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Easy Knit Man Hat

Yes, I know it's a Man Hat, but the only man in the house wasn't exactly willing to model it for me.

Great for beginners just learning to
use 16-inch circular needles to knit in the round

Materials:

  • Bulky Yarn, approximately 80yards/73meters
  • 16-inch circular needles, size 10-1/2 (6.5mm)
    Or a set of 5 double-pointed needles (dpns), size 10-1/2 (6.5mm)
  • Tapestry Needle
  • If you’re very new to this, consider a smooth yarn, like Borroco Comfort Chunky or Bernat Softy Chunky, as smoother yarns allow for great stitch definition, very important when you’re trying to get the hang of a new technique. A fluffy yarn, like Patons Divine or Jo-Ann Sensations Boucle, make it a bit harder to see your stitches, particularly in the ribbed areas, or when you’re doing your decrease (though would make gorgeous hats once you’re comfortable with the technique or pattern).

    Gauge: about 16 stitches across and 20 rows = 4×4 inch square. Don’t be a square and make your square! Gauge is important, or else you could end up with a hat for a toddler or one for a grizzly bear!

    Ribbed edge
    Cast on 72sts, join to first stitch without twisting, and place marker on first stitch (if using dpns, set the stitches to be 16 sts each on needles 1 and 2, and 20 sts each on needles 3 and 4).
    Round 1: *K4P4, repeat around entire first round
    Rounds 2-8: repeat Round 1

    Main body of hat
    Round 9: knit evenly for entire round
    Continue knitting evenly for each round until hat measures about 8inches from beginning (approximately 30 knit-only rounds after the 8 ribbed rounds).

    Decrease for crown of hat
    Round 39 (approximately): *K7, K2Tog, repeat from * to end of round (should have 63 sts at end of round)
    Round 40: *K6, K2Tog, repeat from * to end of round (54 sts)
    Round 41: *K5, K2Tog, repeat from * to end of round (45 sts)
    Round 42: *K4, K2Tog, repeat from * to end of round (36 sts)
    If you’ve been using a circular needle, at this point you may need to switch to dpns, or do what I did (because I didn’t have that size dpns available and was in a rush to finish), used two other circular needles in the same, or close to the same size. In my case, I used a size 10 (6.0mm) and a size 11 (7.0mm) along w/my size 10-1/2 circular needle like they were dpns. Not the easiest, but worked great in a pinch, especially since there were only three rows left to complete.
    Round 43: *K3, K2Tog, repeat from * to end of round (27 sts)
    Round 44: *K2, K2Tog, repeat from * to end of round (18 sts)
    Round 45: *K1, K2Tog, repeat from * to end of round (9 sts)

    Finishing
    Turn hat inside-out, break yarn, leaving a 6-inch tail. Thread the tail onto a tapestry needle, weave the tail through your remaining sts on your needles and cinch tight, like a drawstring (don’t forget to remove your needles as you pass the sts onto your tail). Make a small knot to secure the cinch, trim the tail to about 2-3 inches past the knot, and weave in.

    Pattern Variation
    If you’d like to create the striped hat pictured, you’ll still need the same needles, but instead of just one ball of yarn, you will need two colors, with about 40yds (36.5m) of each. In the picture, I used Borroco Comfort Chunky “Hummus” (taupe) as my main color (indicated as MC) and Borroco Comfort Chunky “Marum” (army green) as color A (indicated as A).

    Note: don’t break yarn as you’re alternating colors, just pick up the new color around the back of your old color (to keep it close to the inside of the hat and prevents funny little gaps). As you pass by for your second row, pass your yarn behind the back of the color not in use again. When you pick up the other color again to use, make sure to give it a little tug as you start knitting with it again to keep from having a really droopy “seam”.

    Ribbed edge
    With Main Color (MC), cast on 72sts, join to first stitch without twisting, and place marker on first stitch (if using dpns, set the stitches to be 16 sts on needles 1 and 2, and 20 sts on needles 3 and 4).
    Round 1: *K4P4, repeat around entire first round
    Rounds 2-8: repeat Round 1

    Main body of hat
    Rounds 9 and 10, (A): knit evenly for entire round
    Rounds 11 and 12, (MC): knit evenly for entire round
    Continue pattern (2 rounds of A, 2 rounds of MC) knitting evenly for each round until hat measures about 8inches from beginning, ending with 2 rounds of A (you will have approximately 38 total rows/rounds).

    Decrease for crown of hat
    Round 39 (approximately), (MC): *K7, K2Tog, repeat from * to end of round (should have 63 sts at end of round)
    Round 40, (MC): *K6, K2Tog, repeat from * to end of round (54 sts)
    Round 41, (A): *K5, K2Tog, repeat from * to end of round (45 sts)
    Round 42, (A): *K4, K2Tog, repeat from * to end of round (36 sts)
    Round 43, (MC): *K3, K2Tog, repeat from * to end of round (27 sts)
    Round 44, (MC): *K2, K2Tog, repeat from * to end of round (18 sts)
    Round 45(A): *K1, K2Tog, repeat from * to end of round (9 sts)
    Finish as instructed above, using (A) to weave through and cinch your stitches. Be sure to secure and weave in the ends of both colors.

    Any questions or problems? Please feel free to contact me through Comments, the Contact Me link below, or thru Ravelry!

    (Easy Knit Man Hat PDF)

    Copyright WinePlz Creations, Colleen Rummel 2012. For personal use only. By using this pattern, you agree to use it only for your personal, non-commercial use. You many not distribute this pattern in any way, but you may sell items produced from the directions in this pattern.

    About the Author

    Colleen

    This is a blog where I will share my adventures and mundane tasks as a work-out-of-home-mom. I now have 2 kids and my wonderful husband, so the juggling has gotten a little bit more tricky (man-on-man defense). We also have 2 dogs and 3 cats (we used to have 4) so as you can imagine, our household is pretty busy. Since I never feel like I'm being listened to, I figured I'll just start talking at the general Internet community and see what happens.

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