Woolly Wormhead is a genius! I love this hat pattern! My 1st short-row pattern, and it was a joy to knit because the instructions were so clear, concise, and well written. NOTE: WATCH WOOLLY’S VIDEO EXPLAINING HOW TO KNIT HER SHORT ROWS! This was my first foray into short rows, I don’t know if they’re all constructed like this. Whatever, Woolly’s Toph pattern turned out great.

The garter stitch short-rows build the body of the hat. There are fewer short rows at what will become the crown of the hat, so the curve of the crown naturally forms without any stitch decreases. When you seam the cap, voila, the crown is perfectly formed. All done, and beautifully too! The garter stitch construction makes the turns of the short rows completely invisible. Magic!!

TOPH HAT #1 with earthy/sandy rose body & green leaves - Used Dos Tierras #341 Neverland (lightly variegated earthy rose) as color #1 (background) and Arroyo #886 Diana (multihued greens, rusts, with some deep teal, and dark purples) as color #2 (leaves, or “forms” as per the pattern).

The project has a provisional cast-on, is worked flat, and when the pattern is completed the two ends of the project are joined with a Kitchener stitch graft. OOPSIE!! I forgot to do the provisional cast on! But it was no problem at all to unpick my long-tail cast-on, one stitch at a time, and get those newly-live stitches on a second circular needle. My Kitchener graft was so perfect that I didn’t have to adjust one stitch. Ok, that was NOT normal, but I was sure happy with the outcome!

I knit the smaller size hat (to fit a 21” head) by using a US3 needle. The hat is 18” at the brim and 9” high. The brim fit is just right, not too loose or too small. The crown is just a tad high, but not obnoxiously. On the photos you’ll see that I haven’t finished seaming. The crown is still open. I laid the yarn tail along the graft to identify it. When the tail is tucked away I’ll never be able to identify the graft area.

TOPH HAT #2 - Burnt Orange body with same green leaves. The Berlini yarn is 75%/25% acrylic/wool. I used the same US3 needle on both projects, knit one right after the other. The Dos Tierras hat was 9” high at the crown, while the Berlini hat was 10” high. Both were 18” circumference. The Berlini acrylic yarn didn’t compress as much as the 100% wool Dos Tierras yarn, so, the hat was taller at the crown. Would prefer a shorter crown. I’m already knitting a 3rd Toph hat, but on future projects will revise the pattern for a shorter crown. This is a GREAT pattern, easy to follow directions (see NOTE above), The completed hats are just beautiful.

Big thanks to Woolly Wormhead for her wonderful patterns!