Have you got your garter stitch brim done?  Awesome!  Send me a photo, if you like.  I’d love to actually see it, instead of just pretending to see it.

So, your hat should look something like this:

If it’s a little longer or shorter, no worries.  If it’s a little lumpier, also no worries.

Today we’re going to start working on the middle part of the hat, which we’ll work in stockinet stitch.  Stockinet stitch is a simple knitting pattern where you alternate knitting one row, and purling one row.  When you imagine a basic knit sweater, the smooth-looking parts are stockinet stitch.

You already know how to do knit stitches, so I guess it’s time to learn how to do purl stitches.  The purl stitch is worked very similarly to the knit stitch, except that it’s mirrored (don’t worry… it sounds worse than it is).

Just like before, you’re going to start with your knitting on your left side and your empty needle on your right.  Take the tip of your right-hand needle, and poke it through the back of the first stitch.  Keep your yarn in front of your knitting.  (See how it’s backwards from working a knit stitch?)

Then, wrap your yarn around the tip of your right-hand needle.

And pull the new stitch through the old stitch, from front to back.

And, just like before, you slip the old stitch off the left needle.

Does that make sense?  Let’s try it again.

Keep your yarn in front of your knitting.  Insert the tip of your needle into the back of the stitch. Wrap your yarn around the tip of your needle, and pull the new stitch through.  Drop your old stitch off the left-hand needle.

Keep going!  Purl the whole row.

Now that you’ve purled a whole row, do you see how knitting and purling are very similar?  For both, you insert your right-hand needle, wrap your yarn around, pull the new stitch through, then drop the old stitch off.  Here’s a quick summary of the differences between knitting and purling:

Knitting: Insert your needle into the front of the stitch, keeping your yarn behind the knitting.  Wrap your yarn around the needle tip, and pull the new stitch through from back to front.

Purling: Insert your needle into the back of the stitch, keeping your yarn in front of the knitting.  Wrap your yarn around the needle tip, and pull the new stitch through from front to back.

OK, so, since we’re doing the stockinet stitch pattern, it’s time for another knit row.  (Remember, knit one row, purl one row.)  So, turn your knitting around and knit back.

Then purl a row.

Then knit a row.

Then purl a row.

Simple!

But, what if you have to (I don’t know) sleep or something?  How will you remember what to do next?  Easy; just “read” your knitting.  “Reading” your knitting means that you look at the stitches you’ve already worked to figure out what to do next.

After a few rows of stockinette stitch, you’ll see that your hat has two different textures.  The bumpy and squishy garter stitch at the bottom, and the smooth stockinet at the top.

Stockinet has two different sides.  The “right side” is the side with the little V-shaped stitches.  When you see this side facing you, it’s time to knit.

The “wrong side” is the side with little bumps.  When you see this side, it’s time to purl.  (You can think of the bumps as “pearls,” if that helps.  Get it? Pearls=purl.  Clever clever.)

Keep going, knitting one row and purling one row until your whole hat measures about 5 inches from the cast-on edge.  If you have a smaller head, you can make your hat a little shorter, if you have a bigger head (or lots of hair) you can make your hat a little longer.  I like to err on the too long side, since you can always roll up the brim, if it’s too big.

Next week, we’ll make the crown of the hat, and I’ll show you how to do decreases.