A. Karen Alfke

for Unpatterns   2010

TDH Hats from the Top Down (any gauge)
WEB EXCLUSIVE

We first met the top-down-hat idea in a magazine article many years ago. We wrestled and practiced and frogged and slaved, and eventually got good at it. Now it is our favorite way to make hats and the magazine has vanished. Here Alfke, with her intuitive command of the art, presents another Unpattern designed to get rid of the wrestling and whatnot phase and guide you directly to success. You begin with a little I-cord bit (like on a French beret), or not, depending on what pleases you. Depending on your gauge (there are splendid charts), she has you work either 5 or 7 wedges on the crown to bring it to the right size for the intended wearer. You can use DPN's, two circulars, or Magic Loop for the small I-cord tube; Alfke covers them all, and gives you a gorgeous worksheet to use over and over again. Tips abound and the whole effect (because the pattern is beautifully laid out and presented, too) is one of inevitable satisfaction and competence. A bottom-up version can be found here. See the entire Unpatterns collection here.