Fair Isle Hat Pattern

Here is the pattern for a sweet little fair isle hat I made for Susan, with whom I shared a lovely cup coffee yesterday afternoon! While there I also made some real progress on Diana's scarf - but I think the yarn liked it better over at Susan's, because it shedded like crazy - I think it wanted to remain beside her gorgeous spinning wheel!

You need some worsted-weight/aran weight yarn. For the purple I used some wool I picked up at the Weihnachtsmarkt and the green is some Rustikal Hauswolle I got at the Wolle Rödel – both in Bonn. You also need a 16 inch (40 cm) circular needle that gives you a gauge of four stitches/inch (2.5 cm). I used a US size 6 (4mm) but I knit pretty loosey-goosey.

Using MC, cast on 68 sts.
Join (don’t twist!), place marker, and work k2, p2 for 1.5 inches (4 cm).
Switch to stockinette stitch and increase 4 stitches evenly across row. (72 sts.)
Work stockinette stitch for 2 more rows.
Now the fun begins!
Work fair isle pattern in MC and CC, keeping the yarn pretty loose (the pattern will be sitting relatively low on the head).
After the fair isle pattern is finished, just work in MC until the hat is about 2 inches (5 cm) longer than your hand - this is approximate, of course. Stick it up to your head every so often to see if you've got the fit right. Just - play it by ear!

Begin decreases:
Row 1 - *k2tog, k2. Repeat from * until end of row. 54 stitches.
Rows 2-4 - stockinette stitch.
Row 5 - *k2tog, k1. Repeat from * until end of row. 36 stitches.
Then thread needle through 36 stitches and pull tight! Fasten and secure.
Make a pompom and sew to top of hat.
Fini – Fertig – Done!

The metric mojo was provided by this online converter.

The catalog card was made here.