Thank you, Knit Café!

I was in Knit Café yesterday, spending my birthday gift certificate (Yay, Jenny!), when I saw this great seamless hat. I could tell it was knit in the round but I couldn't figure out how the top was seamed so perfectly.

So I made the hat last night and thought I would get smart and use the three-needle bind-off I love so well -- well, without first turning the hat inside out, the three-needle technique left a visible seam across the top of the hat. Not in itself a bad thing, but also not the hat I wanted.

So I went to Knit Café first thing this morning and at long last I can perform the dreaded Kitchener Stitch needed to finish this hat.



The recipe:

Size 11 16" circular needles
I cast on 45 stitches so I would have an odd number to do my seed stitch
Yarn is 1 50g ball of Mondial Genius (100% wool) in the pink/cream/red color variety (0995)

This hat is knit entirely in the round with no decreasing - yay - the whole thing takes like two hours and you don't even have to pay much attention -

The finished product is too big for a baby but would be good for most kids. If you're doing it for a baby I'd cast on 39 or 41 stitches, depending on the yarn. This Mondial is $9.50 for the one ball and is nice and soft.

Okay you cast on and join without twisting - duh.

I did 4 rows of seed stitch, then did the rest in stockinette, which of course makes itself when you knit every row. At one point I knew there would be a long stretch of cream so I did I think 3 rows of seed stitch about 2/3 of the way up.

When the hat is about 8" high (or whenever you want), fold the work so the two needle ends are next to each other and finish the top seam with the Kitchener Stitch.

SEAMLESS HAT!

Stick on some pompoms and you're out the door!