Let it all go to your head

Press, 5 July 1978, Page 14

Let it all go to your head

We are past the shortest day, but there’s still a i lot of cold weather to | come. So if the frosty mornings and chilly nights I are making your ears : tingle, think about knitI ting or crocheting yourself a warm hat. Besides being a useful workday item, a woolly hat is a must for winter sports and few Christchurch cyclists ride without one. The four illustrated hats have been crocheted in bulky-knit wool (14 ply), and directions for making I all of them are given in I Kaiapoi pattern number ! 159. The amount of wool needed varies with individual styles from three to five 50g balls. In all styles the crochet hook used is a 6mm size. All hats fit an average head size. If crocheting is beyond you, and you want a simple hat that you can knit up in a week-end or a '■o'uple of evenings in front of the fire, try this one. For a snug hat knitted

in four-and-four rib. similar to the one illustrated in the bottom left-hand corner of the Kaiapoi group, cast on 118 stitches, using double-knit-ting wool and number eight needles. The hat is basically a tube with a shaped top and enough length for a generous turn-back around the face. Knit in a straight four-and-four rib for 50 rows, i.e. about 30cm, and form the shaping in the last 10 rows, thus — in the first row, work three stitches then knit two stitches together, and repeat • to the end of the row. These decreasings are repeated in the fifth row. In the ninth row, work two stitches and knit two together throughout, and in the tenth row, work one stitch and knit two together throughout the row. Break off the wool and run through the remaining stitches. Draw up firmly and fasten off securely. Sew up. Another style of knitted

hat that is becoming increasingly popular is the hat with a Peruvian flavour. (See drawing). This very individual and practical piece of headgear has ear-flaps and often a tassel on top. The genuine South American product is made of llama or alpaca wool, in soft creams and browns. So choose New Zealand handspun wool in similar colours, or a group of bright colours for fairisle. The Peruvian hat is knitted on four needles with a finer wool than the ribbed hat, say three or four ply; Cast on MO-120 stitches depending on head size, and knit the basic cap in stocking=stitch, shaping as for the previous hat. When this is completed, knit up 25 stitches on each side of the lower edge, to form the ear-flaps. Crocheted ties may be attached to the ends of the flaps, and the hat given a decorative crochet edging.