A Knitting Adventure

My sister has more faith in my knitting abilities than I do. Several months ago she asked if could make her a baby cocoon because she loves the ones she has seen other photographers use in their work.

I immediately began looking online and in yarn stores for patterns, but there are very few to be found, and almost entirely in crochet. Crochet does notwork for me because I just don't get it, so that was not an option. I found a baby stork sack pattern from the kipknitzed blog, and I did try the pattern out, but it was still not quite what I was looking for in a cocoon. Ultimately, I decided I could venture out of my knitting comfort zone and piece together a pattern since the cocoons look like really big and extra-long hats to me. It seems like the prototype worked out okay, but we'll see what my sister says when she gets in the mail.

Here is what I did for this particular cocoon:

Supplies
Yarn (Serenity Chunky Weight in Almond)
Size 9 Circular Needle, 16"
Stitch marker ring

1. Cast on 64 stitches (or gauge to get a cocoon with an eight-inch diameter).
2. *R1: Knit; R2: Purl
3. Repeat R1/R2 until work measures 6 1/2" from the edge
4. Knit in the round (use stitch marker to mark the beginning of the row).
5. Continue until work measures 18" from the edge.
6. Round 1: *K6, K2tog (repeat from * to end)
7. Round 2: Knit
8. Round 3: *K5, K2tog (repeat from * to end)
9. Round 4, 5, 6: Knit (all remaining even number rows)
10. Round 7: *K4, K2tog (repeat * to end)
11. Round 9: *K3, K2tog (repeat * to end)
12. Round 11: *K2, K2tog (repeat * to end)
13. Round 12: *K2, K2tog (repeat * to end)
14. Round 13: *K1, K2tog (repeat * to end)
15. Cut yarn and weave through remaining stitches. Pull to close top of the hat.