Free Knitting Pattern: Land/Sea Hat

Since you've all waited patiently for some knitting content, I figured I'd post the hat pattern I might've mentioned months ago. I'd actually lost my pattern notes, and they turned up when I cleaned my desk. Go figure!

I made this hat and mitten set (the mittens are NOT my own pattern) as part of my charity knitting for the homeless, which was donated to The Franciscan Center.

Land-Sea Mittens

Pattern: Bev's THE Mitts by Beverly Qualheim

Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers (MC, color 9461, green)

Cascade 220 Heathers (CC, color 2423 (I think), blue)

Needles: U.S. 8

Modifications: I added 4 stitches for the men's size, 4 extra rows of ribbing for longer cuffs, and 4 extra stitches for the thumb increases. I kept the number of rows for the thumb and hand the same as the regular size denoted in the pattern because they were looking too big. As for the colors, I knit 6 rows of green and 4 rows of blue--except for the blue thumb stripe, which was 6 rows, and I knit a 6-row stripe of blue in the hand to match.

Land-Sea Hat

Pattern: my own (see below)

Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers (MC, color 9461, green)

Cascade 220 Heathers (CC, color, 2423 (I think), blue)

Needles: U.S. 6

Gauge: Was I supposed to measure this??? Oops!

Size: It fit my head circumference, but it was a little long. It fit my husband well enough, which was what I was aiming for, since these were going to be donated to men. (I know, I'm so helpful, I should just give up passing on these "patterns!")

**A note about the decreases: I had a problem devising the decreases, as this was the very first hat I knit without a pattern. I suck at math, so it was trial and error and took a lot of fudging. Anyway, this is what I did, and it didn't look half bad. Feel free to decrease however you want, and if anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to comment.**

Also, I carried the yarns. I did some fudging to make sure the stripes lined up correctly, but what that entailed I don't remember. My pattern notes, unfortunately, were not that detailed. (Believe me, I'm not giving up my day job to go into design any time soon!)

Land-Sea Hat Pattern:

Cast on 108 stitches with MC, join in round

Rounds 1-6: K2,P2

Knit 4 rows CC

From here on out, alternate 6 rounds of MC, 4 rounds CC

Continue until desired length

Decrease rounds:

Round 1: *K6,K2tog* around, end K4

Round 2 and all even rounds: Knit

Round 3: *K5,K2tog* around, end K4

Round 5: *K4,K2tog* around, end K4

Round 7: *K3,K2tog* around

Round 9: *K2,K2tog* around

Round 11: *K1,K2tog* around

Round 13: *K2tog* around

Cut yarn, leaving a tail long enough to draw through remaining stitches using a yarn needle. Pull tight, and weave in ends.

Enjoy!

If anyone finds any mistakes or knows of a way I could've done this better, please comment. I won't take it personally!

**Photos Copyright 2007 Serena M. Agusto-Cox**