Are there buy buttons on the side of the page? If so, you've caught this pattern on one of the handful of days every year when it's available! If not, read on for details of where it went and what to do if you want to be notified the next time it's available.

A few years ago I got overwhelmed by my back catalog, retired most of my earlier work, and launched Tiny Nonsense. That gave me space to make Cool New Stuff! But some people missed the earlier things, so I make many of the retired patterns available for a few days once or twice a year.

• If you see the buy buttons on this page, you’ve caught it on one of the days it’s available! You can buy it just like usual.

• If you don’t see the buy buttons on this page, then it’s not currently available. It will probably be available the week after Thanksgiving and for a few days in June or July.

• If you want to hear when the retired patterns come back, subscribe to the mailing list or patreon, or keep an eye on my instagram.

Smashing adjective extraordinarily impressive or effective

This is one of those projects that’s just the right combination of cute and clever! Plus it’s the perfect way to show off your favorite brooch or pin (or possibly an excuse to get a new one, I’ll never tell)!

The body of the hat is knit on the bias. You stack up increases one one side and decreases on the other (with ribbing in between), and it makes the whole thing slant off to the side. It’s unreasonably fun to knit (and very, very mellow).

When you’re ready to finish up, you do a few quick rounds of carefully placed decreases, and the top comes together like magic. Then you fold up the point, pin it in place and revel in your new creation.

If you want a little extra fun, the pattern includes adorable matching cuffs to round out the set.

The hat is written in four sizes (castons of 90, 100, 110, and 120 stitches), the cuff is written in three sizes (castons of 35, 40, and 45 stitches), and you should feel free to adjust your gauge a bit to fine tune the fit of the pieces. Just be sure that you’re working at a gauge that gives you a fabric you like with your chosen yarn!

I recommend working at something around 4, 4.5, 5, or 5.5 stitches per inch for the hat and 5, 5.5, 6, or 6.5 stitches per inch for the cuffs, and I’ve included a table to help you figure out what gauge you’ll want to use for your size. With that range of sizes and gauges, the hat will fit a head between 18.25 and 25.5 inches (with lots of points in between), and the cuffs will fit wrists between 6 and 10 inches (with lots of points in between).

The hat shown took about 175 yards, the cuffs about 125, and I got both out of one skein of yarn. If you are making a larger size or a longer cuff, 225 yards for the hat or 150 for the cuffs is a safer bet.

Blocking matters more than usual for these (and I’m a firm believer that it generally matters a lot), so you’ll want to use a yarn you can block (that usually means a yarn with a high wool content).

This is perfect for you if:

• You’re now hatching all sorts of plans to bob your hair, roll your knee socks, don a string of pearls, and head out on an adventure
• You have a beautiful vintage pin you never wear but are desperate to show off

It’s not for you if:

• You don’t like charts (the pattern uses charts)
• You hate swatching (you need to swatch to check your needle size)

Just as a heads up, an earlier version of the pattern was originally included in the book What (Else) Would Madame Defarge Knit? The new one is tweaked and streamlined with a good bit more supporting material and handholding and photos. But if you have that book in your library, you do already have the original version!