Sophie’s Hat – Free Pattern

Two of our favourite things this winter are the new Fancy Tiger Crafts Heirloom yarn and, of course, pom poms! Our Sophie (resident knitting punster and window-dresser extraordinaire) has designed a super-easy hat pattern incorporating both these wonderful things. Sophie’s Hat is a great Christmas gift for anyone, young and old, male and female, and it knits up super quickly – perfect for last minute gifts. It can be knit either back and forth on straight needles for the absolute hat novice, or in the round on circular needles for those of you ready to give that a go! Either way, it’s very simple and, even if you are the most experienced knitter, it’s a quick, satisfying knit that makes for a very special gift.

Sophie’s Hat is knit in two shades of Heirloom – a yarn whose name speaks for it’s rustic durability and quality wool. It’s also hand-dyed, ensuring that your knit is a surefire one-of-a-kind item. Sophie whipped up two versions, one in fun Radish pink and Natural grey, and one in a lovely but more sedate Blue Maize and grey. And wouldn’t you know, you can get two hats from two 100g skeins or three hats from three skeins, and so on! Sophie’s Hats for the whole family!

You could also try other worsted weight yarns like Madelinetosh Vintage, Berroco Ultra Alpaca or Rico Merino Aran. And maybe change it up with an alpaca fur pom pom from Toft!

If you’re a stripe novice too, never fear! We snapped Sophie doing her colour-changing thing so you can see exactly how it’s done. All you need to do when changing colour is simply pick up the new colour and begin knitting with it, instead of the previous colour. The clever bit is carrying the other colour up the side of your knitting so that you don’t need to cut your yarn between colour changes. To do this, you will need to twist the two colour strands around each other so the colour that is not currently in use travels up the side, ready and waiting for when it’s his turn again. Click here for an in-depth tutorial on carrying your yarns.

Without further ado, here is Sophie’s Hat. Sophie says, “Hats all there is to it!”

Sophie’s Hat
by Sophie Scott for Loop, London

YARN
Fancy Tiger Crafts – Heirloom (Worsted/Aran weight; 183 metres/200 yards per 112 g/4 oz skein)
1 skein each of each colour.
You can make 2 hats from this by reversing the main and contrasting colour!

Version One
Main Colour (MC); Natural
Contrast Colour (CC); Radish

Version Two
Main Colour (MC); Natural
Contrast Colour (CC); Blue Maize

SIZE
56cm/22 Inches at bottom rib. Fits average size head for man or woman bearing in mind that it can stretch.

TENSION
16 sts and 24 rows to 10cm/4“

NEEDLES
Method A; working flat on straight needles:
5mm (UK 6/US 8) straight knitting needles

OR

Method B; working in the round on circular needles:
5mm (UK 6/US 8), circular needles 40cm/16” length
5mm (UK 6/US 8) DPNS

NOTIONS
1 stitch marker if working in the round
Tapestry needle
Pompom maker (optional)

PATTERN NOTES
Once you have mastered the basics this hat lends itself to customisation – make the brim longer or shorter, change the stripe width and play around with colour combinations!
There is no need to cut the yarn when changing colour as you can carry it up the side.

ABBREVIATIONS

k: Knit
k2tog: Knit 2 stitches together
p: Purl
rep: Repeat
RS: Right side
st(s): Stitch(es)
St st: Stocking stitch:
     Worked flat: Knit on RS rows, Purl on WS rows
     Worked in the round: Knit every round
WS:Wrong side

METHOD A (Worked flat on straight needles)

BRIM
Using 5mm straight needles and MC, cast on 80 sts.

Row 1 (RS): [K2, p2] rep to end.
Row 2 (WS): [K2, p2] rep to end.
These 2 rows set the 2×2 rib for the brim of the hat.
Rep rows 1 and 2 until brim measures approximately 7cm ending with a WS row.

BODY
Change to CC and starting with a RS knit row, work 6 rows in St st.
Change to MC and starting with a RS knit row, work 6 rows in St st.
This sequence sets the stripe pattern.
Rep stripe pattern twice more (total of 36 St st rows and 6 stripes worked).

CROWN
Row 1 (RS): Change to CC. [K6, k2tog] rep to end. 70 sts
Row 2 (WS and all following WS rows]: Purl.
Row 3: [K5, k2tog] rep to end. 60 sts
Row 5: [K4, k2tog] rep to end. 50 sts
Row 7: Change to MC. [K3, k2tog] rep to end. 40 sts
Row 9: [K2, k2tog] rep to end. 30 sts
Row 11: [K1, k2tog] rep to end. 20 sts
Row 13: [K2tog] rep to end. 10 sts Stop! Do not work WS row.
Break yarn, leaving an 80cm tail. Thread tail onto a tapestry needle and run through remaining 10 sts drawing them tightly to close and fasten off.

MAKING UP
Sew seam together using mattress stitch, taking care to match the stripes.
Weave any loose ends into wrong side of knitting.
Make a 9cm/3.5” pompom and stitch securely to top.

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METHOD B (Worked in the round on circular needles)

BRIM
Using 5mm circular needle and MC, cast on 80 sts.
Join for working in the round taking care not to twist the stitches and place marker to indicate beginning of round.

Round 1 (RS): [K2, p2] rep to end.
This round forms the 2×2 rib for the brim of the hat.
Rep round 1 until brim measures approximately 7cm.

NOTE ABOUT JOGLESS STRIPES:
When working stripes in the round, a ‘jog’ or ‘step’ can appear when changing colours. To avoid this, when you come to a colour change round, slip the marker, join new colour and knit 1 round in new colour. On the following round, slip the marker, then slip first stitch of the new colour from the left to the right needle entering the stitch as though to purl, but without knitting it (this is called slipping purlwise) and knit the remaining stitches in the round as usual.
Rep this method every time you change colour to ensure smooth stripes.

BODY
Change to CC and work 6 rows in St st.
Change to MC and work 6 rows in St st.
This sequence sets the stripe pattern.
Rep stripe pattern twice more (total of 36 St st rounds and 6 stripes worked)

CROWN
You might want to change to DPN’s at this point unless you are using the ‘magic loop’ technique.
Round 1 (RS): Change to CC. [K6, k2tog] rep to end. 70 sts
Round 2 (all even numbered rounds): Knit.
Round 3: [K5, k2tog] rep to end. 60 sts
Round 5: [K4, k2tog] rep to end. 50 sts
Round 7: Change to MC. [K3, k2tog] rep to end. 40 sts
Round 9: [K2, k2tog] rep to end. 30 sts
Round 11: [K1, k2tog] rep to end. 20 sts
Round 13: [K2tog] rep to end. 10 sts Stop! Do not work WS row.
Break yarn, leaving an 80cm tail. Thread tail onto a tapestry needle and run through remaining 10 sts drawing them tightly to close and fasten off.

MAKING UP
Weave any loose ends into wrong side of knitting.
Make a 9cm/3.5” pompom and stitch securely to top.

Thank you to:

Sophie Scott for the design, Rachel Atkinson for the tech edit, Juju Vail for the images and Elaine Becker for modelling.

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Sophie’s Hat is a free pattern and all images and text are copyright of Loop Knitting Ltd. It is for personal and non-profit use only. This means you can knit it for yourself, as a gift or for charity. You may not sell a garment made from this pattern. You may not reproduce this for sale. Please ask if you wish to translate it or use to teach a class.