Fiber note: I used Juniper Moon Farm Herriot Great pure extrafine baby alpaca. It says it is a “bulky” wool but I found it to be closer to an Aran.

Pattern repeats every 16 stitches, so if you use a thicker or thinner yarn, you can easily adjust it up or down from there.

Size US 5 (3.75mm) needles for ribbing, size US 7 (4.5mm) needles for body of the hat.

You will want a stitch marker to mark the start of a new row. You may also wish to mark each repeat within a single row so as to more easily keep track of your location in the pattern.

CO = Cast On
K = Knit
P = Purl
C6F = slip three stitches onto a cable and hold to the front. Knit three stitches, then knit the stitches from the cable.
C4F = slip two stitches onto a cable and hold to the front. Knit two stitches, then knit the stitches from the cable
SSK = Slip slip knit
SSP = Slip slip purl
K2tog = Knit 2 together

BODY

CO 112 stitches

Join and work K1 P1 1-1 ribbing in round, taking care not to twist the yarn at the connection.

Work 1-1 ribbing until you have 1.5”/4cm of ribbing completed. Switch to larger needles at this point.

Rows 1-4: (K6 P3 K4 P3)* repeat until stitch marker/end of round
Row 5: (C6F P3 C4F P3)*
Rows 6-9 (K6 P3 K4 P3)*
Row 10: (K6 P3 C4F P3)*

Repeat rows 1-10 two additional times, for 30 rows total. (For a longer hat, repeat again for 40 rows total.)

Row 31-33: (K6 P3 K4 P3)*

DECREASES.
Switch to double-pointed needles (DPNs) or Magic Loop method at this point.

Row 34: (SSK K2 SSK P1 SSP SSK SSK P1 SSP)* {this should take you from 16 stitches per repeat to 10}
Row 35: (C2F P2 C1F P2)*
Row 36: (K4 SSP K2 SSP)* {8 stitches per repeat}
Row 37: (SSK SSK P1 SSK P1)* {5 stitches per section)
Row 38: (K2 P1 K1 P1)*
Row 39: (SSK P1 K1 P1)* {4 stitches per section}
Row 40: (K1 P1)*
Row 41: K2Tog to end {14 stitches total}
Row 42: K2Tog to end {7 stitches total}

Cut an extra foot/30 cm of yarn and, using an embroidery needle, draw tight the closure, itie off, and weave in the ends.

Optional: leftover yarn can be made into a pom-pom and attached to the top.