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Saturday, May 21, 2011

DIY: Knitted Panda Hat


This is it. This is one of the most amazing things that I have knitted so far. Well, I started this about a month ago. Unfortunately, I started it on a whim after seeing soooo many knitted panda hats in shops like Sportsgirl and equip in Sydney, and also on ASOS.com. As a result, I didn't consider some things thoroughly. For example, I didn't think about choosing between intarsia and fair isle method. I didn't even think about what I would do for the ears when I started this. And if you follow my blog, you should know that one of my plastic DPNs broke while I was knitting the hat. Thankfully, things didn't get any worse than that and I was able to replace the broken DPN with another metal DPN (of unknown but possibly similar size >_<). Right, I should also add that the DPNs that I used were not of the same size... because I am a poor uni student who thrifts for DPNs and other knitting needles... Boo...

Although everything came out all right, I'm still a little peeved about how the inside of the hat looks.

This is every knitter's nightmare. But I've tidied it up.
And now it looks like this on the inside...
Enough ranting. Here comes the pattern!!! I'm really nervous about this because this is the first second time that I am writing a knitting pattern. I will try to be as descriptive wherever I can.

For more advanced knitters, you simply need the chart and insert the face into your favourite beanie pattern. But for knitters who've only just begun to learn how to knit, I've got the pattern written out for you :)

Please be kind to me. If you find any errors, just email me!

THE KNITTED PANDA HAT! 
(why buy one from the shops when you can knit one yourself?)


Note: A lot of people have been telling me that this panda is too big for them. Please try measuring your head and calculating the number of stitches to cast on!

Needles: 3.5mm DPNs
Yarn: 1 ball of 8 ply white acrylic yarn (MC), 1 ball of 8 ply black 100% wool yarn (CC)
Gauge: What? I don't have time to do swatches. I am an average knitter; I don't knit too tightly or loosely.
Size: 63 cm in circumference unstretched. It fits my head loosely, which measures about 52cm with the tape across the middle of my forehead. I like a loose beanie because my face/head looks weird in one that fits snugly.

Pattern:

MC: White
CC: Black (stitches that are to be knitted in CC are BOLDED)

CO 152 using MC
Place a stitch marker before you begin to indicate the beginning of a round!
Row 1: K1, P1 (repeat to end)
Row 1: K1, P2 (repeat to end)

Repeat Rounds 1 & 2 until you have a 1x1 ribbed edge of about 1 inch long.

Round 3: Knit all in MC
Round 4: Knit all in MC

Nose and curly smile:
Round 5: K20, K2, K6, K2, knit the remaining sts in MC
Round 6: K19, K1, K2, K1, K4, K1, K2, K1, knit the remaining sts in MC
Round 7: K18, K1, K4, K1, K2, K1, K4, K1, knit the remaining sts in MC
Round 8: K24, K2, knit the remaining sts in MC
Round 9: K23, K4, knit the remaining sts in MC
Round 10: K22, K6, knit the remaining sts in MC
Round 11: K21, K8, knit the remaining sts in MC
Round 12: K20, K10, knit the remaining sts in MC
Round 13: K19, K12, knit the remaining sts in MC
Round 14: K19, K12, knit the remaining sts in MC

Eyes:
Round 15: K7, K7, K22, K7, knit the remaining sts in MC
Round 16: K6, K9, K20, K9, knit the remaining sts in MC
Round 17: K5, K11, K18, K11, knit the remaining sts in MC
Round 18: K4, K13, K16, K13, knit the remaining sts in MC
Round 19: K4, K14, K14, K14, knit the remaining sts in MC
Round 20: K4, K14, K14, K14, knit the remaining sts in MC
Round 21: K4, K15, K12, K15, knit the remaining sts in MC
Round 22: K4, K15, K12, K15, knit the remaining sts in MC
Round 23: K4, K8, K3, K4, K12, K4, K3, K8, knit the remaining sts in MC
Round 24: K4, K8, K3, K4, K12, K4, K3, K8, knit the remaining sts in MC
Round 25: K5, K7, K3, K4, K12, K4, K3, K7, knit the remaining sts in MC
Round 26: K6, K13, K12, K13, knit the remaining sts in MC
Round 27: K7, K11, K14, K11, knit the remaining sts in MC
Round 28: K9, K8, K16, K8, knit the remaining sts in MC
Round 29: K10, K6, K18, K6, knit the remaining sts in MC

Knit in MC for 8 rounds

Begin decrease:
Round 30: K17, K2tog (repeat to end)
Round 31: K16, K2tog (repeat to end)
Round 32: K15, K2tog (repeat to end)
... continue in a similar fashion until you have 8 stitches left on your needles.
Then, cut the yarn from the ball. Draw the remaining yarn through the 8 stitches and pull tight. 


Weave all ends in. 



Ears:
Make 2 black pom poms and use hot glue gun to glue them to the sides.



That's all for now. I'm going back to my cave. I'll emerge again... but my next blog post should NOT be a knitting post... 

And I shall try to figure out how to post my pattern on Ravelry... hmm...


29 comments:

Violet LeBeaux said...

That is so cute! I love it :D

Sarah said...

So beary cute! It was worth all the effort you put in.

Grimilde said...

kawaii *_*

Tammy♥ said...

Too cute..thanks for sharing..!

BEESTLYproducts said...

THAT CHART IS THE GREATEST! EVAR.

if you ever come across a pair of long circulars, you should try the magic loop method. i haven't used dpn's in forever. my clumsy man hands snapped so many into bits. haha.

Kelly said...

So cute! And thanks for writing out the pattern for people like me, who don't have a library of knitting patterns that we can just change at will.

Love your profile, btw. Wish I'd thought of that.

Janessa said...

This is too cute! I'm still learning to knit but when I do get the hang of it, this is on my to knit list!

::little projects in style:: said...

how adorable!! :)

makes me feel like picking up knitting classes too! x

Hello Naka said...

oh wow! i wish i knew how to knit in rounds :( i need to learn! thanks for the tutorial and it looks adorable :3

Anonymous said...

this is great but in the pattern it says knit, knit, knit, knit.... but the hat is in stockinette.....? doesn't that mean you knit a row, purl a row etc.. thx :)

gwenstella said...

hello Anon! This hat is knitted in the rounds using DPNs. This means that the hat is always knitted on the right side of the work. Thus, stockinette stitch is created even though we KNIT every round. :) Hope this helps!

I hope you get to see this! Next time, leave an email so that I can contact you directly. :)

Pigcatjiejie said...

can i use just regular knitting needles? i dont have dpn's and i dont know weher to buy one?

Georgie Porgie ;) said...

I have wanted a panda hat for so long, but cant find any i like, however i adore this one! Just a quick question though, is the purling essential? i am rubbish at it and have tried for weeks. would it work if a knitted normally? x

Anonymous said...

is your name qiwen heng?

gwenstella said...

anon: yes. you can drop me a line at gwenstella@gmail.com if you have other questions. :)

Anonymous said...

no no thats all xie xie~

SvGLove said...

You are super talented!
Everybody pays for those panda hats and you just knit!
I loved all your work;)

polkaknits said...

I love it! Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Hello,

At the begging you put k1 p1 for one row the p1 k1 for second row and continue like that... but that doesnt make a rib stitch that makes a seed stitch!... Is that the ways it supposed to be?? thank you

gwenstella said...

Hi Anon,

Yes, it's meant to be rib stitch and not seed stitch! Thanks for pointing out my mistake to me. I've made the change in my blog post!

Anonymous said...

Hello,

I love this pattern!! My question is.. that the first time i tried to knit this, when i was adding the black to make the face i was getting big holes on the side.... any tips on how to stop this??

Thanks

Anonymous said...

This hat is VERY cute! However, I knitted the hat using handspun alpaca yarn. The hat was huge, but I shrunk it down to size. I know alpaca is 'drapey' and maybe this is the reason? I've made over 100 hats and there could be many reasons for this result. I may just have to modify on my own...cut down on the number of CO stitches.

Leora said...

Love the way this adorable panda hat looks! You can avoid using multiple separate strands of yarn by knitting short rows! I haven't quite figured out yet the best way of doing this, but I'm sure I could come up with something.

Regardless, ..adorable knit!

- Leorac2@gmail.com

Katy said...

I am making this hat and am so happy with how it is turning out. One thing though--I am a beginner knitter, and I have never tried to add blocks of color like this. You said in your post that you didn't think about choosing between intarsia and faiar isle. What did you end up doing? I looked up how to do both of those, and tried both, but in both cases I am ending up with the black sections knitted "separately" and there is a big hole in the side of the black eyes where the black block is separate from the white. What did you end up doing? Would you mind adding that information? I've sort of made something up, but it doesn't look great. Everything I've read makes this look really complicated for intarsia (since it is in the round). Help would be great! Thanks so much!!

Antonella Sofía. said...

Es muy muy lindo! Una Argentina va a copiar tu patrón :) Gracias!!!

Gabrielle said...

Hi! I just made this hat, I used larger circular needles and so had to alter the pattern a bit. It still looks great! I have friends asking me to make them some as well. Just wanted to let you know I appreciate you posting this pattern! Thanks!

gwenstella said...

Thank you everyone for your support on this blog and the panda hat. This blog is no longer in use. Please visit my new blog -

andthen-therewasgwen.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Hi, I thought this was a really cute pattern! I made it but I ended up modifying the eye markings a bit to make it look more panda-ish and adjusting the hat size. Do you mind if I post my altered pattern on my blog site? (I'll be sure to post a link to your original pattern!)
-Dani

Gratiela said...

The best version of the panda hat i have found !!! I made one myself and will wear it proudly all over the place. Thanks for sharing it ;)