Nifty Beanie – Free Pattern

One of the great things about knitting is that it is a frugal craft. And it generates almost no waste – we can use up every meter of yarn to make something useful. The beanie described in this pattern is one of those projects that help turn yarn odds and ends into a lovely colourful hat for a little hipster.

SIZE

Toddler (12 months – 3 years). 

If you want to make this beanie in a different size, see the instructions here.

MATERIALS

– Three colours of yarn in DK weight (marked with digit 3 on the yarn label). I used bits of Knitca Delight yarn to make the beanie shown in the photos.

The total length of yarn is about 150 m / 164 yds with the length of yarn in colour B slightly less than the length of yarn in colours A and C.

It’s best to use the same yarn, but it’s ok to use different yarns as long as the thickness of all yarns is about the same. 

Choose three colours that look good together. The easiest way to know whether you like the look of these colours used together is to take one strand of each colour, align them and twist them together, as it is shown in this photo:

– 4mm (US size 6) double pointed or circular needles

– 6 stitch markers

NOTES

This beanie is worked in the round, from the top-down.

GAUGE

22 stitches x 32 rounds = 10 x 10 cm / 4 x 4″ worked in stockinette stitch.

COLOUR PATTERN

Rounds 1-4: colour A (burgundy)
Rounds 5-6: colour B (golden)
Rounds 7-8: colour C (olive)
Rounds 9-10: colour A
Round 11: colour B
Round 12: colour A
Rounds 13-16: colour C

Repeat rounds 1 – 16 for the colour pattern

There are more colour patterns in a pdf I created for the Top-Down Hat course. Some of them use three colours like the pattern I picked for this project, others use two or four colours. You can make your beanie as colourful as you like 🙂

INSTRUCTIONS

1. With colour A cast on 7 stitches from a loop. Use way #2 explained in this tutorial. Arrange stitches for working in the round.

2. Work in the colour pattern and at the same time shape the crown of the beanie as follows:

Round 1: knit 1, knit 2 together, knit to the end of the round = 6 stitches

Round 2: knit each stitch in the front and back (kbf) = 12 stitches

Round 3: [knit 2, place a marker], work brackets 6 times. 

Round 4 (increasing round): [make a lifted increase (click here to see how to do it), knit to marker, slip the marker to the right needle], work brackets 6 times.

If you follow the colour pattern described above, attach yarn in colour B to work the next round in colour B.

Round 5 (plain round): knit all stitches and slip markers from the left needle to the right needle.

Repeat rounds 4 and 5 (increasing round + plain round) until you have 96 stitches (16 stitches in each group of stitches between markers) and the beanie measures 10 cm / 4 ” from the top of the beanie to the bottom of the needle.

Aside from remembering to follow the colour pattern and shaping the crown at the same time, there are two other things we should take care of – (1) carrying the yarn up and (2) making sure the stripes change without a jog at the back of the beanie.

Here’s how to solve these issues:

(1) To make sure there are no loopy loose strands on the wrong side of the work, and the fabric is not jammed by shorter than necessary strands, twist the yarns three times at the beginning of every other round, as it is shown in this tutorial.

(2) While we are shaping the crown, the lifted increase we make at the beginning of each increasing round will take care of the jog in most cases. If the increasing round does not happen in the second round of a stripe, use any of the techniques explained in this video to avoid a jog at the beginning of a stripe.

It’s easier to manage all these little tasks when you remember to make increases in every even-numbered round of the colour pattern and twist yarns at the end of that same round. This way you will stay alert while knitting even-numbered rounds, and relax a bit when knitting odd-numbered rounds.

3. When you have 96 stitches on your needles, stop increasing. 

Next round: knit all stitches and remove all markers except for the one that marks the beginning of the round.

Continue to work in the colour pattern and knit all stitches in every round until the beanie measures 17 cm / 6.75″. 

Remember to twist the yarns at the back of the work in every other round and to use any of the techniques explained in this tutorial to avoid creating a jog.

4. Now that the beanie measures 17 cm / 6.75″, it’s time to make the brim:

Continue to follow the colour pattern while working in 2×2 ribbing – [knit 2, purl 2], repeat brackets to the end of the round.

5. When the brim measures 5 cm / 2″ and the beanie itself measures 22 cm / 8.5″ bind off all stitches in pattern. That means you need to knit the knit stitches and purl the purls when binding off.

Weave in loose tails and voila! – now you have a cute colourful beanie instead of a few messy balls of leftover yarns 🙂

Download this pattern as a PDF and get detailed instructions on how to make hats in any size using any yarn you have on hand.

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If you enjoyed this tutorial,
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