Cuffed brim

I am doing some hats, just five or maybe a couple more, for my daughter to give to her church. They will be put into packages for homeless and my daughter came up with the idea of putting hats in them. She then asked me to help with a few. So I said ok.

The first hat I made was on a knitting loom. I did a short cuffed brim and as usual that brim is much thicker then I would normally like. I used the normal two strands of yarn and brought up the brim.

It's not that it doesn't work, the hat looks very nice. Still I would prefer that the cuff not be so thick that it feels tight.

So I finished this first loomed hat and started another, but I also started a couple of crocheted one. I have this yarn that is chunky and oh so nice. With the larger gauged loom I am using, the green kk, I still have to use two strands for it to be nice and warm but with crochet I only have to use one strand.

I now have two of those crocheted ones done, gee I forgot how nice those hats can be. These are just wonderful and if I didn't need them for my daughter I would be tempted to keep both for myself. I made them long so there could be a wide folded cuff for keeping the ears warmer. One is is vertical strips of green and blue, the other has a green for the top crown section and blue for the body. Had to work out that last as I had never done this on my hats before, not in my crochet pattern. Came out really nice.

As I am working these crocheted hats, I kept thinking about that too full cuffed brim. Duh, this is really an easy one to solve. You can make that cuffed brim be the thickness it needs with out being so thick that it feels stiff.

So I started one last night just to test what I was thinking. Normally I do a short cuffed brim because of that tight feeling from too thick a brim, but for this example I decided to do a very wide brim. This way the brim portion of the hat will have a little extra protection around the face and for the ears.

I haven't finished the hat yet but it looks to be coming out more of what I want. I will try this again on a shorter cuff but for now this is going to be an excellent example for me to go by.

So here is what I did.

Instead of starting with a double strand of yarn cast on with a single strand, e-wrap cast on.
Knit for 12 rows, do not count cast on as a row
Attach second strand of yarn, Knit 12 rows with the two strands held together.
Bring up the cast on row to place on pegs
Wrap and knit off the stitch and the row you brought up.

Yep it is as simple as that. You are creating a thin layer with the one strand, but doubling up for the second half of the cuff. This way you are bringing up only one single layer to sit behind that double strand layer.

This still gives you a nice thick cuff but not too thick. It has more stretch then the normal cuffed brim and feels nice.

I am also thinking this would be good for one of those wide hair bands. You know the kind that ladies wear to cover the ears but not all the hair. Work this just about the same but since there is going to be a cast off section that might show work it this way.

Say you want the band 30 row wide. Since we are going to be folding the first and second half to be behind the center rows, we actually need 31 rows.

Cast on with one strand of yarn work 8 rows, again do not count the cast on. Work 15 rows with the double strand. Work the last section with one strand for 8 rows.

Now bring up the cast on row and place on the pegs. Cast off. Use a cast off that is going to be stretchy as you need that for the bands. There are several available.

Now fold the band so the cast off is to the inside of the band and wear. I have been meaning to make a band for me and now I guess I will have to try this as soon as some other projects are completed.

Anyway, just thought for you all to think on today.