Knit a Beanie

The knitted beanie is a cap that's great for keeping warm in cold weather. It hugs the head closely, and the edges can be rolled up to form a brim or left down to be brimless. Because this is one of the simplest hats to knit, the beanie is an ideal pattern for beginning knitters learning how to knit in the round on circular needles.

Steps

Preparing Your Materials

1. Choose a yarn. Yarns come in a variety of “weights,” meaning some yarns are thin and delicate while others are chunky and thick. The thinner the yarn, the more stitches you have to knit to create a length of fabric. The lightest weight — "fingering" — would call for a lot of yarn and time to create a simple hat. This pattern calls for a nice medium-weight yarn: "worsted" yarn.
   • Look on the yarn's packaging for the weight. "Worsted" yarn is signified by the number 4.
   • Remember to choose an appropriate fiber. You probably wouldn't want to wear a hat made out of something itchy and uncomfortable! Cotton, acrylic, and wools, or blends of these fibers are all good choices.
   • Make sure to choose a color you'll enjoy and won't mind wearing.
   • Cheaper yarns can be rough and uncomfortable, so make sure to give the yarn a touch-test before buying it. To accurately test how it will feel on your head, test it by touching the yarn to the inside of your arm, or to your neck. Simply feeling it with your hands may not suffice.
   • You'll need about 200 yards for this pattern. This should be about one skein of yarn, depending on the brand you choose.
2. Use circular needles sized for your yarn. Each yarn weight calls for a different sized knitting needle. The yarn’s packaging will tell you what size needle you should use. For worsted yarn, like we’re using in this pattern, the Craft Yarn Council recommends using needles sized from 7-9. For this pattern, we’ll split the middle and use size 8 needles.
   • When you think of needles, you might think of two separate sticks. But, “knitting in the round” (making a tube fabric like a beanie or sock) calls for circular needles.
   • Circular needles are attached by a length of plastic, so your stitches are always in the same place instead of being split up between two different needles.
   • Circular needles come in different lengths, too. For a hat, choose a 16" size 8 needle. If the plastic connector is too much longer than 16", it will get in the way of your knitting.
3. Buy stitch markers for knitting in the round. When you're knitting on two separate needles, you can see clearly when you've reached the end of the row. You run out of stitches and have to flip your knitting over. On circular needles, though, you never "run out of stitches." To keep track of where each row begins and ends, buy a stitch marker.
   • A stitch marker is usually a small, circular piece of plastic. You'll slip it onto your needle when you've finished casting on your stitches.
   • When you're knitting each row, you'll know you've come back to where you began when you reach the stitch marker.
4. Have scissors and a tapestry needle to finish the hat. You’ll likely have scissors just laying around your house, buy you might need to buy a tapestry needle from a craft store. A tapestry needle is just like a sewing needle, but the eye is wide enough to allow yarn through. You'll use them to sew in the ends of the yarn when you finish the hat.

Creating the Base of the Beanie

1. Gauge your yarn. Even though yarns have different weights, each brand is a little bit different. You should always gauge the yarn to see how much fabric you'll actually produce. In gauging, you'll find out how many stitches it takes to create an inch of fabric with your combination of yarn and needles. Make sure it matches the pattern you're working from, or else adjust the number of stitches you make per row. Make sure your hat will be the right size.
   • Cast on 20 stitches.
   • Knit 26 rows.
   • Using a ruler, see how many stitches are in one-inch of the fabric swatch you've made.
   • For this pattern, 20 stitches knitted for 26 rows should create a 4" x 4" swatch of fabric.
2. Cast on your yarn. Casting on is the first step in knitting. It can be a difficult process to describe with words, and there are a wide variety of techniques. You should look up videos online if you’re not familiar with the process.
   • Create a slip knot and slide it onto one of the needles. The loop should be less-than-snug around the needle. If the loop is too tight, you’ll have trouble slipping the other needle into the stitch.
   • Cast on a total of 80 stitches for this pattern.
3. Place a stitch marker. Once you’ve cast on your initial stitches, you want to make sure you don't forget where those 80 stitches begin and end. Place a stitch marker over the tip of the needle holding the stitches.
   • Every time you come to the marker in the course of your knitting, you know you've completed another row of 80 stitches.
   • Transfer the marker from one needle to the other, then continue knitting as usual.
   • The stitch marker becomes very important when you're shaping the crown of your hat. Make sure you don't lose track of it or let it fall off the needle while you're knitting.
4. Knit the first 10 rows. The first ten rows will create the “brim” of your beanie. You’ll knit these rows in a different pattern from the rest of the hat. These rows will follow a *k2, p2* pattern.
   • This means that you will "knit" two stitches, then "purl" two stitches for the entire row of 80 stitches.
   • Since 80 is divisible by 4, you shouldn't have any stitches left over at the end of each row.
5. Keep track of your rows. An extra row here or there likely won't make a big difference in a simple hat like this, but it's good practice to track your rows. In more complex patterns, like socks or gloves, losing count of your rows can ruin your entire project.
   • If you have trouble remembering, keep a running tally on a piece of paper.
   • Make sure to transfer the stitch marker at the end of each row to help you keep track.
6. Switch to your next pattern. Once you’ve completed your brim, you want to switch to a different pattern to mark the difference. For the rest of your hat, follow this pattern:
   • Knit odd rows (11, 13, 15, etc.) all the way around in pure knit stitches.
   • Knit even rows (12, 14, 16, etc.) in a *k1, p1* pattern. This means that you will knit one stitch, then purl one stitch until you reach the end of the row.
7. Continue this pattern. You don't need to count rows any more at this point. Keep knitting until the tube of fabric you're creating measure about 9-10" from the "cast-on" edge to the edge that's still on needles.
   • Again, make sure to keep track of your stitch marker. Even if you're not counting rows right now, you'll need to know where rows begin in the next stage of the project.
   • If you want a slouchier hat, you might add a little more length. You can slip the unfinished hat over your head to see how much length you prefer.
   • Make sure not to let any stitches slide off the needles when trying on the hat.

Shaping the Crown

1. Understand how to K2tog. The “crown” of the hat is the part that start getting smaller as it reaches the end of the beanie. To make the rows shorter, you have to “decrease” how many stitches are in each row. To do this, knitters use a K2tog. This means that you knit 2 stitches together into a single stitch, decreasing the amount of stitches in that row.
   • Instead of slipping your needle into the first stitch, start with the second stitch. Slide your needle through both loops, treating them as a single knit stitch.
   • Wrap the yarn around and complete the knit stitch as usual. You've now decreased the number of stitches in that row by 1.
2. K2tog for an entire row. This will create a dramatic decrease in the size of your hat’s “tube,” and is better for longer, slouchier hats than fitted hats. When you reach the stitch marker, transfer it and move on to your next row's pattern.
3. Knit all the way around your crown’s second row. You don’t want to decrease too sharply all at once, or your hat will end too abruptly. To create a gentler slope, you want to alternate your decreasing rows with knit rows.
4. Repeat this pattern for 3 more rows. K2tog on odd-numbered rows and knit around on even-numbered rows. When you’ve completed your fifth row, you’re almost finished with your hat!
   • Because of your decreases, you should only have 10 stitches left on your needles when you finish the fifth row of your beanie’s crown.

Finishing Off the Beanie

1. Cut the yarn with your scissors. You want to leave a nice long tail so you can weave it into your stitches and finish your hat. You should have plenty of yarn left over in your skein, so cut a one-foot tail to be on the safe side.
   • Remove and store your stitch marker at this point. You don’t need it anymore for this project.
2. Thread the yarn tail through the remaining stitches. Thread the tail of the yarn through your tapestry needle. Slip the needle into each of the remaining 10 stitches, pulling the free end of the yarn through the stitches. You should slide each stitch off the needle, onto the free tail. When you’re finished, all the stitches should be off the needles, and you should have some yarn left over hanging loose.
3. Pull the yarn tight. There will be a small hole at the center of the 10 stitches. Pull the free tail to tighten up the end of the hat and draw the stitches close. The hole should be drawn into a pinpoint.
4. Weave the free yarn into your stitches. Turn the hat inside out, then weave the tapestry needle through your stitches to secure the free end of the yarn. This is called “weaving in the ends” of the yarn. When you’re sure that the yarn won’t come loose and unravel your hat, cut the rest of the tail off with scissors.
   • Do the same thing to the free yarn at the brim of the hat, where you cast on your original stitches.

Tips

• This item should not be pressed (ironed).
• Note that this is simply one style of beanie. Feel free to add different methods that you are aware of to strengthen this article.

Things You'll Need

• Size 8 circular knitting needles
• 1 skein (about 200 yards) of worsted weight (4) yarn
• A stitch marker
• Scissors
• A tapestry needle

Sources and Citations

• Videos provided by ExpressionFiberArts

See also

• Make a Shadow Knit Piano Scarf
• Knit a Scarf
• Make a Hat with a Knitting Loom
• Make a Harry Potter Scarf
• Knit a Baby Hat
• Knit a Winter Scarf
• Knit an Infinity Scarf
• Knit an Easy Hat
• Knit a Basic Scarf
• Knit an Easy Hat for a Child

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