Quick and Easy Roll Brim Baby Hat

Knitted From the Top Down. Hat may be worn with the brim rolled, as the pink hat, or folded, as the blue hat.

Made on LK150 midgauge knitting machine
Millor Cordonette coned yarn, but any yarn of knitting worsted weight, that will knit to gauge
may be substituted. This will be listed as 4 on a hand knitting yarn label.
Tension 6
Gauge: 18 sts, 24 rows = 10 cm (4.5 sts, 6 rows = 1”)
Sizes NB, 6 mo, 12 mo

Hat begins at the top. Bring 65 (73, 81) needles into work pos. Using the 1 x 3 needle pusher,
bring every 4th needle all the way forward to pos D, and return all the others back to pos A (out
of work.

Place carriage on right side of bed.
T R. This is the tightest setting on the LK 150, and corresponds to 0 on other machines.

RC 000. Knit 1 row. Hang the cast on comb.

RC 001. Bring the center needle of each 3-st out of work group into work pos. Don’t worry about hanging anything on the needles; simply bring them forward into working position. Every other needle is now in work. T 3. Knit 1 row.

RC 002. Bring the remaining out of work needles forward.

65 (73, 81) needles are now in work position. T 6. Knit even to RC 44 (54, 64.)

T9. Knit 1 row. Clip yarn and remove from carriage. Begin on side opposite yarn tail. Take the first stitch off onto the tappet (latch tool), and slide the stitch back behind the latch. Take the second stitch off into the hook of the tool, then pull through the first stitch. Continue on across the bed in the same way, pulling the 3rd stitch through the second, the 4th through the 3rd, etc. At the end, pull the yarn tail through the last stitch to fasten off.

Finishing
Pull the cast on yarn tail firmly; the stitches will gather up, forming the crown of the hat. Take two or three stitches to secure the gathers, then sew the back seam. I prefer to use either a Bickford seam, or mattress stitch, going through the centers of each edge stitch, instead of a full stitch in from the edge as we usually do. These seams are less bulky, and are the ones I use for seaming most hats.

A nice touch is to reverse the seam for the bottom 2” next to the hem. This places the visible part of the seam on the outside of the hat, and it will be hidden by the roll or fold.

Hat may be trimmed with cords, tassels, or a pompom if desired. Please remember that babies put everything into their mouths; I really prefer not to use pompoms or anything that can come apart. Self-patterning and variegated or “painted” yarns add interest, but don’t take any longer to knit. Let your imagination go, and have fun.