While I’ve really enjoyed getting back into knitting with the help of some exceptional garments, I was recently craving a quick knit that I could work up mindlessly while watching TV during these quiet evenings. The kind of thing that my fingers could work up while my mind was elsewhere, and where progress wouldn’t be hard to come by.
I took to Ravelry on the hunt for a simple hat to do the job, that would also use up some of the chunky yarn I had in my stash leftover from knitting my Dream Blankets and Gianna Sweater. I totally hit the jackpot when I found Attic 166’s The Stuyvesant, because as well as being the perfect pattern for what I was after, it was also available as a free Ravelry download.
I wasted no time casting on, and actually worked up the whole thing in one evening, save for the final 2 decrease rounds. I did, however, make a couple of amendments to the pattern to suit my yarn choice and tastes.
Firstly, I cast on 60 stitches to match the measurements of the hat, as the yarn I was using (Stylecraft Special Chunky* in Silver) had a slightly different gauge to that called for in the pattern. Then, I knit for 7 inches before folding to create the double brim as I wanted to give it a little more length. Finally, I knit until the finished length of the hat was 8.5 inches because I was happy with the fit, and didn’t want it to stand up too much at the back. The changes I made to the number of stitches meant that I worked the same decrease pattern for both of the final two rows, so I still ended up with the same final number of stitches that there are in the pattern.
I’ve been wanting to knit a double brim hat for ages, and I am so pleased with how this turned out. I really like the casual fit, and I’m happy I decided against adding a pom pom in the end because it gives it a different look to my Chunky Bobble Hat, which I wear absolutely all the time in autumn and winter.
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