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]

Generally I like knitting patterns where I feel like you can use whatever yarn you have (because my stash is big enough and I want to use it, thanks) and make a successful project. This is one of those times when a special yarn makes the process that much easier.

The Floral Bouquet Shawl from Xandy Peters uses a specific extended color pooling yarn from Feisty Fibers, which allows you to place the bobble flowers with increasing frequency as you knit the project.

It starts with a solid color yarn, then the two color yarn is added in, and you make a bobble whenever you encounter the color pops. This would be hard to replicate with other yarn that doesn’t have the extended color pooling built in.

The background of the shawl is ribbed, making the project reversible.

The shawl uses fingering/sock yarn and comes out to be an asymmetrical triangle that’s 54 inches/137 cm long and 36 inches/ 90 cm deep and 60 inches/150 cm across the top edge.

Xandy says the pattern is for intermediate to advanced knitters. Knowing how to work traditional bobbles would probably help, but there’s a great video tutorial for how to work the floral bobbles so you can practice on other yarn or even incorporate the bobbles into other projects.

The bobbles are five-petaled flowers but they also kind of look like starfish to me, which could be fun on a child’s cardigan or other pattern. They’d also be fun on the leg of a sock or around the brim of a hat for extra whimsy.

The pattern includes photo and video tutorials, and written and charted instructions. It also includes tips on what to look for if you choose to use different yarn for the project, and instructions on how to dye your own yarn to use in the project.

If you want to give it a try, you can find the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Xandy Peters]

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