The Wimbledon Beanie

I tend to watch a lot more television than is good for me, but I try to use my viewing time constructively by knitting while I watch.

Lately I've been knitting a lot of beanies for charity. I like to vary them a bit to keep from getting bored, but I also need to keep it simple so that I don't need to look at what I'm doing.

This is one I completed a couple of days ago.

I call it the Wimbledon Beanie because of the colour scheme. Had I not been watching the tennis when I started this one, I doubt I'd have put green and purple together.

I was really pleased to get the spiral effect with very little effort, so I thought I'd share the stitch for anyone who's interested in making a similar beanie for themselves.

As I work on a circular knitting needle to avoid sewing (my pet hate), all rows are knit.

Circular needles available at Amazon
http://amzn.to/29vFTWq

Row 1,3,5: using purple - knit
Row 2: using green - *knit 2, slip 1 purlwise*, repeat until last stitch, knit 1
Row 4: using green - knit 1, *slip 1 purlwise, knit 2*, repeat to end
Row 6: using green - *slip 1 purlwise, knit 2*, repeat until last stitch, slip 1 purlwise

My basic beanie pattern is pretty straightforward. In this case I used double knit wool and a 7.5mm needle, so I cast on 70 stitches, but I vary the number of stitches based on what thickness of wool and needles I'm using. When going for the spiral effect, the important thing for a seamless transition between rows is that the number of stitches should be a multiple of 3 + 1.

I don't recommend using chunky wool for this pattern though as I tried it and the spiral effect got lost.

I started out with 6 rows of rib (knit 1, purl 1) before changing to the pattern. The number of stitches remains constant until I reach the required length - approximately 20cm (just under 8 inches). My only shaping is one decrease row: *knit 2 together*, repeat to end.

I don't cast off, but simply cut the wool, leaving a long enough tail to pull through all the stitches. I then knot the end and sew a few inches of the remaining wool into the wrong side to prevent the knot from coming undone.

And that's it.

---

Linking up with Nifty Thrifty Sunday.