Pattern for the Flame Hat

It was requested of me to make a pattern for the Flame Hat so here goes.

Double-Knitted Flame Hat

Notes: You could just knit this as fair isle, but its intended recipient, works outside so I wanted it to be extra warm and double-knitted it. You could also use other colors if you are so inclined. I was thinking about knitting a Black and Blue one for my hubby who loves Blue.

Materials: 1 ball Patons Classic Wool Merino Black, 1 ball Patons Classic Wool Merino Red, 1 set of 5 dpns in US size 7.

Setup: Measure the intended recipient's head or guess. There are lots of resources out there for average head sizes. Then knit a swatch and determine what gauge you are getting. Do the match and figure out how many stitches you will need to cast on. (I needed a total of 70 stitches. Therefore I used the whole chart twice. You can use only part of the chart or more if needed.)

Cast on double your total number of stitches. I used the Long Tail cast on loosely, but you could use any loose cast on that you like. (The double is for the double-knitting, see below for double-knitting notes) Divide stitches evenly onto 4 needles. Join into a round, being careful not to twist. At this point I worked one complete round in black because I wanted it to start totally with black. Then I attached the red and continued, following the chart. (I did not include a folded brim on this hat so if you want that, you will have to work more plain rounds before starting the chart.)

Work the whole chart and then work in solid black on front and red on back until the work measures about the length of the recipient's hand from heel of hand to tip of middle finger. Then it should be long enough to do decreases. (If you made a folded brim, work until it is this length folded so it isn't too short.)
I was worried about the two sides pulling together too much so I did one round with red on the outside and then one back to black and then did the decreases.

Double-Knitting Notes: When double-knitting what you are essentially doing is creating stockinette stitch on both sides of your work. You have one side facing you and one side facing away. You have twice the number of stitches that are on the chart. (I actually had 4 times the number since I worked the chart twice on each round of the hat) One of them is the front of the work and one is the back.Therefore the first stitch will be knit and the second purled this is true throughout the whole work. With two colors like this when you begin you should have every other stitch black and the others red. This is because where you see black on the chart, you will have black on the front and red on the back. So you will knit a black stitch and then purl a red stitch for each stitch on the chart. For example: The first round is black so the first stitch is knit black and the second is purled red. Continue around. Then the next round, you want the outside of what you are working on to be red so you knit the first stitch in red and purl the second in black. (Essentially at this point you are changing all the stitches so if it's red, purl it black; if it's black, knit it red.) Then change them back for the third row which is black. Now it gets trickier. You have to follow the chart and change the stitches as shown on the chart. If you just remember that the knit is what is facing you and the purl is what is away and each stitch on the chart has two stitches on your needles, then you should be fine.

(I do not take credit for the double knitting ideas. I found resources online and that's how I learned to do it. If you are new to it, you may want to do a swatch to get used to it. It's pretty easy once you get going though.) One resource I found helpful was : Stitch Diva Studios go there to learn from a pro.

Decreases: Pick a number that divides equalling into your total. Since it is 70 stitches for me, I chose 10. I worked 8 (16 in the double-knitting) and then knit two together(Ten total used). Then purled two together for the inside.

Work one round plain then decrease the number worked plain by 1 (so work 7 plain and then knit/purl two together.) Continue doing this until you are knitting/purling two together all the way around.

Break yarn and thread through remaining stitches pull tight and weave in ends. (I did this twice. Once inside with red and once outside with black so that I could have a solid black top on one side and a solid red top on the other.

The Black/Red version

The Inside (When you are knitting it) Red/Black.

Enjoy.

If you have questions please feel free to email me. It has not been test-knit from this pattern.