Pom-Pom'd Hat

Skill level: Beginner.
Skills required: Cast on, knit, purl.

Materials:

• One 50g skein of yarn;
• 6mm circular needles 15 cm in length;
• darning needle;
• two pieces of cardboard or sturdy paper about 5cm² (2" squared);
• scissors for cutting yarn;
• scissors for cutting the paper or carboard.

Hat.

CO 60 stitches on circular 6mm needles, loosely. Makes a rather loose hat, for a woman. Or, for a man with a rather large head. If you would like a tighter hat, CO 56 stitches, loosely.

Work approx 30 rows in 2x2 ribbing, or until you obtain the length you would like.

Try tube on. You will look ridiculous. It will be funny. You will also get an idea for the cuff length, should you like to add one. I wanted my hat to come to just below my ears. If you would like it to fold over itself to give a cuff, go on for as long as you'd like that cuff to be.

Row 1 : *K2 tog, P1 repeat from * to end of row. (45 stitches remain on needles.)
Row 2, 3: *K1, P1 repeat from * to end of row.
Row 4, 5: *K2 tog, repeat from * to end of row. (7 stitches remain on needles.)

To bind off, cut yarn about 15 cm from end of work, while still on needles. Thread yarn through live stitches using your darning needle. Remove circular needles. Pull threaded yarn tight, darn ends in hat. Try hat on again. Marvel in cleverness.


Pom-pom.

1. Cut two doughnut shaped circles out of cardboard or sturdy paper (the larger the middle circle, the smaller the pom-pom), like so:
2. Wrap yarn all the way around. The more yarn, the fluffier the pom-pom.
3. Cut yarn on edge, between the two pieces of cardboard. Hold together.
4. Cut piece of yarn about 15cm (6") long. Wrap yarn around between the two pieces of cardboard a few times. Tie a small knot and pull tight. Slide cardboard off the pom-pom. Laugh at wonderfulness of pom-pom. Play with pom-pom for a few minutes. Retrieve pom-pom from cat.

5. Sew pom-pom to top of hat using tail ends. Ta-da!