pieKnits

Yo ho, a pirate’s life for Meeee!

When I bound off for this hat I was seriously debating whether to rip it all out or to go ahead and try felting it. The proportions seemed off, basically too long. And while if I did it over I think I’d make it a little bigger and less tall, I’m still quite pleased with it! Plus it’s impossible to don this headpiece and not giggle and speak horrible pirate lingo.

I stuck my little yo-yo broach I made awhile back on the side as a make-shift cockade. I decided I still want a full-size version as well and will make a real cockade for that one. This hat is held in place by a black wire hair comb I sewed on the inside.

To modify the pattern I used a single vs. double stranded worsted and decreased the number of stitches by 40%. The decrease rates took some fiddling. If anyone’s interested in my specific notes let me know I can type them up (amazingly I did actually jot them down). ETA: pattern notes now added to the extended entry! You can see a pre-felted photo here.

Pattern: Tricorn Hat Pattern by knitlikeapirate.com
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool Merino, single strand
Needles: US size 9 (5.5 mm)
Mods: Miniature version of course! Worked in single strand, cast-on 60% of sts, extensive mods to the decrease rates.

Pattern modifications for miniature size.
For any round not indicated here follow original pattern.

Using one strand of worsted weight and size US 9 needles, cast on 90 sts using the cabled cast-on.

Follow pattern for ‘Brim, outer edge’.
New row counts as follows:
Round 5: 84 sts remaining
Round 10: 78 sts remaining

‘Brim, main part’
Round 15: 72 sts rem
Round 20: 66 sts rem
Omit round 24
Former Round 25: 60 sts rem
Omit one plain knit round
Former Round 30: 57 sts rem (only reducing by 3 sts)
Omit one plain knit round
Former Round 35: 54 sts rem

Crown:
Round 1: 42 sts rem
On round 11: k2tog twice at each sides (used to set up next decrease rounds)
Omit rounds 12-15.

Top decreases:
Take out 2 stitch markers, so you have a marker at the beg of your round and every 10 sts thereafter (four sections). Your sts will reduced by 4 each round. After four-round pattern is repeated three times you will have 16 sts.

Tippytop:
Now you will have 16 sts.
After ‘Round 22′ you will have 4 sts left.  Follow rest of the pattern as written.
Sew a cordinating comb to the inside of the back brim with matching thread or you can sew the sides of the hat to a headband.