Free Easy Knit Ribbed Hat Pattern for Circular Needles

This free hat knitting pattern is all 1×1 rib for a great fit. Get 2 looks in 1: turn up a deep brim to keep your ears really warm and snug, or turn it down for a slouchy hat instead.

Beginner friendly, most of the hat is just basic rib stitch – easy peasy. There’s simple decreases near the end to shape the crown.

This ribbed hat pattern is also available for straight knitting needles, knit flat and seamed down the back.

What You Need

• 4mm (us size 6) 16 inch (40 cm) circular knitting needle.
  You can also use a long circular (40 inch/100cm+) to knit the hat with magic loop or a set of DPNs.
  
• 2 small 50g balls or 1 big ball of DK or light worsted weight yarn.
  • I used 175m / 80g approx of Drops Daisy DK merino wool in shade 22 Magenta for a 10.5 inch long hat.
    
• Tapestry needle for closing the top of the hat & weaving in ends.
  
• If using a 16 inch/40cm circular, knitting the final rounds of the hat is easier with one of the following:
  • Option 1: 1 short double pointed needle or straight cable needle, any size up to 4mm thick.
  • Option 2: 4mm long circular needle (at least 32 inches or 80 cm) (for magic loop)
  • Option 3: A set of 4mm double pointed needles.

Sizing

• This free easy knit hat pattern is one size to fit most adult heads. It fits both my small woman’s head & a 6ft man’s head.
• The length is adjustable. Just do more or fewer rounds of rib depending on your head height, how deep a brim or how much slouch you want.
• Suggested gauge: 27 stitches and 28 rounds to 4 inches (10 cm) in unstretched rib stitch.
  But exact stitch gauge is not important as the hat is very stretchy and the vertical rounds gauge does not matter here. The hat is your swatch, there’s no need for test squares!
• As a guide, my finished hat (pre washing) was 11 inches (28cm) tall and 8 inches (20cm) wide unstretched (about 11 inches (28cm) wide stretched). Post wash it was 10.5 inches (26.5cm) tall and 8.5 inches (21.5cm) wide unstretched. It’s fine for your width to differ a bit & the height is up to you.

Abbreviations

• Rx – round number x
• kx – knit next x stitches
• px – purl next x stitches
• ssk – slip slip knit decrease method (SSK video tutorial):
  1. Slip the 1st stitch to the right tip as if you were going to knit it,
  2. Slip the 2nd stitch to the right tip as if you were going to purl it,
  3. Insert your left tip from left to right into both stitches on the right tip and knit them through the back loop.
• () or [] x n times – repeat the instructions inside () or [] n times

Ribbed Hat Knitting Pattern (Knit in the Round on a Circular Needle or DPNs)

Cast on 112 stitches

I used the long tail cast on (tutorial here), which works well for knitting in the round.

Knit rib stitch until desired length

Join to knit in the round. Knit 1 stitch, purl 1 stitch and repeat this pattern until the end of the round to do 1×1 rib stitch. See how in my knitting in the round for beginners video.

Now just keep knitting rounds of k1,p1 rib stitch until your hat is 2 inches (5cm) shorter than your desired hat height.

Knitting 9 inches (23cm) of rib should give about a 2-2.5 inch (5-6cm) turned up brim and a good amount of slouch when turned down.

Ideally, try it on after knitting about 3 inches (7cm), to check the hat circumference is a comfy fit. If you’re using a short circular, you will need to move 20-30 stitches temporarily to a spare needle before you try on, to avoid losing stitches off the tips of your circular when your knitting expands on your head.

Crown decreases

From now on you work in pairs of rounds:
In round 1, you do a SSK every so often instead of rib stitch, to decrease by 14 stitches.
In round 2, there’s no decreases, but sometimes you will have 2 knit stitches in a row instead of 1×1 rib. Just go with it and knit all the knit stitches & purl all the purls. Don’t overthink it!

Tip: Mark the start of the round with a stitch marker if you haven’t already, so you don’t get confused about where to decrease.

1st Decreases:
R1: [SSK, (K1,P1) x 3] x 14 times to decrease 14 stitches evenly around [98 stitches]
R2: [K1, (K1,P1) x 3] x 14 times

Explanation: Start off working in blocks of 8 stitches. Do a SSK with the 1st 2 stitches (to decrease a stitch) and then keep the rib stitch pattern for the other 6 as usual.
Then knit 1 round even. Instead of all 1×1 rib, you will now have 2 knit stitches in a row wherever you did the SSKs. Just stay in this new pattern: knit all the knit stitches & purl all the purls.

2nd Decreases:
R3: (SSK, P1,K1,P1,K1,P1) x 14 times [84 stitches]
R4: K1, P1 rib stitch

Explanation: You’re now working in blocks of 7 stitches. Whenever you come to 2 knit stitches in a row, you do a SSK with them. Otherwise it’s just rib stitch as usual (purl the purls & knit the knit stitches).
You’re back in standard 1×1 rib stitch after this decrease round, so just do an even round of rib.

3rd Decreases:
R5: [SSK, (K1,P1) x 2] x 14 times (work in blocks of 6 stitches) [70 stitches]
R6: [K1, (K1,P1) x 2] x 14 times (just knit the knit stitches & purl the purls)

4th Decreases:
R7: (SSK, P1,K1,P1) x 14 times (work in blocks of 5) [56 stitches]
R8: K1, P1 rib stitch

5th Decreases:
R9: (SSK, K1,P1 ) x 14 times (work in blocks of 4) [42 stitches]
R10: (K2,P1) x 14 times

Note: If you’re using a short circular, knitting the final rounds with a small number of stitches can be tricky. Read about 4 ways to do this (with a video tutorial) before doing the rest of the decreases:

Final Decreases:
R11: (SSK, P1) x 14 times [28 stitches]
R12: K1, P1 rib stitch
R13: SSK x 14 times [14 stitches]

Finish hat

See my hat finishing tutorial (including 5 min video) here →
Leaving a long tail, cut the yarn. Thread it through the 14 remaining stitches 2-3 times & 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 bottom of your hat.

Washing Tip

The rib stitch and length of the hat makes it go long and skinny when wet. So I focus on making it wider and a bit shorter and lay it flat on a raised baking cooling rack to air dry.

This helps it keep its original shape, but some yarns magically spring back once dry anyway if you’re lucky!

Worst case if your hat goes wonky in the wash, it’s easy to fix. Just wash it again, shape it how you want it and leave it to dry.

I hope you enjoy knitting this versatile ribbed hat. It’s a nice easy project to make a cute and cosy hat for yourself or 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.