K14, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round.
Round 2 and every even round - k all stitches
Round 3 - *K13, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round.
Round 5 - *K12, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round.
Round 7 - *K11, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round.
Round 9 - *K10, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round.
Round 11 - *K9, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round.
Round 13 - *K8, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round.
Round 15 - *K7, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round (48 sts)

Round 16 - k
Round 17 - *K6, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round.
Round 18 - *K5, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round.
Round 19 - *K4, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round.
Round 20 - *K3, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round.
Round 21 - *K2, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round.
Round 22 - *K1, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round.
Round 23 - *k2tog, repeat from * to end of round. 6 sts remain.

Cut yarn and thread through the last 6 stitches. I like to go through twice, to make it feel more secure. Weave in the tail and fasten off. There -- you've got yourself a new hat!