Stumptown Slouch

We received this gorgeous Best of Nature Worsted from Misti Alpaca right before the yarn crawl, so it went slightly unnoticed for some time. Luckily, Sally was motivated to knit up a lovely little garter stitch slouchy hat using just one skein.

This beautiful yarn is dyed using natural vegetable and mineral dyes, and the yarn itself is produced organically. The colors are rich and subtley tonal. Misti warns that the dyes will likely vary significantly from year to year, as some of the colors are based on the crops. I am not often lured in by pure alpaca, but this yarn is sure something. There's not a lot of that fuzzy halo that you often see with pure baby alpaca, and this yarn is cashmere-soft.

Sally used the lovely Rockies colorway, a lovely grey...no surprise. This yarn is beautiful, the hat is cute, and the pattern is free! What's not to love?

Stumptown Slouch

by Sally Palin

Yarn: 1 skein Misti Alpaca Best of Nature Worsted
Needles: US6 and US7 16" circular, US7 double-pointed needles
Instructions:

Cast on 88 stitches using smaller needle, join in the round (don't twist), and place marker.
Work 2.75" of K3, P1 ribbing.

Switch to larger needle and work 5 rounds of garter stitch in the round: purl one round, knit one round, purl one round, knit one round, purl one round.

Work increase round: *Knit 11, m1* around (96 stitches).
Purl one round.
Work increase round again: *Knit 12, m1* around (104 stitches).

Continue with garter stitch in the round until hat measures approximately 9" from the cast on edge.

Work decrease round: *Knit 7, k2tog* around.
Purl one round.
*Knit 6, k2tog* around.
Purl one round.
*Knit 5, k2tog* around.
Purl one round.

Continue decreasing in this way until the last round, which will be K2tog around. Do not purl a round after this. Cut your yarn and pull in through the remaining stitches, pulling the opening closed. Weave in your ends and enjoy!