How to knit an easy hat with straight needles - free pattern

Most knitting patterns for hats require circular needles, but what if you want to use straight needles? If you follow this free pattern, please email me photos of your creations!


This hat is so easy to knit it's foolproof
You can easily adapt this foolproof knit by bearing in mind that I used 5mm straight needles and my sample in stockinette knit measured 3.5cm (5 stitches) in width and 2.5cm (4 rows) in height. I used two different yarns together to thicken the yarn.

I started the border, which can be folded up, with rib knit (alternate 2 knits with 2 purls till the end of each row). Bear in mind that you need to cast off an even number of stiches. I casted off 76, as my head circumference is 54cm at its widest (you work out the number of stitches from your sample's size).

Each row starts with 2 knits and ends with 2 purls, if they don't, you made a mistake somewhere along the line. In doubt, unmake and restart.

I knitted 3cm of rib knit in height ending on the right side of the knit. Then switched to stockinette knit (one row knit, one row purl and so on). I knitted stockinette for 10cm (in height), ending with a purled row.

This is where I started to decrease. I knitted 10 stitches, knitted 2 stitches together, then knitted 10 stitches and so on till the end of the row. I purled the whole row without decreasing. Then knitted 9 stitches, 2 together, knitted 9, 2 together and so on till the end of that row. I purled the whole row without decreasing. Every knitting row I decreased the number of stitches (8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1). There was no decrease in any purled row. The last row was knit 2 together throughout.

I was left with seven stitches. I cut the yarn leaving a good length and pulled it through the seven stitches using a needle, leaving a loop of yarn at the start. I inserted the end of the yarn in the loop and pulled. This tied up all the stitches together and formed a point. The overall shape of the hat is like a fat bell and all you need to do is sew the sides together.

The colourful tassel is made by grouping yarns and tying them together. The petal effect around the tassel is achieved by sewing loops around it.

Inspiration from other knitters - more hats with straight needles, including tutorials: 

http://www.ehow.com/how_4759500_knit-hat-straight-needles.html
http://cyberseams.com/article/105285/all_things_knitting/hat_pattern_fitted_amp_knitted_for_straight_needles.html 
http://cyberseam.com/article/105343/all_things_knitting/adult_loose_winter_cap_pattern_for_straight_needles.html
http://helpinghearts0.tripod.com/id18.html 
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2275071/how_to_knit_a_womens_winter_hat.html?cat=46