The Hat Hat

What better name for this than The Hat Hat? Made with Australian Superfine Merino wool, this hat is lightweight enough to be worn year-round if you love accessorizing with a beanie that won’t make your head sweat. Also, it’s Australia Day today, so why not celebrate by learning about some Aussie yarn?

PS: Like my shirt? It’s a nod to when I flew home for Christmas and got TSA bag-checked for the suspicious looking knitting needles (which are 100% allowed on planes) I’d brought to cast on this project midair. Because I’m cool like that.

Last month, I discovered Cleckheaton, an Australian yarn brand that just made available in the U.S. the Australian Superfine Merino yarn I designed The Hat Hat with. They gave me a beanie kit with a basic pattern to try (you can download the kit pattern for free here), and I was so immediately enamored with the yarn that I decided to stray from the kit and make a fun design of my own.

A bit about quality wool production & happy sheep 

This superfine merino yarn is soft (no joke, a soft wool!), springy in a way that’s really nice to knit with, and so rich in color. Importantly to me, this yarn appears to be ethically produced. Along with the kit, I was given a press booklet about the Australian Superfine Merino by Cleckheaton yarn line. Suffice it to say, this yarn is made by people who care about sheep and the people who produce this wool product. Not all wool production is ethical, but the folks who make this yarn (with its admittedly long name) appear to be totally legit in their love of their sheep and quality wool production, including sustainable farming and animal care practices. The Australian Superfine Wool Growers’ Association was involved in the effort to create a hand knitting yarn with this superfine fiber. Fun fact: the wool used to make this yarn has been traditionally reserved for menswear fabric.

Pardon my librarianish, pushing-the-glasses-up-the-nose nerd moment there, but I thought that was all terribly interesting. Hopefully at least two other people out there do too. :)

The kit

The Cleckheaton 2 Colour Beanie Kits come in 5 cute color combos, and The Hat Hat pattern works with any colors you might choose, kit or not. Australian Superfine Merino comes in 30 different colors, so there are a lot of options to get creative with.

The Hat Hat Pattern

Abbreviations
CO – cast on
k – knit
p – purl
sts – stitches
C1 – color 1 (in the pictured hat, that’s mint)
C2 – color 2 (in the pictured hat that’s pink)
RS – right side
WS – wrong side
k2tog – knit 2 sts together
X (Y) – sitches for size small pattern (stitches for size large pattern)

Gauge
approx. 5.5 sts & 7.5 rows per inch in stockinette stitch after blocking

Supplies
size 5 US needles (straight or circular both work)
size 6 US needles (straight or circular both work)
tapestry needle

The chart for the “Hat.” design
This is the charted pattern for rows 6 through 25 in the ‘body of hat’ section of this pattern. You can click the image for a larger chart.

 The Pattern

This pattern is worked flat and seamed to form a hat shape. The smaller size fits a 21 inch head, and the larger fits a 22.5 inch head.  

CO 104 (112) sts in C2 on size 5 needles.

Ribbed edge
row 1. (RS) k2, p2 across
row 2. (WS) k2, p2 across
Repeat rows 1 & 2 until ribbed edge measures 3.5 inches, ending on a WS row. Switch to size 6 needles.
3 & 5. k
4 & 6. p

Body of hat
Switch to C1.
1, 3 & 5. (RS) k
2, 4 & 6. (WS) p

The chart pictured covers rows 7 through 26. There are 26(30) stitches to both the left and right of the chart pictured. The chart does not repeat. You can work the pattern from the chart starting at row 6 if you prefer, as I do, to knit from charts when possible. I knitted this hat using the chart and did my colorwork using the intarsia technique.
7. (RS) k33(35) C1, k2 C2, k4 C1, k3 C2, k5 C1, k2 C2, k2 C1, k4 C1, k6 C2, k3 C2, k4 C1, k3 C2, k 33(35) C1
8. (WS) p 33(35) C1, p3 C2, p4 C1, p3 C2, p4 C1, p7 C2, p1 C1, p2 C2, p5 C1, p3 C2, p4 C1, p2 C2, p 33(35) C1
9. k 39 (41) C1, k3 C2, k5 C1, k11 C2, k3 C1, k3 C2, k4 C1, k3 C2, k 33(35) C1
10. p 33(35) C1, p3 C2, p4 C1, p3 C2, p3 C1, p4 C2, p2 C1, p5 C2, p5 C1, p3 C2, p 39(41) C1
11. k 39(41) C1, k3 C2, k5 C1, k4 C2, k4 C1, k4 C2, k2 C1, k3 C2, k4 C1, k3 C2, k 33(35) C1
12. p 33(35) C1, p3 C2, p4 C1, p3 C2, p2 C1, p3 C2, p6 C1, p3 C2, p5 C1, p3 C2, p 39(41) C1
13. k 39(41) C1, k3 C2, k5 C1, k3 C2, k6 C1, k3 C2, k2 C1, k3 C2, k4 C1, k3 C2, k 33(35) C1
14. p 33(35) C1, p3 C2, p4 C1, p3 C2, p2 C1, p4 C2, p4 C1, p4 C2, p5 C1, p3 C2, p 39(41) C1
15. k 39(41) C1, k3 C2, k5 C1, k5 C2, k2 C1, k4 C2, k3 C1, k3 C2, k4 C1, k3 C1, k 33(35) C1
16. p 33(35) C1, p10 C2, p4 C1, p10 C2, p5 C1, p3 C2, p 39(41) C1
17. k 36(38) C1, k9 C2, k2 C1, k2 C2, k1 C1, k6 C2, k5 C1, k10 C2, k 33(35) C1
18. p 33(35) C1, p10 C2, p6 C1, p4 C2, p2 C1, p2 C2, p2 C1, p9 C2, p 36(38) C1
19. k 36(38) C1, k9 C2, k16 C1, k3 C2, k4 C1, k3 C2, k 33(35) C1
20. p 33(35) C1, p3 C2, p4 C1, p3 C2, k19 C1, k3 C2, k 39(41) C1
21. k 39(41) C1, k3 C2, k19 C1, k3 C2, k4 C1, k3 C2, k 33(35) C1
22. p 33(35) C1, p3 C2, p4 C1, p3 C2, p19 C1, p3 C2, p 39(41) C1
23. repeat row 20.
24. p 33(35) C1, p3 C2, p4 C1, p3 C2, p 61(63) C1
25. k 61(63) C1, k3 C2, k4 C1, k3 C2, k 33(35) C1
26. repeat row 23.

Shape crown
27. (RS) (k 11, k2tog) across
all even rows 28-46. (WS) p across
29. (k 10, k2tog) across
31. (k 9, k2tog) across
33. (k 8, k2tog) across
35. (k7, k2tog) across
37. (k6, k2tog) across
39. (k5, k2tog) across
41. (k4, k2tog) across
43. (k3, k2tog) across
45. (k2, k2tog) across
47. (k1, k2tog) across

Break yarn and draw tail through remaining loops. Use a mattress stitch to sew the hat into the proper shape. Weave in all ends. Make a large pom pom and attach it to the top of the hat to finish, again weaving in ends.

Enter to win a 2 Colour Beanie Kit! And get 20% off some amazing yarn.

To share the Australian Superfine Merino love, I’ve got one of the 2 Colour Beanie kits to give away to a lucky reader! The kit I’m giving away features the True Blue & Dark Grey colors.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Since this is a yarn most American knitters are new to, Cleckheaton is giving Hands Occupied readers 20% off orders of AUS$100 (that’s Australian dollars, about $80 US) for the next week! Just enter HEIDI20 at checkout on the Cleckheaton Superfine website to receive 20% off all patterns, yarn and gifts. Offer ends February 2, 2015, so get on this right away!

The kits pictured in this post were provided by Cleckheaton via Stitch Craft Marketing. I decided on my own to design this pattern, independently of the receiving the kits.