Your new favorite hiking cap! Trailhead has a folded brim to protect your ears from wind, a generous length, and pops of color that represent the trail map of your favorite spot. Even better, this hat is perfect for scraps—fingering-weight yarns held together can substitute for a single strand of DK.

Trailhead is written for 1 (100g) skein of DK weight yarn and up to 5 contrast colors. The vertical stripes are created with a unique slip-stitch technique using a crochet hook. Coupled with the jogless stripe technique written into the pattern, they cover the color changes between stripes. The total contrast yarn usage is up to 40 yards. Each individual horizontal and vertical stripe pair uses approximately 3 yards and you’ll need an additional 26 yards of one contrast color for the contrast brim.

The M and L sizes include both a beanie and slouchy length option.

Sizes: XS (S, M, L) / 17” (19”, 22”, 24”) / 43 (48, 56, 61) cm
Yardages: 110 (140, 185-225, 210-250) yds / 100 (128, 170-205, 192-228) m of MC and 30-40 yds / 27-36 m total of CC.

The pattern includes intended design ease, so please choose a size closest to your head circumference.

For the swatchers, the last page of the pattern includes a bonus coffee cozy pattern that functions as an effective swatch in the round.

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”

Terry Pratchett—Hat Full of Sky