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]

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.

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