Lace Bonnet

This adjustable lace bonnet is sized for an adult, and knitted in fingering-weight cotton yarn on size 2 (US) needles. I designed it for a friend who has "hair by chemo" due to her treatments for leukemia. Here's to you, Barb! I wish I could do more.

This pattern is a derivative design of Oma's Lace and the Circular Feather-and-Fan Cloth. Its structure is like a round cake on a plate: from the center it expands outward as a circular disk, then a short cylindrical portion goes down, then straight out again for a circular ruffle around the face. A drawstring or ribbon allows it to be adjusted to the size of the head. I'm toying with the idea of adding a shorter, denser inner ruffle around the face.

Here are some more detailed photos:

• larger version of the photo above (9K)
• from the side, showing the ruffle (10K)
• from the back, showing the crown (9K)

MATERIALS

One 50-gram ball (210 meters, or about 230 yards) fingering-weight (baby weight) cotton yarn. I used Fortissima cotton (25% nylon), but any baby yarn should do.
Set of 5 (4 will work, but will get crowded) double-pointed needles, size 2 (US)

INSTRUCTIONS

| = knit
- = purl
0 = yarn over (yo)
/ = knit 2 together
\ = ssk (slip one stitch knitwise, slip another knitwise, knit the two together)

Be sure to place a safety pin or other marker at the beginning of the round, and use a ring marker around the needle at the beginning of each pattern repeat, at least for the feather and fan portion.

CENTER PLAIN PORTION

Round 1: Crochet 8 stitches onto a loop in the beginning of the thread. Arrange the stitches onto 4 double-pointed needles. (If your set is 4 needles, arrange stitches 3+3+2 on three of them.)

Rnds 2-3: knit plain.

Rnd 4: (yo, k1) x8 (= 16 sts)

Rnds 5-7: knit plain

Rnd 8: (yo, k1) x 16 (=32 sts)

Rnds 9-11: knit plain

Rnd 12: (yo, k2) x 16

Rnds 13-15: knit plain

Rnd 16: (yo, k3) x 16

Rnds 17-19: knit plain

Rnd 20: (yo, k4) x 16

Rnds 21-23: knit plain

Rnd 24: (yo, k5) x 16

Rnds 25-27: knit plain

CHART FOR FEATHER-AND-FAN PORTION

This chart reads from bottom to top, and from right to left. It shows only the pattern rounds. There are three rounds of plain knitting between each of the pattern rounds, and following the last pattern round.

rnd 95  bind off loosely.
rnd 92 O|O|O |/////|  O|O|O|  (It will take about 4 yards of yarn
rnd 88 O|O|O  /////|  O|O|O|   for each round. Bind off on round
rnd 84 O|O|O  /////   O|O|O|   83, 87, or 91 if you're running low.)

rnd 80    O|O |////|  O|O|O|
rnd 76    O|O  ////|  O|O|O|
rnd 72    O|O  ////   O|O|O|   <-- beginning of ruffle

rnd 69-71 |-|  -|-|-    |-|-   <-- more ribbing
rnd 68    |-|  O\-/O    |-|-   <-- eyelets for drawstring
rnd 64-67 |-|  -|-|-    |-|-   <-- beginning of ribbing

rnd 60    O|O  //|//    O|O|
rnd 56    O|O  //|//    O|O|
rnd 52    O|O  //|//    O|O|   <-- beginning of the straight part

rnd 48    O|O  |///|    O|O|
rnd 44    O|O   ///|    O|O|
rnd 40    O|O   ///     O|O|
                                 | = knit
rnd 36     O    |//|    O|O|     - = purl
rnd 32     O     //|    O|O|     O = yarn over
rnd 28     O     //     O|O|     / = knit 2 together

Run a ribbon or cord through the eyelets in the ribbed portion of the bonnet (under the short gap, over the long one). You can make a cord from yarn by twisting tightly four strands of yarn and folding this in half so that it spins together into an 8-strand cord. This will take about 10 yards of yarn for each finished yard of cord. Knot the ends and trim.

Copyright © Judy Gibson, 1997 (jgibson@cts.com). This pattern may be used in any way, including printing for sale, as long as it is clear that I designed it, and this notice stays with it.