Free Pattern: Basic Hat

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I like patterns that are really quick, easy and straightforward. The basics are things that we can knit up without thinking too much about them but we’ll use them again and again and be glad to do it. And of course you can always embellish something that’s totally basic by knitting in a stripe or two or adding embroidery or duplicate stitch after the knitting is done.

One great basic pattern to have in your arsenal is the Montera Hat from Classic Elite Yarns. This free pattern couldn’t be much easier: it’s just a stockinette stitch cap with a bit of ribbing at the bottom and simple shaping at the top.

As written it takes a hank of Montera yarn, a bulky, single-ply yarn. Or pull out the bits of bulky from your stash and make a riotously colorful hat that will still be super-easy to knit.

[Photo via Classic Elite Yarns.]

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Santa and Saint Nicholas generally get all the good press, but Central European kids know you don’t want to just be good so you get presents from St. Nicholas; you also want to avoid the ire of Krampus. (He’s depicted as a human-like figure with horns and usually hairy or furry who gives birch rods instead of gifts to kids who are bad.)

If you’re the type to embrace the naughty side (or you just want to scare the children into good behavior over the holidays), maybe you’ll want to knit a Krampus sweater.

This one, from Sofie Amalie Laulund, is a top down circular yoke sweater with Krampus faces at the top and cavorting Krampuses further down the body, with some traditional Scandinavian snowflakes thrown in for fun.

Because of the large motifs there’s not a lot of room for adjusting the fit, but it is available in five sizes (the Ravelry page doesn’t say what the sizing is, and it says its worked with no ease but the photo looks like the sweater has a bit of positive ease, so if you decide to make this one just check the measurements and your own comfort level for ease when picking a size).

It also uses five colors, but there’s very little red and brown so you can probably use scrap yarn for those parts. It calls for DK weight yarn. You’ll want a background color that helps the creatures stand out. You could also work the snowflake bands in different colors if you want to mix it up.

The pattern is available in both English and Danish, and you can find it on Ravelry. This is the designer’s first pattern, which kudos to them because it’s such an ambitious (and fun!) project I’m happy to add to my collection of whimsy-filled knits.

[Photo: Sofie Amalie Laulund]

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