Knitting a beanie with my hand-spun alpaca yarn

Little bit of history then these are the things I learned during my first spinning.

Yarn and tools

4.5mm needles. 14 wraps per inch yarn weight. (fine) The previous beanie used aran-bulky yarn. Double the amount of stitches in width? 144 stitches? Actually tthis made the beanie much looser as the needles werent half the previous needle size.

determining cast on - 30stitches = 9cm = 31 com of yarn

Abbreviations

• CO – Cast on
• Cont – Continue(ing)

Method

K – Knit
K2tog – Knit the next 2 stitches together
P – Purl
P2tog – Purl the next 2 stitches together
Rem – Remaining
Rep – Repeat
RS – Right side
St(s) – Stitch(es)
WS – Wrong side

In Yarn A cast on 72 (64, 56, 48) sts Row 1: (RS) – P1, K2 – rep to the end of the row.
Row 2: (WS) – P2, K1 – rep to the end of the row.
Rep rows 1 and 2 until the piece measures 3 (3, 3, 2.5) inches from the cast-on edge, ending with a WS row.

Knitting the main body of the hat

Row 1: (RS) – K1, P2 – rep to the end of the row.
Row 2: (WS) – K2, P1 – rep to the end of the row.
Rep rows 1 and 2 until you have worked a further 3 (3, 3, 2.5) inches from the cast-on edge, ending with a WS row (total inches from CO edge = 6 (6, 6, 5).

Change color to Yarn B and cont in patt for a further 3 (2.5, 2, 2) inches.

Change color to yarn C and cont in patt for 1 (1, 1, 1) inch. (In total, 10 (9.5, 9, 8) inches from the cast-on edge).

Decrease: (Worked in Yarn C)

Row 1: K1, P2tog – rep to the end of the row.
Row 2: K1, P1 – rep to the end of the row.
Row 3: K2tog – rep to the end of the row.
Row 4: Purl – rep to the end of the row.
Row 5: K2tog – rep to the end of the row.
Row 6: Purl – rep to the end of the row.
Cut/break yarn, leaving a tail of around 15 inches.

Thread through the remaining stitches and pull up tight.
Making Up

The last step is seaming the two edges of the beanie together.

I used a seaming technique called the mattress stitch.

This allows you to create an invisible seam in your knitting so you don’t see where the edges meet.

To do this you:

Place the edges together – line them up.
Start at the top of the hat, with the right sides facing you.
Thread your needle and secure the top of the hat first with a stitch.
Then start to push the needle through the first stitch on one side of the fabric edge.
Then move over to the other side and push your needle through the first stitch.
Pull them together and continue to seam, picking up an edge stitch on one side and again on the other as you go.
You can pick up stitches every one bar or two bars on the edges – this is up to you. I generally pick up every 2 bars.
Just be careful what you do to one side of the knitting; it should also be done on the other side to keep them even.
When you come to the hat’s brim, you need to turn this over – so the right sides are facing you to the seam.
This is so you get an invisible seam on the right side of the knitted fabric.
When you have finished seaming, secure your yarn on the wrong side and weave in any loose ends.
Your hat is now ready to wear to any fall festivities.

Previous beanie

Irish hand-spun wool
Long-tail rate determination: 62 stitches,
176cm used, actual cast-on: 72 stitches.
5mm needles
width of hat 8 inches (unstitched 16 inches)

References