Build-Your-Own DK Weight Hat

Build-Your-Own DK Weight Hat

I designed this pattern with one goal in mind; namely, that it could be the first in-the-round project for a beginning knitter who had learned how to knit and purl but not much else. Or in other words, it's supposed to be a tutorial. Of course, you don't have to be a beginning knitter to enjoy it - with a basic design like this, there's all sorts of customization you can add. Throw in stripes or a stitch pattern with a 2-, 4-, or 8-stitch repeat, and you can turn this basic little hat into another beast entirely! Or, add a few inches and omit the knit rows in the decrease and you'll have a gathered crown. And add a few extra inches to THAT and it's slouchy as well!!!!

Oh, and another thing, guys - this is my first tutorial style pattern. So if I seem to be missing an instruction, please let me know! We can make it perfect together. :)

Sizes: 12 Months (Toddler; Child; Teen/Small Adult; Large Adult) 

A closer view of the crown.

Yarn: Malabrigo Rastita (100% Merino Wool; 310 yards [285 meters]/100 grams); #850 Archangel - one skein (all sizes)

Needles: One 16" circular needle in size US 5; one 16" circular needle in size US 6, and one set of double pointed needles (dpns), also in size US 6

Notions: Tapestry needle, stitch marker

Gauge: 22 stitches = 4 inches on size 6 needles 

Let's make a hat, shall we? First, a note about the sizing. As with virtually any sized knitting pattern, I will give directions in the same order as the sizes appear above. If you're making an adult small, for instance, you'll always use the direction second from the end of the line (or in other words, you'll be casting on 112 stitches here in a moment). My only tip with this direction is that it can be useful to print your pattern and highlight the correct sizes if you're knitting something with a lot of them - otherwise, the numbers can run together. So go ahead and do that if need be. And, once you're done, it's time to get down to business!

So, using your size 5 circular needle, cast on 88 (96; 104; 112; 120) stitches using a long tail cast on, place marker, and join in round (so, to be totally clear on the sizing, 12 month = 88 stitch cast on, toddler = 96 stitch cast on, child = 104 stitch cast on, adult small = 112 stitch cast on, adult large = 120 stitch cast on). Questions about either of these steps? Never fear. Here's a guide to the long tail cast on:

And here's some info regarding joining your piece in the round:

Anyway, once you've gotten your cast on done and your knitting joined in the round, we're going to make some ribbing, which you'll find below. If you're new to knitting patterns, this is also very standard terminology. Your row will be named or numbered, and then you'll get instructions in one of two ways: without *'s, and with a specific instruction for each stitch, or with *'s, which indicate that the instruction between the *'s should be repeated over and over until you reach the end of your row or round. Here, we're using rounds, since we're knitting in a circle, and we're repeating instructions, because I don't dislike you enough to give you a pattern without any repeats. :) So we'll continue like so:

Ribbing Row: * k2, p2; rep from *

Knit this ribbing row until piece measures 3" (3.5"; 4"; 4.5"; 5"). Since I'm making the small adult size, this step looks like this for me:

See? 4.5", on the dot!

Now that your ribbing is complete and you're back at the beginning of your round, transfer your work to your size 6 circular needle. This is done by simply slipping each stitch purlwise from the left hand needle of your size 5 circular to your right hand needle of your size 6 circular. What's purlwise, you ask? When you insert your needle as if to purl, or in other words, right-to-left through your stitch. Once your work is transferred, knit until piece measures 6.25" (6.75"; 7.25"; 8.25"; 9") in total. 

And now I'm at 8.25"!

At this point, it's time to begin the crown decreases, which you'll find below. In order to get smaller at the crown, this hat uses two decreases, the knit 2 together (k2tog) and the slip, slip, knit (ssk). The k2tog is a right-leaning two-to-one decrease that is made exactly as it sounds, by knitting two stitches together instead of just knitting one. The ssk is a left-leaning two-to-one decrease that more or less mirrors the k2tog. You can find a video demonstrating it below.

Now that we're up to speed on how to make our k2togs and ssks, let's discuss the crown decreases for this pattern. As you may have noticed, each size of this pattern is 8 stitches larger than the size before it (so the adult large has 8 more stitches than the adult small, which has 8 more stitches than the child, etc). I have also written the decrease to reduce the hat by 8 stitches each row. Therefore, the adult large will contain the same number of stitches as the adult small after your first decrease row. Long story short(ish), this means that you will be beginning the decreases on a different row for each size - if you're making the child size, obviously you can skip the four decrease rows that contain more stitches than your hat ever had. So, with that in mind, when you start your decrease, you'll begin on Decrease Row 9 (Decrease Row 7; Decrease Row 5; Decrease Row 3; Decrease Row 1). Furthermore, we're going to switch to our dpns after Decrease Row 8 (you'll find more directions below). If you're making the 12 month size, you'll notice that this happens before you even knit your first decrease row. But enough talking - let's begin our decreases below.

Decrease Row 1: * k13, k2tog, ssk, k13; rep from * (112 stitches) (size adult large only)

Decrease Row 2: knit (size adult large only)

Decrease Row 3: * k12, k2tog, ssk, k12; rep from * (104 stitches) (sizes adult large and adult small only)

Decrease Row 4: knit (sizes adult large and adult small only)

Decrease Row 5: * k11, k2tog, ssk, k11; rep from * (96 stitches) (sizes adult large, adult small, and child only)

Decrease Row 6: knit (sizes adult large, adult small, and child only)

Decrease Row 7: * k10, k2tog, ssk, k10; rep from * (88 stitches) (sizes adult large, adult small, child, and toddler only)

Decrease Row 8: knit (sizes adult large, adult small, child, and toddler only)

No matter which size you're knitting, you're going to want to transfer your work to your size 6 double pointed needles at this point. I made a really cool video for the transfer part, but my husband had his thumb over the audio so it sounded like I was shouting from underwater and I could only recover the second half of the video. To summarize what you missed, then, here's what I said: dpns come in packages of five, and you can knit using either three or four needles to hold your work. I think using three is slightly easier, but for a hat like this, which decreases in four places, four needles makes more sense. In the future, when you're knitting a new pattern, you'll probably want to look at said pattern in order to figure out whether it's best to use 3 or 4.

Since we're working on this pattern, though, we're going to transfer our work to four dpns, with 22 stitches on each needle (all sizes). If you need a refresher in dpn knitting, you can watch the second half of said video, below. And yes, I'm well aware that I shouldn't be allowed anywhere NEAR a video camera. I tried to get my six year old to sub in for me, but he just staged a mini sword fight with the needles.

Anyway, the decrease will continue like so for all sizes:

Decrease Row 9: * k9, k2tog, ssk, k9; rep from * (80 stitches)

Decrease Row 10: knit

Decrease Row 11: * k8, k2tog, ssk, k8; rep from * (72 stitches)

Decrease Row 12: knit

Decrease Row 13: * k7, k2tog, ssk, k7; rep from * (64 stitches)

Decrease Row 14: knit

Decrease Row 15: * k6, k2tog, ssk, k6; rep from * (56 stitches)

Decrease Row 16: knit

Decrease Row 17: * k5, k2tog, ssk, k5; rep from * (48 stitches)

Decrease Row 18: knit

Decrease Row 19: * k4, k2tog, ssk, k4; rep from * (40 stitches)

Decrease Row 20: knit

Decrease Row 21: * k3, k2tog, ssk, k3; rep from * (32 stitches)

Decrease Row 22: knit

Decrease Row 23: * k2, k2tog, ssk, k2; rep from * (24 stitches)

Decrease Row 24: knit

Decrease Row 25: * k1, k2tog, ssk, k1; rep from * (16 stitches)

Decrease Row 26: * k2tog, ssk; rep from * (8 stitches)

Knit decrease rows 9 - 26 (7 - 26; 5 - 26; 3 - 26; 1 - 26). At this point, you should have 8 stitches left on your dpns. Clip your yarn tail, leaving a roughly 18" tail, and thread that tail on to your tapestry needle. 

I'm beginning to thread, see?

Thread the tail through your remaining 8 stitches and pull tight. Thread to inside of hat and knot. Tuck in ends and wear proudly because you, sir or madam, just made a hat! :)

Oh, and before I forget - there are definitely people who would recommend blocking your hat before you wear it. I am not one of those people. And it's not because I don't block - I do - I just don't block most hats. I know, I'm the worst.