Free Pattern: Knit Striped PomPom Hat

Helloooo! Hope everyone is staying warm amongst the mountains of snow (at least, here in upstate NY). It’s time for an updated free knit pattern!

This has become my go-to pattern for hat gifts. My first rendition was a ‘mommy and me’ set for a new mother and her baby boy. Her favorite color was a sort of seafoam green, which worked well for both mother and son. This is a truly unisex hat – I’ve made it for men, women, and small people of all sizes. I love making sibling sets, school colors, holiday colors… the possibilities are endless.

This hat, by no means, reinvents the wheel of knitted hats. It’s just a striped hat. In fact, I’ve already published two separate sizes of this. But, as I keep coming back to it, and making different versions, I thought it nice to consolidate it all here. (Plus I’ve gotten more efficient at writing patterns…) I’ve made it in both bulky and super bulky yarns. Using a roving yarn gives it a nice plushy squishy feel, and makes the most satisfying pompoms.

Materials:

• Bulky OR super bulky weight yarn (I’ve used Bernat Roving and Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick in the photos) – two contrasting colors, A and B
• For bulky yarn: size 10 (6mm) or 10.5 (6.5mm) 16″ (41cm) circular knitting needles (check the recommended needle size on the yarn band), and matching DPNs
• For super bulky yarn: size 13 (9mm) or 15 (10mm) 16″ (41cm) circular knitting needles (size 13 makes an average sized adult head, size 15 makes an XL sized adult hat), and matching DPNs
• stitch marker to mark the end of row
• (optional) pompom maker
• large eyed needle for weaving in ends

PATTERN:

This pattern is written for baby (child, adult) sizes

SUPER BULKY YARN:

Using color A and size 13 circular needles (or 15 for XL adult), cast on 36 (38, 42). Join to work in the round and place marker. (Note: if you’re having trouble joining for the baby size, I like to cast on, knit the first row straight, then join it on the second row. I weave in the cast on tail later to close up any gaps.)

Rows 1-5 (6, 8): k1, p1 rib

Row 6 (7, 9): switch to color B. Knit one round.

Row 7 (8, 10): switch back to color A. Knit one round.

Continue to knit, switching colors every round, until hat measures approximately 4″ (5″, 6″) in length (10, 13, 16 cm). This was approximately 10 (12, 14) rows of stripes. End with color A. If needed, you can continue knitting in color B for a few more rows before beginning the decrease.

DECREASE (transfer stitches to DPNs as needed):

Row 1: switch to color B (you’re now done with color A) and begin decrease. *k4 (k4, k5), k2tog*. Repeat around (for child size, k2tog last two stitches).

Row 2: knit around

Continue rows 1 and 2, decreasing one st every other row until you have (12, 13, 14) st left on your needles, ending with row 2. (For child size, continue knitting the last lone stitch every row.) K2tog around (6, 7, 7) st. Cut yarn, weave tail through remaining live stitches and cinch tightly. Fasten off.

Add optional pompom!

Bernat Roving bulky yarn

BULKY YARN:

Using color A and size 10/10.5 circular needles, cast on 48 (56, 64). Join to work in the round and place marker. (Note: if you’re having trouble joining for the baby size, I like to cast on, knit the first row straight, then join it on the second row. I weave in the cast on tail later to close up any gaps.)

Rows 1-6 (10, 12): k1, p1 rib

Row 7 (11, 13): switch to color B. Knit one round.

Row 8 (12, 14): switch back to color A. Knit one round.

Continue to knit, switching colors every round, until hat measures approximately 4″ (5″, 7″) in length (10, 13, 18 cm). This is about 12 (14, 18) rows of stripes. End with color A. If needed, you can continue knitting a few rows in color B until desired length before beginning decrease.

DECREASE (transfer stitches to DPNs as needed):

Row 1: switch to color B (you’re now done with color A) and begin decrease. *k6, k2tog*. Repeat around.

Row 2: knit around

Continue rows 1 and 2, decreasing one stitch every row until you have 12 (14, 16) st left on your needles, ending with row 2. K2tog around. Cut yarn, weave tail through remaining live stitches and cinch tightly. Fasten off. (If you want a less pointy top and a more gathered, scrunchy top, skip the k2tog round and weave through the 12 (14, 16) stitches.)

Add optional pompom!

Notes: when knitting stripes in the round, carry the alternate color up on the right side every time you switch colors. This prevents gaps. Give the yarn a little tug to tighten up the last stitch from the row below. (These photos were taken from my #hatnothate striped kids hat pattern, but the premise is the same.)

The joins on the inside of the hat

The seam runs down the middle of this photo

What’s your favorite go-to gift pattern?

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Super Bulky Knitted Kid’s Hat

In late 2018, I stumbled across Lion Brand’s #hatnothate campaign, a movement geared towards anti-bullying. The founder requested blue hats (the color against bullying… I didn’t know this was a thing, but there it is) to be worn or mailed to their offices. It was too late for me to mail any hats in, but I made a few blue hats and vowed to be more timely this year.

Early 2018 coincided with both 1) the birth of my (miracle!) third baby in 3.5 years and 2) the diagnosis of my 3 year old with autism. It also followed closely on the heels of moving to Slovakia in late 2017. Suffice to say I was quite overwhelmed with life, but the well-being of my children is the first and foremost important priority, especially in a lifestyle as hectic as ours. Thankfully, we have been blessed with a marvelous pre-K teacher for my son, along with friendly and loving classmates. I know the road ahead won’t be easy for him, and his beloved personality quirks may be met with resistance by his future peers. I am ashamed to admit that I have been both bullied and a bullier. The best I can do is to teach my own children to be compassionate and understanding, with the hope that they will grow up to be better adults than me.

I purchased ten #hatnothate wooden tags from the Lion Brand website with the ambitious task of mailing ten blue hats to their New Jersey office before the first of August. My first step was to gather all of my blue scraps. I was thrilled to find that with just a few small balls of Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick, I was able to squeeze out three hats!

Here is the ‘quick and dirty’ pattern below, for my own future reference and for you!

MATERIALS

Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick (or other super bulky yarn) – I used scraps of two contrasting colors to make a striped hat

Size 13 circular knitting needles 16″

DPNs, size 13

PATTERN

Using main color, cast on 38 stitches to circular needle

Rows 1-6: alternate k1, p1 (1×1 ribbing)

Rows 7-8: knit around

Rows 9-10: switch to second color, knit around

Rows 11-12: switch back to main color, knit around

Continue with stripes until you have seven stripes total, ending with a stripe of main color

Row 21: switch to second color, knit around

Row 22: continuing with second color, k2, k2tog (you will have 2 stitches at the end of the row, knit each stitch individually)

Row 23: switch to main color, knit around

Row 24: k1, k2tog (knit last two stitches individually)

Row 25: switch to second color AND knit onto DPNs

Row 26: k2tog

Cut yarn, weave tail through remaining live stitches and cinch tightly. Fasten off.

Notes: when knitting stripes in the round, carry the alternate color up on the right side every time you switch colors. This prevents gaps. Give the yarn a little tug to tighten up the last stitch from 2 rows below and with the bulky yarn there was barely a noticeable jog in the stripes.

The joins on the inside of the hat

The seam runs down the middle of this photo

Enjoy this pattern!

Free Pattern: Knit Slouch Flowered Hat

Hi all! I apologize for being remiss in my blogging – I’ve had this pattern ready to go for weeks, but then suddenly allergies and hives attacked my body and I’ve been doped up on antihistamines and that’s just not …

Knitting Project: Au Naturale Knit Baby Booties

I am so excited for today’s project share with all of you!  I first saw these ages ago on – you guessed it – Pinterest, and immediately fell in lurv.  They didn’t have a name, pattern or any sort of copyright, so immediately I busted out my reverse engineering skills.

I love natural materials: wood, fiber, leather, etc.  This project combines ALL THREE.  It’s really straightforward… it modifies your basic mary-jane bootie pattern, and totally elevates the street value with just teeny additions of luxurious leather and wood. Once you show these babies off, your friends will universally acknowledge you as empress of the crafting universe.  I’d also promise that you’ll also physically turn into Shakira’s doppleganger, but seeing as I’m still waiting for my hips to stop telling lies, I can’t guarantee that last bit.

You will need the following:

• DK yarn (preferably something including wool, just so you can feel uber natural, like your entire project came freshly sheared off of a humble sheep, hand scavenged from your local forest, and um, nobly sacrificed from whatever animal your leather belongs to…)
• This pattern
• Size 5 (or 6) knitting needles
• Teeny tiny scraps of leather for the straps
• Wood buttons (or you can use felt like the original link)
• Yarn needle to sew up bootie seams
• Something sharp to poke holes in your leather (embroidery needle or small awl)
• Sharp scissors to cut said leather

I wasn’t planning on using the exact same color scheme as the original source, but when I went to Joann’s to find some appropriate DK yarn, they just so happened to have Paton’s DK superwash wool, in taupe, on clearance, for $.97 a skein.  I mean, 97 cents, okay.  Honestly, I would have never chosen taupe myself since by itself it’s kind of a weird yucky color, but it works perfectly here.

Quick insert of The Leather Saga:  (bear with me, it has an awesome ending.)

I first saw these shoes, oh, about 15 weeks ago (says Pinterest). The reason why it’s taken me so long to get these made is that I didn’t have the leather.  I was in China without access to big box craft stores where I knew I could buy a patch for $3.  Of course, I could probably have gone on another all-day adventure to find some, but my desire to procure a 1/2″x 2″ scrap simply to make some baby booties was not that high.  Once I even walked by a leather stall in a random shopping area above a deserted Jinkelong, thought ooh, I should go back and beg a scrap sometime, but that didn’t happen either.

Then I came to the U.S. In my first few days I went to Michaels in search of leather.  Their aisle marked “leather goods and tools” only contained felt, pom poms, and googly eyes.  Fail, Michaels.  I’ll look somewhere else.  Turns out their aisles were simply mis-labeled, but fortuitous for me, because…

That very afternoon, I went home to my parents’ house, and whaddya know… there was a large pile of leather scraps sitting on their living room table.  You know, the kind with metal grommets that probably once belonged to a furniture store as their color samples.  It turns out a friend of theirs had bought them for pennies at a garage sale, never figured out a use for them, she bu de (there’s that word again – couldn’t bear to) throw them out, so she gave them to my mom when SHE moved back to China, and there they sat, because my own mom was she bu de to throw them away either.

Anyway, story summary: my mom had literally two pounds of free leather scraps, was never planning on using them, but was never planning on throwing them away either.  So now… THEY’RE MINE!! And they were ALL FREEEEE!  And when I say “leather scraps”, I mean… LEATHER SCRAPS:

1) How many booties could I make with this??? 2) I started a new Pinterest board entitled “Leather Scrap Projects” and I need your input please.  🙂

Okay, end of story, back to project.

Start knitting your booties using this pattern.  The pattern says size 6 needles will net 6-12 month booties. I used size 5 and mine were about 3.5″ long, which was what I was going for.  STOP knitting after row 16.  Bind off and sew up booties.  They’ll basically be little shoes.

Obtain leather scrap by whatever means necessary.  You should be able to just use sharp scissors to cut it, no need for special tools here.

Cut two long skinny strips for straps.  This took a bit of trial and error for me.  Make sure they’re thick enough to poke at least one hole to sew onto your shoe – I wanted it thick enough for two holes, so mine are pretty thick.

Second obstacle: poking holes into said leather.  After many days of searching stores for little teeny leather hole punchers or something of the sort, it turns out my mom also had a very random mini-awl that she picked up on the streets of Taiwan for like 60 cents.  You can probably just use a sharp needle and a thimble (so you don’t skewer yourself).  I wanted to use yarn for my sewing so I needed a bigger hole, but a needle will work just fine with regular embroidery thread.

Poke holes into leather on both sides.  I wanted four, but my leather wasn’t big enough, so I just poked two holes and did one stitch on each end.  Using yarn scraps or embroidery thread, sew one side onto the shoe, sew the other side through at least one (or all) of your buttonholes.  Step back, admire your work, and wait for the compliments to come showering in!

Happy knitting!

Free Pattern: Knit Fisherman Ribbed Hipster Hat

One day (like, back in December-when-it-was-still-cold one day), as I was trawling across Pinterest like I do, I came across this pin:

The caption of the pin read: “DIY Incredible Knitted Mustard Hat – Super Easy and Awesome”.  Ooh!  I thought.  Super easy awesome free knitted hat pattern!  So I clicked it.  The link took me here: a fashion design blog written in French, with beautiful designs, gorgeous handmade products for sale, and nary a knitting pattern in sight.

So, being the masochist that I am, I decided to figure out the pattern by myself.  It couldn’t be that hard, right?  Just some sort of rib with a wide wale, and a huge pompom on top?

As my not-so-subtle leading question would imply, with any pattern I attempt to replicate, the project took me many, many, many evenings of researching knitted rib patterns, figuring out how they work in the round, how to decrease them, the appropriate gauge, etc etc etc.  However, after many dribbling tears, I think I’ve finally got this hat (more or less) in my adult head size.

The trick to this hat is a stitch known loosely as “brioche”, or “fisherman rib”, or “prime rib”… honestly, I have no idea what the technical term is, because each of those stitches has a few different variations.  Plus, the skills behind each stitch varied excessively widely from one source to the next.  There were all sorts of skippings, slippings, knitting fronts and backs, etc.  But, the one I found to be the easiest was the most straightforward: k1, k1 below, repeat.  The end.  The result is a very stretchy, giving fabric.

(I think *technically* the stitch in the pictured hat above is a “brioche“, vs. the stitch I’m using is “fisherman rib“, or a “brioche rib“, but whatever, my version is easy and it gets the point across, yes?)

(Please excuse my ghetto-fabulous styrofoam head purchased for $2.99 at a thrift shop.  It suffered major structural damange in the move to China.  At least the hat covers the giant dent in the top of the head…)

I’ve used my ever-favorite Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick N Quick yarn, and size 13/15 16″ circular needles for this project. To replicate the beautiful smooth design of the original photo, I assume you can use a nice fancy thick single ply roving alpaca wool.  One of these days I’ll actually pony up and buy some.

To knit this hat, you will need to know the following:

• k1 below
• p1 below
• k2tog
• ssk

K1 below and p1 below sound waaay scarier than they really are.  Here is a picture tutorial on how to do both from the ever-dependable Purl Bee.  Here is a great video for k1 below, and here is a great video for p1 below.  Read/watch through them, be ready to try them out.  Ready? Okay!

Cast on 42 stitches with size 13 needles (16″ circular).  Join to work in the round and place marker.

Rows 1-5: k1, p1 rib

Row 6: switch to size 15 needles.  K2tog, p1 below, repeat around. (28 st left)

NOTE 1: On this row, when you p1 below, you will be purling into a knit stitch every other purl due to the stitch groupings of 3.  Do not be alarmed.  Purl into the knit stitch (BELOW, drop that top loop off!) and continue with faith.  You will also have what seems to be now a ridiculously small hat.  Again, faith, my friends, and carry on!

Row 7: k1 below (into the k2tog stitch), p1 as normal into the p1 below stitch from previous row.  Repeat around.

NOTE 2: this row is going to look like a hot mess. You’re going to wonder if you’re doing it right, because it looks really ugly; there will be weird lumps and loops everywhere.  Keep that faith going – it’ll be about four rows of ribbing before the hat pattern starts to look ‘right’.  I promise it looks better on your head.

A quick photo tutorial on “k1 below into k2tog stitch”:

Here, I’ve just purled normally, and am ready to k1 below into the k2tog from previous row

I’ve circled the two loops of the k2tog. Insert your needle through both loops to k1 below.

Insert your needle into the aforementioned loops…

Knit and draw your loop through…

Now the scariest part: lift the top loop off of the needle and drop it. Yes, drop it!

I like to give the back of the loop a bit of a tug to loosen it up. It will feel like you’re intentionally dropping a stitch and pulling it apart, but you’re NOT. Have faith!  This extra yarn is what creates the nice stretchy fabric between ribs.

Row 8: k1 as normal (into k1 below stitch), p1 below.  Repeat around.

Row 9: k1 below, p1 as normal (into p1 below stitch).  Repeat around.

Rows 10 and on: repeat rows 8 and 9 until hat measures about 6.5-7″ in length.  (This was about 12 rows of fisherman rib for me.)  Make sense?  You’ll be alternating k1/p1below and k1below/p1 every row.

This is what your hat will look like after several rows. It looks way too small, but it will magically stretch. A lot.

Decrease sequence: (transfer onto DPNs at this point)

Row 1-3: k1, p1 in a regular rib around. (Keep these rows loose otherwise they bunch up from the fisherman rib)

Row 4: k2tog, repeat to end of round.

Row 5: knit

Row 6: ssk, repeat to end of round.  Draw tight, fasten off.

Make extremely large pompom.  (As always, I tout my extra large pompom maker from Clover.) You’ll have two tails from tying it together; use these to thread into hat, sew a few stitches to secure, and then tie a square knot.  Secure some more, and fasten off.  The very top of the hat will look a little off from the fisherman rib.  The pompom should cover up any weirdness.

Squash hat on head and proceed to feel very hipster.  Hooray for hipster hats!

FINAL NOTE: you can probably make this hat easily using a real brioche stitch and you will probably end up with better results.  Be sure to let me know if you do.

Follow along with the project gallery on Ravelry!

Shake your pom pom, shake your pom pom…

A few months ago I discovered this fantastic pattern for a quick and sporty toddler/child hat.  I totally luuuurved it – it was fast, it was easy, it was my first time knitting stripes, the boy factor was most definitely there, and the color combinations (read: sports team related) are endless.  It was a great way to use smallish amounts of my ever-increasing Lion Brand Thick n Quick collection, PLUS two Christmasses ago I had gotten a whole collection of pom pom makers that I’d never actually used.  Win!

When my husband saw these, he immediately wanted one in the University of Michigan colors.  Apparently, Lion Brand’s dark navy blue and citron yellow don’t cut it.  For a guy who can’t tell the difference between purple and orange on any given day, he suddenly becomes an expert on the nuances between “maize” and “mustard” when it comes to his beloved football team.  In an effort to find the right color yarn, in the right weight and texture, I had to expand my yarn choices to Lion Brand Homespun, a similar weight yarn in a shinier acrylic that I wasn’t a huge fan of (it’s not terribly elastic), but darn it if the colors weren’t more accurate for his precious Wolverines.

Anyway, this is by no means a “look what I created!” pattern, because I very obviously fashioned it off of Fiberflux, but here is what I did for a (very) large men’s head.  My own head is also ginormous (23″) and my husband’s is 24″.  The hat fit my head fine, I just had to add a few rows for his head.

Cast on 44 stitches with size 13 needles (16″ circular) in main color (MC)

Rows 1-5: k2, p2 rib

Row 6: switch to size 15 needles.

Knit two rows in MC, two rows in second color (CC), alternate two rows MC/two rows CC for three rows of CC total

Continue knitting in MC until hat measures 6″/6.5″ (for 23″ or 24″ head) – this ended up being about 16 stockinette rows total for my husband, probably about 14 rows for myself.  Begin decrease sequence.  If your own head is a much more normal 21″-22″, cast on 40 stitches instead of 44.  I’d still knit 14 rows though.

Decrease sequence:

Row 1: *k2tog, k3, repeat from * to end of round.

Row 2: knit

Row 3: *k2tog, k2, repeat from * to end of round.

Row 4: switch to dpns, knit

Row 5: *k2tog, k1, repeat from * to end of round.

Row 6: knit

Row 7: k2tog around.

Row 8: k2tog around, fasten off.

Make extremely large pompom.  You’ll have two tails from tying it together; use these to thread into hat, sew a few stitches to secure, and then tie a square knot.  Secure some more, and fasten off.

So.  Pom poms.  Although as previously stated, I had four pompom makers, sadly the largest one still came woefully short regarding adequate fluffy balls (yes, snicker).  Therefore, I had to go online and order an additional one, the largest pom pom maker I could find.  It look something like five weeks to get here, by which time said husband’s head was getting pretty durn chilly.  Glad it finally came though, he loves his hat and wears it everywhere!

Please ignore the fact that the first stripe is obviously three rows up from the other two, not two rows as previously stated in the pattern.  I was watching Wrath of the Titans for like the eightieth time (hey, U.S. television is limited in China), was distracted by the Medusa scene, lost count, and by the time I realized I was off I was waaaaay too lazy to rip it back down and fix it.  Husband didn’t worry at all though, apparently men don’t care about miscounted rows.

GO BLUE!