Posted on 15 Comments

Impunity

When I was a kid, I remember reading a short story called “Impunity Jane.” I don’t know why I always returned to that story; maybe it was because I was a typical girl who loved dolls, and Impunity Jane just happened to be a doll. But really, I think it was the word impunity that had me so fascinated. I just couldn’t infer its meaning from the story’s content. It was a word mystery, and I was hooked.

The mystery remained unsolved, and, eventually, forgotten, until my high school English class. There, in my vocabulary book, was the word impunity! And the definition? Freedom from punishment. The perfect word, waiting to be used in the perfect situation. I love those types of words.

As I was typing up the description for this hat pattern, I realized that the thing I like so much about it is its use of variegated and tonal yarns. I have a love/hate relationship with those yarns, which you may have read about here. They always look so pretty in the balls, and so horribly blotchy in stockinette. Unless.

Unless you can come up with some interesting stitch pattern. Then, they shine. Then, you can knit them up with impunity.

For example, in my new pattern, which I named… Impunity. Shocking, I know.

As you can see, these hats have vertical ribbing to break up the colour changes. And the shaping continues right up to the top of the hat. Lots of springy, stretchy rings and visual interest. This hat looks great knit in any colour, for anyone. I’ve been making them for the gezillions of babies being born to all my friends this summer, and I plan to make one for myself, too. And possibly for my husband. If he’s good. After all, what’s the use in being a knitter if you don’t have an over abundance of hats?

The pattern contains sizing for Preemies, Babies, Toddlers, and Children/Adults. Because of the larger-than-normal needle size and the vertical ribs, these hats are stretchy and will fit between sizes. If in doubt, knit a size up. For instance, Preemie is definitely too little for a newborn of average size, but the Baby size will fit a newborn for quite a while. The size shown in the pictures is Toddler, and it fits the pretty little 20-month-old (if I do say so myself) as well as her 5-year-old brothers. But if you’re knitting for an 8 year old or older, I’d go with a Child/Adult size. Clear as mud?

You’ll need a 50g ball of fingering-weight yarn and size 3 US (2.75mm) needles for working in the round. I used two circular needles, but dpn’s or magic loop would work, as well. The yarn I used, that’s shown here, is one of my new favourites: Shibui Sock. Oh, the springiness! Oh, the colours! My hands are happy when I knit with it. The colour shown here is called Roppongi, and it’s a pink/orange mix. Bliss!

[box type=”download”]download now for free![/box]

15 thoughts on “Impunity

  1. She’s so cute! Great pictures, and that’s a great idea to deal with yarn that won’t behave in other patterns.

  2. Seriously crushing on this pattern — there are so many Little People I know who need hats (now that they’ve gotten over their newborn knits). I found you via Ravelry’s Top 20 today — congrats!

  3. […] holding the luscious Misti Alpaca that was being magically transformed into an adult-sized Impunity hat.  Isn’t it a pretty […]

  4. What a precious girl and love the hat too. Thanks for the pattern.

  5. Thanks for the pattern. My Newcomers Alumnae chapter knit caps and mitts for charity and I will be using this one for a change of pace this fall.

  6. Adorable… the hat and the baby girl. I <3 the pics.

  7. […] Impunity (includes instructions for larger sizes, as well) […]

  8. I love this pattern!! But I have a ball of medium weight wool and 3.75 mm dpns and was hoping to use them for this pattern for a 4 year old. Do you think I should use the smaller baby size to accomodate the larger wool/needles?

    1. Hannah, your guess is as good as mine. Let me know how it goes for you! If you want to be more “sure” before you get started, I suggest you knit a gauge swatch to get a stitch count. (Stitches per inch times inches around head equals the number of stitches to cast on.)

    2. You could certainly try. The outcome will depend on your gauge. If you figure out how many stitches you get per inch with your yarn and your needles, then you could calculate how many to cast on to fit your 4 year old based on the head size you’re aiming for. Just make sure to keep the same number of sts in a repeat so you can work the crown decreases. Let me know how it goes. (And sorry for the slow reply! But I figured better late than never. I’m not sure how I missed this comment so completely.)

  9. Hi everyone! I was just browsing through the fabulous TECHknitting blog, and I thought this post was great. She tells us how to get rid of the jog that forms at the beginning of each round when we switch from knitting to purling (and vice versa). Let me know what you think!
    http://techknitting.blogspot.ca/2011/02/horizontal-fold-lines-in-knitting-part.html

  10. CAN’T GET THE PATTERN…EASY ENOUGH TO SEE THAT IT’S GARTER ST AND KNIT IN STOCKINETTE STITCH IN ROUNDS….I SUPPOSE I COULD FIGURE OUT THE DECREASES IN THE CROWN….CUTE GIRL, CUTE PATTERN!

    1. Hi Sarah! At the very end of the blog post, there’s a little sentence that says “download now for free!” If you hover your mouse over the words “download now,” it should look like a link. Click on it, and the pdf file will automatically be downloaded to your computer’s hard drive. If you have any more trouble, let me know.

  11. went to the end and could not find where to down load

    1. Hi Maureen! There’s a green box at the bottom of the post with a green arrow inside and the words “download now for free!” Is it not showing up for you? You can also go to Ravelry and download it there. Just do a pattern search for “Impunity,” and it should come up.

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