Phat Stripes Hat Free Pattern

This hat is easy to make and does a great job of showing off small amounts of hand spun, hand dyed yarns, particularly ones that you make from your Phat Fiber samples. Make your stripes subtle or wild, smooth or textured - what ever suits you! How ever you color it, you don't need a lot of yardage to make a great hat that looks good on women or men.

This pattern is written for bulky weight yarn (6-8 wraps per inch) and size 10 1/2 needles. You will need a total of about 65-75 yards. This hat fits an average adult, but can easily be sized up or down by casting on more or fewer stitches and adjusting your decreases. Experienced knitters can also adjust the number of cast on stitches to a finer gauge yarn and needles.

Materials:
Basic color (brim and top) - 30-35 yards of bulky weight yarn
Stripes - 3-4 stripes - 8-15 yards per stripe

Needles:
Size 10 1/2 (6.5 mm) 16" circular needle & one set of double pointed needles
Yarn needle; stitch marker

Gauge: 3 stitches per inch

Instructions:
With basic color, cast on 56 stitches. Join in a ring, being careful not to twist stitches.

Knit 3 rows.
Purl 1 row.
Knit 2 rows.

Attach Stripe #1. Knit 1 row.
Purl 1 row.
Knit 2-4 rows.

Attach Stripe #2. Knit 1 row.
Purl 1 row.
Knit 2-4 rows.

Attach Stripe #3. Knit 1 row.
Purl 1 row.
Knit 1-3 rows.

Reattach your basic color. Knit at least 1 row, or until the hat is 5 1/2-6 inches tall.

Begin decreases. Place a marker to show the end of the round.

Knit 5; Knit 2 together (K2T). Repeat around.
Knit around.
Knit 4; K2T. Repeat around.
Knit around.
Knit 3; K2T. Repeat around.
Knit around. Change to double pointed needles.
Knit 2; K2T. Repeat around.
Knit around.
Knit 1; K2T. Repeat around.
Knit around.
Knit 2 together. Repeat around.

Cut yarn, leaving a 6 inch tail. Thread yarn through stitches and weave in tail. Weave in all ends.

Variations:
Instead of the rolled brim, try a K2P2 ribbed cuff, using a size 10 (6mm) needle.
Keep adding stripes all the way to the top.

Yarn credits:
Base yarn & pink stripe hand dyed and hand spun by Smoky Mountain Fibers.
Orange stripe: Merino wool & SeaCell roving by Knit It Up (www.knit.etsy.com), color English Garden; plied with Smoky Mountain Fibers apricot handspun.
Teal Stripe: Breeze Merino and Bamboo roving by 1,000 petals (www.lotusjulie.etsy.com), color Hydra; plied with Smoky Mountain Fibers teal handspun.

Copyright 2009 by AnneMarie Walter for SmokyMountainFibers (www.smokymountainfibers.etsy.com) & Phat Fibers (www.phatfibers.com). You have my permission to make as many of these hats as you wish from this pattern. Sell them if you like; giva a few to charity. You may not sell this pattern, but you may link to it on Ravelry (I'm SmokyMtnFibers) or my blog, http:\\smokymountainfibers.blogspot.com/.