NEW! Free Pattern – The Rockford Hat Makes a Great Gift
August is here, and at Alpaca Direct we're beginning to work on our holiday gift knitting. Kelley loves to knit hats for Christmas gifts! To help us all get started with our holiday knitting, Kelley designed a brand new free knitted hat pattern for us using light worsted alpaca yarn. The Rockford Hat is a syncopated rib hat that will fit almost everyone thanks to the ribbing.
The Rockford Hat knit pattern was designed for comfort and versatility. It works great with 100% baby alpaca yarn which is drapey and very soft. The ribbed design offers structure to your hat and is knit at a tighter gauge to keep your head extra warm on those chilly nights.
The top of the hat has five decrease points to give a more slouchy look. While designing this pattern, Kelley figured out a way to make Slip-Slip-Knit stitches a little tidier that you'll want to use all the time!
How to Make Tidier SSK Decreases
A traditional Slip-Slip-Knit decrease is worked by slipping two stitches knitwise, individually, then knitting them through the back loop. Even when pulling the working yarn tight, Kelley found that the SSK decrease would appear slightly asymmetrical – but still better than not pulling the yarn tight. To fix this asymmetrical lean, she slips one stitch as if to knit then returns it to the left needle, knits two stitches together through the back loop, and finishes by pulling the working yarn to snug up the stitch.