Pattern Release: Prym

Once upon a time I knit an awesome sweater in tosh dk and found myself with most of a skein leftover. Then I knit a baby sweater and had more leftovers -- and of course I couldn't bear to throw them away. At some point, it occurred to me that I could combine all the leftovers in a quick little accessory knit. And thus Prym was born.

This is a really easy, fast knit. It starts with the brim, which is knit flat and has a little short-row detail (in garter stitch, os no picking up wraps!) and a one-row buttonhole. After the brim is finished, you bind off a small number of stitches and start working in the round. It's mindless knitting until you get to the crown, which is composed of your run-of-the-mill spiral decreases.

The hat is just a little slouchy, and it's easy to make it a little slouchier by adding additional length before the crown decreases. I knit up this sample in a couple evenings and recently made another one for myself (with more tosh dk leftovers!) in a few days.

The details: You'll need approximately 135 yds./125 m of the main color and 20 yds./18 m of the contrast color for the stripe in the brim, two stitch markers, a yarn needle to weave in ends, and a 3/4 in./2 cm button. The pattern is written for DK weight yarn, but a light worsted would work well (gauge is 21 stitches and 31 rows over 4 in./10 cm). The finished hat is made to fit an average woman's head with a circumference of approximately 20 inches.

Fall is definitely in the air around here -- I wore wool socks for the first time in the season today, along with a shawl -- so I have a feeling it's just a matter of time before I need a hat, too!