How to Knit Children's Hats
A convenient way to knit children's hats is to knit them in the round. This method gives you a seamless hat that is ready to wear as soon as you remove it from the needles. To make the hat, you will need a set of circular needles for working the main portion of the hat, and a set of double pointed needles for working the crown. The hat can be knit with one skein of yarn in a solid color, or try a skein of variegated yarn for smooth color changes.
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Things You'll Need
- 3.5 oz. worsted-weight yarn
- Size 8 16-inch circular knitting needles
- Stitch marker
- Size 8 double-pointed needles
- Scissors
- Yarn needle
Instructions
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Stockinette Stitch Hat
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1
Cast on 88 stitches on the size 8 circular needles.
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2
Bring the needles together to form a loop and with the working yarn coming off the right needle, knit into the first stitch on the left needle to join the cast on row into a round.
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3
Place a stitch marker at that first stitch. This marks the start and end of each round.
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4
Knit into every stitch around, which produces the stockinette stitch pattern on the right side of the fabric that is always facing you. Continue in this manner until the piece measures approximately 5 inches from the start.
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5
Decrease eight stitches evenly in the next round by knitting two stitches together (k2tog) when you need to decrease. Follow this round by one round of knitting without any decreases.
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6
Repeat the two previous rounds until you have 16 stitches remaining. Slip the stitches onto double-pointed needles when the rounds become too tight to work on the circular needle.
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7
Cut the working yarn 12 inches from the needles and place the tail end on a yarn needle. Insert the yarn needle through each of the 16 stitches in the round from first stitch to last and remove the double-pointed needles.
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8
Pull the yarn tail tight to close the opening at the top of the hat. Knot and secure on the reverse side of the fabric. Weave in any loose ends. Roll the brim edge up and the hat is ready to wear.
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Tips & Warnings
Stockinette stitch naturally curls to form a rounded brim on the hat. If you prefer a flat edge, use knit 1 purl 1 (k1p1) ribbing for the first four rounds instead of just knitting every stitch on those rounds.
Use multiple colors of yarn and alternate them every one or two rows for a striped pattern.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit wooden bowl of yarn image by Jeanne Hatch from Fotolia.com
