Hat Knitting Patterns Using Sock Yarn

I’ve spent a lot of time this year sharing patterns you can make with sock yarn that isn’t socks. We’ve covered gloves, mittens, cowls and shawls, most of which you can make with a single skein of yarn.

Hats are another great project to make with sock yarn, and you can make a lot of them with just one skein (here I looked for patterns that use less than 300 yards/274 meters) or a skein plus some scraps if colorwork is involved. These are great “treat yourself” patterns to make for the end of the year, and a sock yarn hat can be worn a lot later in the season that a bulkier hat because it’s not as warm.

For a great basic hat, try the Everyday Slouchy Beanie from Dragon Hoard Designs (available on Ravelry). It comes in three sizes and the largest uses a little more than 300 yards, but we’re pretty close. It’s worked in the round from the bottom up and uses a provisional cast on to help fashion the foldover brim. Giant pom-pom optional.

If you want to throw in some stripes left over from other sock yarn knitting projects, try the Scraptastic hat from Jane Tanner. This one is a free download on Ravelry and also comes in three sizes. You could also knit it in a solid color if you wanted. There are no rules here.

Barley Light from Tin Can Knits is another free Ravelry download and a great classic hat with a bit of texture. It’s mostly stockinette with a section of garter stitch, and a ribbed edge to pull it all together. This one is sized for babies through adults.

Add a slant to your stitches with the Swirl Hat, sized from preemie through adult and available on Ravelry from Mandie Harrington. The stitching gives it stretch that’s great for growing heads, or cozy for use as a chemo cap.

Another fun way to add texture can be seen on the Weybosset Hat, available on Etsy from The Knit McKinley. It looks complicated but it uses slipped stitches to make the beautiful textured pattern. It is sized for adults.

Bring a teensy bit of a different color to your hat with the Little Snow Flowers pattern from Softyarn Designs on Etsy. This one is sized for kids through adults and needs less than 20 yards of the contrasting color for any size.

Want to add even more color? Throw in some stranded knitting around the brim of your hat, like on the Tremblant Toque from Dianna Walla. This free pattern on Ravelry calls for a background color and two contrasting colors, and it’s available in three sizes.

And since we’re talking lightweight hats, why not add a bit of lace for a hat you can wear all year? The Picacho Hat from Alyssa Latuchie (free on Ravelry) uses a pretty allover lace pattern that’s easy to get the hang of. It comes in one size for adults.

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork.

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn.

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look.

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me.

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round.

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.

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