A Hat Knitting Pattern for Big Hair

Most knit hats are made for what you might call “standard” sized heads, which don’t account for having a lot of hair. Whether because you have lots of curly hair, wear locs, have braids, etc., you might find that standard hat knitting patterns just don’t fit with your style.

Fatimah Hinds discovered she had this problem, and the Big Hair Much Care hat was born. She says she found that most knit hats are too short to cover her ears once they’ve covered her head, or if they’re meant to be “slouchy” they end up being loose and uncomfortable and just not very warm.

Her design is completely customizable based on what you need for optimal head comfort. The brim is deep, but it’s also worked flat and not seamed so you can wear it open at the back if you need to and it will still keep your ears warm. If you don’t need as much space you can pin the brim together, giving you an opportunity to use a pretty pin or a fun button on your hat.

It can be styled with hair tucked into the hat or not, depending on your preference.

The top of the hat is worked in the round and the pattern has information on how to customize it to fit your hair.

The hat is worked with two strands of fingering weight yarn held double for extra warmth, and can be worked with two colors or using up your leftover yarn from other projects. Or try a DK weight yarn instead if you can get gauge that way.

You can get this pattern from Ravelry.

[Photo: Fatimah Hinds.]

One of my favorite things to make on a circular knitting machine is scarves, because they’re a great way to use leftover yarn and certainly faster than knitting by hand.

But if you pay attention to the colors you’re using and how you are using them, you can make fun knitting machine scarves that look like something different when you roll them up.

One of the first versions of this I saw was the sushi scarf, are there are a lot of variations on this one. For example this one from Flower and Anchor that uses five colors of yarn, or this one from Three Threads NE that uses four. These generally are made to look like California rolls, but you could change up the colors to make them different things if you like. Just make sure the outside of the “roll” is black or green to indicate the nori. I found another version on Pinterest if you’re looking for a free pattern, but there’s no image of it rolled up.

Another popular variation is making a scarf that rolls up to look like a mug with coffee, tea or another fun beverage inside. This collection of three mug scarf circular knitting machine patterns from Idaho Cottage Creation includes green tea, a pumpkin spice latte with whipped cream and a candy cane colored confection (which honestly reminds me of the Grinch since it has a green mug!). Again you can change the colors of the mug part and the drink part. The little handle looks like it’s crocheted on these, and it doubles as a loop you can thread the scarf end through when you wear it.

Again there’s a version of the green tea scarf on Pinterest with crocheted elements. I also found a latte done with a striped yarn and a red mug that’s pretty cute and gives you an idea what a different beverage would look like.

I also love this pumpkin pie scarf designed by Jodi Favish Saunier. It has a bit of crocheted edging to give it a fancy crust but you can omit that if you don’t crochet. These are all on Facebook but she also has a watermelon and lemonade pattern that are super cute.

Have you read?