Goblin Hat, first iteration

Ever wonder what the design process is for a pattern? Me, too. It turns out that sometimes, it’s as simple as a friend asking, “Can you make me a goblin hat?”

Any why a goblin hat? Because of Paizo, the publishing company that pretty much revitalized Dungeons & Dragons for him. And his uber cute, not even a month old baby daughter, who shall be the perfect size to impersonate goblins for a few years yet to come.

My husband being the tolerant fellow he is, allowed me to take his picture in this first iteration of the Goblin Hat. As you can see, it’s a little bigger than the size needed for a child under 3 months of age. In fact, it’s a tight fit for an adult and a slightly loose fit for the same friend’s first born, who has only recently passed the 4 year mark. Too bad she doesn’t wear hats. (And, yes, that is my honey’s Lego collection in the background).

So, with the understanding that more iterations will come, here’s the pattern for what I did.

Discussion, or How I Really Knit This

When I knit this pattern, I used the Magic Loop style of knitting in the round, and worked the ear flaps and the ears at the same time, using the outside and inside ends of my yarn ball.

The first iteration I present below. The hat came out toddler sized, but stretched to fit my (very tolerant) husband.

Set Up Stuff

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Dark Green (Worsted Weight)

Yardage: less than 100 yards / meters (sorry, didn’t get an exact count)

Needles: US 6 (4.00mm)
[don’t you hate it when you see a pattern that only gives you “size 6 needles”? Is that a European 6 or a US 6 or is that 6mm?]

Ear Flaps

CO 3 sts
Row 1: k kfb k (4 sts)
2: k
3: k kfb kfb k (6 sts)
4: k
5: k kfb k2 kfb k (8 sts)
6: k3, p to last 3 st, k3
7: k kfb, k to last 2 st, kfb k (+2 sts)
8-16: repeat rows 6 & 7 (18 sts)
17: k
18-22: repeat rows 6 & 17

Move 1st ear flap to waste yarn, & make 2nd ear flap the same way.

Hat Body

Starting on row 23 of 2nd ear flap, knit across flap, CO 12 sts, knit across row 23 of second ear flap, CO 12 sts, PM for start of round & join to work in the round (60 sts)

Work between 2.5″ and 3″ of knitting every round ( aprox 12 rounds), then divide into 8 sections of 7-8-7-8-7-8-7-8 stitches.

Decrease Rounds:

1: in every section of 8 sts, decrease at end of section by k2tog (56 sts)
2 and all even rounds: knit
3: [k5, k2tog] x8 (48 sts)
5: [k4, k2tog] x8 (40 sts)
7: [k3, k2tog] x8 (32 sts)
9: [k2, k2tog] x8 (24 sts) – seeing the pattern yet?
11: [k1, k2tog] x8 (16 sts)
13: k2tog x8 (8 sts)
15: k2tog x4 (4 sts)

After round 15, break year, thread onto needle and draw through remaining 4 sts, then down into the center of the hat, drawing tight, and weave in ends.

Ears

worked in St st

[left | right] ear instructions

Note: Where the pattern says “decrease 1”, on the smooth side, I did matching k2tog and ssk decreases 1 stitch in from the edge. On the bumpy sides, I did p2tog and ssp (also 1 stitch in from the edge). They don’t show up so much, so don’t stress on this part, please! 🙂

CO 16 sts, leaving a 12 inch (or slightly longer) tail
1-8: St st
9-16: staying in St st, decrease 1 at [start|end] every odd row
17-19: St st
20-27: staying in St st, decrease 1 at [start|end] every row
28-36: as rows 9-16, until 1 st remains.
37: K1

Break yarn and pull through remaining st. Weave in end.

Fold over 4 columns from the straight edge to form the top of the ear before attaching.

Using tail, attach to ear flap.

Finishing

I ended up using a lighter shade of green yarn and single crocheting around the brim of the hat, then I cut two equal (3-4 yard/meter?) lengths of the lighter green and used a crochet hook to start a set of I-cord dangles from the bottom edges of the ear flaps, through which I threaded the tail ends of those pieces. It did not help with the curl on the straight Stockinet edges of the brim.

Abbreviations Used

CO – Cast On, in the method of your choice
St st – Stockinet Stitch (alternate knit and purl rows)
st(s) – stitch(es)
k – knit
kfb – knit front and back, the basic M1 increase
p – purl
k2tog – knit two (stitches) together
ssk – slip as if to knit, pass back to working needle and knit together with following stitch
p2tog – purl two (stitches) together
ssp – slip as if to knit, pass back to working needle and purl together with following stitch