Justin Sock Yarn Hat

I opened my sock drawer the other day and noticed that I have knitted so many socks over the last 20 years that I could never wear them out.  Then I looked at my sock yarn stash and realized that I could make at least three times as many socks as I have now. Lovely colors, soft feel, gentle textures, but I could never knit all them up.

So I decided to use the yarn to do something other than socks. I love hats – which I have more of than even socks --  but I have a little side business of selling hats, so it made sense. I have seen pictures of these slouchy hats and have even seen some patterns for them.  I worked on the design to be as close to what I want and finally think I got it right.  I used my sons as models. One thing they wanted was the hat to fit closer around the ears. So I extended the use of the smaller needles into the body of the hat which is why you don’t switch needles after the cuff.

I always name my hats after people in my life. I named this hat after my friend Justin from work. He looks good in hats.  I also needed a name that could also be unused for a woman’s hat.  

Size:                       Men’s  (women’s) size. Hat has a lot of stretch so one size fits most

Yarn:                      Any kind of sock yarn

Needles:              Circular needle size 2 (2.75mm) 16”

                                Circular needle size 6 (4mm) 16”

                                DPN Size 6 (4mm) set of 4

                                Yarn needle

Gauge:                 5 stitches/inch in stockinette, size 6 needles. (Gauge is not critical but should be close.  I have used this pattern with size 5, 6, and 7 needles, with success.) I always start with size 2 needles for the brim.

Hat

With size 2 circular needles, CO on 132 (120) stitches.  Join, being careful not to twist the stitches.

Work a 2x2 rib (Knit 2, Purl 2) for one inch. 

Work in stockinette (knit every row) for one more inch. 

Switch to size 6 needles and continue in stockinette stitch until the entire hat measures 9” or desired length. If you stop at 7”, you will have a skull cap; if you extend beyond 10”, your hat will have more slouch.

Crown: (switch to DPNs when necessary)

 

Row 1:  *K2tog, K 18 (16), SSK*. Repeat 5 more times.

Row 2 and all even numbered rows: Knit.

Row 3:  *K2tog, K 16 (14), SSK*. Repeat 5 more times.

Continue in this pattern, reducing the number of knit stitches between the decreases by 2 until 6 stitches remain.   Cut yarn, leaving an 8” tail. Cut yarn, thread through the remaining stitches and secure tightly.  Weave in ends.

The Moods of Knitting



From Kitty Knits by Donna Druchunas.
Yes, those are black cats by the cuff.



In case you didn’t know, I love knitting. I could spend my entire day doing nothing but knit.  However, not all knitting is equal. My knitting has moods.  Not sad or mad knitting – to me all knitting is joyful. My knitting moods are different.

Mindless knitting mood. I always have at least one mindless knitting project going. These are the projects that I can do blindfolded. Yes!  Blindfolded. I do these projects when I am at a movie theater, in committee meetings at church, in conversations with friends, in any situation that my hands work completed separately from my mind. It could be, and usually is, a hat with just a plain stockinette or rib stitch but it can also be a sock in a straight stockinette. Now, mindless does not mean boring. I like to use colorful yarns, usually striped for these projects. I love working on a hat with a red strip, and a few minutes later, I look down and the color has changed to blue.  I don’t like variegate yarns as much because they tend to look too muddy.



My design



Thinking knitting mood. This is a step up from mindless knitting. I like to do these project while watching TV (which is mainly listening), listening to music or books on tape, or even having the radio on. (I am addicted to progressive and liberal talk radio).  This may be a hat or sock with a lace pattern or a sweater with a cable pattern. I have to watch what I am knitting. It is a fairly repetitive pattern so I don’t always have to watch a pattern as I go along, but knitting is not automatic.  I like going through a row reading the lace row below in order to knit the next one.  This is then followed by the ‘resting row,’ which is the all purl row, and a straight knitting row when working in the round.



From 60 More Hats



Concentration knitting mood. Every now and then, I have an overwhelming need to do a complicated lace pattern, intricate cable work, or intarsia.  It’s like my mind needs to be totally immersed into the project, marking each complicated row with a highlighter or a sticky note, multiple markers to break up the pattern, and row counters set up on an app on my phone.  I might work on this for a weekend and then go back to mindless or thinking knitting to let my mind rest. It is better to do smaller projects such as a scarf or hat when I am in this mood, because I flit from project to project too much to make a large project such as a sweater.



Attention-span-of-a-hummingbird knitting mood.  I want to get the project done in a couple of hours, or less. Sometimes, you just want to make a pile of stuff.  My crocheted scrunchies and knitted baby hats fulfill this need.



What? They can't be eaten? What good are they?







Hats, Hats and More Hats

No name yet hat

I have spent a lot of my spare time knitting hats. I have always loved knitting hats. I don’t even want to guess how many I have downstairs in my Renaissance Faire stash.  I have recently been using lots of a silk wool yarn mix to make these hats. I have several colors and have been trying to combined colors. For some reason, I am not that crazy about intarsia or fair isle knitting. I love the effect but I get bored with having to look at a pattern every few seconds to see what is next.  This hat I haven't written up the pattern for yet, but I do like how it turned out. It looks more purple than blue, but it is a blue yarn. 



Don't Have to Think Hat



I usually have a hat going that I consider my "Don't Have to Think" hat. It is a hat pattern that I can take with me to knit on the road. I don't need a pattern because it is a basic pattern.  You never know where you will be stuck just waiting--waiting. I swear I have knitted entire hats waiting in the car outside a Home Depot while Ken is inside purchasing some silcone caulk or copper piping or some wing-waggle. This hat can be considered a "Don't Have to Think" hat. It is actually the free pattern on this blog called the Justin/Justine hat. It is made in Mini Mochi with beautiful shades of blue. This one I may have to keep myself because it matches my coat.

Stay tuned for my maroon and pink snowflake hat and hopefully a plaid hat. I am making a Don't Have to Think Hat about of bright blue and black variegated yarn that is hiding somewhere in my purse. 

Back to the needles.

Knitting with Zino

I have been knitting my hats every day. I have three different hats started. This one is the closest to being finished. I can’t get too excited making wool hats because it is about 72 degrees here right now and it feels like winter is over. All I know is that the hot weather is coming, and I hate hot weather.  So I’ll just sit here and knit my little hats.

I have fallen in love with a sock yarn called Zino, but I have yet to make a pair of socks with it. I have made hats and scarves, but no socks. Go figure. I am currently working with the Zino yarn to make a Justine hat (the pattern is listed back in August). The colors are pink, yellow, orange, lavender, olive green and light blue. They actually look really cool together. It's a good thing there is pink, blue and lavender in the hat, because orange, yellow and green look terrible on me. I'll probably just sell it at the Renaissance Faire this summer instead.

Justin Sock Yarn Hat

I opened my sock drawer the other day and noticed that I have knitted so many socks over the last 20 years that I could never wear them out.  Then I looked at my sock yarn stash and realized that I could make at least three times as many socks as I have now. Lovely colors, soft feel, gentle textures, but I could never knit all them up.

So I decided to use the yarn to do something other than socks. I love hats – which I have more of than even socks --  but I have a little side business of selling hats, so it made sense. I have seen pictures of these slouchy hats and have even seen some patterns for them.  I worked on the design to be as close to what I want and finally think I got it right.  I used my sons as models. One thing they wanted was the hat to fit closer around the ears. So I extended the use of the smaller needles into the body of the hat which is why you don’t switch needles after the cuff.

I always name my hats after people in my life. I named this hat after my friend Justin from work. He looks good in hats.  I also needed a name that could also be unused for a woman’s hat.  

Size:                       Men’s  (women’s) size. Hat has a lot of stretch so one size fits most

Yarn:                      Any kind of sock yarn

Needles:              Circular needle size 2 (2.75mm) 16”

                                Circular needle size 6 (4mm) 16”

                                DPN Size 6 (4mm) set of 4

                                Yarn needle

Gauge:                 5 stitches/inch in stockinette, size 6 needles. (Gauge is not critical but should be close.  I have used this pattern with size 5, 6, and 7 needles, with success.) I always start with size 2 needles for the brim.