Sakura

Hullo there!

Wow, it's been quite a month. TricotChico and myself have been hard at work writing patterns and preparing info for test knitters! (also, if you're interested in test knitting, comment below with your e-mail address, or find one of us through the ravelry links on the sidebar)

First I need to say a huge thanks to all of you find folks who visit us regularly, or send your friends over here or just find us randomly, some how, through the magick of the Internet. You may have noticed an interruption in the presence of our blog recently. You see, thanks to all of you lovely readers, we exceeded our monthly bandwidth for the first time! In all the excitement, I forgot to buy the next hosting package up, and VOILA - interruption. But we're back up and running! Thanks for sticking in there!

A couple months ago, a good friend of mine at Knit Picks, Kate, offered me an opportunity to be part of their new Independent Designer Program. Their format was incredibly unique, and frankly, groundbreaking. Their program puts 100% of pattern revenue in the hands of the designers. If you're at all familiar with how a lot of magazines work, I'm not going to sugar coat it for you - a lot of them don't look out for the designer's interests (lots of other designers, like Annie Modesitt, have written fantastic blog posts explaining this situation) You can understand why i was excited and wanted to be a part of this program.

Pattern: Sakura by David Castillo
$1.99 on the Knit Picks Pattern Store
Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss HW in 'Aegean'
Needle: US8

This hat was knit from an idea I've had kicking around in my head for a while. It was nice to finally take some time and work it out. I have also knit a very serviceable prototype out of Cascade 220 that is equally fabulous.

Let me talk for a second about the yarn used in this pattern, though. A lot of people tend to associate inexpensive yarn with low quality, which i can understand but I'm always saddened by this dismissal. Gloss is an incredibly affordable yarn while maintaining an excellent quality! I had no issues with this ball of yarn, it was spun nicely and evenly, no excessive knots (I'm not sure if there was any knots, actually). On top of that, the fiber blend is delightful! It's 80% Merino 20% Silk. Absolutely fantastic.

That little gush-session/commercial aside, This hat is a great, quick knit - Excellent for all that Christmas knitting you need to get done! The decreases include a few twisted-stitch cables, which provide you with the chance to try out some cabling without the daunting task of knitting an all-over cable pattern. On top of that, when you finish of this hat you're going to feel like a super clever knitting rock star!

Again folks, thanks for all the visits! It's been so exciting to watch the blog stats and see so many people enjoying what we put out there.

Happy Stitching!
Davitron

Circle Takes the Square: A Seamless Raglan Beanie

Circle Takes the Square is a basic striped beanie with squares framed and created by its raglan decreases. You can easily switch up the look of the hat with your color choice. It can be collegiate, hip, goth, or mod—the power is yours!

In striped knitting in the round (like this hat), I recommend carrying the yarn along the inside of the work (both for the sake of reducing the finishing work to be done and for ‘yarn economy’) and working the jogless stripes technique at the color change. It’s super-easy and incredibly effective in hiding the “hiccup” that can occur when switching color. The doubled decreases are worked side-by-side and create a “seam” that really pops and brings structure to the hat.

The full pattern is published here, but it's also available for download as a free PDF at the bottom of this post!

Sizes :
S (M, L) to fit a head approx 20” (22”, 24”) in circumference. The Medium is probably what would work for most adults.

Gauge:
18 sts and 24 rows/4” in st st on larger needles. For the ribbing, use a needle 2 sizes smaller than the one you use to get this gauge in st st. This will create a more uniform knit-stitch size between the ribbing and the stockinette stitch

Materials:
• Worsted weight yarn in 2 colors, approx 80g of each. I used Cascade 220 in Jet (MC) and Ruby (CC) for the Black & Red version. I used Cascade 220 in Jet (MC) and Louet Riverstone in Caribbean Blue (CC) for the Black & Blue version. (You can use any worsted weight yarn that will get you the gauge noted above.)
• US 7 circular needle and/or DPNs and US 5 circular needle and/or DPNs OR the size you need to get gauge!
• Tapestry needle for weaving in ends.

Make It!
With smaller needles, CO 88 (96, 104) sts in MC and PM. Join to work in the round.
Rows 1-7: K1, [p2, k2] to last st. K last st.
Row 8: Switch to larger needle, K all sts
Row 9-15: twisting yarns at join, switch to CC and k all sts. Don’t forget to work jogless stripes on the first stich of the 2nd row in CC (7 rows total in CC).
Row 16: Switch to MC and knit as rows 9-15. Switch colors every 7 rows until hat measures
approx 3” (3.5”, 4”) from CO edge*. On last round, [K 22 (24, 26) sts and PM], repeat for all sts
on this round. Next round: begin decrease rows.

*Be the Boss! As written, the hat should just barely cover the top of the wearer’s ears. This is how I like to wear my beanies, but if you’d like your beanie to cover the wearer’s ears, then add about 1.5” of length. Continue striping until hat measures 4.5” (5”, 5.5”) from CO edge.


Decrease rows:
[Ssk, k 18 (20, 22) sts, k2tog], repeat around. 80 (88, 96) sts remaining.
Next round: k all sts.
So you’ll be working the decreases in this manner: k2tog on the right side of the stitch marker, and SSK on the left side of the stitch marker, then knitting all stitches on one row in between decrease rows (line-by-line directions below). Remember to change colors every 7 rows. It becomes really fiddly to work the jogless stripe for color changes once you start decreasing, but give it a go if you feel adventurous! Continue this way until you end up w/16 sts after decreasing, then work finishing.

Decrease line-by-line:
After working first decrease round and k all sts on the next round (as indicated above):
[Ssk, k 16 (18, 20) sts, k2tog], repeat around 72 (80, 88) sts, Next round: k all sts.
[Ssk, k 14 (16, 18) sts, k2tog], repeat around 64 (72, 80) sts, Next round: k all sts.
[Ssk, k 12 (14, 16) sts, k2tog], repeat around 56 (64, 72) sts, Next round: k all sts.
[Ssk, k 10 (12, 14) sts, k2tog], repeat around 48 (56, 64) sts, Next round: k all sts.
[Ssk, k 8 (10, 12) sts, k2tog], repeat around 40 (48, 56) sts, Next round: k all sts.
[Ssk, k 6 (8, 10) sts, k2tog], repeat around 32 (40, 48) sts, Next round: k all sts.
[Ssk, k 4 (6, 8) sts, k2tog], repeat around 24 (32, 40) sts, Next round: k all sts.
[Ssk, k 2 (4, 6) sts, k2tog], repeat around 16 (24, 32) sts, For the Small size, break yarn and finish according to directions below, for other sizes: Next round: k all sts.
[Ssk, k -- (2, 4) sts, k2tog], repeat around -- (16, 24) sts, For the Med. size, break yarn and finish according to directions below, for Large size: Next round: k all sts.
[Ssk, k -- (--, 2) sts, k2tog], repeat around -- (--, 16) sts, finish as noted below.


Finishing:
break yarn, leaving a tail approx. 10” long. With a tapestry needle, thread this yarn through all remaining sts and pull closed. Weave in ends, place on head, rock the block w/your fancy new hat!
__________________________________________________
I originally made this hat as a gauge swatch for a yet-to-be-made sweater. Actually, the sweater is about 3/4 finished, but the body is way too big and the neck is way too small (I made it top-down). I now have a copy of Knitting From the Top and I plan to use it as a guide when I re-knit it, rather than an online pattern generator that will go unnamed (for shame!!!). The original hat (the Black & Red one at the top) is already more than a year old, and I wear it almost every. single. day. I kind of love Cascade 220 right now! It's affordable, comes in A LOT of colors, wears well, and it doesn't feel too bad, either!

There's a band out there that goes by the name "Circle Takes the Square". I was aware of them when I named the hat, and the name fit, so it stuck. At the time I decided on the name I hadn't ever heard any of their music. Now I have. Suffice to say it's not for me. ;o)

This pattern PDF is available as a FREE download! Click the button below to download. You do not need to be a Ravelry member in order to download the PDF from this page.


Happy knitting!

EDIT: Visit TricotChico.blogspot.com for more knitting patterns by Homero Luna.