This is a pattern for making a lesbian-pride hat.
The hat is one-size-fits-most, knit in DK (or worsted-weight, in a pinch).

This pattern was inspired by a conversation I had recently with a friend. Her daughter, who is lesbian, had mentioned how – as a not-very-girly girl – wearing pink+orange+red didn’t really resonate with her. Fair enough.

Furthermore, there was the perennial problem that Anne-with-an-E once raised: although in this day and age we now boldly declare “wear what you want!”, you have to admit, pink+orange+red can really clash with red hair.

And my friend and her girls are my favourite redheads in all of Narnia.

With these things in mind, I set out to design a hat that would

1. Celebrate the colours of her pride-flag; but
2. Complement rather than clash with her (really lovely!) hair colour; and
3. Not look completely terrible.

My first attempt looked okay, but had a fatal flaw: the flag colours were reversed! A quick internet search revealed that an upside-down flag is a sign of distress or disrespect (actually, the word used was “desecration”). So that was definitely a no-go.

As I prepared to go back to square one, my friend S said, “Why don’t you flip the motif upside down?”

Zounds! The girl is a genius. May her socks be ever cosy!

A flip, a vertical shift, and many tweaks later… we have a pattern.

So this one is for all you who have had your qualms about pink+orange+red stripes and have fears your life might devolve into eternal plaid.

This pattern is available for free, but you can support my work by leaving me a tip on Ko-fi.