blog readers! i thought i’d put this up on december first, but i’ll be at a craft fair so you get it a day early.

Geometric Helmet Hat

ben and i really liked how this hat turned out looking like flippy hair, so i thought i’d share the pattern with you as a gift of the season. if you don’t want the earflaps to flip up, at the very end work a crochet edging around the brim and earflaps. they also may benefit from some blocking. note that my earflaps make for a helmet hat and so are not necessarily earflaps in the normal sense. if you would like more normal earflaps, shift them no more than an inch towards the back of the head to center them over the ears.

needles: size 7 US (4.5 mm) 16 in. circular and one additional needle of your choice of the same size
yarn: worsted weight wool – sorry i don’t know the yardage! adult hats rarely take more than four ounces of yarn
seen here in my hand dyed thrifted wool, some debbi bliss merino and recycled sweater wool
gauge: ever so slightly under 5 stitches/in.
small – 21 in. head – 4 yr on up, medium/large – 22-23 in. head
seen in the medium/large size on a medium sized head

cast 95 (100) stitches onto your circular needle using the earflap color
join, being sure not to twist
purl one round
switch (or don’t switch) colors as you deem necessary throughout the body of the hat (i switched to burnt orange for about an inch, then to blue)

knit in stockingnet stitch until the entire piece measures 7 in. (8 in.)
distribute your stitches evenly onto each side of your circular, hold flat and do a three needle bind off with the assistance of your extra needle
here’s a tutorial, although you’ll be holding the wrong sides of your project together, not the right sides

earflaps:

for each flap, you will be picking up 22 (24) stitches along the edge of the hat.

find the corner of the top of the hat and follow the stitches down. then count 11 (12) stitches in each direction and put a marker. see note in the intro if you’d like them to be more over the ears. with the hat right side up and the place you want to pick up stitches facing you, flip the hat upside down and pick up the stitches between your markers from right to left.

when you have the correct number of stitches picked up
work in stockingnet stitch for 5 rows, ending with a right side row,
then work as follows:
knit (wrong side row)
decreases:
row 1: k1, k2tog, knit to the last 3 stitches, ssk, k1
row 2: purl
repeat these two rows two and a half times, ending on row 1

knit (wrong side row)
repeat the two decrease rows two and a half more times, ending on row 1
knit (wrong side row)
bind off

sew in your ends, add some geometric embroidery and buttons, and enjoy!

have a great weekend!
cosy