Hanmora Hat and Spiral Knitting

Hanmora is a free pattern for a delightful striped hat knit in two colors of our hand-dyed and handspun yarn, Serpentina. It’s knit using the spiral knitting method to avoid a color jog - a perfect project to try a new technique!

Single Row Stripes with a Jog

The common method of knitting hats is to knit them in the round. It is important to understand that while you are knitting around and around and around to create the body of the hat, spatially speaking, you are knitting a spiral. As a result, the beginning and end of the round do not line up perfectly. 

When working stripes in the round, the color change is noticeable and is often referred to as a jog. Our sample photographed here is knit using Pina (MC) and Little Black Dress (CC). The green stitch marker marks the beginning of each round. Look below the marker to see the jog at the color change (we’ve also added the blue slanted line to emphasize this), where the stitches stack as the spiral is formed.

Spiral Knitting

To avoid this jog, or interruption in the color, we use the spiral knitting technique. The beginning of the round will shift, as we slip stitches to reach the next color. 

To start the spiral knitting, we are knitting with the contrast color until three stitches before the end of the previous round. 

Slip the remaining three stitches of the round with the yarn held in back.

Pick up the main color and knit until three stitches before the end of the previous round. You are now six stitches before the original beginning of the round marker.

As before, slip the last three stitches with the yarn in the back. Knit with the contrast color until three stitches before the end of the main color round. 

Continue on with this sequence until the body of your hat is the length instructed. The locking bulb stitch marker is the old beginning of round marker and where the jogs of changing color happened (indicated by slanted blue lines). As the body of the hat is knit using the spiral knitting technique, the beginning of the round shifts (as indicated by the blue line) with each color change, and there is no jog!

Now that you know this knitting technique, you can use it to impress others when you knit single-row stripes in sweaters, socks, fingerless mitts and cowls in the round.  Let us know how it works for you and share your spiral knitting with Manos del Uruguay yarns on Facebook, Instagram, and Ravelry!

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