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Hubby's Decoder Hat

© 2009 Zabet Stewart • Some rights reserved Look, I'm pretty sure I'm not the first geek knitter to have this idea, but I didn't Google to confirm this, so don't bombard me with links to other folks who have done it. Good for them, good for me, we should all get medals. And don't tell me I'm infringing on their copyright; you can't copyright an idea (i.e., "binary hat"), only the tangible product of that, such as the hat itself, photos, and written instructions, and here I've taken my own photos and wrote my own instructions. Get over it or go find another pattern. The ribbing in the hat contains a secret message in binary. If you’re not geek enough to figure out your own binary messages, I’ve included a link to an online ascii-to-binary translator in the Design Notes. (Don’t know what ascii is? It’s what you’re reading right now and type with every day. It’s ok. Your Geek will love you anyway.) The pattern will vary depending on your message, so it’s a great first pattern for a creative beginner who has knit and purl down cold and wants to try using DPNs and decreases. Update: When my Hubby went to decode the hat, he was completely thrown by the fact that he'd need to "read" it from right-to-left. As a knitter, I've grown so accustomed to reading charts and my knitting this way that it didn't even occur to me that I should correct for reading left-to-right, as we are both native English speakers and this is what is considered "normal" for our language. Therefore, I have completely revamped the pattern for reading it left-to-right.

Materials: • Worsted weight yarn • US7/4.5mm set of 4 DPNS (or a sufficiently long circular to work a Magic Loop) • Any message that is 12 characters long (including spaces) translated into binary

Sizing: This is a ribbed 96-st hat, so it will fit 21-23” heads pretty well. My Hubby has a 22” head, fyi. To make the hat smaller or larger, add or subtract stitches in multiples of eight. For every eight you add or subtract, you'll need to add or subtract a character from your message.

See how that Noro Cash Iroha shines! Design Notes: Need help translating into binary? Go here: http://www.theskull.com/javascript/ascii-binary.html One ascii character will need eight stitches to express it in binary. Since 8x12=96, that means your message can be 12 characters long. Remember, if you are adjusting the size, you must adjust the length of your message. You'll notice that I didn't use any capital letters or spaces, which isn't a requirement, I just didn't think about it. And yes, there is different binary code for upper and lowercase, as well as spaces. If you don't use "ilovepatrick" because you aren't lucky enough to love a Patrick, first translate your binary ones and zeros into knits. One = knit, and zero = purl. To make your message read left-to-right, you'll want to completely reverse the order of the knits and purls you get from the binary. Here is an example changing cat into tac: order you get from translator order in which you should knit c: p k2 p3 k2 t: p2 k p k3 p a: p k2 p4 k a: k p4 k2 p

t: p k3 p k p2 c: k2 p3 k2 p

Once you've got your binary translated and reversed (if you want it to read left-to-right; I realize not all languages read this way), use it in place of the first round in the directions.

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Variations: You could also use a 6-character word or phrase (ex: the name "Phoebe") and work it twice, a 4-character word (ex: "Nate" or "love") and work it three times, or a 3-character word (ex: "hat" or "pwn" or "pie") and work it four times.

Directions: CO 96 and join, being careful not to twist. Knit the first round as follows (or as your design dictates):

k: p2 k p k p2 k

c: p2 k3 p2 k

i: p k2 p k p2 k

r: k p k2 p3 k

t: k2 p k p3 k

a: p k4 p2 k

p: k4 p3 k

e: p k p k2 p2 k

v: k p2 k p3 k

o: p4 k p2 k

l: k2 p2 k p2 k

i: p k2 p k p2 k

Once the pattern is est., knit the knits and purl the purls until your work measures nearly 8 inches from the cast on edge. Work one more round, placing markers every 8sts. *Work the next round as a decrease round. When you are two sts before the marker, decrease as follows: if 2 knit stitches = k2tog if 2 purl stitches = p2tog if 1 knit on the left and 1 purl on the right = k2tog if 1 purl on the left and 1 knit on the right = p2tog Work the next round as est., knitting the knits and purling the purls.* Repeat from * to * until 8 sts remain on each needle (24 sts remaining), ending with working a round as est.

Work the next TWO rounds as decrease rounds, following the types of decreases outlined above. (6 sts remaining) Break yarn, leaving a long tail. Thread the tail on a tapestry needle, run it through the 6 live stitches, and pull tight. Weave in ends. Block lightly. Wear cap with a knowing smile; or, smile knowingly as the cap's recipient wears it.

Final Note: If you expect anyone to decipher the hat, you might want to mark the start of round in some way. A safety pin works if you want them to remove it, or you can add a small bead to your cast-on tail before sewing it in. Or you could do neither and make it a real bitch of a puzzle!

Copyright Information: This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

"Don't arse it up for the rest of us." —Stephanie Pearl-McPhee