A Mingled Yarn

I LOVE making top-down hats for so many reasons. First, you can just grab a skein of anything you like and just start. The size and length is determined as you progress. And if you don’t like your choices for stitch pattern or a row or the finishing, you can simply pull back to where you want to make a change without having to start all over again!

Often with a worsted-weight yarn I find I can make a pair of fingerless gloves and a matching hat. But the advantage of the Top-Down Hat is that if I find myself a little short of yarn and can simply add some striping or a different finishing technique (which can also be added to the fingerless gloves if desired).

Karen Alfke provides instructions for several finishing techniques including one of my favorites: the i-chord bind off. This makes a beautiful finished edge and is a wonderful way of using really spectacular yarns. You know, those single skeins you pick up because they’re so beautiful but that are too expensive to get enough for a large project. Or the really lovely yarn you loved but only have a small amount left-over from another project.

This multi-page pattern including multiple edging stitches for finishing is
KA-02: $6.00