STRIKE-THROUGH BEANIE

Can there ever be such a thing an an elegant beanie? This question was posed by a group of us knitters some years ago, whilst discussing the stylistic merits of knitted accessories.

We were watching Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, of late 1990s- early 2000s vintage. The detectives on the show seemed insistent on wearing very casual knitted beanies paired with very formal overcoats. Some of us thought it looked nice. Some of us thought it looked meh. But all of us noticed …and decided to knit our own versions. You know, of the type of beanie we ourselves might wear with a stiff wool overcoat, if we were say a judge or a district attorney, nipping out into the cold for a quick coffee. The version I came up with was promptly nicknamed the Strike-Through Beanie, because of the distinct indent-like stripes running through the fabric.

The Strike-Through Beanie has gone though a number of iterations over the years. I’ve experimented with different lengths, different ways of closing the crown, with different distances between the stripes. I even discovered the joys of knitting it in two colours. This simple pattern is the culmination of all this, with instructions for a range of yarn weights and sizes.

{Note: This is not a brioche hat. While visually similar to brioche, the fisherman’s rib stitch is straightforward to learn and does not require prior knowledge of the technique. The written instructions are accompanied by a handy chart.}

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SIZING
baby (child, adult, adult+) to fit head circumference approx
45cm (50cm, 55cm, 60cm)

YARN
instructions provided for fingering-weight, sport-weight, DK-weight, Aran-weight, and chunky-weight yarns

YARN QUANTITIES
fingering-weight: one 100g skein
sport-weight: one 100g skein
DK-weight: 1 (1, 1, 2) 100g skeins
Aran weight: 1 (1, 2, 2) 100g skeins
chunky: 1 (2, 2, 2) 100g skeins
Nutiden: 50g or less

GAUGE
fingering-weight: 24sts/ 10cm
sport-weight: 20sts/ 10cm
DK-weight: 17sts/ 10cm
Aran-weight: 13sts/ 10cm
chunky: 10sts/ 10cm

NEEDLES

circular needles, sized depending on yarn weight and gauge
(pattern provides guide)



NOTIONS

removable stitch markers, tapestry needle, scrap yarn



SPECIAL TECHNIQUES

Fisherman’s rib in the round


CONSTRUCTION
worked in the round, from the brim up

FIT & STYLING
This hat can be worn either with the brim turned up, or as a ‘slouchy beanie’ with the brim unfurled and the fabric scrunched up according to preference. The placement of the ‘strike-thoughs’ facilitates the scrunching up process and gives the hat an interesting structure.

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SAMPLE INFO

taupe-grey beanie
Eden Cottage Yarns Millburn DK
in the steel colourway

white beanie
Knitting the Stash Shorn
(undyed natural white)

fuchsia and teal beanie
Folklore Yarns Banbha
in the Ocean and Cyclamen colourways

pink and grey beanie
Höner och Eir Nutiden (held double)
scrap yarn amounts from older collections