There is a special bonus version of this hat available only to patrons. You can see it in one of the pictures here (it’s the one with the rolled brim towards the bottom of the page), or head over this way for a closer look!

I love this more than I should probably admit. It’s absurdly simple (knit some ribbing, occasionally reach down through your fabric and pull a couple extra loops of yarn through), but it ends up looking absolutely gorgeous. It really shouldn’t be that pretty. Or at the very least, it shouldn’t be that pretty and also be that easy.

If it’s going to look that good, you should have to work for it!

And, as lovely as it is worked in one color, it somehow it gets even more delightful if you work the ribbing in one color and the loopy bits in another, which gives you all sorts of ways to play with color. Oh, and just in case that wasn’t enough, it even looks good on the wrong side of the fabric.

That’s just too much awesome for one project. It can’t possibly be fair. I’m pretty sure it breaks some sort of rule.

But, given my general fondness for awesome things that are easier than they look, I’m not going to complain. Instead I’ll knit some matching mitts (you can catch a sneak peek of them in a few of the pictures, they’ll be out shortly). Because when something is this delightful, you want as much of it as you can manage!

General information

This 18-page pattern includes information for both the solid color and the contrast color version of this hat.

Skills & scope

The actual knitting is surprisingly simple. This is, at its heart, just a basic ribbed hat. And every now and then, you’ll reach down through your fabric and pull an extra little loop of yarn through to make things fancy. It’s not hard, and there are nifty illustrations to walk you through it step by step.

The pattern uses charts, so you will need to know how to follow a knitting chart.

Yarn, gauge & sizing

The hat comes in five sizes (from a 104 stitch cast on to a 136 stitch cast on) and is written for four gauges (from five and a half to seven stitches per inch in half stitch increments). That means you can use just about any weight of yarn from fingering up through worsted, and there will be a size to fit pretty much anyone’s head. Basically anything that will give you a fabric with a drape you like somewhere in that range of gauges will work.

The hat in the pictures took about 375 yards of fingering-weight yarn. The fancy stitches do take a bit of extra yarn, as does the folded brim so you will likely need a bit more yarn than you’re used to. But 400 yards should be a safe bet for any size.

Tools & supplies

You’ll need needles that let you work in the round (circulars or DPNs) in whatever size lets you get a solid fabric with your chosen yarn plus the general knitting tools you need for most projects (scissors to cut your yarn, a darning needle to weave in ends, the occasional stitch marker).