An Easy Hat to Knit for Texture Lovers

If you’re planning to knit any gifts for the holidays, it’s probably time to start thinking about it if you haven’t already. I’m going to be spending a lot of time over the next couple of months sharing some quick, easy, fun and totally giftable knitting projects (though of course you can knit these for yourself, too!).

I love to knit hats even though I don’t wear them all that often. The smallish canvas is a lot of fun, and I feel like it gives you enough time with a stitch pattern or design that you’re still enjoying it, and not so much that you get bored with it before it’s done.

The texture on the Made Wild Beanie from Smeeny Made Wild is definitely something that will keep you interested through the length of a hat. This bottom up hat is worked in the round using bulky weight yarn and a waffle-like texture that’s super easy to knit. It includes ribbing at the bottom for a snug and cozy fit.

The hat comes in one size, which would probably fit a teen or a woman, but the pattern stitch looks simple enough you might be able to adjust to make a bigger or smaller hat if you wanted to. It’s shown with a faux fur pompom, but you could also make one with contrasting or matching yarn, or leave it off if you’re not a pompom person.

Maybe the best part is this hat only uses about 100 yards of yarn, so not only does it knit up quickly, you can make it with a single skein or less of yarn. Maybe you can even use leftovers from another project for this one.

Speaking of yarn leftovers, I’ve collected 30 ways to use leftover bulky yarn here.

You can get the pattern for the Made Wild Beanie on Ravelry.

[Photo: Smeeny Made Wild]

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Many times when I write these posts I will say something like “you can use any yarn you want” or “this would be a great stash-busting project.” That’s just how my mind works. And my stash, too, since I probably have sweater quantity of two or three yarns at most, but tons of singles and odd balls and leftovers.

Blankets are generally a really good way to use up those bits, but in this case, I think you’re going to want to plan it out a bit better.

Looking at photos of the Color Study Blanket from Purl Soho, it looks like it’s made with two yarns held together, and that block in the center is worked with one of each color from the adjoining sides to make a mixed up color.

But that’s not actually how it’s done. This is three separate colors (four, really, with the neutrals in the corners) chosen form a yarn with an expansive palette so they play off each other. The project calls for a worsted weight superwash wool, which is a great choice for a blanket that’s both warm and washable.

This pattern was originally designed by Laura Ferguson and was updated by Hiromi Glover. It is worked in one piece in garter stitch intarsia, which is a great way to learn the intarsia technique if you don’t already know it. It comes in crib or throw sizes.

Despite the introduction to this post, I am going to go ahead and say that, yes, of course you could do this blanket with scraps or odd balls or even just choose five colors that don’t blend together so easily. But I really do love the look of the color play, and I think it would be worth your time to find colors that play well together to get a similar effect.

This pattern is available for free from Purl Soho.

[Photo: Purl Soho]

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