Hamburg Hats - Pattern for Knitting Machine
This is not a "how to machine knit" tutorial, it assumes you already can.
I made these on a Brother fine-gauge knitting machine in 4-ply yarns.
This design is difficult-to-impossible to make unless you have more than one colour..
Cast on with waste yarn over enough stitches to go round the head fairly loosely. Possibly 160 stitches.... (Make a tension sample first. I used wool at a main tension of 8, acrylic at 7, but your machine and yarn will be different, so check...)
Change to your brim yarn and knit 60 rows in plain knit and tension 1 whole number tighter (smaller) than your main tension.
Make a roll of polyester stuffing as long as the knitting is wide and about 1-1/2 inches thick. Lay this into the "hem" of your hat as you hook up the first row of the brim yarn onto the needles, making sure you hold the work down well with weights.
Change to main tension. *Knit 6 rows. Change the yarn to the 1st (2nd) (3rd) "bump" colour and knit 12 (10) (8) rows. Knit one row at (tension + 1) then 11 (9) (7) rows at main tension.
Hook up your "bump" onto the needles again.* (To hook up, pick up the first row of the bump colour, and hang the stitches on the working needles, all along the row)
Repeat from * to * twice more, using the numbers in brackets to make diminishing sizes of bumps.
Knit until the hat is as tall as you want it to be, with patterns, stripes or as you wish. See the images in this section for more ideas. Play!
When you get to the top, make a small bump to define the edge - change yarn; knit 6 rows at (tension minus 1) 1 row at (main tension) 5 rows at (tension minus 1) hook up the bump.
Knit the crown - I usually needed about 36 to 40 rows straight. Make the last couple of rows on the loosest tension, leave a long tail of yarn to finish the top, then cast off with waste yarn and release the knitting from the machine.
To make the tassell strings - hook 8 stitches in the middle of the width back onto the machine, being careful to catch the top row of the main knitting, not the waste yarn. Knit 50 rows with your chosen colour and cast off with a needle by taking the end of the yarn through all the stitches and drawing them up. Move along a bit and do this again as many times as you want tassells. They look nicer if they are slightly different lengths and colours. Make at least three. I sometimes made very long knitted "strings" and sewed them back in loops.
Thread your long tail onto a blunt needle and pick up all the loops in the top row. Unravel the waste yarn and draw up the top row in a gather to close the hat, leaving the tassell strings on the right side.
Finish the hat by sewing up the seams, being careful to match the bumps and to sew them closed. Wind yarn round a book to make tassells - about 20 rounds or more. Cut the winds at one end and sew to the ends of the tassell strings. Wind the yarn round the tassell about 3/4 inch down to make the shape. Trim the tassells neatly.
Wear your hat with pride..
These instructions are copyright Helen Howes 2008.
I am happy for you to make hats for personal use or for sale, but please credit my design work, and do not reproduce these instructions elsewhere without permission...
I would be very pleased to see what you make, email me here