How To Knit A Hat With Circular Needles
THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS THAT SUPPORT HANDY LITTLE ME CONTENT AND FREE PATTERNS.This hat pattern will show you how to knit a hat with circular needles for beginners.
You won’t be scared to enter the bitterly cold weather in winter with this cozy knit hat.
Knit with Lion Brand wool ease thick and quick yarn in fig, this beanie is so soft and cozy, it will be sure to protect you in the coldest climate!
Scroll down for the free pattern or you can grab your printer-friendly ad-free PDF here.
Knitting A Hat With Circular Needles
This pattern is great for beginners, as it is an easy-level pattern, and the techniques you will need to know are how to knit, the purl stitch, and K2tog, decreases as well as knitting in the round on circular needles.
This easy hat has some texture, created by the stitch pattern with a ribbed brim.
Slouchy beanies are great to wear and gift, especially during the fall and winter seasons.
You may also like these free knit hat patterns…
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Knitting A Hat For Beginners
Many beginner knitters start off making scarves and then move on to making hats, but sometimes using those circular needles to knit in the round puts people off.
Using circular knitting needles is not as scary as you may think.
In this simple pattern, you will create ribbing (using the rib stitch) for the brim and then knit every stitch in the round to create the stockinette stitch for the main body of the hat.
The hat is really quick to knit up too as it is made with super bulky yarn.
How To Knit In The Round
In this post, you will learn everything you need to know in order to knit your very first hat in the round.
There is a video tutorial, and step-by-step photographs, so you know that you are doing the right thing!
If you have never worked in the round before here is a video tutorial to help you get started – How To Knit In The Round.
Beginner Hat Pattern – Knitting In The Round
Grab your printable ad-free PDF version from my shop here.
The Pattern PDF has the pattern with and without the photographs.
Notes
The hat knits up quickly in super bulky yarn, and the simple design makes for a relaxing and enjoyable simple knit.
The hat is knit in the round – if you have a longer cable you may wish to use the magic loop technique.
This pattern is good for advanced new knitters.
Copyright Info
- Please do not copy, sell, redistribute or republish this pattern.
- If you wish to share this pattern, link to the pattern page only.
- You may sell items produced using this pattern.
- Do NOT use the copyrighted photos for your product listing.
- For the copyright T&C please read my Terms of Use.
Grab The Ad-Free Printable PDF Pattern Here
Video Tutorial
You can see a video tutorial showing you how to knit this hat on my YouTube channel here.
Skill Level – Easy
Size –
- Adult woman
- Hat length lying flat w/o pom = 9.5 inches
- Width lying flat = 9.5 inches
- To fit a head with a circumference head size – around 22-26 inches.
Gauge – 10 sts and 15 rounds = 4in/10cm in Stockinette stitch
The Supplies You Need…
To get started you need the following materials;
Yarn
- 1 skein of super bulky/super chunky/14 ply yarn/yarn weight guide
- Lion Brand wool ease thick and quick in fig 146
Needles
- Set of 10.00mm (US 15) 16″ circulars
- Or a set of 10mm (US 15) 20″ circulars.
Notions
Other Tools
- Pom pom maker Clover 2 – 1/2 inch Large.
Abbreviations / Knitting Abbreviations List
- Approx – Approximately
- Beg – Begin(ning)
- Cont – Continue(ing)
- K – Knit
- K2tog – Knit the next 2 stitches together
- P – Purl
- PM – Place marker
- Rem – Remaining
- Rep – Repeat
- Rnd(s) – Round(s)
- St(s) – Stitch(es)
Pattern Instructions
Below you will see the step-by-step pattern instructions showing you how to knit a hat in the round on circular needles.
How To Knit A Hat
- Casting On
Begin by casting on 38 stitches onto your circular needles using the thumb or long-tail cast-on method.
Both of those cast-on methods will give you a nice stretchy cast-on suitable for a hat.
How to cast on knitting.
Once you have cast on 38 stitches, count and check that you have the right amount of stitches.
Here is what your cast on should look like below ->
- Joining In The Round
In the next step, you need to join your knitting in the round.
Place a marker at the join and be careful not to twist the stitches.
This is important as you need to join to be able to knit the hat on the circular needles with no seaming involved.
Watch the knitting in the round tutorial here.
- Knitting The Ribbing
Once you have cast on your 38 stitches and joined in the round, you will need to start the ribbing section of the hat.
This is the stretchy section of that hat, which is there to make it easier to get on and off and to fit onto your head.
This pattern has a brim with simple 1 x 1 ribbing, which is knit one stitch, purl one stitch.
How to Knit 1 x 1 Ribbing ->
1st round: Knit
2nd round: K1, P1 (1 x 1 Ribbing)
Rep round 2 only and complete another 5 rounds of K1, P1 ribbing.
The ribbing section is like this – Knit one stitch / Purl one stitch.
Watch a ribbing tutorial here. - Knitting The Main Body Of The Hat
Once you have completed the ribbing the rest of the pattern is really easy!
Every round after this is now knitted with the knit stitch.
When you knit every round on circular needles, it gives you stockinette stitch.
Knitting in the round has no wrong side rows, so there is no purling involved.
This part of the hat is the easy bit – take a look at the pattern below;
Round 7: Knit
Repeat round 7 (knit every round) until the work measures 8′′ from the cast on edge.
The longer you make the hat, the more slouch it will have.
I knit 8 inches of this hat, but you can knit more or less depending on how fitted or slouchy you want it to be. - Finishing The Hat
To finish the hat, you need to decrease it with a really easy decrease method – K2tog.
K2tog means that you knit two stitches together, this is a commonly used way to decrease stitches.
This video tutorial will help you – How To K2tog.
Then there is no cast-off, you simply take a long tail of yarn and thread it through the remaining stitches, pull it together, and fasten it off securely.
Here is the decrease section of the pattern;
Decrease as follows >
1. K1, K2tog – rep to the end of the round – to last 2 sts, K2
2. Knit to the end of the round.
3. K2tog, K1 – rep to the end of the round.
4. Break yarn.
5. Draw end through rem sts and fasten securely.
6. Sew in any loose ends. - Stitching on The Pom Pom
Once you have closed the top of the hat and secured it, pull the long tail of yarn through the top of the hat.
Make a pom pom either from cardboard or with a pom pom maker.
I used a Clover 2 – 1/2 inch Large.
Here is how to stitch the pom pom onto the top of hat;
1. Push the needle with the yarn through it coming out of the top of the hat through the pom-poms centre.
2. Push it back through the pom and through the center of the top of the hat.
3. Do this a couple more times, hiding the stitches that thread through the pom pom as you do it.
4. Once it feels secure, secure with a knot on the inside of the top of the hat.
5. Weave in any loose ends and cut the yarn. - Weaving In The Ends
There will be a few loose ends that need to be weaved in – from the cast on of the hat and from stitching the pom pom into place.
To do this weave them along the edge of the stitches, so they are hidden and will not come out.
That’s it!
You can remove the stitch marker now and try on your hat.
You may also like this beginner pattern – How to knit a hat with straight needles – which is knit flat and worked back and forth.
Share your work with us…
If you enjoyed making the hat, I’d love to see yours on Instagram, be sure to tag me @handylittleme.
I love seeing your finished projects!
I’d love to see your work!
Happy Knitting!
