Double Happy Hat

I finally finished Boy 2’s hat. It’s made of Felici (“happy” in Italian), it’s double thickness, and it’s reversible. I used less than one 50-gram ball of each colorway.

I started this as a way to use some of my older Felici stash without making socks. Boy 2 adores Felici (he is a sucker for anything soft) but he’s not wearing socks right now. He likes hats, though!

I based this very loosely on the Knitted Basic Hat “Formula” Pattern. But I began with a crochet provisional CO. I cast on 128 stitches and then worked 1x1 twisted rib for 18 rounds. I followed that with 38 rounds of stockinette stitch before beginning the crown decrease. I made sure to secure the ends VERY well (as in, I used a knot) before finishing. I’ve had too many kids’ hats start to gape open at the top before.Then I did the same thing again with another colorway. (The blue is called “Marine Life” and the green is “Aquarium.”) Here they are, ready to be joined.I had a devil of a time picking up the CO. I think this is because of the twisted rib. If I make this again, I will knit the first round and then move into twisted rib. I joined the two with the 3 needle bindoff in purl (which creates a nice fold line), using a larger needle to make sure it didn’t make the ribbing too tight.If I make this again, I would also make it a little bigger. The circumference is really fine for Boy 2, but I would probably cast on a few more stitches just to make sure there was some grow room. I would also add more stockinette before beginning the crown decrease. This is like a little watch cap and I prefer a more substantial hat. I had 16 grams of blue left and 17 grams of green (I used the blue for the BO), so I could have made it bigger.

But the kid loves it! This morning, I kept an eye on him at the bus stop from the living room window, and every time I looked he had flipped his hat around again. Blue! Green! Blue! Green!

Here’s a closeup of the BO. It really is quite tidy.

You know, this could be a good way to use up odds and ends of sock yarn. You could combine them in color schemes and make reversible hats.

Hmmmmmmm……..