Knitting garter stitch in the round creates the cutest, squishiest fabric, but it’s done in a way you might not expect.
If you don’t already know this about me, I absolutely love to knit in garter stitch. I’m more of a process knitter than anything so making swatches and knitting scarves in garter stitch is still enjoyable to me. Even after a decade of knitting, I still love working in this most basic of all stitch patterns. When I learned how to knit garter stitch in the round, I thought it was the coolest thing ever!
If you wonder why, then I would like to present Exhibit A for your consideration.
Seriously. What’s not to love about this? It looks really cute and when paired with kitten makeup, it’s a perfect Halloween costume. I named this pattern the Calico Cat, because I think it looks like a squishy Calico Cat knit in this yarn.
I’d also like to add, I love making these simple little animated gifs. I’m old enough to remember when the internet was brand spanking new, and having an animation like this was beyond cool! So it might be a little old fashioned now, but that’s ok. So am I. And I don’t think that’s such a terrible thing anymore.
But let’s talk a little more about this adorable hat!
A big part of what makes this hat so adorable is the yarn itself. And I’m a little concerned it’s being phased out, so if you want to knit something that looks like this, you probably don’t want to wait too long. I wanted to reknit this hat for purposes of the video I made to demo the stitch pattern. When I went to the store I looked high and low for it, and didn’t think there was any left. I finally found 4 or 5 beat up skeins in the clearance section for $3. So……that’s not a good sign. It’s still on the website, so I wouldn’t wait too long to grab some if you like this. And why on earth are you here if you don’t like this?
PS: If you want to see how we did the makeup, I will link to the post with that information here!
Here’s the recipe for how I made this hat.
The structure of this hat design really does rest on this yarn. I tried making it in a different super bulky weight yarn, and it was not quite the same. I will need some time this winter to find a good substitute and will update you when that happens. In the meantime, the Michael’s website still has the yarn available, and in your area, it might still be plentiful. The yarn selection at my Michael’s is pitiful at best, so it could just be that they don’t stock well. But to be safe, I would not wait if you love this.
It’s Garter stitch in-the-round, and basically you are going to knit a round and then purl the next round. Repeat until your hat is high enough. More details below and in the included video, but that’s the gist of it.
The Calico Cat Hat Recipe:
- Yarn: Lexington from Isaac Mizrahi Craft. Shown in Stuyvesant in the video and in Downtown on Kristin. One skein, but it’s a game of yarn chicken towards the end, so you might want to get two of these to be safe.
- Knitting Needle: Size 13US 16″ cable needle
- Crochet Hook : Size J or larger
- Notion: Tapestry Needle
The Pattern:
- Co 43 stitches.
- Slip the last and first stitches together and k2tog. You are now joined in-the-round.
- Place Marker.
- Knit the first round.
- Slip Marker.
- Purl the second round.
- Repeat rounds 1 and 2 until the hat is approximately 8″ high.
- Flip hat inside out and seam.
- Weave in the ends.
The garter stitch is so squishy and fun, and you can stretch and shape this hat to get your ears to really show. If you knitting this in a brown, it would be very teddy bear like. I have some orange Malabrigo in a project I never really liked that I’m going to rip and reknit into this pattern and see what kind of Fox hat I can get. I think the Malabrigo is going to be the updated yarn for this pattern, but I’ll let you know for sure. Yarn really does make or break a project. So get this while you can.
I personally love this yarn, and knitted a cosplay scarf with it for another project you can read about here. I was thinking of selling off that sample, but if the yarn is really being discontinued, I don’t think I can part with it.
So….now the big question is how do we achieve this look? Well I have a video for you. Check that out. Below this video, I’ll link to some other videos I’ve made that should answer some other questions you might have. Feel free to ask me questions in the comment section of the videos, or email me. I turned off my website comments due to spam and GDPR issues etc. But you can always contact me!! So don’t think I’m a robot cranking out content in a hut somewhere. I’m an actual person who knits all this stuff personally and takes all the pictures and videos.
Other videos that might be helpful to you:
I’m assuming you can already make knit and purl stitches. If not you might want to start with my super beginner project by clicking here.
Ok, so that’s the project I have for you this week! If you make this hat, please tag me on instagram! I’m @pattymacknits and @pattymac.handmade. You can follow one or both. I would certainly love to have you along for the fun.
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