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There are two things you should know. First, exploring variations on a theme is my happy place. I love to find something fun and run with it, just to see what happens. Second, duplicate stitch is magic. It’s easy (you don’t have to make any judgement calls, you’re just tracing over the existing stitches in the underlying fabric), it’s useful (it’s my very favorite way to mend thin spots in well worn knits or to handle my ends on new projects), and it can be absolutely lovely.

So it seems only fitting to combine these hats (which started with a sweet little rib and then accidentally turned into two different hats because I felt like playing around with different variations) with a duplicate stitch (which gives you nearly endless possibilities for adorning your knits). And when you put them together, you end up with something rather special!

We’ll start with the patterns for both versions of the hat. Then comes a rather extensive primer on duplicate stitch to teach you the basics and walk you through several variations. Then to get you started playing with experiments of your own, we’ll end with six different ways to duplicate stitch on the hats.

So whether you make the hats and leave them plain, make the hats and dress them up, or decide to stitch all over an entirely different project, you’ll find something to experiment with. Because it’s good to have options, and I’m always looking for an excuse to try just one more version of whatever I’m up to!

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General information

This 52-page e-book starts off with both hat patterns, then moves on to a primer on duplicate stitch (covering things like what to embroider on, what to embroider with, how to manage your ends, and washing and blocking your work), then explores a few variations on duplicate stitch, and finishes up with six specific examples of how to use duplicate stitch to adorn the hats, just to show off what it can do!

It walks you through everything you need to start using duplicate stitch to dress up your knits (and yes, you can totally use this on store bought knits as well)!

Skills & scope

The actual knitting on the hats is surprisingly simple. You’ll start the brim with a simple little rib, then set to work making that rib wrap round the sides of the hat, then finish everything off with some of the loveliest decreases I ever did see.

The pattern uses charts, so you will need to know how to follow a knitting chart.

As for the embroidery, if you can thread yarn (or embroidery floss, or ribbon, or whatever else you’d like to stitch with) onto a needle and find a column of stitches in your fabric, you can do this! You don’t even have to know how to knit to use the embroidery instructions, you can absolutely work these stitches on fabric you didn’t make.

Yarn, gauge & sizing

The hats come in four sizes (from a 72 stitch cast on to a 120 stitch cast on) and are written for five gauges (from three and a half to six stitches per inch in half stitch increments). That means you can use just about any weight of yarn from fingering up through worsted, and there will be a size to fit pretty much anyone’s head. Basically anything that will give you a fabric with a drape you like somewhere in that range of gauges will work.

The hats in the pictures took about 175 yards of sport-weight yarn. If you’re working with thinner yarn, 250 yards is a safer bet.

Tools & supplies

For the knitting, you’ll need needles that let you work in the round (circulars or DPNs) in whatever size lets you get a solid fabric with your chosen yarn plus the general knitting tools you need for most projects (scissors to cut your yarn, a darning needle to weave in ends, the occasional stitch marker or bit of scrap yarn to hold stitches).

For the embroidery, all you need is something to embroider on, something to embroider with, and a blunt needle. You can knit the fabric you embroider on yourself if you’re so inclined, or you can work on existing fabric. This is a fantastic way to use up tiny scraps of yarn (pieces as short as a yard or two are perfect) or leftover bits of precious handspun or luxury fibers.

The only other thing you need is a blunt needle to stitch with (the one you use for weaving in your ends is probably perfect).

Note

The hat (Penchant) is also available as a stand alone pattern. If you already have the hat, and now find you want the expansion pack, I’ve got everything set up so whatever you already spent on the hat pattern will count towards the cost of the set. You don’t need to do anything to make that happen, it’ll just work (just be sure you’re logged into whatever ravelry account you were using when you bought the hat).

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published in March 2023

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