Whirl-it-kit

When we find techniques that we like, we tend to do a few projects with them before moving on. We made the Cosy Basket-Cardigan a while back, and it was so much fun that we wanted to do more. This time we´ve knitted the basket weave stitch in the round, and it turns out a bit different - it doesn´t weave, but it rather creates diagonal lines, which we really like.

The cowl is pretty big. It wraps around your neck up to 3 times (see the first picture). On the other picture it´s wrapped two times, which also works nice.

These two projects are not super advanced, but not recommended for beginners, as the casting off is a bit tricky.

Yarn
Abuelita Merino Worsted, 200 g for the cowl, 100 g for the hat

Needles
Long circular needles US 15
Short circular needles and DP needles US 10 1/2 for the hat

Gauge
Cowl: 10 stitches in basket weave stitch = 4"
Hat: 16 titches in basket weave stitch = 4"

COWL
Cast on 161 stitches on US 15 needles.
K 1 round, P1 round, K 1 round, P 1 round.

Knit the basket weave stitch like this:
*Knit the second stitch on the left needle into the back loop (put your needle in as if you were to purl). Don´t lift the stitch off the needle. Knit the first stitch on the left needle in the normal manner (not through the back loop). Lift both stitches off the needle*.
Repeat from * to *.

Tip: Make sure you don´t knit to tight. Pull the yarn out properly for every stitch you make.

As this pattern overlaps seamlessly, you can just continue knitting in the same way for as long as you´d like.
We knitted until the piece was 10.6". If you knit the hat as well, you´ll have some extra yarn left over, and can make it even longer.

TIP for joining yarn:
You can felt together the ends of the Abuelita yarn when starting on a new skein. Moist both ends, and overlap them by an inch. Rub the ends firmly between the palm of your hands until they have been felted together.

Here comes the tricky part. If you go straight fromt he basket weave stitch to knitting the garter stitch, you´ll end up having large holes in your work. You need to knit a round to finish off the basket stitch before starting to knit the garter stitch.

We knitted like this:
Start at the beginning of the round (or there abouts, it´s hard to see where the round really starts with this stitch, but it´s no big deal. The important thing is that you go straight from the last stitch of basket weave to this:)
*K2tog, M1R (make 1 right by pulling up the yarn between the stitches and twisting it to the right, then knit it)*
Repeat from * to * throughout the round. Knit the last stitch.

P1 round, K 1 round, P 1 round. Cast off loosely.

HAT
Cast on 81 stitches evenly on circular needles US 10 1/2.
Knit 3 rounds.

Knit the basket weave stitch like this:
*Knit the second stitch on the left needle into the back loop (put your needle in as if you were to purl). Don´t lift the stitch off the needle. Knit the first stitch on the left needle in the normal manner (not through the back loop). Lift both stitches off the needle*.
Repeat from * to *.

As this pattern overlaps seamlessly, you can just continue knitting in the same way until the piece is 7.5".
Now start decreasing. We´ve tried to make the decreasements as invisible as possible. Perhaps they don´t look invisible as you´re knitting them, but later when the hat is tightened at the top, it´ll look good;)

Decreasing round 1
*K 6 stitches basket weave.
Slip 2 (as if you were to purl).
K2tog.
Lift the two slipped stitches over the two stitches you just knitted together.
Tigthen the yarn!*
Repeat from * to * until 1 stitch remains, go to Decreasing round 2.

Decreasing round 2
*Knit (basket weave stitch) until there is 1 stitch away from the spot where you knitted 2 together on the last round (You´ll see that there are two stitches between the diagonal basket weave stitches instead of one, and if you just continue in basket weave stitch, it´ll make a mess)
To avoid the mess, knit like this:
Knit stitch 3 (instead of 2) on the left needle through the back loop. Leave it on the needle. Knit stitch 1 and 2 together through teh front loop. Slip the two new stitches off the needle.*

Repeat from * to * until you´ve knitted through all the decreasements from the previous round.
Knit basket weave stitch for 2 rounds.

Repeat Decreasing round 1 and 2, but only knit 2 stitches between each decrease on round 1 (instead of 6).

Cut the yarn and pull it through the remaining stitches, pull and assemble.
Fold the lower edge (the 4 rounds you knitted) up into the hat, and assemble neatly. Make sure it´s not to tight!