This Pattern is Retired…but you can (probably) get it in November

I have a lot of patterns! But I also get overwhelmed if I have to deal with them all at once. So I’ve picked 12 of my favorites (the Core Collection) to keep around. Then every few months, I decide on a theme or a technique and make a handful of related patterns (the Rotating Collection) available for a little while (then they go away again).

The other patterns are retired and are not generally available. However, because I know some folks will want them, I make many of the retired patterns available for a few weeks every November. If you want me to tell you when they’re back, subscribe to the mailing list or patreon, and I’ll let you know!

• If you see the buy buttons on this page, you’ve caught it on one of the days it’s available!
• If you don’t see the buy buttons on this page, it’s not currently available.
• If you want to hear when the retired patterns are available (most likely in November), subscribe to the mailing list or patreon, or keep an eye on my instagram.

I like slouchy hats. I actually kind of love slouchy hats. They are absolutely adorable.

On other people.

On me I always worry I’ll do something wrong when I put them on (especially if I’m somewhere where I can’t see what I’m doing) and it’ll look like I put a potato sack on my head.

So I decided to fix that.

I made a hat where you can lock in just the perfect amount of slouch when you finish the hat and it’ll just stay like that. All on its own. Forever. No matter how many times you shove it in your coat pocket or toss it in the back seat of your car.

And I have to say, this has significantly improved my experience of wearing slouch hats. All I have to do is put the rumpled part in the back (something I can more or less manage even if I can’t see what I’m doing) and trust that it looks adorable.

Now of course, if you are more stylish and confident in your fashion choices than I am (and you probably are!), you totally don’t have to do the neat little magic trick to lock in the slouch ahead of time. You can totally skip that bit and trust in your innate ability to make your hat look awesome every time you put it on. I have complete faith in you.

But I? I with my potato sack fears and persistent sense that I might be doing hats wrong? I’ll totally be cheating and doing mine ahead of time!

The hat is written in five sizes (castons of 80, 88, 96, 104, or 112 stitches), and you should feel free to adjust your gauge a bit to fine tune the fit of the hat. Just be sure that you’re working at a gauge that gives you a fabric you like with your chosen yarn!

I recommend working at something around 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, or 6 stitches per inch, and I’ve included a table to help you figure out what gauge you’ll want to use for your size. With that range of sizes and gauges, the hat will fit a head between 19 and 24.75 inches (with lots of points in between).

I’ve knit mine with a strand of sock yarn and a strand of laceweight mohair held together. You don’t have to use two yarns held together, but I do recommend using a yarn (or yarns) that give you a drapey fabric (one that crumples easily and is not too stiff). That means you’ll probably be working at a looser gauge (fewer stitches per inch) and with bigger needles than you might expect.
I also think something with a bit of a halo (like you get from a yarn with mohair or alpaca or something else fuzzy) lets you knit a bit more loosely, which gives you that softer drape, while still looking like a solid fabric. So if you’re not holding two yarns together, I recommend considering yarn that’s a bit fuzzy (such as a yarn with some alpaca or mohair or angora content).