Tag Archives: Bayfront Cap

Bay(front) watch cap

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Bayfront Cap, by Melinda VerMeer, gets my 2011 award for best crown decreases. The hat looks great on all size heads and fits well. You will get it off your needles and be sure that it won’t fit anyone, but it stretches to fit even the pumpkin heads among us. It’s such a fun knit, and has been so well-received, that this is the third one I’ve made in the last few months.

The pattern is available on Ravelry for $2.99. It is so so worth it. This Bayfront is knitted in Oasis Yarn’s Aussie Sock, in the cherry tomato colorway. 90% merino, 10% nylon.

Casting on 168 stitches and knitting a cap in fingering weight yarn would not have been my cup ‘o tea in years past. Quick knits are still fun, but so are slower knits. If we like to knit, just doing it is the pleasure. A knitter doesn’t always have to be in a hurry.

Steve’s Bayfront Cap

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This is another Bayfront Cap, designed by Melinda Vermeer. A purchase via Melinda’s website will take you to the very efficient Ravelry download system. At $1.99, it’s a real deal. This is the second time I’ve knit it. The first time I tried it in a multi-colored Fortisissima Calori Socka Color yarn. It was a treat to knit, as the bands unfolded. But the colors obscured the look of the nice 3 by 9 ribbing in the body of the cap. It also hid the excellently detailed crown.

So this time I wanted a nice quiet color. This Aussie Sock by Oasis Yarn in an army duds color fit the bill. It’s a twisted yarn superwash in 90% merino wool and 10% nylon. The nylon gives the fabric a nice bounce, even in a hat. I increased the number of inches of 3 by 3 rib to lengthen the cap and allow for a folded brim and extra warmth over the ears.

The teeny needles and tons of stitches made the body of the cap a bit of a slog with yarn this tame. But then you reach the beautiful crown decreases and the fun begins!

Bayfront Cap

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Initially, Melinda Vermeer’s Bayfront Cap looks to be just one more take on the familiar watch cap. Interesting in that it’s knitted in fingering weight yarn, and more interesting yet because after an initial dose of 3-3 ribbing, the body of the cap is knit in knit 9, purl 3. That alone would have been enough to catch my attention.

But Melinda’s (gldelx’s–with the apostrophe on Ravelry) most inspired touch in this cap is the crown. Part flower, sort of. Part star, sort of. The pattern is available on Rav–one of the “best buys” at $1.99.  You can also check it out on Melinda’s pattern list on her own website, where a purchase will take you to Rav’s store.

My first Bayfront is knit in a lightweight washable wool: Fortissima Colori Socka Color by Schoeller+Stahl. It used up about 210 yards. I knitted the initial ribbing on size one needles and the rest on size 2. On the needles, it looks small. But the fabric has a lot of stretch in it and will be wearable for teen and adult heads of all sizes. Next time I knit this I think I will use a solid color. That will show off the crown a bit more.