Kid’s stripey beanie

February 25, 2010 at 10:28 pm | Posted in knitting patterns | 2 Comments
Tags: beanie, beginner, child, free, hat, knitting, pattern, quick

This pattern makes a beanie that fits a four-and-three-quarter year old with a head circumference of 20 inches… See below for some ideas on scaling up or down. (Click thumbnails above to see photos properly.)

It is knit in the round from the bottom up, using the magic loop method (courtesy of a very helpful video by knitpurlhunter on YouTube!). I planned to put a pompom on it, but the decreases looked so beautiful I left it as it was.

Yarn: King Cole Merino Aran, 1 skein main colour (MC), one skein contrast colour (CC)

Gauge: 18 stitches/ 25 rows to 10cm square (recommended needles are US8/ 5mm, but I needed US6/ 4mm to get gauge)

Directions

Using MC, cast on 80 stitches. Join to knit in the round.

round 1: *k2, p2. repeat from * to end of round.

Repeat round 1 until you have 1 inch of ribbing.

Straight section

Join in CC. Using CC, k all stitches for 3 rounds, twisting MC and CC together at beginning of each new round.

Using MC, k all stitches for 3 rounds, twisting MC and CC together at beginning of each new round.

This is the stripe pattern. Continue to work three rounds in MC, three rounds in CC, while following the rest of the directions.

Work in stripe pattern for 7 more stripes (= a further 21 rounds).

Crown shaping

round 1: *k8, k2tog. repeat from * to end of round. 72 stitches.

round 2: k all stitches.

round 3: *k7, k2tog. repeat from * to end of round. 64 stitches.

round 4: as round 2.

round 5: *k6, k2tog. repeat from * to end of round. 56 stitches.

round 6: as round 2.

round 7: *k5, k2tog. repeat from * to end of round. 48 stitches.

round 8: as round 2.

round 9: *k4, k2tog. repeat from * to end of round. 40 stitches.

round 10: as round 2.

round 11: *k3, k2tog. repeat from * to end of round. 32 stitches.

round 12: *k2, k2tog. repeat from * to end of round. 24 stitches.

round 13: *k1, k2tog. repeat from * to end of round. 16 stitches.

round 14: *k2tog. repeat from * to end of round. 8 stitches.

round 15: *k2tog. repeat from * to end of round. 4 stitches.

Cut yarn leaving tail of around 6 inches. Pass tail through each of the remaining 4 stitches using a crochet hook. Pull tight. Pull yarn end through to wrong side and weave in end. Weave in other ends. Bingo.

To scale up or down: PLEASE NOTE I have scaled this up for a 21″ head and it worked. BUT I have not tried knitting other sizes, so these are just suggestions!

Measure your intended recipient’s head and round up or down to the nearest inch. Add or subtract four stitches to/ from your cast-on for each inch you are adding or subtracting from the 20” head circumference in this pattern. Work the rib and straight section as above, adding an extra two stripes for every inch added to the head circumference.

Crown shaping: Here’s the maths part… take your number of stitches and find a way to divide it evenly by a number between four and eight. So if you add 4 stitches, that gives you 84 stitches, which divides nicely into 7 lots of 12 stitches. 88 divides into 7 lots of 11; 72 into 8 lots of 9, and so on.

Call the number of stitches you have in each ‘lot’ (i.e. 12, 11 or 9 in the examples above) A.

round 1: *k (A-2), k2tog, pm. Repeat from * to end of round.

round 2: k all stitches.

round 3: *k to 2 stitches before marker, k2tog. slip marker. Repeat from * to end of round.

round 4: as round 2.

round 5: as round 3.

round 6: as round 2.

Continue in this fashion until you have 4 stitches left between each pair of markers.

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

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

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

next round: *k2tog. repeat from * to end of round.

next round: *k2tog. repeat from * to end of round.

Cut yarn leaving tail of around 6 inches. Pass tail through each of the remaining stitches using a crochet hook. Pull tight. Pull yarn end through to wrong side and weave in end. Weave in other ends.