Fair Isle Hat on the Brother KH-260

I love knitting for Christmas gifts and last night I decided to try my hand at making a hat.  That's right, I made this last night!  This hat would have taken me about a week to complete by hand.  Oh, how I love my knitting machine!  I'm having lunch with a friend today and I'm going to gift this to her.

Having only had my knitting machine for about 6 months, I have worked mainly on projects with stockinette knitting, playing around with bands of colour.  A few weeks ago, I decided it was time to play around with the punch card contraption.  After all, one of the draws of purchasing the Brother KH-260 was that it can automate fair isle.

I don't have a ribber so for this hat, I completed all the colour work on the knitting machine and then I finished the crown (decreases) and the ribbing by hand on circular needles.  I love the result and I'm thinking that I'm going to make another one today!

I used Loops and Threads Impeccable Yarn (worsted) and I have enough left over to make another hat, possibly two.  This hat fits my head perfectly, but my cranium is on the generous size (23" circumference).  The hat, unstretched, has a 20" circumference.  To take it down a size (18.5" circumference), you can cast on 84 instead of 90.  To make it one size larger, cast on 96 stitches.

Machine Knit Fair Isle Hat

Materials:

• Loops and Threads Impeccable Yarn - 1 skein of each colour.  
• Main colour (MC) will be the colour of the ribbing and crown. 
• US 6 (4.0 mm) knitting needles 
• US 8 (5.0 mm) knitting needles
• Punch Card #2
• darning needle

Gauge: 17 stitches x 24 rows per 4 inches in stockinette stitch.  

• tension dial 5 on my Brother KH-260

Instructions:

Please note that the hat is first worked flat on the knitting machine.  The live stitches are then transferred onto knitting needles and are worked flat then seamed

SET UP: 

• Using the provisional cast-on method of your choice, cast on 90 stitches in waste yarn (84 for a smaller adult sized hat, 96 for a larger adult sized hat). 
• Note: I increased the tension dial to 7 for the provisional cast-on to make it looser and easier to transfer later.  If you do this, remember to switch the dial back to 5.
• With the main colour (MC), knit one row.  Carriage will be on the left side.
• Set up punch card #2 and set the Change Knob to the KC position.  Move the carriage from left to right so set up needles.  Set Row Counter to 0.
• Follow your instruction manual to set up the fair isle function on the knitting machine.  Thread in the contrast colour.

Rows 1 - 10: Fairisle

Rows 11 - 12: Switch back to normal mode and knit two rows of MC

Rows 13-14: Knit two rows of CC

Rows 15 - 16: Knit two rows of MC

Rows 17-20: Switch back to fair isle and knit 4 rows

Rows 21 - 26: Repeat rows 11 - 16

Rows 27 - 32: Switch back to fair isle and knit 8 rows

Row 33: Switch back to normal mode and knit one row of MC 

CROWN:

Release all of the stitches from the knitting machine and transfer onto US 8 (5.0mm knitting needles) to hand knit the crown.

• Work one row in stockinette, placing a marker after every 10 stitches. (If making the smaller or larger size, place a marker after every 12 stitches.
• For remaining knit-side rows: work in stockinette and K2tog before each marker and k the last 2 stitches together.
• For remaining purl-side rows: P2tog, then work in stockinette and P2tog after each marker
• Continue until 8 stitches remain.  Cut yarn and thread through the last 8 stitches.  Pull together and tie off.

RIBBING:

Remove the waste yarn from the provisional cast-on and place loops onto US 6 (4.0 mm) knitting needles.  

• K1 P1 ribbing for two rows.
• Bind off in ribbing

FINISHING:

Sew up the seam.