Alright folks, so yesterday I decided, “I’m gonna knit a Bryson hat!” I saw a pic online and thought, “Hey, I can totally do that.” Famous last words, right?
First off, I grabbed some chunky yarn from my stash – a nice heathered grey. Figured it’d go with everything. Then, I dug out my trusty size 8 needles. Cast on the number of stitches the pattern called for (after triple-checking, of course!).
Started with the ribbing. Knit two, purl two. Knit two, purl two. Over and over. Honestly, ribbing is kinda therapeutic. Gets you in the zone. I was watching some old movie while I was at it, so that helped.
Once the ribbing was done (about 2 inches, I think), I switched to stockinette stitch – knit every row. This is where I started spacing out. Knit, knit, knit… suddenly it was an hour later. Stockinette is easy, but it can get boring real fast.
Kept knitting until the hat was long enough. The pattern had measurements, but I also held it up to my head a few times to be sure. Better safe than sorry, you know?
Then came the decreasing. This is where I had to pay attention again! Knit two together, knit a few, repeat. The pattern had a specific way to do it to make the top of the hat nice and neat. I followed it as best I could, but I definitely had to tink (that’s knitting talk for undoing stitches!) a couple of times.
Finally, I had a pointy hat-shaped thing. Cut the yarn, pulled it through the remaining stitches, and cinched it up tight. Time to sew it all together!
Used a yarn needle to seam up the side of the hat. I tried to make it as invisible as possible, but let’s be real, you can still see the seam. Oh well! Adds character, right?
Lastly, I weaved in all the ends. This is the most annoying part of any knitting project, but it’s gotta be done. Don’t want those ends unraveling!
And there you have it! A Bryson hat. It’s a little wonky in places, and definitely not perfect, but I made it myself! Plus, it’s super warm and cozy. I might even make another one, now that I know what I’m doing… maybe in a different color next time.
Lessons learned: Pay attention during the decreasing! And maybe don’t watch a movie while knitting stockinette. It’s a recipe for mistakes.
