Ascension

April is a dear friend from high school.  She is one of the few friends that now as adults we still get each other Christmas and birthday gifts.  My gift to her this Christmas was a jar of jelly... which is lame of me, but a baby was just had and mama was tired!  She sent her gift to me with my mom when she visited earlier this month and it was hilarious!

Not in the sense that it was a gag gift or meant to be outright ha-ha funny, but hilarious nonetheless.  As a non-knitter, April always appreciates any hand knit items gifted to her (which I need to get working on for her birthday this spring to make up for the lameness of Christmas this year), and knows I love all things yarn-y.  In opening her card before the gift she explained that when she ordered the gift online she thought it was like 7x bigger than it actually was.  I pulled the present out in front of my mother hoping to god it wasn't something raunchy, and this came out.

I could just picture the hilarious look on her face when she got this in the mail instead of the full-sized skeins she was expecting.  Each one of these wee skeins is 17 yards of worsted weight yarn.  I can fit one in the palm of my hand.

Well, never letting the appearance of not enough yarn get in my way, I promptly cast on and knit up a hat taking advantage of the color gradient.  I ended up making a nice beanie to fit my big head with enough to make a pom pom for the top.  The hat only took me 6 of the mini skeins (I left out the purple and brown for a different project.)

In case you have something like this guy to use up, or have a couple of minis from advent calendars to use up (Seriously, how did I not know about the advent calendar minis!?  Next Christmas I will have to tell the Husband that this is a thing and all yarn-crafters get one and if I don't I will be missing out on a vital part of the holiday season amongst my fellow yarnies.) here is my rough (free) pattern.

If you prefer to download the PDF, check the Ravelry pattern page here.

 

 Ascension (noun) - the act or process of ascending

Yarn: 6 gradient colors, worsted weight (17-25 yards/16-23 meters each), referred to as C1-6
Needle: 16" US 7 (4.5 mm) circular, US 7 DPNs or long circular (for closing the crown)
Gauge: 18 sts and 24 rows per 4"/10cm in St st
Sizes: adult small (medium, large)

CO 80 (84, 88) sts in C1.  Ensure the sts aren't twisted and join in the rnd, placing a marker at the beginning of the rnd.

In C1, k2, p2 rib for three rounds.

Gradient pattern:

With C2 and knit one round.

Switch back to C1 and knit one round.

Repeat these two rounds once more.

Switch to C2 and knit for 3 rounds.  

With C3 and knit one round.
Switch back to C2 and knit one round.
Repeat these two rounds once more.
Switch to C3 and knit for 3 rounds.

Continue in this manner ending with C6.

At this point you can add a 7th or 8th color and continue the gradient through the decreases, or you can use up the yarn you have.  From here I continued to finish up C6, then moved back to C5 and then C4 to finish the crown.  I used the rest I had left from C1-3 to make the pom pom.

Crown Decreases: Follow your chosen color pattern through the decreases.
Rnd 1: k2tog 0(1,0) times, [k8(k8,k9), k2tog] repeat 8(8,8) more times, k2tog 0(1,0) times.
Rnd 2 (and all even rounds): k all sts
Rnd 3:[k7(k7,k8), k2tog] repeat until end.
Rnd 5: [k6(k6,k7), k2tog] repeat until end.
Rnd 7: [k5(k5,k6), k2tog] repeat until end.
Rnd 9: [k4(k4,k5), k2tog] repeat until end.
Rnd 11: [k3(k3,k4), k2tog] repeat until end.
Rnd 13: [k2(k2,k3), k2tog] repeat until end.
Rnd 15: [k1(k1,k2), k2tog] repeat until end.
Rnd 17(only for large size, small and large skip to Rnd 19): [k1, k2tog] repeat until end.
Rnd 19: [k2tog] repeat until end.

Break yarn and thread through remaining stitches, pulling tight.  Weave in ends and add a pom pom with any leftover yarn.

 

Happy Knitting!