A knitting pattern for a winter hat

It's week three of January and you've probably already reneged on your new year's resolutions. Perhaps a better way to ease yourself into 2010 is to go down another route: spend the year learning something new, rather than promising to make use of that gym pass three times a week. If you didn't take up knitting back in 2004 when newspapers were falling over themselves to declare it The New Thing To Do, now could be the time. It's nicely armchair-based, unlike typical January pledges, and if you want, you can tell yourself that it's just as good for you as a trip to the gym. Look, even Aunty Beeb and CBS say so . And now the snow has returned, what better way to kick off your knitting career than making yourself a woolly hat? This is a cracking little project for first timers. You just need to master a few basic stitches - I've included my favourite videos below, so you can teach yourself - and you're on your way. Getting started If you've wielded a set of needles before, move straight to the instructions below. If you're new to this, you'll need to start from the beginning. Forget buying learn-how-to-knit books: there are plenty of excellent video tutorials on the internet that are far more useable than step-by-step pictures in a book. To create this hat, you should learn how to: • Cast on: Get the stitches on to the needle . • Knit: A basic stitch • Purl: Another basic stitch • Ribbing: Knit one, purl one (or two, three or more), all along to the end of the row. ( Scroll down to "ribbing" on this page and watch the English video • Stocking stitch: One row of knit stitch followed by a row of purl stitch (known as stockinette stitch in the US) • Knit two together: This is the easiest way to decrease your stitches (make the rows shorter and give shape to your hat). Purl two together is essentially the same, but with purl stitches • Cast off: (known as "bind off" in the US) Pattern notations K is knit, P is purl, K2tog is knit two stitches together, P2tog is purl two stitches together, and anything in brackets means you do the specified stitches the number of times it says outside the brackets. What you need 12mm needles 100g of point five yarn (beginners should use even yarn - like my blue hat - rather than knobbly chunky yarn - like my orange hat - as it's easier to work with) Thick needle (to sew up edges) What to do This hat can be made in different sizes, depending whether you want it tight-fitting or long and baggy. 1. The headband Cast on 36 stitches For a short hat, do eight rows of k3, p3 all the way to the end (ribbing). For a longer, baggier hat, increase to 10 or even 12 rows. Always do an even number of rows. 2. The middle Knit four, six or eight rows of stocking stitch (first row, K; second row P; third row K; fourth row P, etc), depending on how long you want your hat. Always do an even number of rows. 3. The top This part always remains the same, whatever size you want your hat. Row one: (K2tog, K4) six times Row two: P Row three: (K2tog, K3) six times Row four: P Row five: (K2tog, K2) six times Row six: P Row seven: (K2tog, K1) six times Row eight: P2tog Cast off To finish, sew the sides together • Perri writes about Making Stuff at makeanddowithperri.wordpress.com