This hat turned out to be very 1920s in style – feel like I should be dancing the Charleston when I’m wearing it. I like the feel of the fabric – knitting on this size of needles makes it very dense. The hat has a shaped brim in linen stitch; the main body of the hat is reverse stocking stitch. You knit the brim on straight needles then join it and knit the rest in the round.
Project details
Yarn: One 100g ball of Rowan Cocoon, scrap of Rowanspun Aran
Patterns: The Not-Just-For-Chemo Reversible Cloche (Ravelry) and Simple Knitted Rose and Leaf (Ravelry)
Needles: 4.5mm straight and double-pointed needles
Size: medium
Changes to pattern
I had some problems with the linen stitch band – had to rip it back and start again after getting hopelessly lost and confused with the pattern. I simplified the pattern for the band after a second attempt had to be abandoned:
Rows 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19: K1, sl1wyif – repeat to end of row
Rows 2, 6, 10, 14, 18: P1, sl1wyib – repeat to end of row
Rows 4, 8, 12, 16, 20: P1, sl1wyib 22 times; dec 2; P1, sl1wyib 18 (16, 14, 12, 10) times; dec 2, P1, sl1wyib 22 times
dec 2 = P2tog, yarn back, sl1 purlwise, cast off 1, yarn fwd
Doing the decreases this way makes an OK-shaped brim – it’s not quite as nice as the original pattern but much easier to knit.
Embellishments
There was just about enough yarn to finish the hat. It looked a bit plain when complete so I added a knitted flower) and a narrow band (3 stitches of stocking stitch). I ran out of wool half-way through making the flower so made the edge of it and the band out of some leftover Rowanspun Aran.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Lovely, just really lovely !
I thank you very much for this beautiful vintage hat pattern.
I’m thrilled !
Very Best Regards,
Elise
Thank you!
Most impressed! Particularly like the knitted rose.
Just stumbled onto your site searching for a knit cloche pattern. This is exactly what I was looking for! Love those shapes from long ago–elegant and simple. Your work is lovely! Thanks for the pattern, I’m going to try my hand at it!
Just fell in love with this hat! But after six miserable attempts, and a near loss of my sanity, I must admit that I cannot knit the linen stitch. Is there an alternative brim stitch?
Hi Peggy
I can sympathise with knitting-related loss of sanity having been there myself. You could try knitting the brim in moss stitch instead – it’s a pretty firm stitch and I think it would give a similar effect. I guess you’d need to decrease two stitches together (like I ended up doing in my modification) so that you can keep the moss stitch pattern right. Not sure quite how this would look but might be worth experimenting with. Good luck!
Steph
Love this hat going to get a start on this soon…real vintage looking..and I love vintage
I love to learn to knit too. I will try to knit this one and if i have trouble, I will see my mother in law who is a good knitter. :) Thanks for sharing.
How can I get this pattern?
Love this hat
Hi Lucille
Sorry, have been ignoring the blog for a while so this is a very late reply. In case it’s still useful, the pattern is based on Mary Keenan’s reversible cloche on Ravelry.
Steph
How many stitches do you cast on with?
I think I cast on 122 stitches. You can find the pattern here.