How to knit a silly hat....

...for a crazy kid.  Lord knows what's going on inside that head.

Although I tried, I couldn't convince Cameron that a conventional beanie with a single pompom on top was better than looking like Blinky Bill.  But he's only six, so I will excuse his lack of savoir faire with regard to his headwear.  His friends probably won't.

I have been knitting for years, but don't extend myself too far beyond casting on, knit stitch, purl stitch, and binding off.  If you throw a cable or a bobble into the mix, I become thoroughly confused and afraid.  Besides which, it's a hat for a child, and will thus be lost or ruined within a fortnight anyway.  

Materials:
16 inch 5mm circular needle
Pair of regular 5mm needles
3 x 50g balls 8ply yarn (I used Moda Vera pure wool)
Stitch marker
Yarn needle to weave in ends and sew pompoms on.

(Note: at rest, this hat measures about 44 - 46 centimetres.)

Cast on 88 stitches.  Place a stitch marker onto your right needle to mark the beginning of the round, (and be careful not to twist your stitches!)  Work in single rib (K1,P1,K1,P1 etc.) for 24 rows.  Then work 33 rows in knit stitch only (your hat should measure 23 centimetres from beginning row).  Transfer stitches to regular needles (44 on each needle) and bind off using the three needle bind off method (use this excellent tutorial at good ol' Knitty.).  Now, I use my circular needle as the third needle when using this method.  You may not like the feeling of your circular needle bouncing about, so you can use a similarly sized double point or regular needle.   Make two pompoms with a 6.5cm outer diameter and 2.5cm inner circle (go here if you are pompom illiterate) and attach to the corners of your hat.  Weave in the ends, fold the  brim up and stick it on your child's head.  Point and laugh.

I know you are probably feeling ripped off and thinking to yourself, "That's a knitting pattern??!"   Apologies, but it is in my world.  Admittedly, it looks really very slack when you write it down and include other sites' links for all the tricky bits.  Those bloggers and instructors are a whole lot smarter than me.  Kudos to them!  Yes, when it comes to complex knitting, I have to confess that I am no Russell Crowe.

(source)

See?  Now, that looks like serious stuff.