Fireflake Hat

I love this hat.  I think I love everything about it (and I don’t normally like snug-fitting hats.)  I designed this for my husband, but I’ve already ordered the yarn to make one for myself (in white and blue!) For him, I wanted a hat with color and with a pattern resembling snowflakes, since he’ll be wearing it around the ski village.  But I didn’t want the color to be girly and I didn’t want the snowflakes to be obviously Nordic.  I like this pattern because the snowflakes are very geometric and not at all like the traditional “ski sweaters.”  The chart looks complicated but each row is easy to follow. Which was very nice, seeing as I was secretly knitting it five days before Christmas!  (Sadly, it took longer to get a good picture of the hat than it did to knit and write the pattern!)

 

I also used this hat as an excuse to work on my tubular cast on.  I don’t like rolled brims and I wanted to have the color work start as close to the beginning of the hat as possible.  So, a tubular cast on with ribbing that gives a nice stretchy edge and looks almost like stockinette seemed perfect.  The only drawback is that the cast on is best worked flat, but there isn’t much to sew up at the end.  However, if you don’t want to tackle the tubular cast on, cast on with the long tail cast on, join in the round and work 5 rounds of ribbing.  The tubular cast on will flip around until blocking.  Wet blocking is the way to go- afterwards the cast on will lay flat.  If it doesn’t, try running some elastic through the tube created by the cast on to hold it down.

 

The hat is cast on flat in sport weight yarn, then joined in the round and worked circularly for the rest of the pattern.  The color chart is repeated 8 times around the hat.  I found it helpful to place a marker at the end of each chart repeat.  After the color work, the yarn is switched from sport weight to worsted weight so that the plain stockinette section is quick to knit.  There are two sizes; the only difference between them is length.  The women’s size is 1″ shorter than the men’s.

 

         

 

Fireflake Hat

Download the PDF: Fireflake Hat

• Finished Size: 20″ x 7″ for Women’s, 20″ circumference, 8″ in Men’s, shown in Men’s
• Needles: 1 size 5(3.75mm) 16″ circular, 1 size 7(4.50mm) 16″ circular, 1 set size 7(4.50mm) DPNs 
• Yarn: Knit Picks Telemark: Black, Garnet Heather, Flame Heather, Persimmon Heather; Knit Picks Wool of the Andes: Coal
• Yardage: Black, 70yd; Garnet, 40yd; Flame, 15yd; Persimmon, 15yd; Coal, 80yd
• Gauge:  25 sts x 29 rows = 4″ in sport weight Color Chart; 22 sts x 26 rows = 4″ in worsted weight stockinette
• Extras: 24″ waste yarn (for cast on), tapestry needle, stitch markers (optional)

 

Special Stitches

Tubular Cast On:  There are many great tutorials online about tubular cast ons. I use TechKnitter’s technique.  TechKnitter also links to other tutorials for this cast on.  Here is a video tutorial.

1×1 Ribbing: *K1, p1* to the end of the row.

 

Brim

Using the a 1×1 rib tubular cast on, cast on 129 stitches with Telemark Black on the smaller circular needle.  Do not join in the round.  (If using a long-tail cast on, cast on 128 sts, join in the round, and work 5 rows of 1×1 ribbing.  Move on to the Color Work Section.)

Work 4 foundation rows (k1, sl 1 purlwise with yarn in front) as per tutorial instructions.

Work 1 row of K1 P1 ribbing until the last stitch of the row.  Join in the round by knitting the last stitch together with the first stitch of the row. 1 st decreased; 128 sts

 

Color Work

Knit 1 round Black.

Knit 1 round Garnet Heather.

Knit 1 round Black.

Work Color Chart 8 times around the hat. (Both charts below are the same.  One is in color, one is in symbols; use whichever one is best for you.  Click on the charts to enlarge.)

  

Knit 1 round Black.

Knit 1 round Garnet Heather.

Knit 1 round Black.

Switch to larger circular and join Wool of the Andes Coal.  Cut Telemark Black.

Decrease Round: K1, *k2tog, k3, k2tog, k2,* to the last 5 sts, k2tog, k3.  28 sts decreased; 100 sts

Knit until the hat measures 5.25″ [6.25″] from the cast on edge.

 

Shape Top

Dec Rnd: *k2, k2tog,* to the end of the round. 25 sts decreased; 75 sts

Knit 2 rounds even.

Dec Rnd: *k2, k2tog,* to the last 3 sts, k3.  18 sts decreased; 57 sts

Knit 2 rnds even.

Dec Rnd: *k1, k2tog,* to the end of the round.  19 sts decreased; 38 sts

Knit 1 round even.

Dec Rnd: *K1, k2tog,* to the last 2 sts, k2.  12 sts decreased; 26 sts

Knit 1 rnd even.

Dec Rnd: K2tog 13 times.  13 sts decreased; 13 sts

Knit 1 round even.

Dec Rnd: K2tog 6 times, k1.  6 sts decreased; 7 sts

Cut yarn and thread through the remaining stitches.  Pull tight and weave in all ends. Use the tail from the cast on to sew up the gap in ribbing.

Wet block to remove brim curl and relax the color work.

     

 

Please Note: I post my patterns as soon as I’ve completed them because I’m excited to share them with you. They have not been fully tested. I’ve made every effort to make sure that the instructions are clear and error-free. There may be typos or pattern mistakes and if you find them or have any questions, please let me know by posting a comment or emailing me, dailyskein at gmail.com.

 

This work by Cailyn Meyer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.