Machine Knitted Child's Hat by Beas FrogPond

Machine Knitted Child's Hat

Machine Knitting
February 2016
Fingering (14 wpi) ?
18 stitches and 55 rows = 4 inches
300 - 400 yards (274 - 366 m)
Child age 5-6, adaptable to more sizes
English German
This pattern is available as a free Ravelry download

This is a machine knitting pattern fashioned after a traditional German/Dutch hand knitting pattern. There are many variations and this one must be knit on a double bed knitting machine. Since it involves racking to shape the knitting this same method CANNOT be used on a single bed machine.

The instructions are written for the Passap Duomatic 80 but can be adapted to any other double bed machine with racking capability.
The hat is knitted sideways in a zig-zag shape in 6 sections (see diagram). Each section ends with a non-racking row, which reverses the slanting directions. The hat has a back seam and two short seams on top.

Given is the basic pattern without any color changes. Colors can be changed as desired as long as the racking rhythm is not interrupted. For symmetry, the colors in sections 1, 2 and 3 should be mirrored in sections 4, 5 and 6.
(Instructions for color changes like the sample hat are given below.)

For a different size, changes can be made to the number of stitches, which adjusts the height of the hat (in the diagram A to B), or the row numbers of the sections for the width (in the diagram A to A). Make sure sections 1, 2, 5 and 6 have the same number of rows, and sections 3 and 4 have the same number of rows.