A new hat, a new stitch?

In an effort to do Tunisian in the round in an easy fashion, I played  around with crochet stitches the other night..this resulted in me trying out a hat, which I think came out looking good!….though, decidedly better on my boyfriend…so he got a new hat instead of me.

My plan of attack was to make a crochet stitch that really resembled a knit stitch, much like the Tunisian knit stitch. But without the hassle of working Tunisian in the round..which I have yet to really master.

What I did was to make a foundation row, much like Tunisian: a row of single crochet, followed by a row of spike stitches. These spike stitches make it possible to work the following rows much like Tunisian knit-you insert the hook thru the v made by the spike stitch, pull up a loop, then yo and pull thru the two on the hook.  Essentially, a single crochet made into the spike stitch. This pulls the stitch around, making them look like knit stitches! YAY! The only problem I’ve had so far is making my tension too tight…that’s a giant pain in the arse cuz it makes the next row really difficult to work! So, I’ve used larger hooks than usual to get myself to loosen up. I’m working on a second hat just for myself, since my first one looks pretty darn weird with my short hair.

Here’s D with his new hat:

He looks so happy, huh?

Here’s a close up of the hat so you can see the stitches:

I promise I’ll put up some better pics than with my phone….I just was feelin lazy and didn’t want to charge my camera battery. hehe

Anywho, if you’d like to make this hat, I’m adding the pattern! I’ll add the other one once it’s finished too. I really would welcome some feedback on this, as I have yet to see anyone else do this! If someone has and it has a name, cool! If not, I’ve dubbed it the knit single crochet, or ksc.

P.S.-easiest way to insert the hook is slightly from right to left thru the center (reverse that if you’re a leftie)

 

Materials

F hook

H hook

Worsted weight yarn in

Main Color-MC

Contrast Color-CC

 

With MC, ch 11

Sc in second ch from hook, and then across. 10 sts. Ch 1, turn.

Row 1: sc in back loop only in each st across. 10 sts.

Repeat this row until band is about 19” (I have a big head) Do no ch 1 after last row

Pic of ribbing:

Joining:  Without twisting, line up ends together and join each matching st with a slip st.

Switch to CC and H hook.Ch 1

Pick up by sc 75 sts. Join with sl st to first sc. Ch 1

Round 1: Sc around, join with sl st. 75 sts. Ch 1

Round 2: Spike st in each st(making sure to do so fairly loosely. Important for next round) going under each sc around. Join w sl st. 75 sts.  Ch 1

Round 3: Here is the fun round! You will sc around, BUT YOU HAVE TO INSERT YOUR HOOK INTO THE V OF SPIKE STITCH. You’re essentially making the knit stitch of Tunisian crochet. Make sure to keep tension loose-it helps a lot. Trust me-it sucks if you do things too tightly. This will make your stitches look like knitting!! Without having to do Tunisian in the round!! Whoopee!! Hmm…I have yet to find anyone else who’d done this, so for this pattern at least I’m going to call this stitch Knit Single Crochet or ksc.

Ksc around, join with sl st.  75 sts. Ch 1

Repeat round 3 twice more.

Switch to MC, and work 4 rounds of ksc.

Work in this pattern so that you have 5 stripes-3 in CC, 2 in MC.

Start decreases

Round 1: In MC,  ch 1 and *ksc 13, then ksc2tog (just as a reg sc dec basically)* repeat * to * around. 70 sts.

Round 2: ch 1, *ksc 12, ksc2tog* repeat * to * around. 65 sts. note-when working into a ksc that was a decrease, insert hook into both v’s made by the decrease.

Round 3: ch 1, *ksc 11, ksc2tog* repeat *to* around. 60 sts.

Round 4: ch 1, *ksc 10, ksc2tog* repeat *to* around. 55 sts.

Round 5: Switch to CC, ch 1, *ksc 9, ksc2tog* repeat *to* around. 50 sts.

Round 6: Ch 1, *ksc 8, ksc2tog* repeat *to* around. 45 sts.

Round 7: Ch 1, *ksc 7, ksc2tog* repeat *to* around. 40 sts

Round 8:  Ch 1, *ksc 6, ksc2tog* repeat *to* around. 35 sts

Round 9: Switch to MC, ch1, *ksc 5, ksc2tog* repeat *to* around. 30sts

Round 10: Ch 1, *ksc 4, ksc2tog* repeat *to* around. 25 sts

Round 11: Ch 1, *ksc 3, ksc2tog* repeat *to* around. 20 sts

Round 12: Ch 1, *ksc 2, ksc2tog* repeat *to* around. 15 sts

Round 13: Ch 1, *ksc 1, ksc2tog* repeat *to* around. 10 sts

Round 14: Ch 1, ksc2tog around. 5 sts

Break yarn leaving a tail for sewing.  Thread tail into sewing needle, and thread thru front loops of sts, pulling tight to close hole.  Finish off, and weave in ends.

I was so thrilled! 🙂 Please tell me how this works out for you if you try it, even if you just try out the stitch. I really would like some feedback on this!