Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Knit Dragon Hat

Red Dragon Hat hand knit by Barb Darbey of Thankful 4 Wool
An instant favorite! 

The idea for this hat came when I asked my son what colors he would like me to make him a hat in. His response: red & black!

I started looking for a fairisle pattern to knit his hat from, and really didn't find anything I liked in a basic fairisle. 

Hand knit red dragon fairisle hat, by Barb Darbey, Artisan/Owner, Thankful 4 Wool.Sooooo.... I searched for fairisle charts and voile`! I found this red dragon chart on Ravelry

The "perfect yarn" chosen for this project was Sheep(ish) wool blend in black(ish) and red(ish). Sheep(ish) is a soft, slightly fuzzy single ply yarn, and just screamed "Pick me! Pick me!" How could I resist?

So all resisting aside, I knit the hat on size 7 circular needles as follows: 

  • Cast on 92 stitches 
  • Knit 1, purl 1 for about an inch
  • Knit 2 rounds (stockinette).
  • Start "flame" pattern: Knit 1 MC (black), knit 1 CC (red) for 2 rounds.
  • Switch to knit 1 CC, knit 1 MC for 2 rounds.
  • Knit 2 rounds MC.
  • Start Red Dragon pattern, background color is MC, dragon in CC. ** To make the 20 stitch dragon chart pattern fit a 92 stitch hat, I simply added 3 extra MC (black) stitches at the end of every dragon chart-row.
  • After finishing the dragon chart rounds, knit 2 rounds in MC.
Begin decrease rounds (the standard method for decreasing in a knit hat once you decrease the extra 2 stitches, I presume):  
  • SSK twice evenly spaced in the round. Knit 1 round. (90 st)
  • SSK, knit 8, repeat around. Knit 1 round.
  • SSK, knit 7, repeat around. Knit 1 round.
  • SSK, knit 6, repeat around. Knit 1 round.
  • SSK, knit 5, repeat around. Knit 1 round.
  • SSK, knit 4, repeat around. Knit 1 round.
  • SSK, knit 3, repeat around. Knit 1 round.
  • SSK, knit 2, repeat around.
  • SSK, knit 1, repeat around.
  • SSK around.
  • Cut yarn leaving a 8" or 9" tail, sew through remaining stitches to finish.
  • Sew in ends.
I know these aren't exact directions, but I'm figuring you've already knit a few hats ;)


Tuesday, October 9, 2012

About

I love to knit, especially things you can wear - socks, mittens, hats, and scarves!

I plan to share some projects here, along with a few patterns.