Basket Rib hat

You thought I wasn't coming back again--

But I just had to finish this hat.

Pictures don't capture its perfection. I'm not even lying.  This by far the best hat I've ever knit. Here's why:  it's worsted yarn, but it is warm and thick.  Without the big Kindergarten-looking stitches of a bulky yarn.

Here in New England, we need us some warm winter accessories.  Cutesy little cotton blends or squeaky acrylics don't do it.  There is wind, and it is bitter.  I just knit myself a plain ole worsted wool stockinette hat at 6.5 sts/in so the wind can't get through.  Boring as the day is short in December!

What makes this hat so magic?  This basket rib: it's nubby, squishy--like a pillow under your fingers on the needles--and WARM.  Because it's a slipstitch pattern, that lateral compression draws up the stockinette rows into teeny little baskets, holding in your body heat.  Perfection.

Also?  It's fun to knit (see above concerning the feel of the fabric on the needles).  A simple 4-row pattern with the rhythm and cadence of a slipstitch.  Its natural compression means you don't have to pile up the stitch count and increase your gauge.  I worked this one at 5 sts/in, and another I've got at 5.75 sts/in feels even better.

Here is the pattern, in case you want to give it a whirl.

For a typical adult sized head (22" with some room for more head if you need it) at 5 sts/in with worsted wool:

CO 112 sts.  Join in the round and work an inch in whatever ribbing you like (this fabric does curl, so you'll need an edge to hold it down).

Begin Basket Rib pattern:

Rounds 1-2:  Knit
Round 3:  *sl 1 purlwise; k1* all the way around.
Round 4:  *sl 1 purlwise wyib, p1* all the way around.

Work in pattern until hat measures 6" from cast-on edge.  Shape crown as follows, continuing pattern and working decreases on round 1:

*K6, k2tog* all the way around.  Follow with rounds 2-4.
*k5, k2tog* all the way around.  Again, finish the pattern repeat.

Continue decreasing 14 sts on the first round of the pattern until 28 sts remain.  K2tog around, then cut yarn leaving a long tail, draw up remaining stitches and weave in ends.  Ta-Da!!