Fast Easy DK Hat

This hat is really easy and pretty quick to knit – it is good if you need to make a
lot of hats, maybe to give everyone in your department a seasonal gift (that’s why
I invented it), or to sell at a charity event. It’s not as quick as my Fast Easy
Chunky Hat – but then it’s double knitting yarn, so it’s also thinner and softer to
wear. I love the fact that the decreases for the top spiral in to the middle – it
shows more if the colours are simple – it just adds a pretty bit of detail. See the
variations for ways to use stitch patterns to make these more interesting, but
they won’t be quite as fast to finish. Make it with a patterned or mottled or
shaded yarn for a fancy-looking gift that was easy to do but is hand-made for
your someone who appreciates that kind of thing.
Don’t worry about tension, it won’t make much difference. It’s not a fitted hat,
there’s a lot of stretch. One or two rows more or less won’t matter either. Do note
that for the first few inches (centimeters) the hat will seem much too small – it
isn’t, honest! See the variations part for larger sizes, though, if you are making it
for a person with a particularly large head (my husband takes the largest
commercially available men’s hat size, he needs the bigger one of these). Once it’s
half way or so you’ll be able to try it on, even still on the circular needle, and
you’ll see it’s fine for most adults.
I’m Elise Mann, I live in Edgware, England. Contact me on CraftyUK@aol.com if
you like. You can see I’m no use at taking photos, but I think you can see what
the hats look like! I’m a lab technician, and I put them on a round-bottom flask
upside down in a conical flask as hat stands, so you can see the shape. They look
better on a head, honestly, but I didn’t want to ask anyone to be in the pictures.
Difficulty level :
Easy – you just need K (knit) and P (pearl) and K2tog (knit two together). If you
can work on circular needles and double pointed needles this is quicker to make,
if not see the variations part to work on straight needles and then sew up a
seam.

Yarn:
Paintbox DK is good – one 100g ball makes two of these – or about 50g of any
not-too-textured DK yarn for one hat. If you are making two hats from one ball,
try weighing the hat and the unused yarn after the first one is finished, so you
know if the second has to be a few rows less or if you have scope to make it a bit
taller! Also good – start with any scraps of DK you have, and keep adding as you
get more leftovers. If you have a bit of fluffy/chenille/furry or similar yarn, use it
for the cuff for a lovely edge.
The photos are Paintbox Simply DK in I think Caramel and Universal Yarns
Uptown DK in a rainbow.

Size: Fits most Adults – see Variations for other sizes.

Tension: Don’t worry. Standard DK 22 stitches/28rows roughly to 10cm/4ins.
Needles: I love Cubics needles for shape, smoothness and speedy work, but
any will do – you need
EITHER
4mm (US size 6) 40cm/16inch circular needle and a matching set of double-
pointed needles
and
Stitch marker for the start of the row, or a loop of odd yarn in a different colour
you can use to mark the start of the row and move from one side of the circular
needle to the other as you go.
OR
4mm (US size 6) standard/straight knitting needles, but see the variations part
at the end for knitting the hat without the circular and double pointed needles,
and you’ll have a seam to sew up.
PLUS
In either case, a large-eye sewing (tapestry?) needle to work in the ends (and sew
the seam if you have one).
Pattern:
On your circular needle, cast on 100 stitches loosely. Making sure the work is not
twisted, do not turn, join and work the rest of the hat around the circle.

Cuff:
Row 1: K2 P2 to end. Put a stitch marker on the needles at the join if you want to, or
just use the starting tail of the yarn to see where the rows start and end.

Row 2 onward : K2 P2 to end, moving the marker from one side of the needle to the
other as you go.

Work until rib is 4 inches (10 cm) or so – this is about 30 rows. This is enough rib to turn
over in half when wearing the hat. If you don’t have a measure with you, the average
woman’s palm is about this length from the base to the base of the middle finger!

Body:
Next row: K to end, still moving the marker as you go. Continue until the knit section is
about the same height as the rib section.
Next row: K to end, spreading the stitches onto three or four double-pointed needles. I
like to use three, 30 stitches on the first and third and 40 on the middle one, so that the
K2tog stitches come at the end of a needle every time, but do whatever is comfortable for
you. I don’t find the need to mark the end of the row any more, but if you do put it one
stitch in so it doesn’t keep dropping off the needle!

Top:

Row 1: *K8, K2tog., repeat from * to end (90 stitches)

Row 2: and all even rows until row 16 : K to end

Row 3: *K7, K2tog., repeat from * to end (80 stitches)

Row 5: *K6, K2tog., repeat from * to end (70 stitches)

Row 7: *K5, K2tog., repeat from * to end (60 stitches)

Row 9: *K4, K2tog., repeat from * to end (50 stitches)

Row 11: *K3, K2tog., repeat from * to end (40 stitches)

Row 13: *K2, K2tog., repeat from * to end (30 stitches)

Row 15: *K1, K2tog., repeat from * to end (20 stitches)

Row 17: *K2tog., repeat from * to end (10 stitches)

Cut yarn leaving a 5 cm (2 inch) or longer end, put on a big sewing needle and use that
to thread it through the remaining 10 stitches, taking them off the needles as you go.
Pull up tight, go around (through) them again with the yarn, and finish it off (weave it
in) inside the hat. Weave in the starting end, and you are done.
Variations:
For a larger head, start with 112 stitches. On the first row of the body, K2tog, K54,
K2tog, K to end. There are now 110 stitches for the body. You might want another five
or so rows on the body, too. You’ll have one more repeat of decrease groups around in
each decrease row and will end up with 11 stitches instead of 10. You’ll need more yarn
for this, too – probably 60 or 70g.

For a small child, start with 92 stitches. On the first row of the body, K2tog, K43, K2tog,
K to end. There are now 90 stitches for the body. You’ll have one less repeat of decrease
groups around in each decrease row and will end up with 9 stitches instead of 10. If it’s
for a very small child, you might make fewer rows on the cuff and body, too, but I’ve had
toddlers wearing the full height version.

If you don’t like to work on circular and double pointed needles, you can knit this on
straight needles. Start the same way, and instead of joining into a circle, just turn and
rib (K2, P2) back every row for the cuff, then stocking-stitch (one row knit, one row
pearl) until you have enough for the body. Then follow the pattern, with the decrease
rows knit (as written) and the in-between rows pearl. Leave a long end of yarn, and
when you have pulled up the last stitches, use it to stitch up the seam at the back of
your hat.

Do vary this! Just remember that variations may take more yarn. A deeper rib (or all rib
– but take care on the decreases) can be interesting, or a different rib – but it needs to
have a multiple which fits into the number of stitches so that it repeats correctly. That’s
why the larger and smaller sizes (see above) have extra stitches in the rib part that we
get rid of on the first body row.
If you don’t want a cuff that folds over, just do half the height of rib. This is also good if
you don’t have quite enough of that left-over yarn. It’s just as good a hat! If you decide
you want even less rib, add a bit to the body, because their needs to be about 6 inches
(15cm) of height before the decreases for an adult hat.

If you like a slouchy hat, you can just keep knitting the body for a lot longer, and/or do a
few rows between each of the decrease rows. You could use up a whole 100g ball this
way and have a very floppy hat.

Try any stitch patterns you like, but be careful that you can keep them correct as you
decrease – or just do a stripe (a few rows) of them part-way up. There are about 30 rows
between the rib and the decrease, space for you to put some fancy stitches!

One of my favorite plain-colour versions has 10 pearl-stitch ridges going up which then
follow the decrease spiral into the middle. Start with the rib, as usual, then instead of
the first K row, *P1, K9 repeat from * to end – for a circular needle, repeat all the way
up with your decreases going *P1, K7, K2tog on the first row, one less K each group on
each decrease row to the last row, then P2tog for that last row. To make this on straight
needles, just make sure you change K to P and vice versa on all the alternate rows, so
the pearl ridge keeps happening. For a wider ridge, do P2, K7 and so on. Try this either
way out, it looks completely different. Enjoy!