Narrenkappe - Fool's Cap

Soon carnival starts again - especially for everyone living in Cologne and around. So it's best to be prepared :) During carnival, it can be quite cold, but nonetheless you are usually out of doors. That's why I wanted to knit something warm to wear on my head with a carnival theme. So this is the perfect hat for carnival.

A German version of this pattern is available, too.
Eine deutsche Version dieser Anleitung gibt es hier.



This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.






Materials

• a total of about 40 grams of yarn in two colors - since it's supposed to be a carnival hat, I used quite cheap acrylic yarn (Supersoft by Zeeman - it's listed as fingering weight on Ravelry, but it felt heavier)
• circular knitting needles that are suitable for the yarn - I used 4mm needles 
• 2 stitch markers
• a third needle (of roughly the same size) - for three needle BO 
• a tapestry needle to weave in ends
• a fork to make the pompom for the tip 

Size and Gauge 
The hat I knitted measures about 22 cm in height. The circumference at the ribbing measures about 46 cm (unstretched), but it stretches easily to fit around my head (with 54 cm circumerference). The upper edge measures about 32 cm.
30 rows in stockinette gave 10 cm in height and 21 stitches 10 cm in width.
The pattern is written in a way that can easily adapted to other sizes.


Techniques and Abbreviations 

• Judy's Magic Cast-On is a technique that gives you live stitches on both sides of your needle - it is generally used for toe-up socks (e.g. in this pattern), but it can be used for other purposes as well. Here's a written description (from Knitty) and here's a YouTube-video by Cat Bordhi and another YouTube-video by Very Pink Knits.
• Grafting in stockinette stitch (also called Kitchener Stitch): a way to seamlessly join two rows of live stitches - as shown in this YouTube video by WEBS America's Yarn Store.
• Three Needle Bind Off: https://youtu.be/Ph93jWSzTa0
• Make small pompoms with a fork: https://youtu.be/sNXXKZ_HEAQ
• sm: slip marker
• turn: in the beginning the stitches are arranged as a U-shape on the needles. You're knitting back and forth and have to do a U-turn at a turning point. 

Construction
This hat is knitted in three parts. The first two parts are knitted flat (back and forth), the third part is knitted in rounds.
Part 1 is started with a magic CO and then is knitted in an inverted U-shape around the CO. The first and last 12 stitches are knitted in garter stitch to achieve a kind of ribbing - the rest of the stitches are knitted in stockinette, i.e. knit in RS and purl in WS. Directly above the ribbing and at the turn of the U there are increases (part 1). As soon as the hat is as high as you wish it to be, part 2 is stared and at the turn of the U decreases are made - however, at the ribbing there will still be increases. This creates a straight upper edge. Once the ribbing fits around your head, part 2 is ended with a three-needle bind off of the ribbing. The remaining stitches are knitted in the round (knit only), but with decreases at the upper and lower edges.
The picture below shows this construction.

Instructions

For better visibility all increases and decreases are in boldface.

Part 1
In color 1: do a magic CO of 2 x 14 sts
Turn the needles in a way that you see the purl bumps.

Row 1 (color 1, WS): sl1, k11, place marker, p2, turn, p2, place marker, k11, sl1

Row 2 (color 2, RS): k12, sm, kfb, kfb, turn, kfb, kfb, k12
Row 3 (color 3, WS): sl1, k11, sm, p to next marker, sm, k11, sl1

Row 4 (color 1, RS): k12, sm k1, mk1r, k to 1 bef turn, mk1l, k1, turn, k1, mk1r, k to marker, mk1l, sm, k12
Row 5 (color 1, WS): sl1, k11, sm, p to next marker, sm, k11, sl1

Row 6 (color 2, RS): k12, sm, mk1r, p to 1 bef turn, mk1l, k1, turn, k1, mk1r, k to m, mk1l. sm, k12
Row 7 (color 2, WS): sl1, k11, sm, p to 1 bef turn, mk1p, p1, turn, p1, mk1p, p to next marker, sm, k11, sl1

Row 8 (color 1, RS): k12, sm, mk1r, k to 1 bef turn, mk1l, k1, turn, k1, mk1r, k to marker, mk1l, sm, k12
Row 9 (color 1, WS): sl1, k11, sm, p to next marker, sm, k11, sl1

Row 10 (color 2, RS): k12, sm k1, mk1r, k to 1 bef turn, mk1l, k1, turn, k1, mk1r, k to marker, mk1l, sm, k12
Row 11 (color 2, WS): sl1, k11, sm, p to next marker, sm, k11, sl1

Repeat rows 4 to 11 twice more.
Then start the following sequence.

Row 30 (color 1, RS): k12, sm k1, mk1r, k to 1 bef turn, mk1l, k1, turn, k1, mk1r, k to marker, mk1l, sm, k12
Row 31 (color 1, WS): sl1, k11, sm, p to 1 bef turn, mk1p, p1, turn, p1, mk1p, p to next marker, sm, k11, sl1

Row 32 (color 2, RS): k12, sm k1, mk1r, k to 1 bef turn, mk1l, k1, turn, k1, mk1r, k to marker, mk1l, sm, k12
Row 33 (color 2, WS): sl1, k11, sm, p to next marker, sm, k11, sl1

Row 34 (color 1, RS): k12, sm k1, mk1r, k to 1 bef turn, mk1l, k1, turn, k1, mk1r, k to marker, mk1l, sm, k12
Row 35 (color 1, WS): sl1, k11, sm, p to 1 bef turn, mk1p, p1, turn, p1, mk1p, p to next marker, sm, k11, sl1

Row 36 (color 2, RS): k12, sm k1, mk1r, k to 1 bef turn, mk1l, k1, turn, k1, mk1r, k to marker, mk1l, sm, k12
Row 37 (color 2, WS): sl1, k11, sm, p to next marker, sm, k11, sl1

Repeat rows 30 to 37 three more times - or until the hat has reach the desired height.


Part 2

Row 1 (color 1, RS): k12, sm, mk1r, k to 3 bef turn, ssk, k1, turn, k1, k2tog, k to marker, mk1l, k12
Row 2 (color 1, WS): sl1, k11, sm, p to 3 bef turn, p2togtbl, p1, turn, p1, p2tog, p to marker, k11, sl1

Row 3 (color 2, RS): k12, sm, mk1r, k to 3 bef turn, ssk, k1, turn, k1, k2tog, k to marker, mk1l, k12
Row 4 (color 2, WS): sl1, k11, sm, p to next marker, sm, k11, sl1

Repeat rows 1 to 4 three more times.
From now on the decreases at the upper edge will only be knitted on RS.

Row 17 (color 1, RS): k12, sm, mk1r, k to 3 bef turn, ssk, k1, turn, k1, k2tog, k to marker, mk1l, k12
Row 18 (color 1, WS): sl1, k11, sm, p to next marker, sm, k11, sl1

Row 19 (color 2, RS): k12, sm, mk1r, k to 3 bef turn, ssk, k1, turn, k1, k2tog, k to marker, mk1l, k12
Row 20 (color 2, WS): sl1, k11, sm, p to next marker, sm, k11, sl1

Repeat rows 17 to 20 until the ripping fits around your head.


Part 3

Turn the hat to WS. Hold the tips of your needles together (RS together) so that the ribbing on both sides lies together. Now do a three needle BO of 12 sts - or to the markers. Use the color you use last - if you want to avoid cutting your yarn, weave in the yarn of the other color (alternatively, just cut the other yarn and attach it, when you next need it).

Remove one stitch marker and turn the piece back right sides out. The remaining stitch marker marks the beginning of a new round.
From now on you'll knit in rounds and you'll decrease every other row on the upper edge and on the side edge.
The first stitch on your needle should be the one that's left over from the three needle BO.

Round 1 (color 1): k1, k2tog, k to 3 bef turn, ssk, k1, turn, k1, k2tog, k to 2 bef end, ssk
Round 2 (color 1): k all
Round 3 (color 2): k1, k2tog, k to 3 bef turn, ssk, k1, turn, k1, k2tog, k to 2 bef end, ssk
Round 4 (color 2): k all

Repeat rounds 1 to 4 until there are 6 sts of fewer left. Cut your yarn, thread it into a tapestry needle, feed it through the remaining stitches and draw closed. Weave in ends.

Make a small pompom from the same yarn and attach it to the front tip of the hat. Finished!