Mini March Hat
---------------

This version is knit mostly in the round, with a few flat short rows for the 
ears and a grafted crown.  It's intended as a support pin, but if made with 
sport weight yarn instead of fingering, and needle size around US 3-4, this 
same hat can also fit Barbie.  

Materials:  
  * 11-12 ft. of fingering weight yarn, in pink or lavender  
       (e.g. KnitPicks Palette in "Cosmopolitan" or "Hyacinth")  
  * US #1 (2.25mm) needles (four dpns, or a 40" circ for 3-section magic loop)  
  * steel crochet hook, size 7-ish  
  * small tapestry needle  
  * coil-less safety pin, less than 3 cm long  
Finished size: about 35 x 30 mm  

1.  With a 12" tail, CO 24 st (Estonian works well) and join in the round, 
    placing 9 sts on the first needle, 8 on the second, and 7 on the third.  
2.  Work k1,p1 rib for 3 rnds, then stockinette for 7 rnds.  
3.  Shaping rnd:  
    ssk, k2, ssk, k1, k2tog (ear); k3 (front top); ssk, k1, k2tog, k2, k2tog 
    (ear); k3 (back top).  
4.  Left ear:  
    k6; turn w/o wrapping; sl 1 pw, ssp, psso; sssp (using hook if necessary); 
    cut w/ 14" tail and thread it onto tapestry needle; turn w/o wrapping and 
    hold yarn in back; sl 1 kw onto tn, yf, sl 1 pw onto tn, pull through.  
5.  Left ear seam:  (see Tips & Tricks below)  
    Fold ear in half; take one stitch through inner edge of ear from front to 
    back about halfway down, another from back to front at the base, and one 
    more from front to back slightly below that.  Snug up gently so running 
    sts blend with knit sts, but not so tight as to distort the ear shape.  
6.  Graft next 3 st (front top to back top) using Kitchener stitch.  
7.  Right ear:  
    Starting on back needle w/ same tail, p6; turn w/o wrapping; sl 1 kw, 
    k2tog, psso; k3tog; turn w/o wrapping and hold yarn in front; sl 1 pw onto 
    tn, yb, sl 1 kw onto tn, pull through.  
8.  Right ear seam:  
    Take one stitch through inner edge of ear from front to back about halfway 
    down, another from back to front at the base, and finally from the front 
    slightly below that, through one layer only to the interior of the hat.  
9.  Gently turn the hat partially inside out (i.e. not the ears).  Weave in 
    both ends on the back side (the one where the starting tail is), using the 
    ending tail to help close any remaining hole between the ear seam and top 
    of hat if necessary.  
10. Turn hat right-side out, and run point of safety pin horizontally through 
    back layer of hat; then slide hat around to the head side of pin.  

Top view diagram of ears:  

           \'/ --- \'/   <<< front of hat  
            o       o  
            o       o  
           .:\ --- /:.   <<< back of hat  

              ^ step 3 starts here  

Tips & Tricks:  

With so few stitches total, each one becomes more important to the overall 
look of the piece.  If you like, here are more details about how I make them, 
gleaned from lots of experimenting.  And remember that if a stitch here and 
there turns out lopsided, you can usually adjust it later with the point of 
a tapestry needle.  

Ears:  
If your cat looks more like a lynx, with large circles on the points of 
the ears, try snugging up the last two loops on the tapestry needle before 
pulling the tail through them.  

Ear seams:  
Because of the first turn after k6 or p6, the front of the ear actually has 
a lower base than the back does.  So for the first running stitch "halfway 
down" is fairly obvious in front, but in back I use the edge loop from the 
sts gathered in the sssp or k3tog, which is one rnd higher.  For the second 
pass at the "base", I look for the bar that connects the ear to the adjacent 
top-of-head st, and go through both that last ear st and under the bar as 
well, both in back and in front.  

For the third pass on the first ear, note that in front the "base" st you 
just came out of is part of a k2tog, so use the leftmost of the two sts below 
it to continue the slope of the ear edge.  You could do something similar in 
back, however I found that results in a long float inside when you try to 
turn the hat inside-out to weave in the ends.  So instead I come out at the 
same "base" st where I went in for the previous pass.  

For the third pass on the second ear there is no back part (until you weave 
in the end).  The front part is a mirror of the first ear, with the base 
being part of a ssk, so I use the rightmost of the two sts below it.  

Graft:  
With the yarn from the first ear seam coming out in back, bring it over the 
top and begin the Kitchener setup with the first st on the front needle.  
This helps to fill in and smooth the transition.  Similarly, the graft will 
end on the back needle, so bring the yarn forward under the bar between the 
graft and the first loop on the front needle, out through the right-most st 
involved in the ssk below it (which will later become the "base" st of the 
second ear), and back across to start the second ear on the back needle.  
Careful with your tension!  

Larger version for Barbie:  
Use the same pattern, with a sport-weight yarn (e.g. KnitPicks Shine Sport).  
  First attempt:  US 4 needles => 5.0 x 4.3cm unblocked, same size after washing  
  Second attempt: US 3 needles => 4.7 x 4.0cm after washing  
Try-on results with Bella (Freya's Barbie):  
The smaller size did go on and looked more proportional, but the larger one 
looked acceptable and had more room for hair, so I went with US 4.  

------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Cathy Riemer, updated 2024-Mar-14  

Adapted from a free pattern by Artisan Loops at 
<www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pussyhat-brooch>