High Street Hat

This hat was inspired by a hat that was commercially available in some high street shops here in the UK, hence the name. I decided that instead of paying £20 for a low-quality, acrylic hat, I could pay £10 for some nice wool and knit my own. The hat can be worn beret-style or back on the head, more like a snood. It’s up to you!

The pattern comes in three sizes, to fit head circumference Small (51 cm/20 inches), Medium (56 cm/22 inches), and Large (61cm/24 inches). The hat pictured is the Large size. You’ll need 100g (135 yards/123m) of bulky wool. The sample is knit in Manos del Uruguay but Rowan Cocoon also works well. In the Small and Medium sizes, there’s enough yarn in one skein of Manos that if you want to make it a bit slouchier, you can. You’ll also need 5.5mm (size 9) needles, stitch markers, and a darning needle.

I’ve decided to offer a new version of this pattern for sale.

I’ve taken the free pattern down as the pattern notes were really just that, notes. By buying the pattern you get full, detailed instructions on how to make the hat in all three sizes, and full email support from me.

You can purchase the pattern for £2.50 by clicking this link: buy now, or if you are on Ravelry, from the Ravelry Pattern Library.

By the way, instructions for the Italian Tubular Cast On are available here. I recommend you use some form of tubular cast on (the Italian Tubular just happens to be my favourite) as it looks neater and it’s much stretchier. If you can’t figure it out and want to do a long-tail cast on instead, make the Large size, as the band won’t stretch as much.