This free easy unisex hat knitting pattern makes a great first circular needle knitting project for beginners.
Most of this hat pattern is just the basic knit stitch – easy peasy. There’s some rib stitch at the start for a good fit & simple k2tog decreases to shape the crown.
Table of Contents
Don’t Know how to Knit with Circular Needles?
If you have only ever knit with straight needles, circulars may seem strange or even scary. But knitting with a circular needle is actually very similar to using straights. See how easy circular knitting is with my video tutorials:
- Step 1: See my circular needles for straight needle knitters guide
- Step 2: Move on to my knitting in the round for beginners tutorial
- Step 3: Knit this easy hat pattern with a circular needle as you learn. 🥳
What You Need
- 5mm (us size 8) 16 inch (40 cm) circular knitting needle. If your yarn recommends a different size knitting needle, you can use that instead.
- 2 small 50g balls or 1 larger ball of worsted or aran weight yarn. I used:
- 45g approx (half a ball approx) Lion Brand Wool Ease worsted yarn (lighter weight acrylic with wool mix) with a 5mm circular for the mustard fitted beanie hat
- 68g approx (1.3 balls) of Drops Nepal aran yarn (heavier soft wool & alpaca mix) with a 5mm circular in shade cerise for the pink beanie hat
- 65g approx (2/3 ball) Lion Brand Feels Like Butta polyester yarn (heavy soft brushed cotton or velvety feel) with 4.5mm (us size 7) needles as recommended on the ball band in shade lilac to make the pale purple slouchy beanie hat.
- Tapestry needle for gathering the stitches at the top of the hat & weaving in ends.
Sizing & Notes
- This free easy knit hat pattern is one size to fit most adult heads.
- The sample hats pictured fit both my small woman’s head & a 6ft man’s head.
- Standard aran gauge of 18 stitches and 24 rounds to 4 inches (10 cm) is suggested. But exact gauge is not important (especially vertical row gauge) as the hat is quite stretchy. The hat is your swatch, there’s no need for test squares!
- The pattern has options for a fitted, slouchy and cuffed beanie (where you turn the ribbing up).
- Here are my finished hat sizes post wash & dry as a guide, but it’s fine for these to vary a bit depending on your yarn & gauge:
- Mustard fitted beanie knit with Lion Brand Wool Ease (most light weight): 8.75 inches tall x 10 inches wide (above rib)
- Pink standard beanie knit with Drops Nepal (heavier soft woolly feel): 9 inches tall x 10.25 inches wide
- Pale lilac slouch beanie knit with Lion Brand Feels Like Butta (heavy soft brushed cotton feel): 10 inches tall x 9.5 inches wide
Abbreviations
- k2tog: knit 2 stitches together (decrease 1 stitch)
- kx: knit next x stitches
- px: purl next x stitches
This pattern uses a short 16 inch circular knitting needle, as that’s the easiest way for beginners to knit in the round. But you can of course use any knit in the round method to make this hat: a long circular needle (magic loop), 2 circular needles or a set of double pointed needles (DPNs).
Basic Beanie Circular Needle Knitting Pattern
Knit a beanie hat in the round with this easy free pattern
Cast on 88 stitches
I used the long tail cast on, which works well for knitting in the round, but you can use any cast on. See how to cast on in my knit in the round video tutorial.
Knit 8 rounds of rib
Join to knit in the round and do 8 rounds of knit 1 purl 1 rib stitch. See how to do this in my knit in the round for beginners demo.
Add more rounds of rib if you like. If you want to knit a cuffed beanie (where you turn the ribbing up) I’d suggest doing 12-16 rounds instead for a deeper folded brim.
Knit stockinette until desired length
Switch to knitting every stitch in each round i.e. knit in stockinette. Ideally, try it on your head after knitting about 3 inches (including rib), to check it’s a comfy fit.
For a fitted beanie: knit until your piece is 5.5-6 inches tall (including rib).
For a slouchy beanie: knit until your piece measures around 7.5 inches, or your desired height.
For a cuffed beanie, where you turn back the ribbing for a folded brim, add the rib height on to these heights. For example, if you did 2 inches of rib, knit until your piece is around 6+2 = 8 inches tall for a fitted beanie or 7.5+2 = 9.5 inches for a slouchy beanie with a folded brim cuff.
Initial decreases
(K2tog, K20) x 4 to decrease 4 stitches evenly around [84 stitches]
Knit 2 rounds even
(K2tog, K19) x 4 to decrease another 4 stitches [80 stitches]
Knit 2 rounds even
Main crown decreases
(K2tog, K6) x 10 to decrease 10 stitches evenly around [70 stitches]
Knit 1 round even
(K2tog, K5) x 10 [60 stitches]
Knit 1 round even
(K2tog, K4) x 10 [50 stitches]
Knit 1 round even
(K2tog, K3) x 10 [40 stitches]
Knit 1 round even
Note: Knitting in the round on a short circular with a small number of stitches can be tricky. Read about 4 ways to do this below before doing the rest of the decreases:
(K2tog, K2) x 10 [30 stitches]
Knit 1 round even
(K2tog, K1) x 10 [20 stitches]
Knit 1 round even
K2tog x 10 [10 stitches]
Finish hat
Leaving a long tail, cut the yarn. Thread it through the 10 remaining stitches twice & gather to close the top of the hat. Weave in the end down the back of your hat. Finally weave in the cast on tail into the rib stitches at the bottom of your hat.
How to Knit the Top of a Hat with a Circular Needle
Knitting the top of a hat with a 16 inch circular needle is the tricky bit. As you decrease more and more stitches, you get to a point where your stitches no longer fill your circular needle, which makes knitting in the round awkward.
There are a few ways to finish knitting the top of your hat:
Would you like a video tutorial showing these 4 methods in action? Let me know
Option 1: Switch to Double Pointed Needles
Most circular needle hat knitting pattern instructions just say to switch to double pointed needles (DPNs) when necessary. That means you start knitting with DPNs when you have too few stitches to comfortably knit with your circular needle.
If you already like knitting with DPNs, this is an easy way to finish your hat. But if you don’t know how to use DPNs or don’t want to buy sets of them just to finish off hats with, there are some good alternatives.
Option 2: Use a Spare Needle with your Circular
When you have too few stitches to knit with your circular, you can transfer several stitches at a time to another needle & knit those with your circular tip. A double pointed needle or another circular works best for this.
TIP: If you don’t have another needle in the same size, any smaller size needle will do.
- Move the next several stitches (up to half of the round) on to your spare needle.
- Pull your right circular tip out of the stitches at the end of the round.
- Knit the stitches on the spare needle with your circular tip.
- Repeat steps 1-3 until you reach the end of the round.
Option 3: Switch to a Long Circular (Magic Loop)
The magic loop technique is very popular for knitting small circumference items in the round. Instead of using a circular needle that’s smaller than the circumference of what you’re knitting (16 inches for a hat here), you use a long 40+ inch circular needle instead. You divide your stitches in 2 halves, with big loops of cable hanging at each side like ears.
So when you reach the point in your hat decreased when you have too few stitches to fill your 16 inch circular, you could start knitting the next round with a long 40 inch circular instead and then knit the last few rounds using the magic loop method.
If you’re a magic loop fan, you could also knit the whole hat with magic loop of course. Personally, I prefer knitting hats on a short 16 inch circular without spending half my time yanking out cables, but each to their own. 😊
If you don’t already know how to magic loop, I recommend using another option:
- If you’re new to circular needles, but used to DPNs, use option 1
- If you’re a knitting in the round beginner, try the spare needle method first (option 2).
Option 4: Pull out Circular Cord
It’s a bit awkward, but you can knit right to the end of your hat with your 16 inch circular needle.
Once you have too few stitches to knit easily with your circular, you need to yank out a bit of your circular cable so that your stitches fill the remaining cord.
At the start of the round, pull out a bit of cable between 2 stitches mid round, so that your stitches fill the remaining cord and you can start knitting the round.
When you reach the pulled out cable, or sooner if needed, pull out a bit of cord in a different spot between 2 stitches and continue knitting.
The fewer the stitches, the more times you will need to yank out a bit of cable to complete the round.
If you’re familiar with magic loop (option 3), I suggest using that instead of this mini magic loop inspired hack. But this works if you’re too lazy to change needles (I’ve been there!) or don’t have other needles to hand.
I hope you enjoy knitting this easy beanie hat with a circular needle. It’s a great way to practise knitting in the round while making something practical you can wear everyday or give as a special gift. Got any questions or feedback on this pattern? Just leave a comment below.
This free pattern is for personal, non-commercial use only. It may not be copied, sold, translated or distributed in any way, nor any finished items made using it sold, without permission.
