This is a quick knit hat recipe, suitable for DK weight yarns. I used our 'It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas' Extra Fine Merino DK minis set. I love how it turned out, the yarn is super soft and knitting with stripes always feels quicker, the hat practically knitted itself (it took me a day to knit it, in between various jobs, and I'm not a quick knitter).

This is not a pattern that has been tested or tech edited, it's just my go to vanilla hat recipe, I would say it is a medium size, and if you are good at maths, it can be adjusted easily to a smaller or larges size.

I used 3.5mm, 80cm long circular knitting needles.

For a medium size hat, cast on 108 stitches, I used colour Bear. 

Brim

Rounds 1-13: knit 1 purl 1  to end of round.

Round 14: knit to end of round.

Body:

Change to colour Winter Red, knit 14 rounds.

Change to colour Forest and knit 14 rounds.

Change to colour Walnut and knit 14 rounds. 

Decreases:

Change to colour Moss, knit 1 round.

Next comes the crown shaping:

round 1: K10 K2tog, repeat to end of round

rounds: 2,4,6 and 8 knit to end of round.

round 3: K9 K2tog to end

round 5: K8 K2tog to end

round 7: K7 K2tog to end

round 9: K6 K2tog to end

round10: K5 K2tog to end

round 11: K4 K2tog to end

round 12: K3 K2tog to end

round 13: K2 K2tog to end

round 14: K1 K2tog to end

round 15: K2tog to end

Cut the yarn leaving long tail, thread yarn through tapestry needle and pull through remaining stitches, pull tight to close, weave in all the ends.

For more slouchy look without casting on more stitches, change to size 4mm needles after the brim, and when you reach decreases, knit ALL even numbered rounds (2,4,6,8,10,12,14) in between decrease rounds. This will make the last stripe a little bit wider than the rest, which can be adjusted by knitting 1 or 2 extra rounds for each stripe. Keep checking for size if you are making any changes. 

The best thing about simple hats is, you can play with colour combinations, make thinner or wider stripes, use those lovely one skein variegated or speckled yarns, ad poms, or even a tassel, and make every hat unique. 

Happy knitting!

Maya x