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Halloween Hat Knitting Patterns

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Halloween is kind of a mixed bag weather wise around the United States. Some places it’s already cold, while in others it still almost feels like summer. Where I live it can be either extreme, and it seems like lately it always rains, or at least threatens to rain, for trick or treating.

If you’re somewhere that’s cool for spooky season, you might want to knit a hat with a Halloween theme. This collection of Halloween hat knitting patterns (and one ear warmer!) is sure to have something to help keep you cozy and seasonally appropriate.

Boo! by Anu Vehkomäki features ghosts and the word boo around the bottom of the hat in stranded colorwork. It’s worked in aran weight yarn and is one size to fit an adult. It’s found on Ravelry.

The Poison Apple Knit Beanie from Clickety Sticks depicts a wicked looking fruit in purple and black — though of course you can use any colors you like. It’s worked flat from the bottom up in worsted weight yarn and is adult sized.

Cassandra May’s Striped Halloween Witch Hat, available on Ravelry, is sized for newborns up to 2T and is the perfect stash busting hat with a Halloween twist. It uses worsted weight yarn.

The kids black cat hat knitting pattern from Gina Michelle is worked in the round with stranded knitting and is just too cute for a cat-loving kiddo. It’s worked in worsted weight yarn and sized for a 2-3 year old.

Tara Marie’s Little Ghost Hat is sized from baby to adult and features a Pac-Man style ghost added to a simple hat with duplicate stitch. It uses worsted weight yarn and is worked in the round. You can check it out and Fox and Pine Stitches.

The Spooky Night Beanie Pattern from Lizzy Knits Shop features a long foldover brim and fun colorwork with ghosts and other stranded colorwork designs. The pattern includes charts and written instructions and is worked with worsted weight yarn. You can get the pattern on Etsy.

And since I did promise an earwarmer, check out the Little Skulls Headband from Sara Rosado on Ravelry. This is a great beginner stranded knitting project and is sized for kids and adults. It uses worsted weight yarn.

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Have you read?

Review: The Knitting Pattern Writing Handbook

I know not all of you are interested in writing patterns, but for those of you who are (or who already do), The Knitting Pattern Writing Handbook by Kristina McGrath and Sarah Walworth is a great guide to things you need to consider as you are designing, writing and preparing your pattern for publishing.

While a lot of this information (such as grading patterns for particular sizes, the importance of size inclusivity in patterns and common sweater design pitfalls) is specific to designers or garments, this information is important for designers to think about and for knitters to look out for when purchasing patterns.

The book covers the basics and beyond of writing a knitting pattern, including:

  • foundations of a good pattern
  • components of a pattern
  • gauge
  • charts
  • sizing
  • common sweater pitfalls
  • working with a tech editor

The goal of all this is to get designers thinking about how they want to present their patterns, from how abbreviations are handled to when charts are used, how many sizes are included and how elements of the pattern might need to change as garments get larger (such as increasing at a different rate on raglans so the armhole is not too deep when accommodating a larger bust size).

McGrath and Walworth are professional tech editors who host the Tech Tip Talk YouTube page, and their aim is for patterns to be clear, consistent, correct, size inclusive, accessible to a range of knitters (both in terms of physical ability and skill level).

They definitely have opinions about how knitting patterns should be written, such as how to convert from inches to centimeters and that measurements for sweaters should be taken from the upper bust rather than the full chest. But they also note that a tech editor’s job isn’t to be dogmatic or make changes without good reason.

The book also covers other subjects of importance to designers such as the difference between tech editing and test knitting, why you might want to do both and in what order. Each chapter includes a checklist of things to think about when writing you pattern and questions and answers to common questions they come across in their tech  editing businesses.

The back of the book includes detailed guidelines for where and how to measure bodies, plus standard size charts for kids, women and men. There’s also a sample style sheet for use with a tech editor and plenty of resources for learning more about design, accessibility and more.

This book is a great resource for people thinking about getting into knitwear design (particularly garment design), or for designers who want to make their patterns better and their editor’s job easier.

About the book: 176 pages, hardcover. Published 2023 by Storey. Suggested retail price $20.

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