Lady Slipped-Stitch Tam

Lady Slipped-Stitch Tam by Fox and Folk

Project Overview

The Lady Slipped-Stitch Tam is a beginner-friendly knitted hat designed by Fox and Folk. This downloadable knitting pattern creates a classic tam silhouette in two sizes (SM-M and L), making it an accessible project for knitters new to hat construction. The tam features a distinctive slipped-stitch texture that adds visual interest while remaining suitable for those building foundational knitting skills.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces a women's tam—a soft, rounded hat with a relaxed fit. The tam is worked in the round from the bottom up, beginning with a ribbed edging that provides structure and comfort around the head. The design progresses through a textured body section before shaping decreases create the characteristic tam crown. The finished hat offers both style and practicality for everyday wear.

Knitting Techniques Used

• Circular knitting: The tam is worked in the round using 16-inch circular needles, eliminating the need for seaming and creating a seamless construction
• Ribbed edging: A knit-one, purl-one (K1, P1) ribbing creates an elastic, fitted band at the hat's base
• Slipped-stitch patterning: The body incorporates slipped stitches to create texture and visual depth
• Decreasing: Strategic decreases shape the crown of the tam as stitches are reduced toward the top
• Gauge management: Working to the specified gauge ensures proper fit and drape

Stitches and Abbreviations

The pattern uses fundamental knitting stitches and techniques, including:

• K (knit) and P (purl) for basic stockinette and ribbed sections
• S1k (slip 1 knitwise) for the slipped-stitch texture that defines the tam's character
• Kfb (knit into front and back) for increases when shaping is needed
• K2tog (knit 2 together) and P2tog (purl 2 together) for decreases that form the crown
• CO (cast on) and BO (bind off) for starting and finishing the hat

Materials and Yardage

The Lady Slipped-Stitch Tam requires worsted weight yarn in a quantity of 175–180 yards (160–165 meters), making it an efficient project that uses minimal yardage. This modest yardage requirement makes the pattern ideal for using yarn from a stash or purchasing a single skein.

Needles and Tools

The pattern calls for multiple needle sizes to accommodate different sections of the hat:

• Size US 7, 4.5 mm 16-inch circular needles for the initial ribbed edging
• Size US 8, 5 mm 16-inch circular needles for the main body and set-up rows
• Size US 9, 5.5 mm 16-inch circular needles (optional) for alternative gauge or fabric preferences
• Size US 8, 5 mm double-pointed needles (DPNs) for transitioning to smaller circumference as the crown decreases
• Size US 6, 4 mm DPNs for final crown shaping

Additional notions include a yarn needle for weaving in ends, stitch markers for tracking pattern repeats, and a fixed stitch marker or safety pin to denote the transition point between the ribbed edging and the patterned body.

Gauge

The pattern specifies a gauge of 4½ stitches per inch (3½ stitches per 2 centimeters) measured over stockinette stitch. Achieving this gauge is essential for proper fit, as the tam is sized for specific head circumferences based on the stitch count.

Construction Details

The tam begins with a cast-on of 92 stitches for the smaller size or 96 stitches for the larger size on US 7 needles. After joining in the round