DIY: Grey 1898 Hat and Free Pattern by Kristine Byrnes

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The Grey 1898 Hat for Karlos was a really fun knit because of its unique construction. Karlos had a very specific request for a warm winter hat. He wanted his ears to be very warm while the rest of his head remain only lightly covered. Meinhilde found this free pattern on Ravelry. She is a master at finding patterns and matching the appropriate yarn, something that is difficult for me.

Grey 1898 Hat and Free Pattern by Kristine Byrnes

The page on Ravelry states that the construction of this hat was inspired by one pictured in a magazine published around 1910. This initially made me question why the name dates it as 1898. Upon looking at the Seaman’s Church Institute website, I learned that volunteers have knit items such as hats for mariners away from home during the holidays since 1898. The Seaman’s Church Institute has over 20 free patterns for hats, scarves, and slippers, so check them out!

Grey 1898 Hat and Free Pattern by Kristine Byrnes

This hat pattern is quite plain but can be a great base for embellishments. If you look at the Ravelry project page, there are great examples of adding colourwork, Latvian braids, stripes, or colour blocking.

The Grey 1898 Hat pattern starts with a headband knit side to side and then folds over. There is an i-cord-like fold at the outer edge to keep it neat and tidy. At the completion of the headband, Kitchener stitch joins the piece together. Since Karlos specifically requested extra warmth on the ears, I added an additional layer. I used some plain roving purchased at LANDMADE a few years ago. I formed a light layer of roving over my felting needle mat and used felting needles to make an ear sized patch.

Grey 1898 Hat and Free Pattern by Kristine Byrnes
Grey 1898 Hat and Free Pattern by Kristine Byrnes

The patches hides in between the two layers of each ear flap. The pattern continues with picking up stitches on the two loose sides of the headband. This connects the brim and the crown together, as well as enclosed the patches.

Grey 1898 Hat and Free Pattern by Kristine Byrnes

I used 3.75 mm / US 5 circular needles for the head band and 4.5 mm / US 7 dpns for the crown (the pattern called for one size smaller but I didn’t have them available). The yarn is Cascade Yarns ® 220 Superwash Merino and this hat used the entire skein.

Grey 1898 Hat and Free Pattern by Kristine Byrnes

Since Karlos has a large head, I made a few adjustment to enlarge the hat. For the ear flaps, I added 4 rows at the increasing/decreasing stage on either side of the point, which added 16 extra rows. At the front, I also added 6 more rows to broaden the forehead. Hopefully this fits him well, and it might even fit underneath his bicycle helmet!

Karlos tends to run warm, so he has declined either of us knitting a sweater for him. (Instead, Meinhilde sewed him the M6044 Men’s Shirt in 2020 here). But his ears tend to get cold, especially if it’s windy out. This hat is perfect for him because of the double-layered earflaps as well as the felted wool ear inserts.

Get the free pattern for the 1898 Hat on Ravelry here.

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3 Replies to “DIY: Grey 1898 Hat and Free Pattern by Kristine Byrnes”

  1. Unusual shape which I like and grey always suits me. How clever! Wish I was so talented. #MMBC

  2. That would be perfect for keeping ears warm!

  3. creativejewishmom/sara says: Reply

    such a gorgeous hat! thanks for sharing on craft schooling sunday as always!

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