I have wandered into the vastness of toque and/or beanie design once before. I designed the previous rendition a bit differently than the standard touque and used short rows. If you’re so inclined you can click this link to see the pattern – Winter Beanie Toque or Touque or Tuque with Vertical Stripes. 

The reason for this very basic, knit flat on 2 needles design is because I want to add my spider, hippo and owl motifs to a toque. But to do that, I needed to create the base design to get the fit and style right. FYI I’m already working on the owls now that this knitting design is complete. It’s coming along swimmingly btw ☺.

I’ve added some notes to the end of the pattern to help you along if you want to do some basic modifications to the beanie like make it longer, bigger, smaller. Head size and taste varies from person to person and this may need a bit of tweaking to fit want you need or want.

I added links to how-to videos to help you along if you are a new knitter or just need a bit of extra help. (Click the link in the pattern to open a new window and watch. You won’t lose this page.) This pattern uses very basic stitches and has an easy seam to sew at the end making it a great pattern for newbies and super quick for those with more experience. 

If you would prefer a PDF printable version of the pattern, you can download it for a small fee/donation from a number of places. In particular, my site here – Basic Knit Flat Beanie. You can also get it at a number of other online book retailers such as Ravelry, LoveCrafts, Creative Fabrica and Etsy. The Kindle version is also on Amazon.

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Things You Need

Worsted weight yarn – 1 standard ball of yarn (215 yards/197 m)

US Size 8 (5 mm) knitting needles (or whatever you require to get the correct gauge).

Tapestry needle to sew up seams

Pom-pom is optional (I found mine on Amazon but you can make yarn ones too).

Gauge

In stockinette stitch

9 sts – 5 cm (2″) 

13 rows – 5 cm (2”) 

Sizes are written as such:

S-M (L-XL)

Small and medium = 21.5 inches (55 cm) around

Large and Extra large = 23.5 inches (60 cm) around

The Pattern

Cast on 86 (92)

♠ Row 1: K across

Row 2: P across ♠ Repeat from ♠ to ♠ for a total of 10 rows.

♥ Row 11: K across

Row 12: ♦ P2 K1 ♦ Repeat from ♦ to ♦ to the last 2 sts. P2 ♥ Repeat from ♥ to ♥ for a total of 44 (48) rows.

Next row: ♣ K2tog K1 ♣ Repeat from ♣ to ♣ to the last 2 sts. K2tog

Next row: ◘ P1 K1 ◘ Repeat from ◘ to ◘ to the last st. P1

Next row: ☺ K1 K2tog ☺ Repeat from ☺ to ☺ to the end of the row.

Next row: P across

Next row: K2tog to the last st. K1

Next row: P across

Break yarn and draw through and gather stitches. Sew the seam using the blanket stitch. Add a pom-pom to the top if you like.

Hints and Tips

If you want a longer touque, add more rows than what is mentioned in the pattern. Make more rows than the total of rows 11 and 12.

If you want a beanie that’s more slouchy with a looser weave, you can try using a larger size knitting needle (US size 10 or 6 mm for example). This changes the gauge making it bigger around the head. You’ll have to play with it a bit to figure out how many stitches you’ll need to cast on so it still fits the person’s head.

In saying that, if the hat is too small or too big, any combo of stitches 3x+2 will work. For example, if you need less stitches cast on because you want a looser weave, you may only need 74 sts. You get that with the following equation 3(24)+2=74. Twenty four repeats of the ribbing P2 K1 pattern (on the WRONG side) plus 2 extra P sts. Compare this to the large size that is 30 repeats of the P2 K1 ribbing pattern plus 2 stitches (total of 92 sts).

If you want to make this in child sizes, that’s also possible. As a quick reference, each rib section is about one inch or 2.5 cm if you match the gauge given for this pattern.

I’ve added the 2 stockinette stitches along the side so you can sew the seam easily using the blanket stitch and make it blend in to almost disappear.

Abbreviations

K – knit

P – purl

K2tog – knit 2 sts together

st – stitch

sts – stitches

Like all of my patterns, you have my permission to sell and/or give away the physical items that you make using this pattern. You are NOT permitted to reprint this pattern in any form unless you have obtained my written permission to do so.