Speaking of stupid easy . . .

So there I was, making hats for the hospital. I had this leftover pink, and a hat in mind for it -- but the pattern didn't exist. They were either too big, or wrong gauge, or not quite right . . . So I made it up! I think the decreases might be the same as Itty Bitty hats. I've made a few of them lately -- it's in my head.

Why yes, that is a measuring cup modeling that hat! Thanks for noticing!

Laissez-faire, the Easy-going Hat


Sized to fit a newborn. 5 inches unstretched laying flat. Comfortably expands to a circumference of 14 inches plus.
Needles: 3.75 mm, set of 4 or 5 dpn. 2 circs. Whatever floats your boat.
Yarn: less than 100 m of DK weight - 2 or more colours if you want stripes. I used Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo, and Louisa Harding Kashmir DK.
Gauge: 6 stitches/inch st st unstretched.

Cast on 64 st. If you work in the round, place a marker to determine the end of the round - or keep track somehow!
*K4, P4. Repeat from *
Repeat row until the ribbing is as long as you'd like. I went to 1 1/2 inches.
Switch to st st (K all rounds). Stripe at will. Feel free to use the term 'willy nilly'.


When you feel that your hat is long enough, begin to decrease. For me, this happened at 4 inches.
Row 1: K6, K2tog - repeat until end of row
Row 2: K5, k2 tog - repeat to end of row
Row 3: K all
Row 4: K4, K2tog - repeat to end of row
Row 5:K3, K2tog - to end
Row 6:K2, K2tog - to end
Row 7: K all
Row 8: K all
Row 9: K1, K2tog - to end
Row 10: K2tog - to end



Cut yarn, leaving a nice lengthy tail. Thread the tail through the remaining stitches (I think there should be 8), pull tight, and weave in the end on the inside. In fact, weave in any loose ends you might have.

Voila! A spiffy warm hat for even the coniest of cone-heads! Donate or gift to a deserving mom-to-be and her little bundle at will.

When I made this hat, I striped of necessity -- I would have loved an all-pink hat with a nice chunky rib . . . and I was going to duplicate stitch a skull on the side. This is how much yarn I had left over:


Not even enough for one round! Funny how sometimes things just work out.