Sproinger- Free Pattern

Desperate-need-to-take-a-break-from-my-thesis presents: Sproinger! 'Cause I couldn't think of a better name ;-)

The first few photos show it in it's unblocked, extremely springy state. It's REALLY warm like that too, because the ribbing makes the fabric bunch up all thick and cozy-like. The last photo is closer to my original vision, after blocking it on a roll of paper towel covered in a plastic bag.




(very...flat. Heh. Of course, you, being the stylish cad that you are, wouldn't pull it down over your ear all funny like that.)

Blocked, it's nice and floppy:




Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted (in this case, donated by that nice RAKer)
Needles: size 8, 16 inch circ (and dpns if you want them, or even straights for the flat part.)
Gauge: Doesn't really matter. If after the first two rows, it looks too long, rip it out and cast on fewer stitches.

You have a few options for cast on & bind off.
-You can provisionally cast on and try to graft the thing shut using a modified kitchener that works on rib (I tried to do this but it didn't work as well as I'd like, so you're on your own here. Try google.)
-You can provisionally cast on and do a three needle bind off at the end (this is probably a better idea)
-You can do a regular cast on, regular bind off, and sew the thing shut. If you do this, you might want to block first so it doesn't prevent the ribbing from relaxing.

In any case, pick a method and cast on 48 stitches. Work in 4x4 rib for 19 inches (that's k4, p4, all the way across, every row, folks.) Bind off/graft/block & seam/whatever. Now you have a tube that looks somewhat accordion-like. You can make this part shorter or longer to account for different head sizes, though you may have to do some fudging on the next part.

Pick which side you want the top on. I chose to put the top on the side that ends in a "valley" so that the nice "hill" part of the rib would be around the brim, but it's up to you.

Pick up 80 stitches around the perimeter of the top, and do like so:

1. knit all stitches
2. *k6, k2tog, repeat from *
3. k
4. *k5, k2tog, repeat from *
5. k
6. *k4, k2tog, repeat from *
7. k
8. *k3, k2tog, repeat from *
9. k
10.*k2, k2tog, repeat from *
11. k
12. *k1, k2tog, repeat from *
13. k2tog around
14. *k2tog, k1, repeat from *

Cut a tail and draw through the remaining stitches. Weave in ends. Hooray!

On Ravelry here.

And here's a picture of my dog in a hat:




(the fine print: Your use of this pattern constitutes your agreement to use this pattern only for personal, non-profit use without specific written permission from the designer (just email me!) Items made from this pattern may not be sold without permission, nor may the pattern itself be copied, sold, or distributed in any way. You may print one copy for personal use. Please do not reproduce the text of this document on other sites- just post a link :-) Thanks guys!)

If you need to contact me with questions, my email address is presentsknits@gmail.com - please email instead of commenting since it's much easier for me to reply that way! Thanks!