This free hat knitting pattern is all 1×1 rib for a great fit and an easy knit. There’s simple decreases near the end to shape the crown.
Knit as a flat piece, back and forth in rows, you can make this hat with 2 straight needles. Just seam the sides together at the end for a stylish hat with a nearly invisible seam down the back.
This pattern is also available for circular needles or DPNs, knit seamlessly in the round so it’s reversible – yay!
Table of Contents
What You Need
- 4mm (us size 6) knitting needles.
- 2 small 50g balls or 1 big ball of DK or light worsted weight yarn.
- I used 160m / 80g approx of Drops Lima, a heavy DK (or lighter worsted) wool & alpaca mix in shade 9018 sea green.
- I used 160m / 80g approx of Drops Lima, a heavy DK (or lighter worsted) wool & alpaca mix in shade 9018 sea green.
- Tapestry needle for seaming the hat & weaving in ends.
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 rows of rib depending on your head height, how deep a brim or how much slouch you want.
- Suggested gauge: 27 stitches and 28 rows 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 hat piece pre seaming was 11 inches tall and 16 inches wide (unstretched). Post seaming & washing it was 10.75 inches tall and 8.5 inches wide unstretched. It’s fine for your width to differ a bit & the height is up to you.
Abbreviations
- Rx – row 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 for Straight Needles (Knit Flat)
Cast on 114 stitches
I used the long tail cast on (tutorial here) but you can use any cast on.
Knit rib stitch until desired length
Knit 1 stitch, purl 1 stitch and repeat this pattern until the end of the row to do 1×1 rib stitch.
Now just keep knitting rounds of k1,p1 rib stitch until your hat is 2 inches shorter than your desired hat height, ending on a wrong side row.
Knitting 9 inches of rib should give about a 2-2.5 inch turned up brim and a good amount of slouch when turned down.
Crown decreases
Picture above shows the hat after the final row with 15 stitches left
From now on you work in pairs of rows:
In row 1 (right side), you do a SSK every so often instead of rib stitch, to decrease by 14 stitches.
In row 2 (wrong side), there’s no decreases, but sometimes you will have 2 purl 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!
1st Decreases:
R1: K1, P1, [SSK, (K1, P1) x 3] x 14 times to decrease 14 stitches evenly around [100 stitches]
R2: [(K1, P1) x 2, K1, P2] x 14, K1, P1 times
Explanation: After the 1st 2 stitches, work 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 row even. Instead of all 1×1 rib, you will now have 2 purl 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: K1, P1, (SSK, P1, K1, P1) x 14 times [86 stitches]
R4: (K1, P1) rib stitch
Explanation: After the 1st 2 stitches, you’re now working in blocks of 7. Whenever you come to 2 knit stitches in a row, you SSK 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 row, so just do an even row of rib.
3rd Decreases:
R5: K1, P1, [SSK, (K1, P1) x 2 ] x 14 times (work in blocks of 6 stitches) [72 stitches]
R6: [K1, P1, K1, P2] x 14 times, K1, P1 (just knit the knit stitches & purl the purls)
4th Decreases:
R7: K1, P1, (SSK, P1, K1, P1) x 14 times (work in blocks of 5) [58 stitches]
R8: K1, P1 rib stitch
5th Decreases:
R9: K1, P1, (SSK, K1, P1) x 14 times (work in blocks of 4) [44 stitches]
R10: (K1, P2) x 14 times, K1, P1
Final Decreases:
R11: K1, P1, (SSK, P1) x 14 times [30 stitches]
R12: K1, P1 rib stitch
R13: SSK x 15 times [15 stitches]
Seam the back of the hat
See my hat finishing tutorial (including 5 min video) here →
Leaving a long tail, cut the yarn. Thread it through the 15 remaining stitches 2-3 times & gather to close the top of the hat.
Next, working from the top point down, you need to join the left and right edges of your flat knitted piece together to turn it into a hat with a seam down the back. Use mattress stitch to make an invisible seam for a neat finish.
Seam under purl stitches on both sides. Your edge stitch is a purl stitch on one side and a knit stitch on the other. So seam into the edge stitch on the purl side, and work 1 stitch in on the other (skipping the first knit stitch column). Watch the video tutorial below to see how to do this step by step.
The one downside with knitting a hat flat with straight needles is there’s a visible bumpy seam on the inside. So it’s not reversible and therefore you need to decide whether you will mainly wear the hat turned up or down before you seam the bottom.
If you want a slouchy hat you will mainly wear turned down, keep seaming the hat on the outside (right side out) all the way to the bottom.
But if you want to turn the brim on the hat up, decide how much of a brim you want and mark the bottom edges with the bottom turned up this amount. So you mark where the bottom of the hat will be when it’s worn.
The inside of the hat will be seen at the back from this point down. So when you reach this part of the seam, turn the hat inside out and start seaming on the inside (wrong side) from here on.
This way, when you turn the brim up, you won’t be able to see any seam at the back because the seam bulk will be hidden on the inside of the brim.
How to Seam a Ribbed Hat with Mattress Stitch
Watch this short 5 minute video tutorial to see how to invisibly seam your ribbed hat. Or if you prefer written instructions, follow my step by step guide here.
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 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.
