Fibermania

Warm Bonnet for A Big Girl

Over the weekend I fell in love with this hat designed by the Great Elizabeth Zimmerman. I didn't have the pattern but that didn't stop me from trying to figure it out and make one my size.

Now I know I am no baby, but this is precisely the kind of hat that will keep my head warm since I insist on getting a very short haircut everytime I visit the salon.

The original bonnet has a very cute bull's eye in the back and I decided that would not be a good look on my head, so I fashioned a long mitered rectangle instead.

O you laugh! But you try and take pictures of your head from the back. It took me 34 tries to get these few in focus.

My husband calls this a beat-up hat. Which means that if I wore it to school the kids would beat me up. But then I don't go to school, so I have nothing to fear.

I love anything mitered (no surprise) so this was right up my alley. I used short rows on the neck ribbing to make it slightly longer in back.

The back miter is picked up from the edge of the finished front part, which by the way are two mitered squares of 41 sts, with 20 stitches between the left and the right mitered squares.

102 sts cast on in bulky yarn and size 8 needles. The back miter part is around 60 sts.

The recipe follows, and it is so flexible that you can use whatever works for you.

Recipe for Warm Bonnet for a Big Girl

Since there are so many choices of yarn, needles, and gauge, I thought it would be easiest if you made a garter stitch mitered square swatch to determine the number of stitches to cast on. It is always a good idea to slip the first stitch of every row, to make it easier to pick up stitches later, and to provide a neat edge.

The top of the hat is a rectangle consisting of two miters and the space between. To make it simple, count the number of stitches on ONE side of your miter as x.

So your mitered square is x + one center stitch + x. The number of stitches between the two ends (the two miters) is equal to x. That's all the math there is.

The back is accomplished by picking up stitches along the edge of the front band and decreasing at the top ( you decide where) until only one stitch remains. Then the remaining stitches are closed with a three needle bind off. The optional ribbing at the bottom is made by picking up stitches along the edge and knitting to desired length, loosely binding off. Add I-cord ties to the ribbing. Questions? Email me.