Some time ago I had a happy because my other brother asked for a new hat. The old one wasn’t all that great because it was too shallow and didn’t cover his ears. Now, I don’t know about you, but I can’t stand hats that don’t cover the ears. They’re not any good at keeping a head warm, so their sole purpose in existence is to create hat hair.
The whole problem came about because I basically guestimated how tall the hat should be. This time I took some pretty darn precise measurements.
Pattern: Double Layer Sockyarn Hat
Yarn: Sisu from Sandnes Garn, under 50 g
Needles: 3,25 mm
*****
The good thing about a black stockinette stitch hat is that it’s a really quick knit, so it’s never a problem that it gets a bit repetitive. Sometimes the simple knits are the most enjoyable ones.
I’ve always used the long-tail cast-on almost exclusively. Usually I do it on two needles to ensure a stretchy cast on, but this time that resulted in a series of holes in between the cast-on edge and the first row of stitches. This prompted me to try other stretchy cast ons.
I first tried Jeny’s stretchy slip-knot cast-on but I was soon discouraged because it was a bit tricky to learn and I did have 170 stitches to cast on. I wanted to get knitting already. Jeny’s stretchy cast off is amazing, though, so I’m going to give the cast-on another chance some day with another project with less stitches to cast on.
I settled on this very stretchy cast-on because it’s meant for double and single ribbing. It was easy to do once I memorized the steps, but the first row was a pain to knit. The cast-on edge really is stretchy, so that’s good.
The other big fault with the first hat is that for some reason I didn’t line it.
For the lining I used a pretty thick black fleece. I used my own store-bought wind-stopper hat to sketch out the shape of the four pieces that make up the lining. I zig-zagged over the seams so I could cut off all seam allowances to prevent them from being visible from the outside. Then I sewed the lining onto the hat by hand.
The hat seems to be a good fit and a flattering shape for my brother. Now I can be sure it’ll stay the right shape and keep him warm for many years to come.
Bamboo number 1 knits! 
