Phoncible

 Baby I'm back! Any kind of fool could seeeeee....

Starting this blog off with one of my all-time best-sellers. The Noro Kureyon version (seen below) was released pretty early in my career and sold well right through to the end. The Crystal Palace Mochi one was my attempt to take some better photos - I had stupidly sold the original sample at some point. 

Fun fact: This was almost a felted vase. Thank god I did not go that direction. 

Another fun fact: One time a random knitter got pissed that this pattern cost money and vowed to reverse engineer it and release it for free. She never did, lol. I hope she's having the life she deserves. 

Yarn: 2 skeins Crystal Palace Yarns Mochi Plus or Noro Kureyon, or a similar slow-changing worsted weight yarn. Don't ask me for the colors, they don't exist anymore. I'm not even 100% sure these yarns exist anymore.

Needles: US Size 7/4.5 mm 16” circular needles and matching double pointed needles (or size needed

to achieve gauge)

Gauge: First 3”/vertical stripes: 6 sts and 7.5” rows per inch. After that/horizontal stripes: 5 sts and

7.5” rows per inch. This gauge change is important and you may need to change needle size after the first section to achieve it. Stitch gauge is more important than row gauge.

Tools: Darning needle, stitch marker

Skills: Knitting in the round, decreasing, stranded knitting

Notes: This hat is worked entirely in stockinette stitch using simple colorwork and is shaped using a change in gauge (which may occur naturally when you switch from vertical to horizontal stripes, as stranded colorwork tends to be tight, or you may need to change needle size to achieve it.) The brim is not worked in ribbing, however you can choose to do “k2 color A, p2 color B” if you prefer.

Sizing: As written, the hat will fit snugly on a small adult (~21/22”) after blocking, but if you’d prefer a looser fit you may wish to work it at a looser gauge on bigger needles. Just make sure there is a 1 stitch-per-inch difference between the vertical-stripe gauge and the horizontal- stripe gauge.

Abbreviations:

k: knit

k2tog: knit two stitches together

Stockinette: In the round, knit every stitch

Directions:

Cast on 100 stitches in color A using the circular needle (switch to double points later when you’ve

decreased to too few stitches to be comfortable on the circular needle.) Place marker and join in the

round.

-(K2 in color A, k2 in color B), repeat around. You’ll be joining color B after the first two stitches. Repeat this round for the first three inches.

-Switch to horizontal stripes by working two rounds in A, two rounds in B (carry the other yarn up the back of work, don’t cut it) and work in stockinette for 34 rows (17 stripes).

Continue striping while working decrease rounds as follows:

1: (k18, k2tog), repeat around

2 and all even rounds up to 10: k

3: (k17, k2tog), repeat around

5: (k16, k2tog), repeat around

7: (k15, k2tog), repeat around

9: (k14, k2tog), repeat around

11: (K13, K2tog), repeat around

12: (K12, K2tog), repeat around

13: (K11, K2tog), repeat around

14: (K10, K2tog), repeat around

15: (K9, K2tog), repeat around

16: (K8, K2tog), repeat around

17: (K7, K2tog), repeat around

18: (K6, K2tog), repeat around

19: (K5, K2tog), repeat around

20: (K4, K2tog), repeat around

21: (K3, K2tog), repeat around

22: (K2, K2tog), repeat around

23: (K1, K2tog), repeat around

24: K2tog, repeat around

Cut yarn leaving a long tail. Draw tail through remaining stitches on needle and pull tight. Cut the

other yarn as well, weave in ends and block (stretch brim gently while wet if desired.)

© Alexandra Tinsley, 2025. Use freely but please don't republish, distribute, or sell this pattern.