Simple hat pattern recs? Getting back into the knitting groove

[untonuggan]

Hey,

I haven't been able to knit much lately because of some nerve issues. They *knock wood* seem to be resolving, so I'm hoping to slowly reintroduce some knitting to my days. I have been working on the same shawl for ages and I need a break from its interminable rows of feather and fan, so I am planning to do some hats for winter charity knitting because they will be faster, easier to play with different designs, and gratifying. (Also like everyone I know already has a knitted hat from me already, so shelters it is!)

I have a stash of several colors of worsted weight yarn (both acrylic and wool) that I'm taking with me on a trip, but limited time to check Ravelry before I go. I also haven't been on for awhile so I have no idea what new patterns are trending right now or anything.

Any advice on (hopefully free) patterns that are easy to do in the car or with brain fog? I'm cool with single color with maybe a four-row pattern repeat or a simple two-color pattern design (maybe mosaic but also colorwork?). Also cool with tiny-people hat designs, though probably not doing any preemie hats because there's just too much cat hair around for me to do preemie hats.

I also have a really gorgeous couple of yarns that would work really well for a Fair Isle kind of pattern when I'm sitting in one place and have the spoons to do so.

tl;dr Not asking y'all to go research a bunch of patterns for me, but basically if you have any hat patterns that have been burning a hole in your Ravelry queue, I'd love to hear about them!

Comments

[killing_rose]

If you can do circular/expense, the patterns in circular knitting workshop are easy and quick. (Started a bag Saturday; should be done with the body today.)

[p_cocincinus]

I liked Turn A Square by Jared Flood a lot. Simple technique, very pleasing results.

[untonuggan]

oh yes I think that's in my queue! thanks for remind me about it.

[seryn]

I do gauge times 20 for the cast on. For me, in acrylic worsted, that's 4x20=80 stitches to cast on using a circular needle and whatever method suits you (but remember it shows). join and mark.

I do some amount of ribbing or roll brim. Then I knit even until it's about a hand tall, then I do decreases... decreases are every (stitches divided by 8) minus 2. So the first round is knit 8, k2tog. Knit even for one or 2 rounds, then decrease again. This continues until few stitches remain.

Any texture you can do fits this... just measure the gauge/stretch.

If I need to be decorative, I swap in another color for stripes. This has the benefit in that it can be set down at any point without losing track of a motif.

And the derivation for this is... standard head size is 22 inches, hats need to cling a bit so you want about 10% negative ease, so subtract 2 inches.

[untonuggan]

Yes I usually do some sort of hat recipe. this is a good written version of that, so thanks for helping with the brain-foggishness XD

*goes to investigate Barbara Walker pattern books on hand*

[thistleingrey]

I like Meret (mileage varies, but it comes to mind first).

[untonuggan]

Thanks for the idea!

[via_ostiense]

I saw a lot of wurm hats two winters ago.

Here's a basic beanie.

And I love Sockhead.

Wurm and sockhead are written for fingering weight, so adjust the cast on based on your stitch gauge with worsted.

[untonuggan]

Thanks for the links! I think I did a lot of wurm-like ones two winters ago actually (it does look vaguely familiar), but that doesn't rule it out as a getting-back-into knitting thing. :D

[havocthecat]

If you are a fan of the simple cable, you can do Coronet, which has a fairly simple cable band, and then you pick up a bunch of stitches from the band and do a straight up garter stitch through until your decreases. I like it because I can work on the cable band slowly, as I don't get loopy from migraines, and then at the end, the garter stitch part is really easy.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/coronet

That's just the extra-warm one that I'm passing on because it's one of my favorite patterns, but here are some simpler hats I've made and loved:

Rolled-brim hat:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/roll-brim-hat

Baby ribbon hat:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baby-ribbon-hat

The bottom one is cute and the section for threading the ribbons through is fairly easy to knit.

[rokeon]

I've been wanting to make welldigger, the antelope hat, and the hurricane hat for a while. Windhelm is one I've made and love, and the classic WW2 watchcap is always a winner and has multiple pattern variations depending on how you feel.

[turlough]

I just created a bundle of hat patterns for my aunt that might contain something that interests you. It's mostly for thinner yarns than worsted but the DK ones at least should be translatable to worsted.

[firestar]

The Raindrop Slouch Hat is a good one.