Knitting hats is very easy, a great starter project if you’re new at knitting.

You’ll need:
• approximately 200-220 yards of worsted weight yarn
• 2- 16″ circular needles- I use US size 5s & 7s
• DPNs the same size as the larger circular needles (in my case, 7s)
• darning needle for finishing off ends

Instructions:
1. Knit a gauge swatch, then measure the circumference of your head.
2. Figure out how many stitches will be needed to go around your head, & round down to the nearest multiple of 8.
3. Cast on the number of stitches on size 16 circular needles 2 sizes smaller than what you did your gauge swatch on.
4. Knit for 2 inches on those needles, then switch to the size needles used to do your gauge swatch.
5. For an adult size hat, knit for about 4 to 5 inches. For a child size hat, knit for about 3 to 4 inches.
6. Place 8 stitch markers, evenly spaced & change to your DPNs. (To change needle types, simply take your DPN & move the live stitches off the circulars onto the single needles. You’ll need to make sure all needles have the same number of stitches. Some of your stitch markers may fall off if they are at the end of a DPN, go ahead & remove the marker, just don’t forget that you will need to remember that a marker SHOULD be there.)
7. *Knit to stitch marker, slip marker, k2tog* around, then knit 1 row plain. Do this until only 8 stitches are left.
8. Finish by breaking the yarn, threading the tail through the 8 remaining stitches a couple of times, & pulling tight. You can also k2tog around to get you down to 4 stitches, & make an I-cord for an inch or two to make a stem, or I-cord long enough to make a loop for hanging.

For a felted hat, like pictured- knit your hat approximately three times larger, put finished hat into a pillowcase & throw into a HOT wash!

Posted in crafts, knitting, knitting patterns & written by Niki —