Railway Children Tam

On a youngster (my lovely model, Uma, is 7 years old), this tam looks quite cute. And, as her dad pointed out, it looks a bit like the hat/tam/beret that Jenny Agutter wears in the famous film. Having that as reference point certainly dates us somewhat, but it's a nice one too. So, if anyone fancies it, here's the pattern - it's not over complicated and could easily be made bigger to fit an adult, by casting on more stitches in the first place for the short row sections. As this size takes up about one and a half balls of the recommended yarn, you'd probably get an adult size out of two balls quite comfortably.

Railway Children Tam

Yarn: Freedom Spirit Chunky by Twilleys, two 50g balls - this pattern takes up about one and half balls.

Needles: Size 5.5mm, US 9. I used two circulars, but dpns would work just as well. Use your preferred method.

SKILLS:
CO using a provisional method - great instructions can be found here, Provisional Cast On methods - use whichever method suits you best.

Grafting last short row section to first for a seamless look, I used the instructions by Isolde Teague in her Urchin pattern.

ABBREVIATIONS:
w+t - wrap and turn. There's a great tutorial here at Purl Bee. 

Slp 1 - slip one purlwise

INSTRUCTIONS:

Make 1st short row section as follows:

CO 24 using provisional method.

1:   K
2 :  Slp 1, P17, K4, w+t
3:   K
4:   Slp 1, P16, K4, w+t
5:   K
6:   Slp 1, P15, K4, w+t
7:   K
8:   Slp 1, P14, K4, w+t
9:   K
10: Slp 1, P13, K4, w+t

Continue in pattern as above until you reach row 34.

34:  Slp 1, P1, K4, w+t.
35:  K
36:  As row 2. This is the start of a new short row section. Continue in pattern until you have made 5 sections in total, ending with row 35. Leaving a long enough tail, cut yarn ready to graft the sections together. A generous measure about five times the length of the longest row (all 24 stitches) should be plenty.

Grafting:
See skills section above. Graft the live stitches from the CO edge to the live stitches on your needle. I worked from the outside edge to the centre, and then knit a little 2 stitch i-cord loop for the top.

Alternatively you could cast off and sew the seam, or work a three needle bind off.

Using your preferred method for knitting in the round, pick up 86 st around the outer edge, using the slipped stitches as a guide.

(By the way....As it turns out, 86 is a tricksy number, as you now need to make a series of decreases, and I discovered that 86 doesn't divide up so easily. The solution is simple if lacking in elegance.....)

You may want to place a marker for the beginning of the round - I find that using two circulars on a small project like this makes it easy to keep track of the rounds.

1: K2 tog, K to end of round
2: K
3: K
4: Begin decreasing as follows: (K2tog, K15) 5 times
5: (K2tog, K14) 5 times
6: (K2tog, K13) 5 times
7: (K2tog, K12) 5 times
8: (K2tog, K11) 5 times

60 st remaining.

Work 5 rounds K1, P1 rib.

CO using this method, for plenty of give. There is a jog at the end of a circular bind off, but you can find a method to minimise this at Purple Sage.

Many thanks Uma, and especially to her mum Sarah for kind permission to use these images.

short row tam

So I've been working on a tam pattern. It hasn't really panned out as I'd hoped. Ho hum. Certainly not nearly as nice or successful as Urchin by Isolde Teague. Plus it's on the small side for an adult, and as I don't have any kids near to hand it's hard to tell if it improves with youth to help out a bit. Not sure if I'll bother writing up the pattern to share. Anyway though, here's what it looks like......

Summer is over....christmas is on my mind....

Usually, I don't like to contemplate christmas until a week or two before it arrives. I just find it overwhelming. So much to do, so many things to think about and prepare for, such a lot of money that doesn't exist but must be found to cover the cost of all of the above. It's true, my inner grinch/scrooge often gets the better of me at christmas time. It's not that I don't enjoy sharing, I do. It's not that I begrudge the cost as such. Generosity is a wonderful and glorious thing. But the whole business of christmas does fill me with a powerful urge to hibernate until it's all over, round about the end of February would be just right. So, instead of trying to pretend it isn't coming I'm going to take a longer run at this time, in the hope that spreading the management of all the demands and expectations will ease the process, and enable me to fulfil my own desire to make lots of lovely things to give away. I have one gift on the needles, about half done. It's a start, but I know it just isn't going to cut the mustard. I've found a gorgeous pattern for knitted baubles by Alex Lawson which I just love and which will help me to use up a lot of stash and bring a smile or two to the faces of the lucky recipients.

With the spirit of giving in mind, I've been trying to develop a pattern to publish here for free. I've been trying to design a beret constructed with short rows. I pretty much finished the first trial piece, only to decide I hated it....the wool is chunky and I'd made a couple of design features that made it look a bit like one of those comedy scottish tam-o-shanters, so I ripped it out. I then discovered that Isolda Teague had already done one using the very same trick, you can find the pattern Urchin for free on Knitty. It's a good trick, as it gives a good beret shape without having to block it, and so I will continue refining my idea. Let's hope I manage to finish it before December!