Ma Cobb Hat

designed by Cheryl DeWolfe

A free knitting pattern to make a hat with beanie styling and ear flaps.

Use 6.5 mm needles with bulky/chunky yarn

Original hat uses dark orange and dark yellow for the body, and a burnt
red-orange for the ear flaps.

I suspect Ma Cobb was the frugal type and merely chose colours from leftover yarn in her stash but if you reallycare about accuracy to the original (a hat worn by Jayne, a character in the short-lived Firefly series), check out the other patterns online for colour suggestions specific to yarn brands.

Gauge: 12 st x 24 rows = 4″ square

Pattern

Beanie portion:

Cast on 60 stitches (for a slightly tighter hat, cast on 56 stitches and adjust following counts accordingly; a child’s size should start with
52 stitches).
Next 4 rows *K2, P2* repeat to end
Next 10 rows st st; change to yellow yarn and continue in st st for another 6 rows
to decrease:
*K2, K2tog* repeat to end (45 stitches on needle); purl row, knit row, purl row
*K1, K2tog* repeat to end (30 stitches on needle); purl next row
*K2tog* repeat to end (leaving 15 stitches on needle)
Purl row then cut yarn and draw end back through remaining stitches. This will leave a little hole at the top which will make it easier to attach
the pompom later.
Sew the seam together on the inside of the beanie.

Earflaps:

Right side: from the seam, count forward about 8 to 10 stitches then pick up 12 stitches using the red-orange yarn.
Starting with a purl row, work in stst for about 3  inches then start to reduce as follows:
K2tog, K8, K2tog.
P4, P2tog, P4
K2tog, K5, K2tog
P7
K2tog, K3, K2tog
P2tog, P, P2tog
K1, K2tog, slip first stitch through second to cast off. Cut yarn and pull
through, leaving the tail hanging. Cut another length of yarn, roughly
double the length of the tail and attach to bottom of earflap, making a
small tassel effect.

Left side: from the seam, count forward about 8 to 10 stitches then pick up 12 stitches using the red-orange yarn. Slip all stitches on to opposite needle and work as for right ear flap.

Pompom:
Make a large pompom from all three shades of yarn used and attach to top of hat. In the spirit of the one worn by Jayne, the pompom should not be too full and should be roughly trimmed.

Designer Cheryl DeWolfe writes the engaging Flotsam and Jetsam blog.